yes, I do think the stimulants suppressed Charie’s appetite. My husband does take medication and it helps, but he doesn’t take it all the time and has for the most part learned to live with the ADHD.

I was once very good at math and then—in the middle of Calculus class—was no longer able to understand it. I’d have to describe myself (and my husband, for that matter) as “verbally oriented.”

I have been considering whether I should get tested for the Fragile X gene, because of my mother.

We never tried ritalin; my youngest two take focalin XR. My middle one took Stratera for awhile, but the side effects were terrible. My oldest and I have been taking Adderall, but I am probably going to stop; I notice no benefit other than weight loss (to the point where people ask if I’m unwell).
I read that stimulants often do not have a positive effect in kids with autism/AS and NT children who do not have ADHD. It confused me, but I also read that the DSM manual prohibits diagnosing ADHD and AS concurrently, yet there are a lot of researchers who believe they are comorbid conditions.

I also read stimulants supress appetite, so I guess that is what happened to Charlie? This has not happened with my kids, but honestly it would not be bad if it did.

I do not fit the profile of someone who could be an engineer; I am terrible at math. I have always been very verbal and excel at writing and reading comprehension. Yet I also do well at spacial relationship tests. I have come to realize that despite being “verbally oriented,” I am a visual thinker, along the lines of what Temple Gradin describes. I believe my verbal acuity is a function of good rote memory and cognitive analysis. I also have a notable verbal/performance IQ discrepancy, so I assume something is going on.

You mentioned your husband has ADHD. Does he take medication and if so, is it helpful?

An earlier post about the flu in expecting mothers.

I definitely have some relatives—-including my maternal grandfather—-who I think were on the spectrum (he emigrated from China in the early 20th century, got his degree in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley), and worked for the State of California as a bridge inspector. Really smart, really good at math, and a difficult man.

On the other side of the family, almost every cousin of my generation is in engineering or computers/software/technology. One cousin (he’s the only one besides me who’s not in those fields, though now and again, I think I would do fine in job as a software programmer) is over 40 and just had a baby last fall.

My MIL has a long history of depression, anxiety disorder, and bipolar. An amazingly smart woman with less than zero self-confidence; she has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years.

We tried Charlie on Ritalin for a very short period of time: He immediately stopped eating (very odd as he loves to eat) and became nervous and skittish, as if he were taking in too much—-everyone was relieved when we stopped giving it to him.

http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/40/10695

While these were not human studies, I would still take precaution to avoid exposure to influenza (of course, pregnant women try to avoid illness already). I also would not father a child if I were a man over age 40, which correlates with an increased likelihood of autism.

I believe autism has a genetic basis. My husband has AS, his mother had it or something like it, and his sister seems affected. His mother said her own sister (his aunt, whom I never met) was “mildly retarded,” although her father insisted she was not; the mother’s sister did live independently as an adult. Maybe she had an autistic disorder?

Two of my three children have AS/ADHD. I have sensory processing disorder and supposed ADHD; ADHD medication does not seem to work for me, and two AS experts suggested I am likely on the spectrum, though I never had a diagnosis. My oldest son–who has a different father than my two youngest–shows spectrum traits, but not enough to be AS, and is diagnosed with ADHD and depression (his medications help). I also have schizophrenia in my family (one uncle and two great-uncles).

My mother was classified as mentally disabled after being committed/evaluated in the 1970s, but I’ve had little to no contact with her in 25 years and can’t assess her according to what I know about autism. My father doesn’t remember or doesn’t want to answer my questions. I recall that she graduated high school, wrote in cursive and even authored basic poetry, could read (she sometimes read autobiographies of celebrities she was obsessing over). She also had epilepsy. Her entire family denied she was retardation and insisted she had a speech problem (as did she); she spoke EXCEPTIONALLY slowly. She lived semi-independently as an adult and received SSI. She couldn’t handle many adult tasks, like driving or cooking. Her doctor told my father she was mentally equivalent to a 9-year-old but that “if her family had accepted her condition and gotten help early, she could have functioned almost normally.” I have long puzzled over that statement. Doesn’t that sound like autism?

So, I feel strongly something genetic is going on, but I can’t say there may not be cases that have an environmental basis resulting in genetic mutation.

I do not subscribe to the vaccination theory, but I would not fault any parent for wanting to space out the shots as a precaution. I think this sounds reasonable.

I love what Dr. Chew wrote about observation and early intervention. I definitely believe these are very important.

And thank you for your thoughtful questions—–the discussion here has helped me to think more on these issues, and to learn a lot. It’s an honor to learn about your family—-very best wishes.

Thank you so much for your post, and to everyone who shared their thoughts! My husband and I’ve read each comment, and we’re coming up with the plan that’ll work for us. I’ll certainly keep reading here. This site is full of very well-informed, rational contributors, and I’ve already learned so much from you all.

Thank you, again.

And here in New Jersey, there are four more vaccines that children have to take—-Charlie has to take 2 more (including meningitis and whooping cough) as he is going into 6th grade; preschoolers have to get a pneumococcal vaccine and children in licensed childcare or daycare centers, a flu shot. Charlie had the chicken pox vaccine and then got a very mild case—-he was 5 at the time and there was no way that I would have been able to keep him from scratching himself had he had a much worse case.