Response from T. Attwood about stature

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I have initiated a couple forums in the past about a correlation between Asperger's Syndrome and tall stature. So, I decided to ask the expert, Tony Attwood, about any possible correlation. Here is his response:

Thank you for the message and very important question. The answer is yes, there is an association between Asperger’s syndrome and stature. From my clinical experience, many of the children and adolescents that I see are considerably taller than their age peers and recent research by Cheryl Dissanayake published in 2006 (Development and Psychopathology, 18, 381-393) confirms a link between growth in stature and Aspergers. This can include a larger head circumference in early childhood and larger brain but we do not know why. You can pass on this information to the ‘Wrong Planet’ forum.



Best Wishes

Tony

Maybe I'm not an Aspie then; I'm an adult under average female height.

Interesting.

I was 5'10" aged 14 and the tallest girl in my school. I'm now 6'.

Not sure if my head was considered outsize or not and there are not many photos of me with which to check, as I detest the camera being pointed at me.

But yes, I definitely was, and still am, tall in comparison with my peers.

I knew someone with AS, he was 6'4" in 7th grade

I'm short myself, but I don't think I do have AS for other reasons than stature...

I wonder if it has anything to do with the testosterone levels that I've heard mentioned in here earlier

I'm pretty short or average height for a female - 5'2 - but I'm sure my head is bigger than most, haha. So perhaps that's part of it. I find it hard to get a hat that sits on me properly, they're always a medium or large when I try them on!! Also, I find bracelets hard to find that fit over my large hand width... I always get given them to fit when buying for someone else, because if they fit me they'll fit anyone.

I'm pretty short (around 5'1, maybe a little taller). Of course, my family doesn't have the tallest stature (we're all pretty short) so it's due to another part of my genes lol. I do remember some shirts being a little harder to put on (particularly this one sweater that always used to be almost impossible for me to take off, so I don't know why my parents made me wear it more than once! lol

I'm a tad shorter than average - 5' 4" / 163 cm - but have been this height since I was 12. Although not the tallest in my class in early high school (age 11 to 13), I was considered fairly tall. By the end of school I was well-overtaken by other girls.

My son is tall for his age;, however. The projection, based on the "measure a girl at age two or a boy at age 2.5 then double that figure" theory means my boy will be about 6' 2" when fully-grown, so well above average.

Most AS children I know aren't particularly tall compared with their peers, and the only adult person I suspect has AS (the father of an AS child) is quite short for an adult male.

Fiona

The Height of the Matter Topic

I would like to remind posters that Mr. Attwood mentioned head and brain size in childhood.
He mentioned nothing about adults.

As an adult I possess neither height, nor head size out of proportion to what is considered average. I am not concerned.

My oldest daughter, who is NT, has a larger head size than what is considered normal for being a female. Her NT biological father also possessed a visibly large head. My youngest NT daughter is 5'7" and is four inches taller than me. I think her head is larger!

An infant's head is larger in proportion to his/her body, and with good reason. However, before I would equate that larger head/larger brain equals larger IQ, or even Autism, I would want to review extensive research to back it up (Mr. Attwood was mentioned as having said this in the post)and would want also to know why this issue is important. Is it positive? Or is it something we should be concerned about, or useful in the diagnosing of Autism?

Tall stature is usually viewed as desirable, even attractive (at least to NTs), with the exeption of Marfan syndrome or glandular tumours causing excessive vertical growth.

I knew an unfortunate young man years ago who suffered from hydrocephaly and his head was larger because he did not have a shunt to drain out the fluid accumulating in his brain soon enough after birth. He was actually very NT, and very tall, like his parents and had very severe physical disabilities.

Remember, physical and mental characteristics exist along a spectrum. They are also genetic, in that children's heights and personalities are often determined by not only genetics, but factors including nutrition and health.

I'm 5'9". Average adult male height. Taller than my parents, aunts, and uncles, for what it's worth.

I just figure I'm fairly short (though not bad looking if I do say so myself! ) because most of my family are fairly short or average in height. I have a few cousins over 6 foot tall, but it does seem like lucky dip in a big family like mine. I'm not surprised I'm short, put it that way.

One of my brothers is still a child and he's miles taller than his classmates; whether that keeps up is yet to be seen. He's not AS but does have selective mutism, which seems to be similar in some respects. I was always on par with my classmates, but I stopped growing at the 'short' height hahaha.

Doesn't worry me though - good things come in small packages.

I'm close to 6'. Slighter taller than average but not too much. However, I come from a rather diminutive family- whenever I go to family reunions I feel like a giant, towering over all my shoulder-high relatives. But I wasn't tall as a little kid; I was actually nearly always the shortest kid in class until I started to grow more in high school.

I'm below average in height and don't think my head size is above average either. My mom who cuts my hair also says my head is shaped weird as well.