I am terrified that my little girl could be autistic too..?

Question

..i have a 5year old Son who has autism.

My Son and baby daughter look incredibly alike (my other daughter does not look like her brother and sister, and does not have autism); And they (eldest and youngest) seem to have the same behavioural traits as one another did as young babies.

I refused the fragile X and other tests i was offered pre-pregnancy, due to my opinions on abortion.

Does anyone have any idea of the statistics on how many siblings of an autistic child go on to have autism themselves?

I am being tortured with the worry as i'm already going through an awful lot with my Son (who i love to the ends of the earth, but find very challenging).

Can someone help please?

Regards, Sarah x

(ps, please don't anyone insult me, because i love my wonderful son to the ends of the earth, as i do each of my children, but it is a real challenge to have a child with Autism, and i am so scared that i could have another.)

Answer 1

Hi its sad that you are 'terrified' as having autism is not hte end of the world and doesnt stop children being lovely and joyful little bundles...but I understand the fear of having to go through the tests., the support and the long term everything that goes with it...but breathe :)

Some younger children show signs of autism because the imitate what they see...if they are used to seeing a sibling acting a certain way then they assume it is 'normal' and will of course copy! Its not neccessarily a sign they have autism too!

To test this theory try taking her to toddler groups or stay and plays so she can have time with others her age...she will then have other role models to imitate.

However you're best bet is to speak to health visitor or GP and they can keep an eye out for the future.

Answer 2

I belive it's about a 4% chance a sibling could have autism-

Fragile X really isn't an issue fro females--they have 2  X chromososmes so they can compensate if the other is fragile-

I wouldn't be concerned about the physical simularity-it's brain simularity taht is at issue

Answer 3

I do not think autism develops over time, it is either present or not present; unless there is a traumatic event in the child's life, that could cause autistic symptoms to develop.  That is my opinion since I went through a phase that lasted about a week, my father put a stop to it by threatening violence against me (that should never be done of course).  The issues regarding my earlier childhood trauma were never addressed.

Recently my family has suspected, as suggested my a friend that I may have aspergers which is on the autism spectrum, but that is not important here, many with aspergers are understood to have above average abilities in mathematics, science, and art etc... How ironic, but then there are other symptoms like social ineptness and clumsy abrupt movements.

Autism can be very different things with similar resulting symptoms, consider the famous Kim Peek.

My opinion is that more needs to be done by the parents to try to understand them.  when I was young I asked my parents for dance lessons and they said no,  I asked again two more times within two weeks and they said no.  Now 35 years later I see I should have studied dance, oops too late to become professional at it, dam.  I don't know why I didn't think of it at other times, my fault.

More needs to be done to find out about if there was a traumatic experience, but it is difficult, and I do not mean to suppose that such is the case, but sometimes it may be.  Late hypnosis was able to bring out what it was by a school psychologist, but my parents still do not believe the events.  That is a kicker, I am confounded by their continued ignorance, well, whatever.

oh I have to go...

sorry

Answer 4

Hi Hun ...as you know my angel Thomas pictured left has severe autism ...and he is a twin his twin sister is fine no problems its tough having a child with any disabilities and even without they provide a challenge ...as i say to people if your other child does have autism what can you do about it ..apart from worry yourself silly, yes there is a risk but did you know girls that have autism is rare ...and also can be a lot more severe than boys so to me i think as a mum 'You would know'

take life as it comes Hun and stay strong for you and your kids ..

Autism is not the end of the world ..its a journey to another one !

Answer 5

I know exactly where you are coming from.

My son has Asberger's which was not picked up until he was 7.  He also presents bi-polar symptoms too.

he is now 11 and finds school a real challenge (but only the social side - the work is too easy!)

My daughter is now reaching this age and we are watching her like a hawk.  We were never offered any tests at all when pregnant.

I worry for her,

I also worry for myself (selfish I know - but all that extra work being careful what you say and how you say it drains me)  But I also know that I WILL cope if I have to.

You will too.  You sound like a wonderful mum.

Answer 6

Sweetheart,How very frightening this must be for you. There is nothing I can say to put your mind at rest,as you know in your heart only the specialists will be able to tell you the outcome of any concerns you may have. I fully understand Autism,and know just how mentally frustrating as well as physically this can be. Have you any support,where you are? Do you  cope alone? There must be Someone that can Offer Assistance,Even if only for a few hours a Week,just to give you a little break. There is Every Chance That your Youngest Child has No Problems,If the worse comes to the Worse,You Will Do right by your Children. As I am sure you Already know Autistic children are very clever,especially with any brain work like art,etc: Stay Strong for All your Sakes.IF I Was Anywhere Near You I would Gladly Help you with the Care of your Tiddly-Peeps, Unfortunately I am Not. So The Best I can Offer is that I am Here should you need someone To Talk to,Scream At Or even Cry To. I Will be thinking of you and Sincerely Hope Everything Turns out For The Best. God Bless x

Answer 7

I know im only 15 and you probably think im not old enough to really have an opinion on something as serious as this but I remember reading in a book that the doctor can identify autism due to their eyes at birth , apparantly autistic children are born with cloudy eyes but im working off memory . If you have worries and they seem to be sharing the same characteristics , can you not take them to your doctor. At least if u have an answer , the worry of not knowing will be gone , hope ive helped

Answer 8

hey i'm autistic, well i've got asperger's syndrome, I know its hard for others to take this, but it's not as scary as it seems trust me hon, but once you get to know how to deal with your son it will be a little easier.

EDIT: we just do things our own way thats all it not bad at all!

Answer 9

I was also told one in 5 so 20% chance of having an additional autistic spectrum child, I suspect that number is actually higher because I was told this 5 and a half years ago when my oldest 7 was diagnosed by a pediatric neurologist who specializes is spectrum disorders.

I have 3 sons, 2 are on the spectrum, oldest and middle.  My oldest was dx at 25 months, my middle was dx at 9 months.  From meeting other families I estimate that between 30-50% of autistic spectrum children have an autistic spectrum sibling, and I estimate that 75%-90% of autistic spectrum children have a sibling with neurological disorders or learning differences.  This can be anything from ADD/ADHD, bipolar, dyslexia, depression, gifted, sensory integration disorder, CAPD-central auditory processing disorder, NVLD-non-verbal learning disorder, speech delay, hyperlexia, anxiety disorder and others.

Most kids who are on the spectrum have a look.  They are extremely good looking, and have a macrocephalic head (gi-normous above 95%tile, and tend to have recessive eyecolor.  My oldest has green eyes, this occurs in 1-2% of the population.  Noone on either side of the family has green eyes.  My middle has blue eyes, my youngest brown.  

The head, my son was dx macrocephalic inutero.  I was sent to a perinatologist for it.  They kept looking and kept telling me that it isn't hydrocephaly.  I said its autism.  They agreed it is probably autism because of the family history and because no one has a genetic large head and it isn't dwarfism, probably not tourettes so that only leaves autism.  So autism was a rule out dx inutero.  At 36 weeks gestation his head measured 48.  

With autism the frontal lobe grows out of control beginning in the first trimester and continues.  A 3 yo has the head size of a 7 yo.  This excess of axons, neurons, and dendrites is seen in dyslexia, and the chemical neurotransmitter imbalance of serotonin is seen in bipolar, and depression.

My autistic spectrum kids are similar in some ways and different.  My younger son is higher functioning than my oldest even though they are both PDD.NOS.  Both are dyspraxic and all 3 have sensory issues

My oldest was screened for fragile X and does not have it.  I don't know of anyone who went through genetic testing who actually had something come up.

Being that you are concerned about a daughter that is good that she is a girl and less likely to be autistic spectrum.  Only 1 in 5 are girls.  The girls I have seen are either low functioning (which you would know very young) but most are very high functioning.  (Temple Grandin, Donna Williams, Liane Holliday Willey)

Chances are good that she is in better shape than he is.  I would have her screened by early childhood intervention now.  All 3 of my sons went through it and it helps alot.  The earlier you get services the better.

It is very stressful I know.  My youngest has delays to, but is social.  He most likely has a LD.  We have decided not to have any more children because the 3 we have are so time consuming and expensive.  I can't work.  I wanted to have more children but it isn't practical and unfair to the needs we have already.  My oldest it is in question as to whether he will be able to live independently (he is 7)

Good luck, if you find a way of coping let me know, because I am very depressed and have gained a ton of weight over the past 18 months trying to help my kids 24/7

Answer 10

Children with autism are a challenge, especially because each child presents their autistic traits in a different way.  The best way for you to deal with your daughter and your suspicions is to take her to your doctor, tell the doctor of your fears and give him specific examples of the behavior she exhibits that makes you suspect she may have autism.

Here are some good resources online that may be of assistance to you as well:

http://www.nationalautismassociation.org...

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageS...

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autis...

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publicati...

Answer 11

Hi

both my children presented differently at birth and have different personalities, yet both r on the autistc spectrum....one a girl and one a boy. My sister, brother and father all have autistic traits(undiagnosed) and my nephew(my sisters son) is further on the spectrum......so I concluded that if I had another child it would have a high % of being autistic.  It is extremely tough coping with this disability and we have a family motto....."It is our differences that make us special"  please email if u want a chat

Answer 12

My brother had Autism but nobody else in the family did.

Answer 13

If anyone insults you they shouldnt even be answering your question. Any Mum with an autistic child just deserves praise, praise and more praise just for hanging in there!

I dont know about statistics for siblings of an autistic child but my eldest was diagnosed with Aspergers 6 week before my third son was born and at the time the paediatrician said to me that each child had a 1 in 4 chance of being affected by the condition. In practice, it has turned out that both my first and second sons have diagnosable Aspergers, the first with very challenging behaviours the second less so but with other worrying stuff and my third son, whilst being socially very competent, very co ordinated and apparently (to the casual observer) unaffected, has some but not all of the sensory issues that the other two have. ie cannot cope in a mainstream class of 25 due to noise and bustle, fussy about seams,labels, lumps in his socks and can display some of the resistant behaviours of the other two but does respond to 'normal' disciplinary approaches such as time out. it is hard to say how much of his is learned behaviour and it is certainly not anything which warrants assessment but every so often i get a little shiver because it is recognisable as an ASD trait.

Girls are less likely to be affected than boys tho, I think the ratio is 4 to 1 but it is not impossible that your daughter is affected. When you have been there before you learn very quickly what to look for, but I also think it is easy to become over sensitive and interpret everything as being because of autism. With my boys, we weren't sure the second one was affected because he was very different to his older brother and appeared to be more sociable etc but we did think he was dispraxic (which he is). it was only after having the third we realised what had been missing with the other two in terms of interaction, imagination etc.

You dont say how old your baby is but there is a test at the 6 month check where the tester drops a brick off the table and the baby is supposed to follow it with their eyes which has been shown to indicate if there is a likelihood of autism. if the baby is autistic then they dont look to see where the brick goes. I remember the tester had to do it 4 times with my eldest before he looked but at that time (he is 10 now) it didnt raise any suspicions. it could be worth you asking about this at the check up tho.

Personally, i think a mothers instinct counts for a lot, so if you have concerns about your baby then go to your Dr or Health visitor and make them listen to you. Keep a note of what is worrying you, in terms of her behaviour etc and no matter how long it takes make sure somebody takes you seriously and arranges any necessary assessments. You may need to be quite firm about this, but Im sure you have realised already that you have to fight all the way with a special child. Hopefully it will turn out that your fears are unfounded and your daughter is fine but if not you are in a good position to get early intervention and help for her because you are already alert to the possibility it may be needed and hopefully in touch with the services and organisatins that can provide it. Make sure that you are getting all the help and benefits that you are eligible for with your son, in particular, social services support for respite, proper advice regarding his education and time for yourself. Thats the hardest part i know, but you cannot care effectively for your children if you are exhausted. I had 3 at similar ages to yours and i know just how hard it is and you add the challenging behaviour as well...dont go there! At your baby's age it probably isnt possible to definitely rule in or out that she has autism but it will become clearer as she gets older. I really hope you are worrying for nothing and that she is fine, but good luck with it all because its not an easy road. I agree with you on the abortion thing too. I wouldnt have taken that route with mine either, even having been where i have with them recently. Hang in there, you can do this and take care of yourself too.

Answer 14

Recent studies strongly suggest that some people have a genetic predisposition to autism.  In families with one autistic child, the risk of having a second child with the disorder is approximately 5 percent, or one in 20.

Answer 15

make the tests and pray that everything is alright and who judges you must be in your shoes *people dont understand pain till the taste it we are werid creatures*

dont worry without doing something real about it

thats my advice

plz

hurry in doing the tests

Answer 16

It must be very challenging to have a son with autism. I think you sound like a caring parent and I would never insult you.

I think the best thing for you to do is to talk to your pediatrician. Even if the odds are on your side you can't be sure your daughter isn't autistic.

I will say that when I was a child I had a lot of traits associated with autism. It turned out I was not autistic at all. I didn't have an older sibling with autism but I was around a child alot who was autistic (non verbal, etc.) I might have picked up some behavior from him.

Answer 17

Some experts have put the number as high as 10% (that if you have one biological, autistic child, you will have another). It is possible that your daughter displays some characteristics of autism, and yet, is not autistic. Or she may fall on the autism spectrum ,on the very low end. I have a son with moderate autism and a daughter who is on the low end. If you did not know she was on the spectrum, you really wouldn't be able to tell. Keep the faith!

Best wishes

Answer 18

I'm not an expert but I hope I can help a little,

My friend's oldest child is autistic (I agree an autistic child if very challenging at times) and has gone on to have three autism-free children, all of which looked very alike as babies.

If however your Daughter is autistic you have already develloped the skills needed to care for her.

I wish you all the best

Answer 19

Autism doesn't tend to run in families but i don't have any stats to back that up....just experience. It's very rare in girls however, but not unknown. I hope she's fine : )

Answer 20

There have been many cases where there are multiple autistic children in a family, but in most cases there is only one child that has Autism. This site http://www.thetech.org/genetics/news.php... says that there is only a 2-6% chance that there will be a second child with Autism. Don't worry hun, I understand what you are talking about and yes, you do have a right to be concerned. I would go to a doctor and see if there is any "for sure" sign of autism and if there is, start working with her and trying to teach her right away and maybe she can improve. My little brother was not born with autism but he got an immunization shot when he was 2 years old and everything went downhill. He isn't really able to communicate...if you asked him his name, he would probably just try to repeat what you just asked. I swear my mom is wonder woman for taking care of him and always having patience with him. My little brother is one of the four kids in my family and the rest of us are as normal as teenagers and young adults can be. I hope this helped you, I really do. Best of luck to you and God bless you. :)

Answer 21

Hi I'm sorry to read your question, but don't get upset or panic ,you need to have all the facts. I'd go to my doctor to put my mind at rest if I was you.

Best wishes to you