born in hosp. FL | Autism PDD

I don't know about Florida - but I seriously doubt that they test for Fragile X at birth. It's a pretty expensive test and I doubt that any state or insurance has funds to fund that for ALL newborns. I could be wrong though - maybe someone from Floriday will chime in! Did anyone have a child born in FL or could anyone tell me if they check for x-fragile. I know they check for blood disorders and some genetic. This is for a friend

amberwaves39317.8092361111I live in Florida but the boys weren't born here, but I agree with snoopywoman, I am almost positive that no state tests for fragile X as a routine test at birth, they would only test for fragile X if they suspected something was wrong. The boys were born in Maryland but they weren't tested for fragile X until they were 2 and it was more of a rule out test once it was obvious something was going on. Talking at the IEP meeting to the team here in Florida they were pretty impressed the boys had been tested for fragile X at all, so I doubt it is a routine test here. It should be in the childs records, a call to the pediatrician would tell you if the child had been tested or not.Um, ours was about 00 and although we only had a 10% co-pay - that's a huge chunk of change!Snoop -- JUST for Fra-X???? Or were there other things with it???Payne was born in Ohio...they didn't check for Fragile X until a doctor requested it when he was 2. It was expensive...our insurance covered it though. I think there were other things with it - but I think in general, if they are testing for Fragile X, they want to check for other things as well. I didn't know they did a test JUST for Fragile X. I think the theory is that if you are going to draw blood from a child (particularly with autism) - you better get all the testing you can do on him from that one draw!My ds was born in Orange co Florida in 2003. They did not test for fragile x. His ped neuro ordered test when he was 2- it was neg.oh-hospital he was born at-Arnold Palmer. Hope this helps!

Ours was close to 00! We too pay 10%. I don't know if fragile X would have been included in that, at the time he had his first seizure...I know the neuro had mentioned autism to us at the time...but then he had an MRI that showed brain damage, so I'm not sure what exactly she was looking for with the genetic testing.

I'm going to call and get the medical records, just for my own curiousity.

I would guess because it is a genetic test, not a disorder test and it looks to be expensive although I didn't know that. I never saw a bill. I do know that it is specialized, we had to go to Walter Reed to have the blood drawn and even then they sent the blood somewhere else, but the dr wanted to make sure it was drawn properly. Just the regular old lab wouldn't do. Not every lab is going to be able to run the test, that might be another reason it isn't routine.

I doubt that anyone is screening for Fragile X at birth. In fact there is a paper on fragilex.org that is from American Soc of Hum Gen? (not sure of org name) and recommends AGAINST screening the general population.

And ... there are issues with genetic testing. Ethical issues Dh has glommed onto and won't let go of, unfortunately. If a physical, biological diagnosis is made, will it follow a person, the rest of their LIFE? Will it make them uninsurable, or cause conditional exclusion of insurance, for them?

The test itself is inexpensive and simple -- just ask for it if you want it and insurance should cover it.

hmmm, I wonder why they check for blood disorders like sickiecell,peku at FL hosp. but not x-fragile? Emerald let me know if they did. Request the medical records and/or ask your doctor. They should be able to tell you what was done. There are lots of genetic tests and usually they do Fragile X when autism is suspected. They may have done a Fragile X if they also suspected autism when he had his seizure - but you should check with them on that.

Maybe they don't do it at birth, but is is part of genetic testing then, if you have had that done? Just wondering because I remember after Mason's first seizure they did some sort of genetic testing on him, and all I can remember is that it was EXPENSIVE and everything came back ok...I never went into detail about what they were exactly testing for, and honestly never heard of Fragile X before I came to this website.

Guess I'm just curious now.