On Wednesday, Olivia had her long awaited visit to The Marcus Institute in Atlanta. It is a clinic solely devoted to treating, evaluating, diagnosing, servicing children with developmental disabilities. To our family, it is was a trip to find the “Holy Grail” of answers for Olivia.
We sat with the developmental specialist for 2.5 hours, during which she observed Olivia, and got a thorough history from me. She said that Olivia possesses all the characteristics to call her Autistic, but that she (the Dr) believes there is definitely some genetic cause behind it. Olivia has previously been tested for Angelman Syndrome, Retts Syndrome, and she also had a comparative genomic hybridization test which i believe tested for subtelomeric rearrangements. The Dr. said that there is an extremely thorough genetic test that she’d like to have run. It goes through all the little nucleotides, or whatever they’re called, on the chain and identifies anomalies. Coincidentally the statistics of genetic causes for autism are rising. There was a new article in the paper on Friday addressing this very topic. Ummm… let’s see if I can google the article…. Here it is
Also, good news, the Dr. said that ABA therapy is exactly what Olivia needs right now. In fact, I just remembered that the neurologist at the Medical College of Georgia had also suggested ABA, which validates the fact that we went ahead and started her at her new school where she will be getting ABA.
It’s a long journey. I’m sure many people will travel with you.
Best wishes
Blessings to your family as you await the testing and start your ABA. Hope it is helpful for your Olivia.
I’m just curious if they did all the tests for Angelman Syndrome on Olivia? There are several because there are many ways a person can have the Syndrome. Some dr’s stop after only one. I’m sure you have done all your research and know all the characteristics of it. She looks so cute in the picture and with the towel in her mouth reminds me of my Grandson who has AS. They seem to always have something in their mouth. How old is she, how old was she when she was walking and is she talking? Some AS kids talk more than others and some not at all as I’m sure you know.
Good luck in finding answers !
2.5 hours!!! When we took Captain Oblivious to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital he got 15 minutes with a social worker. No wonder we didn’t get a Dx for two more years!!