I can only speak for myself in saying that my son has always been very outgoing.  Even when he was a young child he had all the pre-school teachers in love with him and he was invited to all the children’s birthday parties.  He is more out going than my non CAH daughter in most situations (with the exception of times when he has a "stress episode").  He has always been popular and well liked.

I can’t speak for the female CAHers but having testostorone dumps must reak havok with the emotions.  As a symptomatic carrier I can tell you that when I’m under a great deal of stress I would rather be alone and left to my own "surges" until I can calm down.  I really don’t think that there is enough information for a "link" to be made for autism.  How about the fact that both autistic children and CAHers are made to undergo a great deal of scruteny from birth.  This alone can cause the children to act reserved in both imaginative play and social skills.

Keep in mind that several disorders and diseases have very similar symptoms.  That doesn’t mean that they are related.

For instance, when I was suffering the onset of Hashimoto’s disease (the thyroid turns on and off in the early stages) and was not diagnosed for several years, my primary doc suggested that I go to see a phsychiatrist.  Even though I knew this wasn’t in my mind I went.  When they finally diagnosed me correctly I stopped my appointments with the shrink and asked for a copy of my records.  I was surprised to see that she had suggested that my energy levels and mood swings suggested possible bi-polar disorder.  My husband and I had a chuckle or two and then it hit me!  In this day and age people are given anti depressants for every little thing if the docs can’t definatively and immediatly diagnose something physical.  It was only when my body went into a myxadema coma that they realized there really was something wrong physically.

This also happened to my brother’s mother-in-law last year.  She had been getting head aches and some mood swings and was sent to see a phsychiatrist.  This went on for years and the shrink kept increasing her meds each time she said her head aches were increasing.  Last year she finally collapsed and was hospitalized in a coma.  It was only then that they found that she had brain cancer all along.  She never woke up again and died two days later.

We really need to look hard at all of this medical stuff and be advocates for our loved ones health care.  We can’t just trust blindly like my parents did (and still do).

Needless to say, I’m a little worried about all of this!