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My eldest daughter has just started reception. She has had some teething issues settling in and we have already had a meeting with the school's Senco. The lady suggested that my daughter may have autism but she is not sure...in her words 'there's something there' but she's not sure what. They got her assessed by a behaviouralist last week but I haven't heard anything back from that yet. To help my daughter cope they have implemented a routine for her including now and next cards and timers etc which seem to be having a positive effect. If my daughter does have autism then it is not atypical if that makes sense, as she does communicate and will talk to others, make eye contact etc, but she is prone to meltdowns, notices small details others wouldn't and has a need for routine.
From what the teachers have said there is nothing academically that stands out to them, she is in target with her maths and is only behind on her English because she doesn't write yet, but the teacher said because of the lockdown and the fact a lot of the nurseries closed etc, a lot of children are having the same problem. She does see a speech and language specialist because of her pronunciation but her actual vocabulary is on par for her age.
My concern is that I suspect she may be having problems making friends. She doesn't really talk about school in detail and doesn't seem sad but when I've noticed her speaking to other children they seem scared of her. One little girl we bumped into walking home from school just shook her head when my daughter tried to say hello and another little girl looked frankly terrified of her in the queue for school (I'm not imagining it, she was standing right in front of us and grabbed on to her mom and hid behind her while staring at my daughter.) She has had a couple of altercations in the classroom according to the teacher, she lashed out at one little girl a couple of weeks ago and threw something at another little girl more recently. The teacher wasn't too concerned about this but I wonder if her outbursts are causing the girls especially to be scared of her?
I know how important it is to make friends at school (perhaps not so much at reception age but certainly by the time you get to Year 3/4, which I know is a long time off) and I wouldn't want to think of her ostracized. If it does transpire she has autism then I know social interactions will be harder for her (although she is a friendly girl so I don't think the stereotypical traits of autism e.g. not making eye contact/not speaking etc will affect her.)
Has anyone else had experience of this and have any advice?
Thank you
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How to help my DD make friends
7 replies
Omnaya · 12/10/2020 23:24
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