I wrote a whole long comment and it got eaten because I hit "previous" instead of "post comment" - is there something we can do about that, mods? It's due to the size of the buttons. :P
Attempting to rewrite my comment...
I think a lot depends on what you're prepared to deal with and how concerned you really are about the possible connection. I'm sure you could find plenty of autistic people whose mothers didn't take SSRIs while pregnant, and lots of non-autistic people whose mothers did take them. One study is really only one study. Also, there may be another SSRI you could take that would work just as well and be safer than Celexa.
Autism really isn't The End - it will change your plans and your life, for sure, but if you know it's a possibility you can do some research and be totally prepared if your child is diagnosed with it.
I remember watching a segment on a news program about a couple that found out that their daughter was going to born with a form of Dwarfism, so they researched the condition and were prepared with all kinds of supports for her when she was born. As a result, her communication skills were leaps and bounds ahead of her same-age peers since they chose to focus on that while her motor skills were catching up.
Since the best things you can do for an autistic preschooler are the same things you would do for a non-autistic preschooler (just a bit more intense), you probably wouldn't be looking at a lot of huge differences at first anyway.
Obviously everyone's experience is going to be different. What I know is that, in the families I worked for (when I worked with autistic children), the children who were happiest and the parents who were the least stressed were the families that focused on what was best for each child and not how hard it was to get services/the right services for the autistic child. One family in particular, the youngest daughter was autistic and the daughter two years older than her was gifted. The older girl was placed in split classes at school where she was in the younger grade, so she was constantly challenged. Meanwhile, the younger girl had a full-time aide to help her participate in her class activities. She just graduated from grade 12. I haven't been in touch to find out what's next for her, but I'm sure it will be something she loves, "even though" her speech is stilted and very marginal and she has difficulty with most language-based activities.
Thank you for bringing this up, by the way. I have ADHD, and I'm going to have to stop taking my Adderall when my husband and I decide to start trying to get pregnant. I'm not looking forward to it, but there's absolutely no option for me on that count.
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Date: 2012-07-20 09:48 pm (UTC)Attempting to rewrite my comment...
I think a lot depends on what you're prepared to deal with and how concerned you really are about the possible connection. I'm sure you could find plenty of autistic people whose mothers didn't take SSRIs while pregnant, and lots of non-autistic people whose mothers did take them. One study is really only one study. Also, there may be another SSRI you could take that would work just as well and be safer than Celexa.
Autism really isn't The End - it will change your plans and your life, for sure, but if you know it's a possibility you can do some research and be totally prepared if your child is diagnosed with it.
I remember watching a segment on a news program about a couple that found out that their daughter was going to born with a form of Dwarfism, so they researched the condition and were prepared with all kinds of supports for her when she was born. As a result, her communication skills were leaps and bounds ahead of her same-age peers since they chose to focus on that while her motor skills were catching up.
Since the best things you can do for an autistic preschooler are the same things you would do for a non-autistic preschooler (just a bit more intense), you probably wouldn't be looking at a lot of huge differences at first anyway.
Obviously everyone's experience is going to be different. What I know is that, in the families I worked for (when I worked with autistic children), the children who were happiest and the parents who were the least stressed were the families that focused on what was best for each child and not how hard it was to get services/the right services for the autistic child. One family in particular, the youngest daughter was autistic and the daughter two years older than her was gifted. The older girl was placed in split classes at school where she was in the younger grade, so she was constantly challenged. Meanwhile, the younger girl had a full-time aide to help her participate in her class activities. She just graduated from grade 12. I haven't been in touch to find out what's next for her, but I'm sure it will be something she loves, "even though" her speech is stilted and very marginal and she has difficulty with most language-based activities.
Thank you for bringing this up, by the way. I have ADHD, and I'm going to have to stop taking my Adderall when my husband and I decide to start trying to get pregnant. I'm not looking forward to it, but there's absolutely no option for me on that count.