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Well DS2 having a quirky older brother (AS) is very skilled at dealing with all sorts. So yes it is annoying for him sometimes but there is an upside.

Odeon do autism friendly screenings quite regularly. Low lights are on throughout, noise volume is lower, no adverts to plough through and shouldn't matter if you need to get up, move around. We have had reactions like that before from over stimulation and things not being how she expected them to be.

I'm glad you're mostly on top of that Handywoman. DS is an only so I don't have any experience of dealing with brothers and sisters. I know there are books for sibs but I don't know if they assume you have a diagnosis.

Thanks ineedmore. I think a dx would help us all enormously.

Oops pressed send to quick. For example at dd2's last b'day party (bowling!) dd2 spent most of it under the table instead of interacting. And that's fine by me. I am fine with that. When it makes her sibling upset though it troubles me.

I agree handy, Dd3's diagnosis has been a very positive thing for us. The people who say dont label children are cluless to how difficult it is.

Keep plenty of notes and dont give up on seeking a diagnosis for your Dd if you believe it will help her.

Good luck

Klein I know what you mean. I am able to completely cope with these episodes. They are pretty common. But her older sister felt so upset by it. She herself sobbed and sobbed, out of frustration and also on my behalf. She's a sensitive soul. And when it affects her sister it is hard not to feel the significant impact. Without a dx I can't fully explain things to her sister either. Although I really feel the need to.

One other thought – if your DD often has a bad reaction after an enjoyable event, it helps if you can train yourself not to think about the afternoon being “wrecked” by it. Even though it is very annoying! I do make a conscious effort to avoid treating DS having a bit of shoutie after/during a good event as spoiling it. And I did find that’s a lot easier with a diagnosis. I mean you don’t expect the average six year old to throw a kicking screaming tantrum at their own birthday party, and if they did you might feel they’d embarrassed themselves and wrecked the party, but with DS it was a case of “well at least he had a birthday party and enjoyed nearly all of it and he got over the tantrum and everyone else had a good time too, so well done all of us!” Your DD did excellent well to sit through a whole film and enjoy it. You’re all doing great and a shoutie afterwards doesn’t spoil that. And sometimes you can plan for the reaction too, so with a different kid it might be possible to do something else nice after seeing a film, but with my DS we needed to go straight home.

X posted, I will keep taking her. I think I just need a dx to help with with the enormous amounts of self doubt.

Excellent thread. I identify with so much of this.... not just for DD1 either.
TBH I need the 'serious amounts of downtime' to process stuff.

Handy you could be describing my DD1 when you talk about your DD2.
I need to go away and have a think about this WRT DD1.

My dd2 is like that, Kleinzeit she will come back from social occasions complaining about everything. Never gets past that stage.

klein that is exactly what Dd3 is like, we have learned not to ask her if she has had fun doing something like a party or trip out as she invariably melts down or just grunts.

I used to ask her if she would like to go again sometime as a way to gauge her level of enjoyment but then I realised that she was quite often so exhausted by the whole thing that she couldnt even think about repeating it.

These days I worry less about her reactions after an event and just look at how long she tolerated it and whether she appeared to be having fun at the time.

She needs serious amounts of downtime which suits me fine

Keep taking your Dd to the pictures handy if she wants to go and maybe she will start talking about bits of the film she enjoyed in her own time.

Btw, I hate the pictures! The smell of the popcorn makes me feel sick. Luckily DP likes going so it is one of the things he does alone with Dd3, come to think of it its the only thing he does alone with her

Oh yes. I do ask my DS if he enjoyed something but I can never expect a sensible answer! (Now he's a teenager he's almost got the hang of grunting "fine" to get me off his back ) It’s not exactly a case of being over-stimulated – not in the sense that he should have less stimulation. Just that for a while afterwards, he’s too exhausted by the experience to respond reasonably. In fact he usually gets very negative about exciting / enjoyable events immediately afterwards, will often harp on about something trivial that was wrong with it even though he had a great time really. A day or so later he’ll be remembering all the good stuff.

Oh, and disruption to others obv, we sat in the closest seat to the exit and only go at the quietest times to try and minimise that.

I don't have enough ToM to analyse at that level but I am very patient (on a good day) and could put up with DS1 going to the toilet 10/12 times when we first started going to the cinema, eventually it got less and less and last time we made it through a whole film.

He even said to me after the eighth trip to the loo 'aren't you annoyed?' and I realised I really wasn't. I was worried about him missing bits of the film but he wasn't so what was the point of being annoyed really?

Damemargot, I agree with Handywoman. Your post was spot on and has made me rethink the way I react to DS1s perceived misbehaviour in the movies. He has a touching routine that goes crazy when his anxiety is heightened. The way you described things has finally helped me to understand what is going on in his world. Thank you.

DameMargotFountain I love this forum. I always read and really think through everybody's posts. I am not a terribly emotional sort. But your post really struck a cord. It rings so true. It made me cry. Thank you.

Because my dd2 is unable to talk at all about what's happening with her feelings, it is easy to assume that she's not self aware. But she is. And I've started noticing she does have a keen sense of smell and always takes her socks off indoors even if we are not staying in for long. She hates socks. She used to freak out with public hand dryers. There are subtle sensory issues.

We are not anticipating formal MDT assessment before 2014. we are going to Paeds for a review in two weeks. I want our Paed to make a presumptive diagnosis. If she won't do this then we will proceed with private diagnostic assessment.

Thanks all and especially DameMargot

Dimensions organise autism friendly cinema screenings, may help reduce sensory issues.
www.dimensions-uk.org/what-we-do/autism-care/autism-friendly-films/

I'm not so bad at chit-chat, it's when it bloody obvious and he asks me about it...grrrrr

He does have half conversations in his head and then brings me into his conversation as if i know what he's on about...

and they reckon genetics play a part in autism...

I love driving anywhere with DS1, we just sit there, quietly, contemplating, occasionally we look at each other and smiling. I remember many journeys with my dad like this too, just music on, no need to talk until someone had something to say.

I do talk a lot in general though, about things that matter to me obv and I'm shocking at making people talk to me even if they don't want to. All part of life's rich etceteras.

Just thought what it is, I am thinking, people interrupt my thinking with their chitter chatter.

Haha! It is us I think. I think it's called small talk, drives me potty.

Hothead so do I!!

DH does that to me all the time, if i've eaten my dinner he says 'oh, you enjoyed that then' if I've made a cake he says 'Oh, you like your baking then'...it grates my nips to the ribs

I call it him stating the glaringly-fucking-obvious, and thought it was more about him than me

I'll try to remember that next time he does it (probably when he gets up)

I hate the fact I'm expected to comment on every experience, especially when I'm still processing it.

The way I see it is you wanted/ expected a particular reaction, out of interest did you already know the answer? As in, she did sit through it all so she prob did enjoy it? It infuriates me being asked to answer questions people know the answer to. It's a demand and it's annoying, particularly if I have other things going on.

But it is a normal interaction so I try to sigh inwardly and come up with some platitude or other. And I do do deep and meaningfuls now, well more, obsess over reactions and interactions and meaning, but not everyone does, be patient and wait for her to raise things with you.

from my own experience with DD (5yrs) ASD, i would call it like this

she knows how people expect her to 'behave' - she has her own expectations too.
going to the cinema made everyone happy, incl her. she had a picture in her mind of a happy family - she even told you that's what she could 'see'

theory of mind then tells her the whole experience is good, everyone is happy. happy = good

then the noise starts, they turn down the lights, everyone has to sit quietly, there will be smells she can't 'see', people sitting really close, a wobbly cinema chair, 'not allowed' to lie on the floor, there is a chair in front of her, is there anyone in it? all these things will be racing round her mind as she tries to make sense of them - the happiness is 'broken' as they weren't in the original picture

DD might realise that the only thing that 'broke' the happiness was her. at 7+, she's probably very self-aware (DDs self awareness is showing now) and is realising she's 'different'. You saw her covering her ears, you saw her not being 'happy'.

so when you ask her if she's had a good/bad experience, she could suspect that you are asking because you also know she's not having the same experience as you - you are inadvertently compounding the realisation she is not the same as you.

This is not your fault though, you didn't do this to her, it's how her brain is trying to make sense of how she interacts with the rest of the world.

I would press on, and quickly, with seeking her DX. Then you can work on sharing with her, and her with you, why we process information on a different level.