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My 7-year old may have ASD - communication and social issues. Awaiting for a pediatrician referral

NAS64771

My daughter is 7 year old, a single child, who is in year 3 (She is the youngest in her class being born at the end of August and the tallest as well.) We are currently awaiting for a referral with a pediatrician to assess whether she has ASD. There are several traits that suggests that she may have ASD

- My daughter was delayed with her speech and understanding of single or more complex instructions. She can make grammatically correct sentences but  she has issues responding properly to a question and to keep engaged in a discussion. She would most of the time follow her own idea and go on talking about it even though it is completely off topic. As she speaks, her voice would become quite high and the sentences would come out interrupted (as opposed to a fluent way)

- Some of her social skills seems impaired even though she can easily make friends but mainly with younger children or children that are not too talkative.

- She doesn't seem to be able to perceive whether children wants to play/engage with her or not

- she draws all the time usually using one colored pencil and she would add specific details such as facial expressions

- she loves animals

- she always wants to be squeezed when we try to talk about her feelings about what happened at school (For example she has been hit by her best friend at school and got upset more by the reaction of her friend than pain). She usually doesn't show her emotions at school but would do it at home with me (She didn't cry at school when her friend hit her but cried at the school pick up when she saw me)

In general she is a very sweet and gentle girl, she is always happy and rather innocent for a 7-year old. She has always been a very easy child. She is a little bit late in maths but she is learning at her own pace. She is constantly making lots of progress which could suggests that she does not have any learning disability.

Do you think my daughter is in the spectrum? Are there any books available to encourage constructive thinking and listening in children and/or anything about social skills in children?

Thank you so much

  • Hi.

    I am an adult awaiting ASD assessment and have a just-turning-8 year old twin daughter in Yr3 awaiting assessment after Paed referral.

    The things that first started to switch us on to possible ASD for her were:

    Meltdowns - different from tantrums

    Issues with clothing: seams of socks, labels in clothing, waistbands

    Gastrointestinal problems

    Wearing the same clothes day after day

    Difficulties with friendships and group interaction

    Difficulties with change: freaked out (major distress) over potty training for No 2s

    As a baby/toddler she would scream in distress as if being seriously hurt if sunlight was in her eyes during a car journey. She also gets overwhelmed in busy-sound places (as do I)

    (Pathological) Demand Avoidance - look that up; getting my daughter to brush her teeth in the morning was our big alert

    She has high anxiety (because of her need to feel in control)

    She is hyper mobile

    She has a facial twitch (it’s actually very cute)

    She will also keep things together while at school then let it all out after school (often in the form of meltdowns)

    When you put all these things together, you start to see a collection of symptoms all ticking the list.

    I now look back at her development with an ASD perspective and can see other things. She often talks in a high voice and is much more childlike than her non ID twin sister. I can see how she is more vulnerable than her twin and needs us to work the world out for her.

    Maybe try looking on the internet for ASD symptoms in children as a start?

    You are in the right place to get advice

    Best wishes 

  • in reply to DuckBread

    Thank you so much for sharing your experience and also for providing the reference of the book. Very much appreciated.

  • From what you've described, she might be on the spectrum, but I'm no medical professional, so this is just based on my own knowledge and experiences (I'm an autistic woman pursuing an adult diagnosis).

    She seems to have some similarities to seven-year-old me. For example, I really struggled to make friends at school - I was very shy and struggled to engage with children. I related much better to adults and had only one good friend during my time at primary school. I also loved drawing and would usually focus on people or animals. I had an intense special interest in animals and used to read breed encyclopaedias (I actually managed to memorise the breeds in the encyclopaedia of dogs). I never tired of learning about animals or spending time with them.

    I'm not sure about any books on constructive thinking and listening, but I would encourage you to buy 'Can you see me?' by Libby Scott. I read it recently and wish I could have read something similar as a child. It's about an 11-year-old autistic girl and has a lovely message about embracing who you are. Your daughter might also be able to relate to some of the challenges the girl in the story goes through, so it could be helpful.