Expert: Catherine Ridenour - 9/30/2010

Question
Hi, My daughter is 3 years and 8 months old. I am currently trying to seek help to see if she has aspergers or high functioning autism. She shows many symptoms of sensory disorder, and can check off many of the symptoms of an ASD. She didnt say mum and dad till she was 2 1/2. never really babbled as a baby. She is a bit behind in her language skills, having trouble pronouncing a lot of letters and words with more than one sylable get cut short. She also uses a lot of phrases that we have used in the past. he laugh is always a very fake and forced laugh and quite often with irrelevent timing. She walked a little late butr still within the normal age bracket. she does walk 'funny'. almost like a puppet. we had her checked by a physio but she walked ok when he wanted to check it out. she has had sleep problems her whole life, only recently being greatly improved by the use of a weighted blanket. She doesnt play with other children when i visit friends or at preschool. She prefers to play with baby toys and spin toys. She will play with toys properly when her older sister invites her to play or if i sit and play with her, but the play seems to be scripted quite a lot. SHe has meltdowns at home when her routine is disrupted or if something bad happens. she doesnt cope well going down town to do shopping. but Preschool have never reported a prblem when she is there. She is completely obsessed with books, would sit and let me read them all day if i could. especially goldilocks, she has 6 copies of it at home and never tires from them. she talks a lot during the day, needing to know details of everything that i am doing and needing lots of aditional information with whatever i say. My confusion is that she does not show these symptoms all the time. Preschool deny any sign of a problem with her, even though she screams in fear whenever i have to drop her off. some days it seems like she is 100% autistic and other days she just seems normal. i dont know what to think and i dont want anything to be missed because she is having a 'good day'. Does this sound like it could be an ASD or am i being a paranoid and exhausted mum desperate t oblame anything for the difficulties we are having?

Answer
Hi Bek,

I can see why you are confused. I am surprised the pre-school sees none of the oddities you describe.

Obsession with familiar stories is a normal thing for 3 year olds. They find the repetition reassuring. So, you can check that one off your list.

At this point, I would say it is possible she is on the autistic spectrum. However, it is hard to tell. Try some video taping to catch the behaviors that concern you like the "puppet walk" and the toy spinning. It's better if she does not know you are taping or she will alter her behavior for the camera.

Meltdowns are common in 3 year old children. Don't give tantrums attention, it just makes them worse. If she throws a fit, walk out of the room. It's no fun without an audience.

Try to relax and see how things develop. She may be just fine. But, if there begin to be problems at school, contact an expert in autistic disorders for a diagnosis.

Best wishes,
Catherine