I’m new here... my daughter is 3 year old and looks like she has HFA

 Hi all,

Sooo long story short we have had a long fight for our daughter  she is now 3 years 4 months, she has presented with bevourial problems since she was a baby...... absence episodes although they have pretty much ruled out epilepsy, these episodes can last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of hours ( the longer ones she presents as if she is in coma noted to have a GCS of 4-6 unresponsive to any pain and unable to wake with pin *** pupils) her first prolonged episode was at 4 months of age and have continued from then to now, the shorter episodes present as absence epilepsy but EEGs say different so we have been told they could be sensory, Ava was around 18 weeks when she first smiled, over a year before we had any laughs or babbling and was around 2 and half before she could put two words together, from around 3 she has almost a full vocabulary if not higher than the average 3 year old, she appears to live in her own little bubble multiple personalities, and more than a few traits such as her own specific space, routine, sensory processing to name a few........

We have now seen a new doctor who feels she appears to have High fundtioning Autism and has referred to CAMHS we have been told he waiting list is over 1 year to be seen and that it could be a hard battle to get a diagnosis as she is a girl...... from the reading up I have done I can see it is very different and I am now even more confused!

Does anyone else have a girl with autism who go a successful diagnosis at a young age??

Parents

  • Hi NAS37070,

    Welcome to the NAS Community Forum. :-)

    In terms of getting a female specific Autism Diagnosis, maybe get in touch with the NAS Helpline people, who provide confidential expert advice and support on autism for autistic people, their families and friends. The telephone number is: 0808 800 4104 ~ with the opening hours being between: Mondays to Thursdays from 10am to 4pm, and Fridays from 9am to 3pm (excluding Bank holidays).

    In terms of:


    Sooo long story short we have had a long fight for our daughter  she is now 3 years 4 months, she has presented with bevourial problems since she was a baby...... absence episodes although they have pretty much ruled out epilepsy, these episodes can last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of hours ( the longer ones she presents as if she is in coma noted to have a GCS of 4-6 unresponsive to any pain and unable to wake with pin *** pupils) her first prolonged episode was at 4 months of age and have continued from then to now, the shorter episodes present as absence epilepsy but EEGs say different so we have been told they could be sensory, Ava was around 18 weeks when she first smiled, over a year before we had any laughs or babbling and was around 2 and half before she could put two words together, from around 3 she has almost a full vocabulary if not higher than the average 3 year old, she appears to live in her own little bubble multiple personalities, and more than a few traits such as her own specific space, routine, sensory processing to name a few........

    My experience of having Aspergers Syndrome is in developmental terms just as you describe your daughter's experience, only of course from within. I had the EEG and MRI scan for Epilepsy, which left what is referred to as.


    Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures as a manifestation of psychological seizures as a manifestation of psychological distress associated with autistic spectrum disorder

    Abstract

    Psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are observable changes in behavior or consciousness that are similar to epileptic seizures but are not associated with electrophysiologic changes. PNES occur in children with underlying psychological distress and are especially frequent in those with epilepsy. Because PNES are heterogeneous, comprehensive treatment tailored to each patient is required to reduce psychosocial stress. Currently, reports regarding children with PNES concomitant with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) do not exist, and effective treatment strategies for these children are lacking. In this case report, we describe a 10-year-old Japanese girl with undiagnosed ASD who developed PNES while undergoing treatment for benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes. She exhibited hypersensitivity to sound and interpersonal conflicts caused by social communication deficits. The PNES symptoms improved shortly after our intervention, which was designed to reduce her distress caused by auditory hypersensitivity and impaired social communication, both characteristics of ASD. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing PNES in a child with ASD. Our findings suggest that PNES can result from psychological distress in children with undiagnosed ASD and highlight the importance of examining ASD traits in patients with PNES.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4723019/


    If any of that helps?


    1. Hi, thank you so much I will call as soon as I can, thank you for the info on PNES aswell!
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