Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone!!
My little girl will be 3 in Jan and I think there has always been something different about her.when she was two her nursery alerted us to the fact that she didn’t give any eye contact and didn’t answer to her name. She had an audiology appointment and it was deemed inconclusive so they recommended that we get the health visitor to do a SOGS test which then recommended that she be referred to ISCAN-integrated services for children with additional needs. They have decided that my little girl is to be referred to speech and language and the paediatrician as well as play therapy.
My point is is that I really am sure that my LG has ASD. She has learned a vast amount of language from Peppa Pig but has no conversational speech. She is very restricted in her interests and at the moment she likes to move cards from one place to another. She doesn’t make much eye contact but will, with me and her dad sometimes and loves when I sing nursery rhymes to her. She’s knows them all. She is not yet toilet trained and is showing no signs yet. I think she is also quite hyposensitve and seeks different textures to chew on and bite. Sorry for the long post but it does feel good to get it all down. What I am asking is will her autistic traits change as she gets older!? Is it likely she will have any conversational speech!? Should I tell people that she has special needs or that I think she has autism. I don’t want to tell people this if of course she is yet to be diagnosed and I do understand that this diagnosis (if any) may not happen for a long time. My brother has ASD and his traits are so different to my little girls so I am learning as I go along.
Thanks for reading... xxxx
Heather thank you so much for your reply that’s really helpful I will have a look at the links!
Blueray thanks so much for your reply. It does help so much to have that support in the early days. My brother was not diagnosed until he was 12 and he struggles so much even now but he is a lot happier now and is very independent.
Moggsy thank you so much for your lovely reply. I have never heard of Tania Marshall so I will definitely be looking her up online. I find a lot of stuff online is about autism in boys which is understandable but there doesn’t seem to be much research done on autism in girls as like you said the traits are very different.
Thanks again!!
Hi Wingingit82 and welcome!
The Speech and language specialists and paediatrician will be best placed to advise you really, so it's great that you have that set up. But you can learn more while you're waiting from the NAS website, particularly via this link:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children.aspx
But if you have any further questions, you may like to contact our Autism Helpline team . They can provide you with information and advice. You can call them on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm).Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor.
Please see the following link for further information:
http://www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/main.aspx
Warm regards,
Heather - Mod
I read an article somewhere that people have learned communication skills much later in life, much later. One lady was in her 60’s, so I think it’s a matter of how we are taught and not giving in. Knowing what your dealing with from a young age is a gift, if you have people around you who accept you for who you are and find different ways of connecting with you, teaching you etc. My friends little girl (8 years old), sometimes says she doesn’t like being autistic, but at least she can say that and her Mum helps her with it. Her little boy was non verbal for many years but he is learning to talk now. He’s also eating a much more varied diet which took several years, different strategies, patience and persistence but he’s really coming on and in many ways, he’s happier than the little girl because he’s not aware of his difference.
Yes, it’s good to be able to share this stuff.
Hi there, I don't have any real experience with children, but it may help you to read up on the signs of autism in girls specifically. They are quite different from those of boys in some areas, and the child's reactions can also be different apparently. For example, girls tend to internalise their frustrations, whereas boys tend to lash out. This makes boys far more 'visible' from a diagnostic point of view, as it's more obvious.
If you do a web search for tania marshall, you will find a list of potential autism signs in pre-school girls. These are probably quite different from your brother's traits in some significant areas.
I am quite sure that you are doing the right thing in fighting to find out what you are dealing with here. I was not diagnosed until the grand old age of 46 and don't doubt that the struggle and strain of trying to fit in and never knowing why I couldn't has left its mark. I think I would have been much better off knowing what I was dealing with. I can't answer you about the speech, as I have Asperger's and was never non-verbal (probably the opposite), but I have read posts from people with autism on-line, who in some cases were non-verbal until 5-6 years of age and they are perfectly eloquent now.
Traits and ways of reacting to things certainly do change during our lifetimes, as I suppose they do for everyone to a degree, neurotypical or not! All the best and hope you get some joy from the health services soon.
Any thoughts at all!?? I would be so so grateful for a response! Xxx