Rett's Syndrome

My daughter's Paediatrician rang this afternoon to speak about concerns raised by the Senior Therapist at the clinic Elizabeth attends. They both wish for Elizabeth to be tested for Rett's Syndrome, a complex neurobiological disorder of development in which an infant seems to grow and develop normally at first, but then stops developing and even loses skills and abilities with onset motor deterioration occurring later in life. The symptoms of Rett's Syndrome are very similar to classic Autism. I immediately got onto the internet and started researching the Syndrome as the test is very expensive and I wanted to make sure before I dolled out yet more money. Yes, Elizabeth does have many of the symptoms such as loss of speech, anxiety and social-behavioral problems, and feeding difficulties (but these are common with Autistic children as well). But the most common symptom she definitely does not have is loss of motor co-ordination and movement. Elizabeth is very active with excellent gross motor skills, she's a veritable gymnast when it comes to the trampoline and she can easily race me up the stairs (its fine motor skills that are the problem). Tomorrow, I will be sitting down and having a deep discussion with her therapists before I go prodding Elizabeth with any more needles.