My daughter is autistic and today I was told my son is as well. His Dr. said he is also mentally retarded. I'm going to get a second opinion because I do not believe that he is mentally retarded. I do agree that he is autistic. I see him doing things that my daughter also did at his age. Which at the time I didn't know it was abnormal. Now I know what to look for. Anyway with my daughter she also has ADHD which I have been told usually goes hand and hand with autism. Does anyone know if it is common to see a mentally retarded autisic child? I am having a hard time believing that he would be both. If anyone has any experience with this please let me know where I can find more info. I've been searching the web but haven't found anything with info. on both.

Statistically, it is possible, at least according to my reading. I think cognative impairment is pretty tough to really assess when they are very young. How old is he? Did the Dr. say why he thought this?
I'm sorry for your most recent diagnosis.
God bless.

Almost 70% of people diagnosed with autism are also mentally retarded. At this young of an age I think it is impossible to know. One of my close friends son was diagnosed autistic with an IQ score of 69 (which is mentally retarded). The diagnosis was at age 2.5. He was reavaluated when he was 3 years 6 months after being in an ABA program for 10 months and tested cognitvely at 3 years 8 months. Because of the difficulties autistics have with understanding language and compliance issues it is very hard to have an accurate test. My advise to you is to start working with him at home while your daughter is in school. Teach him how to do the things he could not accomplish when they tested him. We started out with the shape sorter, puzzles, and lots of pretend play. That is how small children learn best.

Many children with Kanner-type autism are mentally retarded (IQ < 70), children with Asperger's and High-Functioning autism (Kanner-tpye but higher IQ and functionality) have an IQ of 70 or above, although in AS it is often average to above average, but not always.

But yes, mental retardation and learning difficulties are very common in autism.

Also most autistic children have some level of AD/HD symptoms.

pipediggy... have u considered having ur son.. tested for fragileX.. it is a type of retardation...that has autistic like symptoms and behaviors... I read they can test them by a finger stick... mebbe its something worth lookin up on the net... best of luck

I have already had him tested for fragile X and it came back negative. Thanks for the suggestion anyway. The Dr. said she will mail me a copy of her report but has not gone into an detail right now. My son is 22 months , I plan to get a second opinion in about 6 months or so. This way I can see if he starts doing more in the meantime.

Forgive me if I am wrong but the term 'retarded' is not considered politically correct anymore. My son is Autistic, and yes he is well behind his peers. He is 7 with a mental age of 3. It really upsets me when people use the term 'retard'. Sure my son has learning difficulties but more than makes up for it in other ways. He is the most loving child I have ever known. He is a whizz with a pc already and often shows us up when using it!
Try to put life into perspective. Your child may need more help and support than others of the same age but just love that child and enjoy the time you have together as life is too short to dwell on all the negativity. All the best!

Shellster AFAIK the term "mental retardation" is used to indicate an IQ < 70.

I'm sorry if this offends you!

The dr. told me mental retardation. Just because I quote her doesn't mean I love my child any less than you love your child or see him as a lesser person. I don't appreciate you speaking as thou I do. Anyway apparently you are wrong because it still is used. I didn't just throw that word in there to mean it in a negative way towards my son. It is how he was described to me. I'm just trying to get some info. on both of my childrens disabilites.

yes my son has retardation and autisum

my son also has autism with mental retardation, noone said "retard" they said mental retardation. he is 16 with a mind of an 8 yr old he will always have mental retardation and autism, i also was upset when my son was small the word mental retardation offended me but what is is, i am used to it i still love him and mental retardation is not politically incorrect. it is just a term that takes getting used to.

I'm baffled that a doctor would diagnose mental retardation in a child that is not even two yet. It is, in fact, very difficult to gage intelligence in children with autism, HFA and Asperger's. As far as I know, the best test for measuring intelligence in children on the spectrum is the Leiter Test. This is a non-verbal IQ test. When my son was seven, he was given a standard IQ test (Wechsler) and his average score was a 92, the verbal section bringing his average way down. Two years later he was given the WICS again, with his IQ increasing to 104, and he was also given the Leiter, which uses no dialogue at all during the test. It is given to the hearing impaired and english/second language student. He scored a 136 on the Leiter, and suddenly everyone saw his intelligence in a whole new light. He went from average intelligence with severe language based learning disabilties, to gifted in the blink of an eye.

It has always been my understanding that an IQ test should not be administered until at least the age of five. I have a neuro-typical 3 1/2 year old, and I wouldn't trust any kind of intelligence test on her at this age. My advice is to disregard this diagnosis at this time, and forge forward and get your son all the help that you can. Don't worry about his IQ for another three years, and then make sure to ask for the Leiter test.

Maybe your daughter is just at a higher functioning level of autism than your son. Apart from those diagnosed with high functioning autism, most autistic people have some degree of mental retardation but it is not usually given as a separate diagnosis. My son is five and functions at a level of a two - three year level. Maybe that is what the doctor means. Your son is only two and I am sure with treatment he will improve alot. Good luck and don't always take the doctors words as fact. Get other opinions and see what your up against. It may not be as bad as first thought.

I work with mentally retarded adults... If you look at the diagnostic tools for determining one -vs- the other... from what I've read - Autism has a LOT to do with the social interaction, or lack of social skills to be more precise and mental retardation is a different set of rules (IQ and such).

If you're not happy with diagnosis - get a 2nd opinion.... and a 3rd... and a 4th.... or due to your childs age, wait. The two (MR and Autism) *do*, however, seem to go hand in hand.... From what I've read (and I've been reading a lot lately) autism has uneven development (delays in some areas and not others) whereas children with mental retardation have delays across the board.

My son Cody's official dx is: Autisim Spectrum Disorder, Extreme Developmental Delay, and Mental Retardation.

That is the offical dx done by my local regional center and the school district.

Though I believe that the last part of the dx is due to the Extreme Developmental Delay that he has.

My son was 3 yrs old when he received the offical dx, and at that time he could not speak a work, or follow simple directions. Developmentally he averaged out some where between 2 months to 29 months of age.

He is now 4 yrs old and has been in pre-school for 9 months and he is coming up in developmental age very rapidally.

The words Mental Retardation just don't have the same meaning today as they did 40 years ago. They have reverted back to thier orignal meaning.

Mental= of the mind Retardation= slow of

hence the combined word Mental Retardation= Slow of the Mind

That is why ASD and Mental Retardation go hand in hand. It is because of the nature of the developmental delays that gets this final part tagged onto the dx.

I believe the hard part is trying to find what works for your child in trying to unlock the learning portion of the brain. I imagine myself holding a whole bunch of keys and I am trying differant ones in the lock of a door until I find the right one.

For my Cody is was with the start of summer and swimming. He loves to go swimming and that is where we were able to get him to start talking.

I am not sure, but it seems like from what I have been reading on this site. It seems like the kids that are dx at the toddler level or younger get this last part of the dx the the kids that are dx school age level. Anybody have any comment on this?

Sorry this is so long.

ftbworker