The Test

Earlier this summer, we started the process of having genetic testing done on Gus, as requested by the pediatric developmentalist who finally diagnosed him with Asperger's. The first stage of testing was more of an interview with the geneticist for information such as family tree, histories of illnesses, but mostly the routine background on my pregnancy and Gus's early development. The second stage of testing required me to bring Gus to the geneticist for a pretty standard examination. We learned 2 things at this appointment:

- Asperger's seems to be more prevalent among children with Jewish backgrounds; my father-in-law is Russian-Jewish.

- Hyperextensiveness in the joints (commonly known as double-jointedness, which I and Gus are both blessed/cursed with) has some odd relationship to heart murmurs. Go figure.

Then came the most fun part of the test: the blood work. We needed to have blood work done for 2 different doctors, which translated to about 12 vials of blood being drawn from my poor boy's arm. can you imagine what it's like to take a child who is a) hyperactive and b) scared out of his withs and c) doesn't always fully understand what someone is saying to him, and to hold that child still while 12 vials of blood are seeping out of his arm as he looks on (because he refuses to look away)? I must say, I was very proud of him - he held up amazingly well.

We go back in 5 weeks for the results.