Your kid?s diagnosis may be missing something important
Alexander Repetski?s daughter Gwenevere, now age five, had her first seizure at three months old and was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy. Her seizures were eventually brought under control through cannabis therapy, but Gwenevere remained non-verbal. Repetski and his wife noticed she would focus on specific objects and engage in repetitive behaviours. Gwenevere had been diagnosed with global development delay (GDD) as a result of her severe epilepsy, but the family wondered if she could in fact have another co-morbid condition: autism spectrum disorder.
?Because she has GDD, some doctors weren?t willing to look at [the possibility of] autism,? says Repetski. He persevered nonetheless, because he felt his daughter would benefit from applied behaviour analysis and other autism therapies. His parental instinct was right: After testing, the new diagnosis was made and Gwenevere was able to get the right treatments to help her thrive. Parents who are worried that a single diagnosis doesn?t account for some of their kid?s symptoms should catalogue those symptoms and research possible co-morbid conditions. ?Doctors will pay attention to someone who comes in and says: ?This is what?s going on. Here?s the evidence. I need to see these specialists,?? says Repetski.
Common ASD co-morbid conditions
In fact, autism has a number of possible co-occurring conditions. The evolving field of gene sequencing reveals that as many as 60 percent of kids on the spectrum also have another identi...
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