Head circumference

[krystaltps]

At the Tony Attwood talk today, he said something that instantly explained something about C, and added fuel to my suspicions about DS2..... an early indicator of ASD is vastly accelerated head growth at birth or just after, that then tails off later in childhood. Both my boys, by the time they were about 3-4 weeks old, had head circumferences that were off the scale. Both were referred to the paed to be investigated but no cause was ever determined, other than perhaps it was a genetic trait (certain male members on my side of the family also had very large heads as children).

Did anyone else's child have an overly large head circumference?

[llisa32]

Wow!! - I am sortof lost for words....yes my son J had a huge head when he was born and was one of the reasons why we had such an awful labour!

 

Gosh....we too had specialist check whilst he was till a baby to make sure there were no issues with having such a large head and to this day have struggled to get hats to fit him - although it is slowing now and more in line with rest of him (7.5yrs at mo)

 

Seems all the time whilst I'm waiting for the specialist appt now more and more stuff fits

[cmuir]

Hi

 

In general my son's growth has seemingly accelerated - he's 5, yet wearing clothes to fit a 10 year old. He towers above all the others primary 1 kids in his class and he's shoulder height on me!

 

I'd need to double check his baby medical book, but certainly he has plagiocephaly (his head is flat on one side, a bit bumpy on the other and is mishapen). This wasn't due to him lying on one side when he was a baby.

 

Caroline.

[krystaltps]

Hi

 

In general my son's growth has seemingly accelerated - he's 5, yet wearing clothes to fit a 10 year old. He towers above all the others primary 1 kids in his class and he's shoulder height on me!

 

I'd need to double check his baby medical book, but certainly he has plagiocephaly (his head is flat on one side, a bit bumpy on the other and is mishapen). This wasn't due to him lying on one side when he was a baby.

 

Caroline.

 

Wow! Now I am speechless - looked up plagiocephaly and found myself looking at a picture of DS2's head! He was born that way. I always asked about it at check-ups and was told it was probably due to the fact that his twin basically sat on him for most of the pregnancy. Always wondered if it had something to do with his epilepsy but was told that it didn't. At least we know its name now - thankyou.

[MelowMeldrew]

Mine did too, at first I and his mum were subject to intense questioning by a consultant as to hereditary factors, did any of our parents have this 'deformity' etc, none did, and at about 8 yrs old there was no sign of any difference in his head size from the norm. We used to joke he looked like the 'Mekon' from Dan Dare, the first 6 months... the back of his head was quite flat for a year and a half..

Edited May 13, 2007 by MelowMeldrew

[Flora]

YES!!

 

Bill had a head circumfrance which went off the centile charts. It wasn't big enough to warrant any worry, but from MRI scan at 2 months old I do know he has (or had?) extra fluid in the frontal lobe.

 

Flo'

[MichelleW]

J's head was actually smaller than normal - just above the 0.4th percentile at birth and rose to just above 2nd percentile at 2 months (compared to 2nd-9th percentile for weight and length, so he wasn't out of proportion). He wasn't measured again until his assessment at 3 when the paed noticed he had a small head. She measured me and my mother and we both have quite small heads!

 

DS2 was on the 75th centile at birth for weight and head circumference and 91st centile for length. Again pretty much in proportion. And at nearly 2.5 years he is about 98th centile for everything! The charts I have for head circumference don't go above 1 year of age.

[carrieq]

Ds head size not checked regularly but at birth it was off the scale and before he was one i remember getting him a GAP cap and having to take the up to 3 years one back and changing it for a 3-6 years!!

He was not a big baby, 8lbs and even now height and weight wise is quite small

Carrie

[av16]

My son had the circumference of his head measured during his assessment by a paediatrician before diagnosis. His head was on the 99th centile and seemed to be part of his diagnosis. He told my son in passing that he had a big head and joked about being brainy.My son hates references to his head size. As others have said although he is quite tall he is skinny. Thre have been other threads about this in the past, I think that it is recognised as an indicator of ASD, (along with other signs).

[hev]

stevens head size was also commented on through the years so ive always thought it was a factor

[elun1]

This post sent shivers up my spine!!!

Ds2 was referred to paeds as his head circumference so off the scale by the time he was 10 mths. Never any cause found as when they went to scan him his fontanelle had closed. His head is still a funny shape now he's six but he is very tall for age so his head doesn't look so out of proportion

Elun xxx

[Millymoo]

My son shows some asperger traits (his uncle and dad have aspergers) and has recently been tested for Fragile-X because of his large head & small legs. He's not in proportion. Although he's 2 & half, he wears age 12-18mth thousers and age 5-7 hats! He aslo has a delayed speech development. I didn't realise it could be linked to ASD.

[mummy]

How bizarre is this thread!?!

Our boy had a very large head at birth and still does. He also had plageocephaly but it seems to have evened itself out over the years (he's now nearly 14)

His dad had a big head too, and he also, we are sure, has Aspergers.

 

weird!

[shamu]

Another one with a large head here. Though I'm certain it's familial in DS's case - neither me nor my own father can find hats to fit

DS is another one who had plagiocephaly and the physio felt it was due to antenatal factors....

Shamu

[jb1964]

I've never heard of this either.

 

Our daughters head circumference was on the higher end of average when she was born and through the years of her life - whereas all the other measurements were below the 3% centile line.

 

Take care,

Jb

[onlycrazygal]

OMG our bean has always had a big head over 97th percentile he had to have a scan at 6weeks

old nothing was found however he has always had an odd shaped head. he is very tall too he s 11 and is now 5ft 2.

hugs,

paula

[LizC]

Hi No Matthew's head was average sized and stayed the same throughout. actually he has always been pretty small for his age although catching up now.

[Minx]

Hi

 

Both my son's were born with large heads. They both have been off the scale and have adult size heads. We are being investigated by the Genitsist for a link with large heads and autiism for a gene called the P10, that we have been told could have caused the condtion

[krystaltps]

Hi

 

Both my son's were born with large heads. They both have been off the scale and have adult size heads. We are being investigated by the Genitsist for a link with large heads and autiism for a gene called the P10, that we have been told could have caused the condtion

 

WOW! So they are actually aware of the gene? Does the gene cause the big heads, or the autism? Or don't they know yet?

[PinkSapphire]

I never heard of this either.

Luke had a very large head from birth and they did panic aobut the rate it was growing at (fast), he was given 2 ultrasound scans through his soft spot within his first 9 months, but they were not able to find a cause having ruled out hydrocephalas (sp?)

[Minx]

WOW! So they are actually aware of the gene? Does the gene cause the big heads, or the autism? Or don't they know yet?

They do not know yet. They have told us that the two are a conditions they find together. We are awaiting the outcome of blood tests which take up to 6 months.

 

Mandy

[Noetic]

I don't know about when I was growing up but I sure have a big noggin now

[wilson]

Hello,

 

This is quite interesting. My son has a rather larger head than average.

 

Janet

[Cariad]

DS had a big head when he was a baby, it's now caught up with his body now. I remeber thinking when he was asleep a as a baby of how big and sweaty it was

[oxgirl]

My lad's head wasn't above average, but it was large compared to the size of the rest of him. I think his head circ was on the 50th centile whereas the rest of him was on the 2nd and is now on the 0.4th centile, so in that sense his head was big for him. He had a lot of trouble gaining control of his head when he was a baby and when other babies his age could sit up straight and hold their heads erect, his was still wobbling all over the place, his little neck just wasn't strong enough to support it, at a check-up the consultant even said that his head was rather large and that's why he was having trouble controlling it.

When he was a little boy, because his body was so very thin and tiny, his head did look very big, but it's more in proportion now, even though his height and weight are still on the 0.4th centile.

 

~ Mel ~

[krystaltps]

C had this problem too - he was noted as having a noticeable "head lag" at his 8wk check-up. Simply because his head was too big and heavy to hold up.