[oceanica]

We are in a match with a very nice emom who has 4 children and one of them has been diagnosed with autism. She was initially called learning disabled and the autism diagnosis was ruled out, and then it was apparently ruled back in.. she carries the diagnosis of autism and mental retardation. We aren't going to pull out of the match or anything, but we are a little concerned... how commonly do autism and mental retardation strike a family twice? I know it is thought to be partially influenced by genetics but I just wonder what the likelihood is that this new baby will also have this problem. The autistic child is nonverbal at age 9 though she does interact with the family and so on.

[melissa_bear003]

I honestly haven't heard of a child having both austism and being mentally challenged, so I couldn't hazard a guess on what the possibilities are, other than to say of the folks I know who have children with Autism, none of them are mentally challenged.

I know, not helpful, but I wanted you to know your thread had been read at least

[momraine]

I worked in special education and many severely autistic children are also delayed. Some do not ever learn to read or write and are never able to be indipendant. My son whose diagnosis is Aspergers will in all likelyhood go to college and be completely indipendant, but that was not the case for some children I taught. I have heard of some families having more than one autistic child, but don't know any statisitics.

[jphollen]

I have two bio children one with Asperger's and one without. No one else in our family has it.

On the flip side my brother is a special ed teacher has has three siblings in his class they all have varying degrees of Autism (ranging from a mild form of Aspergers to severe Autism) the parents of these kids also have twin toddlers who look to by dx as well. Parents are great got early intervention etc.

Who knows what the cards hold in this case. I wish you the best.

[AlexzandersMom]

When it was brought to my attention that my son was possibly autistic, I took it upon myself to do alot of research. With all of my research I found that once you have one autistic child, the chances of you having another autistic child is about one in twenty. I hope this helps some.

[MB80sgirl]

Originally Posted by melissa_bear003

I honestly haven't heard of a child having both austism and being mentally challenged, so I couldn't hazard a guess on what the possibilities are, other than to say of the folks I know who have children with Autism, none of them are mentally challenged.

I know, not helpful, but I wanted you to know your thread had been read at least

I've read that autism & mental retardation occuring together is very common.

[jdox0776]

I have given birth to 6 children each under different circumstances. One has Aspergers (my a daughter) and all 3 of my boys have autism. Genetics on my side are suspected but nothing has conclusively been identified. We have been doing genetic testing for the past 2 years and some tests take months to complete. My brother who was LD growing up is exactly the same as my oldest son is so we think they missed he was autistic.