children and epilepsy or something else

[douglas]

i assume that most of the parents on here are in a similar boat as me. always keeping an eye out for any signs that might indicate that the kids might have inherited the condition.

i have two. one is 5 1/2 and other 1 1/2. so far i don't think i have seen anything. though the wife claims that she saw something in the younger one when she was 6 months. but wasn't sure what she saw and we haven't seen anything since.

however, i am noticing something in the younger one which seems a little different. not sure if its something i should act on.

she seems obsessed with lining things up. toys. cups. e.t.c. then taking them all apart. moving them to another part of the room, and lining them up again. not perfectly lined up. but it's obviously lined up and organized.

i am not sure if it's autism or something else and i don't know enough about autism. i read that if it was autism, the child would show no emotions or smile. this is obviously not the case. she shows lots of emotion and lots of affection and communicates a lot.

just curious to hear from other parents who might know more on this.

[lindinig]

My older son is definitely not autistic, though I explored that route when he was younger. He had such advanced verbal skills that I quickly ruled it out. Even though his social skills are lacking, he's a very social person, which is also not characteristic of autism. He does obsess over things, even to this day. When he was younger, he used to line things up perfectly. With him, it was matchbox cars. He would create a perfect pattern of cars across the floor. There are a number of disorders where the symptoms overlap, making it difficult to decide which one your child has. Or, it could be nothing. My younger son has incredible organizational skills, yet I would never dream there is something out of the ordinary with him. He just likes things in a certain place, so he knows where to look for it when he needs it. What makes him different is that he doesn't obsess over things.

What concerns me about my kids is that they have both inherited my migraine associated dizziness. I've been living with it since I was 10. My older son, who is 13, started getting this about 2 years ago, and my 9 year old started just recently. They don't seem to have it to the degree that I have it, as they are still able to play sports when I really couldn't. It doesn't seem to stop them in their tracks too much. My older son seems to be more affected by it, but since I've focused on improving his nutrition and added vitamins, he's not getting it hardly at all (maybe I'm onto something).

[momofevan]

my nephew has asbergers..which is on the autistic spectrum..his verbal skills were very advanced at 1 year of age..and a lot of the things here being described, describe him to a T.

[Meetz1064]

the mother of a special needs child--in several ways--my youngest son has Aspergers, but for technical reasons (he's almost deaf, and couldn't actually SPEAK, but DID communicate early) could not be labelled as Asperger's. He's labelled as PDDNOS, which is also on the autism spectrum.

Like MomofEvan's nephew, my son DOES show emotion, smiles, etc. When you're thinking of AUTISM, you're evidently thinking of the "classical" type of autism that we've all been taught to recognize.

My son has certain obsessions: Maps--he spends hours on GoogleMaps, and he IS a WALKING GPS system himself. He draws maps, perfectly--even of other cities, without ever seeing a map of that city. Building things with Legos was another big thing--tho that's gone by the wayside a bit.

Statistics, especially sports, are another big thing with him, and keeping track of numbers (and trust me, I've tried to figure out the pattern to the numbers he's keeping, and I sure can't.) He's GOT to watch certain TV shows religiously OR ELSE. He has to have certain sheets for his bed, and I haven't been able to get him to move his furniture in his room in 12 years.

He lines things up specifically, yet he is unable to keep track of his money adequately (and he has a LOT of it in the bank). He drives, but will not deviate from specific routes, no matter what. And if something goes wrong with the vehicle that he's driving, he MIGHT remember to be civil to you on the phone when he calls.

He has other issues--his eyes are bad, and he's nearly deaf in both ears. There are other problems as well, but most of them have gone away.

You seriously need to take your youngest one to the doctor to be evaluated. Be VERY specific about what you've seen. You might even want to start a journal, and possibly videotape her behaviors for the doc to see to verify what you're saying.

Some children do better with the removal of certain items from their diet--the GARD diet in particular has been known to help children in the autism spectrum quite a bit.

I wish you the best of luck. And don't worry. There are a number of us here on the board with experience with children who have Asperger's. Two of us, as a matter of fact (I'm one) have an Asperger's child that is in their 20's...and mine is in college, with a full-time job this summer. So there is hope, but STRUCTURE is what is needed for them, and TONS of patience.

Good luck.

Meetz

[momofevan]

sorry correction..it is my nephew you has asbergers not my son...my nephew is actually now 14 years old.

[Meetz1064]

My error. Sorry!

[lindinig]

That's interesting. I had looked up various definitions of aspergers many times, but still dismissed it as he just didn't seem to fit the mold. His social skills are lacking, in that he has difficulty reading non-verbal cues, which causes a little anxiety when he's with friends. He's impulsive, in that when things set him off, he will act on them. Through social skills class at school and therapy, he has actually learned to take turns, and think before acting. It's a constant process with him. When he's with me, we laugh, joke, we have conversations about everything. He is very calm with me, no anxiety. He feels like he can tell me anything. I just wish he was this calm around his friends. I don't see any social awkwardness when he's with me and I'm constantly evaluating him. When he's with other people, I'm like the birdie in his ear, suggesting things for him to say or do. So I don't know. For now, I'm just calling it ADHD, as he has every symptom on the list. I'm hoping the neurofeedback will reduce some of these symptoms as we eliminate his seizures.

[hootie]

My son is "on the spectrum". The behaviors do sound similar to those with ASD. Remember that autism is a spectrum. Some are affected much, some a little.

I would be careful about diet, vaccines, artificial colors and foods. It would not hurt to see someone that specializes in treating kids with autism to prevent things from spiraling downward. It is much easier to keep the child healthy than try to backtrack and fix something that might have been preventable (I'm talking about watching vaccines...). Your child is at that age where most regress into autism.

I really don't want to scare you but I also live with a child with autism...I know what it's all about. It may be nothing, but it may be an indication that your child is in a fragile state right now.