Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 3/2/2010

Question
my 9 year old daughter has struggled with making friends all her life. at school she would prefer to stay in and help the teacher rather than go out to play with children. in the play ground she would stand in the corner and just watch. every morning she would wake crying on school days because she just couldn't cope with going, it would take up to 3 teachers to prise her off of either myself my husband. we now have after long consultations with the head teacher taken her out of school and we are home educating. her development educationally is very slow. she has very poor hand writing and struggles greatly with reading and writing.  she has an overwhelming desire for adults approval, is very demanding of adults attention. she live in a make believe world, tells the most detailed accounts of events that never happened. she gets easily wound up and really screams if she is wound up by others in particular children. she learnt to walk at 9 months and potty trained early too. she constantly walks of tip toes. she has major problems getting off to sleep at night, it can take her up to 3 hours. however if she is on a one to one basis with an adult she is a pleasure to be around, really desiring approval. she craves attention and will dramatize events greatly to get it. with babies however she loves to mother them. do you think she could possibly be suffering a form of autism.

Answer
Hi Lydia

I don't know if she has autism, but she does appear to have some social anxiety issues, sensory issues, social issues, and learning disabilities. Possibly all of these issues may add up to a diagnosis in the developmental disability spectrum. Have you had her evaluated by a child psychologist? If not, I would highly recommend it. It sounds like she really needs a lot of interventions.