signs of aspergers/asd in girls

[babyjane67]

Cam someone tell me what the signs of aspergers/asd is in girls?
I have a5&half yr old dd who ive had niggles about on&off fir a while
Tia

[youarewinning]

There are lots of different things and each of those will be more evident in some children than others as it's a spectrum.

Why don't you post your niggles here and we can talk to you about them?

[thornrose]

My dd has aspergers I had an idea there was something . When she started school the staff approached me with their concerns and we went from there.

I'm wary of posting specifics because they can apply just as well to a child without AS!

What are your specific niggles?

[Ineedmorepatience]

If you google Asd or aspergers in girls there are quite a lot of articles to read.

Or as others have said ask more specific questions. There are a few of us on here with girls on the spectrum so we might be able to help

[thornrose]

Aspergirls by Rudy Simone is interesting and written by a woman with AS but is more appropriate after diagnosis.

As PolterGoose mentioned Tony Attwood really is your man

[babyjane67]

Shes always had her little quirks
I have read some articles on it but she doesnt do any of the 'classic'things
Ie lining things up or particularly obsessing aboit things
Right from being very young shes always talked easily to adults rather than kids
Though some adults she will shy away from
When she was at playschool she used to talk to the other kids but like she was talking to an adult&theyd soon get bored&walk away!
She has a great imagination&has always played in it a lot
She will get2of anything(loo roll pens anything!)&give them voices so theu talk to each other
Since she startef school in sept she usually plays schools with her playing the teacher&shes telling the pupils off!
School havent voiced any concerns to us
She has hypermobility so is bit behind her peers in griss motor skills
At the moment&for the last few wks shes got a thkng about fluff between her toes&she has to clean it out!
School say shes very social&has lots of friends but not a specific best friend(though this doesnt worry us)
They are more like acquaintances though.we dont see anyine outside of school
Shes always been pretty stubborn&used to have huge meltdown about things
She would sometimes end up being on naughtu step for45mins as she just wouldnt calm down enough for us to do her4mins!
That hasnt happened for a while now
She can still get very upset over the sligjtest thing sometimes
Such as i told her off for making a face at someone&told her to say sorry which she did but then burst into tears&said youve upset me!
It took her about20mins to come round
She also does what we call 'her tired thing'shes done it since she was tiny
She sits there crosses her legs puts her hands sort if between her legs/knees&sort of moves
its difficult to explain unless you can see it!
Im not sure if this is stimming or an early masturbation!but shes been doing it for ages so she would have been too young for it to be that when it started
sorry for long post but trying to get it all for you!

[babyjane67]

When weve had her friends round or weve gone to theirs shes usually fine&plays with some of them though she does end up playing on her own quite alot after a while in her imagination while the others have moved on playing with sometjing&someone else
She can also get bit bossy with her friends sometimes like telling them to eat their crusts&sit at the table properly etc!

[thornrose]

Ie lining things up or particularly obsessing aboit things dd didn't do the lining up and has never had specific obsessions. She did watch the same videos over and over though.

she usually plays schools with her playing the teacher & shes telling the pupils off! my dd did this and mimicked the teacher perfectly My dd does a lot of role playing even now at 14 she seems to find comfort in 'being other people'.

School say shes very social & has lots of friends my dd had no friends in nursery and reception and sat alone or played alone which raised alarm bells.

Does she have any other sensory issues other than the fluff? Does she have any problems lining up, waiting, following instructions etc in school?

What kind of things cause her meltdowns?

[babyjane67]

Thornrose she used to watch the same dvd all the time&still would now if we let her!
She doesny have any trouble following insyructions at skool etc
In fact she got a sticker yest for sitting down nicely!
The meltdowns were usually caused by us saying no she couldnt do something or trying to hurry her up to go out.that sort of thing
She doesnt seem to have any other sensory things really
Just one top she complains about sometimes
She does like some things like tickling or hugging quite hard&will ask for you to do it harder&hand squeezing
She asks me to do it sometimea when im holdkng her hand&says do it harder harder mummy!

[babyjane67]

When she was younger she uswd to have a thing about any fluff/hair/dirt anytjing like that bei g in the bath
She literally wouldnt go in it if sje could see even tje tinieat spec!
So i had ti check it all well first&het rid of anutjong before she went near the bath!

[babyjane67]

Sorry for the typos am on phone

[thornrose]

I have to say I'm not really seeing AS from your posts but you know your child better than anyone obviously.

[youarewinning]

I agree seems very much sensory stuff, have you ever read about highly sensitive children?

I have a link for Tony Attwood website as Polter always mentions him. Him DS is awaiting assessment for HFA/AS/SCD and this has allowed to me look at his behaviours and what they could mean.

I have found one of the difficulties having a high functioning child with many differing 'quirks' and behaviours is distinguishing what is 'normal developmental behaviours' and what is a flag for ASD.

www.tonyattwood.com.au/index.php/about-aspergers/what-is-aspergers

[babyjane67]

Yourewinning&poltergoose thanks for yhe links
I will read them both properly today
Sorry i disappeared last night but had probs with connection!
She used to do alot of hand flapping when she git exitrd over something or was playing&brought something over to show us
She still doea it a lityle bit but not as much
Im finding the more im writing it down to tell you the more im remebering!
Shes sat here now doing 'the tired thing'while watching tv!
Could this be stimming do you think?
Im just trying to understand everything&get these nighles out my head&if she does need any help ti know where to go&what to do
I know it helps that school have no concerns which is great!

[babyjane67]

Well having read through those links there are a few things which match dd
Noises being one.shes never liked loud hand driers.
Even now sometimes she will still dry her hands with tissue rather than use one
Also when we praise her for doing something she puts hwr hand over her ears
She also does this if we laugh loudly or suddenly&
say mummy you jumped me meaning i made her jump
I asked her teacher about it but she doesnt seem to do it there only at home
Also sometimea she'll walk into a room&say whats that smell?yuk!but we often cant smell anything!
Also the over reaction to pain rang a bell
School have remarked on this although teacher did say couple of wks ago that ita getting better
But she goes completely ott if she falls over&hurts herself.always has
Lots of noise crying worried about the blood(its worse if she sees theres blood)&it goes on for ages!
Shes very hard to console
Problems with handwriting.she writes but has probs holding the pen properly.she holds it too far up&both we&school are working on it with herin fact i have a meeting with her teacher about further things we can do coming up
Also her gait is bit awkward especially when she runs but this could be just down to the hypermobility
Wow have read those links twice&feel like k need to read them again.

[babyjane67]

Also the taking things literally
She does this about alot of things too

[babyjane67]

Yourewinning can u tell me what scd is please?

[youarewinning]

SCD= social communication disorder.

[babyjane67]

Ok thanks

[babyjane67]

So you think theres enough there to ask for a referral?
Thanks poltrrgoose&sorry if im asking too many questions!
Its just nice to get it all down&spk to people who are&have gone through same things

[babyjane67]

Thanks poltergoose it feels a bit scary now