Aspergers Parents: I Need Advice on Possible Aspergers Diagnosis.

I knew something was going on with my son since he was 3. He had trouble sitting still, kept getting sent home from mother's day out, and had speech issues. He was obsessed with woodworking, tools, and electronics- but so is everyone else in our family. Before I had read much about Asperger's, people would describe him as an absentminded professor (Aspies are often described as Little Professors). Everyone who meets him says he's going to be an engineer or inventor, but he struggles with handwriting and still can't tie his shoes at age 10.
Two of the books I read when my son was first diagnosed are Parenting your Asperger child by Sohn & Grayson, and Quirky Kids by Klass & Costello.
Let me know if you have any questions. One of the things that helped me was finding other families that knew what we were going through.

My son was diagnosed Autistic at 19 months old. At the time of his diagnosis, the developmental pediatrician said that the only value the diagnosis has is the doors for treatments it opens. At 19 months old, there were a lot of factors they just couldn't test for. As time has gone on, it is more and more evident that the diagnosis was appropriate and I am thankful for the many therapies he has gotten and continues to get.

I would have a candid talk with your child's pediatrician. "OK, so you want to attach a label to my child. So what? Tell me what we should *do*?" I would absolutely ask for a referral to a developmental pediatrician. They may have more info to share regarding the nuances of a diagnosis and appropriate therapies your child may benefit from.

I have a 5 year old son who has been diagnosed "on the fence" for PDD-NOS and later ADHD...I think Aspergers may be correct......no matter what the letters behind the name - it's the behaviors that need to be helped. I was told by a family member that I was "obsessed with my sons diagnosis" and was very angry as it wasn't I was obsessed I simply wanted to know as much as possible about what to expect and how to help.
anyway - for probably 6 months now we've had to regularly give my son miralax for encopresis....he was never 100% potty trained anyway but a few months before he turned 5 he'd go weeks without having a problem and then all of a sudden he would go w/out even knowing it was happeneing = it was at that point I realized there was more of a problem. So, we went to the dr. and found out about encopresis. So, he went on miralax everyday until he got to a certain 'consistency' and then we had to try to cut back or add more here and there to figure out how to keep it regular. there are many times a month or more will pass and I think we're done with accidents......then a week here and there comes where he's a little more 'backed up' than normal and will have a few accidents. That's when I remind myself that Miralax is probably a daily thing for a long time.........best of luck - I am sure all of this is overhwelming. Feel free to PM me.

My good friend's son was diagnosed with autism after going to the doctor for a couple of years. I googled "symptoms of aspergers" and got this....
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-syndrome-s...
Is the doctor ONLY thinking of aspergers because of the encopresis? That doesn't even show up on the symptoms list. Check it out and see if your son does any of the other things.
L.

My ex's son is an aspie. I actually researched and and diagnosed it. It took me four months of research before I actually felt comfortable coming to his father and saying "yes, I think he has this." So, I guess I understand it pretty well.

As for your son, 4 years old is pretty young to make a definitive diagnosis of Asperger's. Most children aren't diagnosed until about 7-9 years old...and that is after a whole battery of tests and evaluations (which takes about 6 hours). I'd look for a second opinion.

Hi A.. My step dtr is moderately retard, my dtr ADD and son ADHD...so I feel for you. My ADD daughter has an appt in May to get further diagnosed as her Psychiatrist thinks she may have a *little* aspergers in her (and I agree). So we are going to have her tested with a Psychologist who is more experienced. We are members of a Meetup.com group called "Parents of Special Needs Kids". Its free to join meetup.com, search in your area to see if there are any local groups, or consider starting your own (or see if you can join ours). Its great to have people you can talk to that understand what you are going thru. I hope you find some answers, good luck!

GI issues (medical) and ASD behaviors are strongly linked for most on the spectrum. The behavior of encopresis may stem from a medically treatable GI issue and this medical issue may in turn be contributing to "Aspie-ness" behavior. Mainstream GI Dr.s vary on their awareness of the strong association between the Gut-Brain connection and how it feeds into ASD. I recommend you find a reputable DAN! Dr (Medical Dr who has been through autism-related health training) to discuss what may be behind the encopresis as well as wether it may be linked to Aspie behaviors. If you get your son's gut to a more normal or healthy state, your son's need/fear to withold and some of the sensory issues may both improve. Some of the items that a DAN! Dr may evaluate are your son's pancreatic function (enzyme production for digestion) presence/level of secretory IgA, degree of good vs unfriendly flora including candida overgrowth, dietary stressors(food sensitivities and allergies). He/She may have specific recommendations for nutrition and dietary support. Most of these Drs will advise AGAINST regular Miralax treatment--only if immediately necessary--due to the potential for toxicity from the polyethylene glycol which is of extreme concern in patients who have leaky guts where it appears this large molecule is able to breach the gut and enter the body. Further, Mirolax is a bandaid, and does nothing to address what may be causing the constipation. While you don't mention whether you have tried this, I am just putting that out there because it seems for some Dr's, the "new normal" is for many kids to be constipated and require regular Mirolax --a subset of these kids may be harmed by regular use and for the majority who suffer no side effects, well, none will be cured until the conditions that are causing it fade or resolve. On the rare occasions where my son appears constipated and in need of "help" (during which time his ASD behaviors are generally worse), I use Magnesium Citrate to loosen his stool. My son generally has the opposite problem of frequent very loose stools . His gut has improved dramatically with diet, pancreatic enzymes with his food, probiotics, a diet rich if frest vegetables and fruits, and avoiding his inflammatory food triggers although he continues to have recurrences where perhaps food infractions or unfriendly flora get the upper hand. HTH, B.