Expert: Dr. Sharon A. Mitchell - 11/19/2007

Question
hi noone is taking my mum seriously i feel my sister may have some autistic traits, only eating white food or not wanting it mixed or over cooked. she also has problems in making friends and turn taking yet can be a good team player in sports games.she has poor concentration and can be sent upstairs to get something yet return with something irrelevent.she can put clothes on back to front and argue with you its the right way when its not. she used to have vivid dreams and complain she was tired as she had done a bizarre quest in her dream the night before? she did suffer with really bad night terrors but have no reccolection the next day? she was delayed with speach and did talk in a high piotch voice and sometimes still does?
we have had meetings but seemed to be fobbed off at school with teachers. my mum has got her going to saturday school and she recently went on 6 week course and improved by a year on reading and writing.we keep being told its dyslexia but i work with special needs and know little on autism please can you help?
many thanks jeni

Answer
It's just not possible to give a good opinion without actually meeting your sister. But something does seem amiss, based on your behavioral descriptions.

How old is your sister? You mention that she suffered from things like night terrors. Do you mean when she was a young child, say a preschooler, then they did not occur anymore? Or do you mean that the night terrors happened in the more recent past?

It's possible that your sister has dyslexia but the behaviors you describe are not those usually experienced by kids who have just dyslexia.

Some of the behaviors you talk about could be attributed to autism, such as her food preferences, social difficulties and memory for directions. But I'm not sure autism would explain all that seems to be going on.

My suggestion would be that your sister see either a medical doctor, child psychologist or psychiatrist. You would need to describe in detail the types of behaviors you observe, how long they have been occurring and other incidents that strike you as odd. Keeping a journal of what you notice may provide the doctor with good information.

A place to start might be with your family doctor. Or talk to your school, asking them how you would get a referral to a psychologist. Given the extent of what you observe, I would be very surprised if your sister's classroom teacher did not have observations of her own to add to your journal.

Sharon A. Mitchell, D.A., B.Ed., M.D.
www.autismsite.ca