Re: Blood test for Aspergers?

July 12, 2009

I haven’t heard of it either, but did a quick google search and

came up with this…

http://mental-health.families.com/blog/early-test-for-autism

Hopefully this helps?

=)

From:

[mailto: ] On

Behalf Of Ashleigh Crane

Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 5:06 AM

Subject: ( ) Blood test for Aspergers?

I

was at my nephew’s birthday party this afternoon and got involved in a

discussion with another parent (my brothers wife's sister). She asked if

he had any medical issues. I knew where she was going, so I decided to save

her the pain of choking on the leather of her designer flip-flops by telling

her I felt he had Aspergers Syndrome, but we were in the middle of diagnostic

testing.

She

got all worked up about how his diagnostic testing should include a blood test

(may have mentioned a genetic test, but not a specific one) and how I should

not mention to anyone who cares for about my suspicions until the blood

test is back. She went on to tell me this blood test will determine if he

has Aspergers or not, to what degree he does, and what parts of his brain and

personality are affected.

Because

I had never heard of such a thing, I didn't argue with her but politely asked

if she could e-mail me the information so I could research it. She didn't

know the specifics of the name, but said a friend’s child had gone through this

test at a Children's hospital and was pleased with the results???

Has

anyone heard of the test she mentioned? I don't mean to sound skeptical,

but if diagnosing Aspergers is so simple, why does it sometimes take years to

get an accurate diagnosis and proper help for our kids?

I

am new to this process, but have felt for quite some time that my child was

unique and struggled with social interactions as well as a number of sensory

stimulation issues.

I

know this I wish I could be more specific with test names and such, but

this is all she gave me to go on! Thank you all in advance for

any replies and responses!!

Take

care,

Ashleigh

_______________________

~Ashleigh~

" So

you see! There's no end to the things you might know,

Depending how far beyond Zebra you go!” ~Dr. Seuss

www.picturetrail.com/ashleigh1976

July 12, 2009

>

> She got all worked up about how his diagnostic testing should include a blood

test (may have mentioned a genetic test, but not a specific one) and how I

should not mention to anyone who cares for about my suspicions until the

blood test is back. She went on to tell me this blood test will determine if he

has Aspergers or not, to what degree he does, and what parts of his brain and

personality are affected.

She's confused. However, there are some forms of autism that have genetic

causes or contributors, which can be determined by a blood test (the blood is

used to analyze the genetic structure). We had this done at a children's

hospital--to rule it out and " make sure " mainly. It came back negative,

although our son was determined to be as Asperger as ever. I don't remember any

specifics since it doesn't apply to us, but I'm sure if you google autism and

genetics, you will get some hits and can start reading. Some of these genetic

conditions are treatable, so it is worth looking into, in my opinion. I was

glad we checked it out.

July 13, 2009

There is no test as Ruth mentioned. You can rule out many many

genetic disorders with a chromosome test though that often

have autism as a part of the DX. Fragile X, growth issues etc.

The DX critieria for AS is mainly social impairment

and no delayed speech.

I am not an expert but we have had soooo many tests done.

As you said if it was easy we all wouldn't be searching

for answers for years often.

Good luck with your child's treatment.

Pam

>

> I was at my nephew's birthday party this afternoon and got involved in a

discussion with another parent (my brothers wife's sister). She asked if he had

any medical issues. I knew where she was going, so I decided to save her the

pain of choking on the leather of her designer flip-flops by telling her I felt

he had Aspergers Syndrome, but we were in the middle of diagnostic testing.

>

> She got all worked up about how his diagnostic testing should include a blood

test (may have mentioned a genetic test, but not a specific one) and how I

should not mention to anyone who cares for about my suspicions until the

blood test is back. She went on to tell me this blood test will determine if he

has Aspergers or not, to what degree he does, and what parts of his brain and

personality are affected.

>

> Because I had never heard of such a thing, I didn't argue with her but

politely asked if she could e-mail me the information so I could research it.

She didn't know the specifics of the name, but said a friend's child had gone

through this test at a Children's hospital and was pleased with the results???

>

> Has anyone heard of the test she mentioned? I don't mean to sound skeptical,

but if diagnosing Aspergers is so simple, why does it sometimes take years to

get an accurate diagnosis and proper help for our kids?

>

> I am new to this process, but have felt for quite some time that my child was

unique and struggled with social interactions as well as a number of sensory

stimulation issues.

>

> I know this I wish I could be more specific with test names and such, but this

is all she gave me to go on! Thank you all in advance for any replies and

responses!!

>

> Take care,

>

> Ashleigh

>

> _______________________

> ~Ashleigh~

>

> " So you see! There's no end to the things you might know,

> Depending how far beyond Zebra you go! " ~Dr. Seuss

>

> www.picturetrail.com/ashleigh1976

>

July 15, 2009

Dear Ashleigh,

Pam is right. There’s no blood test for Asperger’s,

or at least we have never heard of one.

It’s amazing how many people who don’t have a

child with Asperger’s feel OK about giving Aspie parents advice,

including my own sister (a registered nurse). They may read an article in

Parents’ magazine (one of my current un-favorites) about “how I

cured my child’s autism” and suddenly feel that they must spread

the “good news” to every parent of a child on the autism spectrum –

whether or not they really know what they’re talking about.

For example, my sister said she had read about chelation

therapy and felt certain it would help my son. Since I had read about

several children who died after receiving this therapy, I told her I had no

interest in it, and that the fact that some people were actively promoting it

made me really angry. I think some parents (and who can blame them) are desperately

hoping for a quick and easy “cure” for their kids and therefore

become vulnerable to all kinds of misinformed quackery. Our inclination

(after many years) is to help our son learn to deal with some of the downsides

of Asperger’s, while telling him how proud we are of the upsides

(great memory, math and science ability, incredible attention to detail, skill

at any kind of logic game, figuring out how to fix things that are broken, helping

us find the way when we are lost, etc.). We do not expect or hope to “cure”

him – and if it were possible, we probably would not want to.

Please forgive my outburst, if it offends anybody!

Every parent must deal with Asperger’s in his or her own way, so if your

way is different from ours, I don’t mean to imply that you are wrong.

Just be careful not to let someone take advantage of you!

Jill

July 15, 2009

Jill i totally agree with you, my 11 yr old aspie son is wonderful with directions he has helped me lots of times get somewhere when i couldnt find it, his intense attention to details always amazes me, he is superb with hidden pictures and things such as I Spy, puzzles and it is wonderful to watch him with these skills that i simply do not have. I too was shocked by the blood test thing as i know i have never heard of it either but what is this other therapy you mentioned i dont think i have heard of it either not interested just really curious or as my 2 children would say really nosy lol sherryFrom: Jill Kern <JillBKern@...> Sent: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 9:01:45 AMSubject: ( ) Re: Blood test for Aspergers?

Dear Ashleigh, Pam is right. Thereâ€™s no blood test for Aspergerâ€™s,

or at least we have never heard of one. Itâ€™s amazing how many people who donâ€™t have a

child with Aspergerâ€™s feel OK about giving Aspie parents advice,

including my own sister (a registered nurse). They may read an article in

Parentsâ€™ magazine (one of my current un-favorites) about â€œhow I

cured my childâ€™s autismâ€ and suddenly feel that they must spread

the â€œgood newsâ€ to every parent of a child on the autism spectrum â€“

whether or not they really know what theyâ€™re talking about. For example, my sister said she had read about chelation

therapy and felt certain it would help my son. Since I had read about

several children who died after receiving this therapy, I told her I had no

interest in it, and that the fact that some people were actively promoting it

made me really angry. I think some parents (and who can blame them) are desperately

hoping for a quick and easy â€œcureâ€ for their kids and therefore

become vulnerable to all kinds of misinformed quackery. Our inclination

(after many years) is to help our son learn to deal with some of the downsides

of Aspergerâ€™s, while telling him how proud we are of the upsides

(great memory, math and science ability, incredible attention to detail, skill

at any kind of logic game, figuring out how to fix things that are broken, helping

us find the way when we are lost, etc.). We do not expect or hope to â€œcureâ€

him â€“ and if it were possible, we probably would not want to. Please forgive my outburst, if it offends anybody!

Every parent must deal with Aspergerâ€™s in his or her own way, so if your

way is different from ours, I donâ€™t mean to imply that you are wrong.

Just be careful not to let someone take advantage of you! Jill

July 15, 2009

Dear Jill,Thank you for your opinion you made me feel much better about my AS dd. It is so difficult but it is different for each one. I have realized that there are no general "recipes"to deal w/the condition since each person who has it has different levels of development. Regards,AnaSent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeedFrom: "Jill Kern" Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:01:45 -0400< >Subject: ( ) Re: Blood test for Aspergers? Dear Ashleigh, Pam is right. There’s no blood test for Asperger’s, or at least we have never heard of one. It’s amazing how many people who don’t have a child with Asperger’s feel OK about giving Aspie parents advice, including my own sister (a registered nurse). They may read an article in Parents’ magazine (one of my current un-favorites) about “how I cured my child’s autism” and suddenly feel that they must spread the “good news” to every parent of a child on the autism spectrum – whether or not they really know what they’re talking about. For example, my sister said she had read about chelation therapy and felt certain it would help my son. Since I had read about several children who died after receiving this therapy, I told her I had no interest in it, and that the fact that some people were actively promoting it made me really angry. I think some parents (and who can blame them) are desperately hoping for a quick and easy “cure” for their kids and therefore become vulnerable to all kinds of misinformed quackery. Our inclination (after many years) is to help our son learn to deal with some of the downsides of Asperger’s, while telling him how proud we are of the upsides (great memory, math and science ability, incredible attention to detail, skill at any kind of logic game, figuring out how to fix things that are broken, helping us find the way when we are lost, etc.). We do not expect or hope to “cure” him – and if it were possible, we probably would not want to. Please forgive my outburst, if it offends anybody! Every parent must deal with Asperger’s in his or her own way, so if your way is different from ours, I don’t mean to imply that you are wrong. Just be careful not to let someone take advantage of you! Jill

July 17, 2009

Dear Ana,

You are right: every child with Asperger’s is an

individual, and even though they may share some amazing similarities, they are

also different from each other in many ways.

I was talking a couple of evenings ago with a mother of a

boy with Asperger’s who, in addition to being an Aspie parent, also administers

special ed programs at 80 schools in Prince County, Virginia. She was

saying that many girls with Aspergers go undiagnosed for many years because

their social skills are typically better than those of boys. A therapist who

works with girls who have Aspergers was disagreeing with her, saying that she

thought boys with Aspergers were less likely to get an early diagnosis, because

they (according to her) can sometimes get along with other boys fine because

they share an interest in sports, and boys develop socially later than girls,

so expectations of Aspie boys aren’t as great. So even the professionals

who deal with Asperger’s disagree! My take on this is, if you deal with

a professional who doesn’t seem to understand your child or proposes a

treatment or strategy that doesn’t seem to work, try finding another

professional to help you. Your own judgment should always take precedence over

that of someone who doesn’t know your child!

Jill

July 17, 2009

i agree with jill, it took me over 5 yrs to get dx for my son, when he was five the first therapist and pscyiatrist he had informed me that they reallly believed my son had bigger issues to deal with than adhd, and then they informed me that they felt he had aspergers or pdd-nos at that time i had no idea what that meant and when they continued to tell me that it was a higheer functioning of autism, i flat out said my son is not autistic, my son cant possible have what you are describing so they gave me pamplets and told me to do research so i did and when i found out exactly what asperger's was i knew in my heart that my son fell into the guidelines - he was referred to one place they had like 5 people doing different assessments on my son and part of this was letting my son build for a

very long time and then knocking it over as they left him alone, he didnt react when they were present but when i got to him he was very very upset it took me and my mom 15 min or so to get him calmed down so i could meet with the head dr in charge of his assessment and this guy said because my son didnt react the way he thought he should have he doesnt meet the critira put him in boys scouts and he will be fine, my mother was appalled i was ok at first but my sons symptoms started to increase, i sought counseling for my son again as he had stopped seeing the one therapist because they moved to a private pratice that didnt take my insurance , so this new agency had josh see a pscycologist who meet with my son alone first and for over an hour, then he met with me, now i had not given any prior info other than he had been dx with adhd, and had some anxiety, this dr looked at me and said i believe your son has asperger's, my mouth fell open he said

oh this doesnt come as a surprise to you have you heard this before , so i explained to him what happened and he smiled and he said after talking with my son and watching him for even the short period of time he could see that my son had asperger's , i dont know why the other dr couldnt see it but since then 4 other dr have said the same thing my son has asperger's and the adhd was a blanket dx. If you truely believe your child has this and the professional doesnt agree take him some where new and get another opinion my son is 11 now and as i sit and watch him the obvious cant be denied anymore, he spins, he twists his fingers or hands, sometimes snaps his fingers nonstop, he mimics things from movies as well as other people, he lacks eye contact, he cant make friends easily, he invades others personal space he has sensory issues all of it so you see you should really see another opinion. sherryFrom: Jill Kern <JillBKern@...> Sent: Friday, July 17, 2009 7:12:48 AMSubject: ( ) Re: Blood test for Aspergers?

Dear Ana, You are right: every child with Aspergerâ€™s is an

individual, and even though they may share some amazing similarities, they are

also different from each other in many ways. I was talking a couple of evenings ago with a mother of a

boy with Aspergerâ€™s who, in addition to being an Aspie parent, also administers

special ed programs at 80 schools in Prince County, Virginia. She was

saying that many girls with Aspergers go undiagnosed for many years because

their social skills are typically better than those of boys. A therapist who

works with girls who have Aspergers was disagreeing with her, saying that she

thought boys with Aspergers were less likely to get an early diagnosis, because

they (according to her) can sometimes get along with other boys fine because

they share an interest in sports, and boys develop socially later than girls,

so expectations of Aspie boys arenâ€™t as great. So even the professionals

who deal with Aspergerâ€™s disagree! My take on this is, if you deal with

a professional who doesnâ€™t seem to understand your child or proposes a

treatment or strategy that doesnâ€™t seem to work, try finding another

professional to help you. Your own judgment should always take precedence over

that of someone who doesnâ€™t know your child! Jill

July 21, 2009

Dxing it is not that simple. Don't we all wish. She must be talking about a blood test for something else. Or perhaps her friend had a blood test to rule out a different disorder?

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke

( ) Blood test for Aspergers?

I was at my nephewâ€™s birthday party this afternoon and got involved in a discussion with another parent (my brothers wife's sister). She asked if he had any medical issues. I knew where she was going, so I decided to save her the pain of choking on the leather of her designer flip-flops by telling her I felt he had Aspergers Syndrome, but we were in the middle of diagnostic testing.

She got all worked up about how his diagnostic testing should include a blood test (may have mentioned a genetic test, but not a specific one) and how I should not mention to anyone who cares for about my suspicions until the blood test is back. She went on to tell me this blood test will determine if he has Aspergers or not, to what degree he does, and what parts of his brain and personality are affected.

Because I had never heard of such a thing, I didn't argue with her but politely asked if she could e-mail me the information so I could r

esearch it. She didn't know the specifics of the name, but said a friendâ€™s child had gone through this test at a Children's hospital and was pleased with the results???

Has anyone heard of the test she mentioned? I don't mean to sound skeptical, but if diagnosing Aspergers is so simple, why does it sometimes take years to get an accurate diagnosis and proper help for our kids?

I am new to this process, but have felt for quite some time that my child was unique and struggled with social interactions as well as a number of sensory stimulation issues.

I know this I wish I could be m

ore specific with test names and such, but this is all she gave me to go on! Thank you all in advance for any replies and responses!!

Take care,

Ashleigh

_______________________

~Ashleigh~

"So you see! There's no end to the things you might know,

Depending how far beyond Zebra you go!â€ ~Dr. Seuss

www.picturetrail.com/ashleigh1976

An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!

July 21, 2009

Types of autism that can be determined using a blood test? What types of autism?

Roxanna

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." E. Burke