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Is it autism??

NAS39189

Hi,

its my first time here, and I could really use some good advice. I have three girls, a17 year old and 12 year old twins. One of my teins, Amber, is struggling a lot. We all are. For about 18 months now Amber is getting worse. It just started with crying, not knowing why but she was getting very upset. It kept going so I took her to the GP. We were referred to CAHMS it the may of 2016, we were eventually seen in April of 2017. I’m sure it’s not in every case but we are still dealing with them, but they aren’t much help at all. We have been assigned to a lady who is a mental health nurse. Amber is getting worse for example she screams, like she is being attacked, has horrendous panic attacks, she slaps and punches herself in the head repeatedly, she claws her face, pulls her hair. Ambers sleep pattern is all over, her eating is suffering, Amber and her twin sister Morgan aren’t identical but extremely similar, but now Morgan looks older,where Amber is smaller looks thinner, and just so fragile. Amber doesn’t liked to be touched, conferred, or hugged, it’s like hugging a stick. Sometimes she covers her ears and says everything is to loud, when it isn’t. She’s very very talented in drawing. When she finds she likes something she researched it to the point of being an expert. I’ve told CAHMS several times that I’m thinking she could be on the scale, but the mental health nurse says no, because she can hold a conversation and is very articulate!! Things are so stressful at home it’s not a nice place to be. Me and my husband are arguing all the time, her twin sister is really suffering because of it all. She gets very frightened when Amber has an episode, I don’t know if it’s a twin thing but they seem to feel a lot of what’s going ineith the other. Ambers missing a lot of school, but they are being brilliant.

Im so sorry it’s been a long message, and I’ve tried to include soy, but I feel strongly that something else is st play then just anxiety as the say, I’m just a frightened confused parent wanting answers. 

Many suggestions? Does it sound like it could be?? Or am I looking too far in yo things 

thanks 

catherine xxx

Parents
  • NAS39189 said:
    For about 18 months now Amber is getting worse. It just started with crying, not knowing why but she was getting very upset.

    If it's sudden onset beginning from around adolescence, it is possible that it's something other than autism (since autism usually starts from early childhood). It is also possible that she is smart and therefore had been able to cope well enough in childhood that it masked her symptoms. Do you think that this is the case or is it more of a recent thing? 

    NAS39189 said:
    Sometimes she covers her ears and says everything is to loud, when it isn’t.

    Does she experiences changes in the perceived loudness even when the volume is fixed? e.g., sometimes the same volume sounds quite sometimes loud? Or is it constantly loud?

    NAS39189 said:
    when Amber has an episode

    Can you identify any triggers that causes her to have an episode?

    NAS39189 said:
    she screams, like she is being attacked

    Are you be able to ask her about this? Does she feel like someone is attacking her? Or why she feels panicked? 

    NAS39189 said:
    because she can hold a conversation and is very articulate

    Since she is very articulate and can communicate well, if she is willing, there are some online tests that she could do to get an idea of whether autism may be a possibility. 

    You could try to ask the GP to see if they could screen her for autism/Aspergers. 

    If she can communicate with you, it would be useful to discuss when she thinks the onset of her problems began and why. If the symptoms began in adolescence, and if she feels that same sensory input of sound constantly changes, or if she feels like there is 'someone' attacking her, you may also like to consider to ask the GP to screen her for schizophrenia. 

    I'm really sorry to hear about this, and I understand how this could be a really difficult experience for your daughter and how stressful it is to your family. I hope you will be able to get more help from your GP and CAHMS to identify the underlying cause. Best wishes.

Reply
  • NAS39189 said:
    For about 18 months now Amber is getting worse. It just started with crying, not knowing why but she was getting very upset.

    If it's sudden onset beginning from around adolescence, it is possible that it's something other than autism (since autism usually starts from early childhood). It is also possible that she is smart and therefore had been able to cope well enough in childhood that it masked her symptoms. Do you think that this is the case or is it more of a recent thing? 

    NAS39189 said:
    Sometimes she covers her ears and says everything is to loud, when it isn’t.

    Does she experiences changes in the perceived loudness even when the volume is fixed? e.g., sometimes the same volume sounds quite sometimes loud? Or is it constantly loud?

    NAS39189 said:
    when Amber has an episode

    Can you identify any triggers that causes her to have an episode?

    NAS39189 said:
    she screams, like she is being attacked

    Are you be able to ask her about this? Does she feel like someone is attacking her? Or why she feels panicked? 

    NAS39189 said:
    because she can hold a conversation and is very articulate

    Since she is very articulate and can communicate well, if she is willing, there are some online tests that she could do to get an idea of whether autism may be a possibility. 

    You could try to ask the GP to see if they could screen her for autism/Aspergers. 

    If she can communicate with you, it would be useful to discuss when she thinks the onset of her problems began and why. If the symptoms began in adolescence, and if she feels that same sensory input of sound constantly changes, or if she feels like there is 'someone' attacking her, you may also like to consider to ask the GP to screen her for schizophrenia. 

    I'm really sorry to hear about this, and I understand how this could be a really difficult experience for your daughter and how stressful it is to your family. I hope you will be able to get more help from your GP and CAHMS to identify the underlying cause. Best wishes.

Children