New and Confused

Hi

 

Im not sure if I should be posting this here so apologies if Im in the wrong place.

 

I am becoming more concerned about my 3 year old's behaviour and I dont know if its something or nothing. My husband is dismissive of any concerns I have and when I have tentatively raised it to my parents before I could tell they think I am looking for a problem. I therefore feel very alone with these worries and have no-one to talk to.

 

She has always been different to my other 2 in terms of behaviour and has some obvious sensory issues, she cant wear certain clothes and cant stand getting water (even just a drop) on her clothes or she will have a total meltdown. She prefers to be naked and I spend most of the day convincing her to put her clothes back on. She even stripped off in the middle of the doctors surgery waiting room last week. I guess clothes just annoy her? I thought the water thing might be getting better but its come back with avengence the past couple of weeks and she is becoming more distressed by it. Last night she was upstairs and I kept hearing this funny noise, I went up to see what she was doing (was supposed to be in bed), she had found my metal bangle and was dropping it from as high as she could reach over and over again on the tiled floor. I guess she liked the noise but still it got my thinking should I be putting this down to just normal toddler stuff or not? She is very socially confident, sometimes almost uncomfortably so if that makes sense. She talks a lot and speaks well. Last week we were out and she stopped to chat to a group of 3 adults to tell them about her t-shirt and what her favourite colours were. I could tell they were a bit taken aback at how bold she was and it was a struggle to get her to carry on walking. She seems to just say what she is thinking about and doesnt care who she says it to. But then again, she is 3 so I dont know. The other thing is that for most of the day she has a small hard toy in her hand, during the summer it was a little plastic doll which she didnt play with but just had to hold the whole time (and I mean the whole time). At the moment its a little turtle toy, again, she doesnt play with it just holds it all day. When I do drawing with her the people always have to have sad faces which makes me worry. We are a happy, loving family and I would very much like to think give our kids a lot of security, emotional and otherwise.

 

Thank you so much in advance for any kind of advice you can give me.

 

 

 

 

Parents
  • Yes, I think there may be an Autism issue here, but the presentation is quite atypical and this may well complicate the diagnosis process. Its more common to see social avoidance in AS persons, but I can see how innappropriate extrovertion can grow out of the triad (no imagination of potential threat from strangers, no perception of barrier signals, no understanding of social norms).

    The rest of what you describe however is strongly suggestive of ASV particularily the nudism, which is a sensory issue (there is a thread on this here, it doesnt go into any analytical detail, but demonstrates the issue can be a function of AS). The totemistic use of toys is also fairly common, I have a cricket ball either in my hands or in my pocket basically all the time. The repetitive bangle dropping also seems like an AS behaviour, but in isolation is insufficient...keep an eye out for other repetitive behaviour.

    As to the drawing of sad faces, it is hard enough for a full grown aspie such as myself to differentiate, let alone a 3yo between sad and worried (I'm maybe 75ish% accurate after 30 years of practice and certainly couldn't draw the difference.) It seems likely that she is drawing the worry her differences cause you, but good news: there is no reason to worry; given love and understanding there is every chance she will continue to be a happy and healthy aspie!   

Reply
  • Yes, I think there may be an Autism issue here, but the presentation is quite atypical and this may well complicate the diagnosis process. Its more common to see social avoidance in AS persons, but I can see how innappropriate extrovertion can grow out of the triad (no imagination of potential threat from strangers, no perception of barrier signals, no understanding of social norms).

    The rest of what you describe however is strongly suggestive of ASV particularily the nudism, which is a sensory issue (there is a thread on this here, it doesnt go into any analytical detail, but demonstrates the issue can be a function of AS). The totemistic use of toys is also fairly common, I have a cricket ball either in my hands or in my pocket basically all the time. The repetitive bangle dropping also seems like an AS behaviour, but in isolation is insufficient...keep an eye out for other repetitive behaviour.

    As to the drawing of sad faces, it is hard enough for a full grown aspie such as myself to differentiate, let alone a 3yo between sad and worried (I'm maybe 75ish% accurate after 30 years of practice and certainly couldn't draw the difference.) It seems likely that she is drawing the worry her differences cause you, but good news: there is no reason to worry; given love and understanding there is every chance she will continue to be a happy and healthy aspie!   

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