Expert: Trey McGowan - 2/17/2008

Question
I think that my 8year old has a form of autism, she struggles with everyday things. Just the simplest things are hard for her to understand. She is struggling in school and always has, they believe that something is wrong with her as well. She plays with other kids but not that often, she would rather be alone. Usually she will play on the swings and she spends a lot of time just swinging, if she isn't swinging she will spin in circles,be clapping or dances and I mean all the time.She doesn't have and imagenitation.She won't play with babies or barbies.She had an IQ test, it wasn't very good.Her biggest down fall was her memory skills. She struggles with the memory issue alot.This has been on going since she started school, if not before. When she was a baby she never wanted to be held or messed with, I always thought it was because she was going to be very independent. Stupid I know but I didn't want to think of anything been wrong with her.She also cried a lot they told me it was callic.Here lately she has been watching the TV on a channel that gets no signal. It just shows black and white dot running through it. She will even wake up in the middle of the night and watch it. She looks to be a normal kid, but there is something just not right. She also always complains of a stomach. She has seen the doctor several time for the stomach and they must think that I am crazy. I would really appreciate your advice, she has struggled long enough. Thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi there, Tina!

I'm a bit confused as to what you're asking me here. If you're looking for me to make a diagnosis, then I unfortunately can't do so. I'm not a doctor, and even if I was, it takes more than a few words on a screen to be able to make a direct diagnosis. Observation is necessary, or at least generally a questionnaire given to the parent.

If, however, you are looking for suggestions on what you can do, then the best thing you can do is, rather than writing the letter out to a demi-expert in the area of Asperger's and autism, take this question you have written and bring it to the genuine experts. A child psychologist, nurse, therapist, doctor, or whatever else in your area that has dealt with the area of autism can take the information you've given and work on getting a better look at what's going on with your young lady.

I can assure you that there is not a good doctor in the world who would look down at a parent being worried about their child. If there are odd things going on, and you are finally coming to terms with the fact that there might be genuinely something you both need help with, then the doctors can help out with making the diagnosis. And don't get me wrong: I know the big 'A'-word is a very scary label to have placed on someone. However, in the long run, if that's what's going on? Denial can only cause more issues than it will help. Knowing what's going on means that you have an avenue of approach, which will help a *ton* in getting some genuine and valuable help for yourself and your daughter.

I wish I could give a simple 'Yes it is' or 'no it isn't' here to help out, but again: only the doctor can. So I hope that if you are worried, you will give a look around your area for someone to be able to bring those worries to. If you give me the area, I might be able to help with a name or two, or you can just drop the name of your city/state and 'autism' into Google and see what pops up.

My best wishes and hopes for your daughter! If there's any more questions, comments, feedback, follow-ups, or whatever, you can feel free to send them on. I'm always about!

Trey