Comments on: Prenatal Genetic Testing for Autism: Two Perspectives

By: Robert Gillespie

Robert Gillespie — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:50:30 +0000

If we had a genetic autism test and applied it to the fetus then then we could better predict whether the genetic transition happened after birth or prior to birth. May people are scared about mercury based vaccines, they likely don’t cause the abnormality but at least we would know for sure with some genetic testing.

By: Psychiatric Genetics

Psychiatric Genetics — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:26:49 +0000

[...] discussions about autism: There are concerns about what choices parents might make if there were a prenatal test for autism and as other diagnostic genetic tests for autism are developed. As my son’s communication [...]

By: What do you know about genetics?

What do you know about genetics? — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:47:58 +0000

[...] have in order to fully take advantage of the genome revolution?” In view of the fact that a prenatal genetic test might someday be developed for autism and continued advances in the study of autism genetics, I [...]

By: Emilie

Emilie — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 00:00:15 +0000

When an AFP result concluded my second child would be born with Down’s my members of my extended family were vocal regarding “termination”. Both for and against. I kept my own counsel and my son. He does not have Down’s. He has a very high IQ. An irony in that the pro-terminator’s are IQ snobs. He is however an aspie. A Dx which took years and years to get correct. Now I wonder how many Aspie are mis-dx with the AFP. Also I think of all the time lost in treatment and all the frustrations our son and those who love him endured. What if we had had the right dx from the beginning!

By: Micki

Micki — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 01:10:56 +0000

Prenatal testing brings a tremendous amount of fear into a woman’s pregnancy. The information you learn from these tests — that your child has x% chance of having a particular disorder, which you can do absolutely nothing about — is useless. A positive test for Down’s syndrome, or in the future autism, is no more a prediction of the child’s quality of life than a negative result it. But the test makes women scared. The worst case scenario will always be anticipated. It’s like saying to someone, tomorrow you will have a hurricane, but we don’t know if it will be a minor category 1 or a major category 5. So stay home and wait or take the next flight out. Which would you do?
I agree that autism needs more advocacy and less fear-based propoganda, but prenatal testing will be a setback for this re-education.
Check out this article for an interesting take on the Politics of Prenatal Testing:

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9304/articles/kristol.html

By: Phil Schwarz

Phil Schwarz — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 04:00:32 +0000

Yes, Kristina, but the prevailing “conventional wisdom” is that it is. And that “conventional wisdom” is buttressed by the megabucks of Autism Speaks and the mind- and media-share of “Autism Every Day”.

And the same “conventional wisdom” exists regarding Down’s. That is why there is a 90% rate of termination of trisomy-21 pregnancies in this country — with many of those decisions being foregone conclusions regardless of whatever genetic counseling might be available.

Genetic counseling regarding autism prognoses, if and when it is organized in the wake of breakthroughs in medical testing, is likely to be a barn door shut after the horse has long since escaped, as ineffective as it is for Down’s, unless we force and *shame* the “establishment” autism organizations — the old and possibly malleable, such as ASA, and the nouveau-riche brittle in their arrogance, such as Autism Speaks — into changing their public messages.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 17:38:52 +0000

Life with autism is not a tragedy, and neither is autism.

By: Jannalou

Jannalou — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 17:12:07 +0000

We need to start an ad campaign to combat the defeatist attitude of organizations like Autism Speaks. Only when they are silenced will we be able to begin to relax.