Hi I'm Elisabeth. I have two girls who have/are undergoing assesment for Asd. The oldest is going on 8 and was originally diagnosed with selective mutism at age 3 with a language delay. I had concerns because she never engaged in imaginative play, hates loud noises or certain sounds/pitch/tone (not really sure what makes certain sounds frightening to her). Was obsessed with feeling the stickiness of sellotape/stickers etc. Regular meltdowns (as opposed to tantrums) obsessed with smoke alarms (?noise) and bus routes as opposed to actual busses. Encoporessis, smearing Etc. she had a locality assessment age 4 where it was felt she did not fit the criteria for Asd. More recently school wondered if she may be on the spectrum and the same team reassessed (as in they discussed previous findings rather than a new assessment) and found her not to have autism but does have a moderate communication disorder.
the other wee girl is not genetically related at all and is age 5 and suffered severe neglect for the first 3 years of her life and has a learning difficulty along with hand flapping, rocking, poor eye contact, sensitive to unsolicited touch. I would describe her imaginative play as good though may be copied. She is thought to have Asd however formal diagnosis has been delayed as it's unclear what can be attributed to poor attachment and lack of stimulation.
My quandary is the more I find out about autism the more boxes I can tick for my 8 year old. I worry I am reading too much into her difficulties but my fears will just not rest and at the same time know from experience many doors would open for her if she did get a diagnosis of Asd. She is really struggling at school as sheis very literal and can't apply learned concepts to different situations.
really not sure where to go from here or if I should even be pushing it any further.
