People often ask me if my children have autism, now known as autism spectrum disorder, ASD, due to them also having a rare genetic disease called Miller syndrome. This is a relevant question.
Behaviors Like Autism
The best autism professional in the state of Utah diagnosed Heather and Logan with autism in their late 20’s.
It’s not surprising that everyone missed diagnosing autism in my children until young adulthood because of their other problems. For example, hearing loss is a symptom of their disease.
As a result, they didn’t always respond to social situations in typical ways. None of us questioned their responses as being those of someone who has an autism spectrum disorder.
Their rare condition also affects bone and muscle formation that causes short arms and missing fingers, along with other visible characteristics. Strangers don’t behave naturally around my kids, at first, because they look different from the average person.
The abnormal sociable interactions affected my children’s social development in a similar way to that occurs when autism is present. Doctors didn’t consider their behaviors as being autistic, because years ago, the specialists didn’t understand autism as well, and it wasn’t visible in the media.
In conclusion, the answer is no, autism is not a symptom of Miller syndrome. Although both of my kids have ASD, the current medical literature doesn’t list autism as a symptom of the disease.
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