Daughter refusing to speak normally

What does she say when you ask her why she has started talking like this?

Are you normally quite close? Is is just the speech or is she reverting in other ways - such as not reading age appropriate books any more, or doing babyish art work etc.

Take a deep breath and say I'll answer you when you use your big girl voice, then carry on what you're doing. Repeat ad nauseum. Stick to it.

Nobody is armchair diagnosing anybody. I have said that based on what OP said in her first post, that it sounds like she very much is autistic. I cannot diagnose anyone, regardless of what furniture I’m sat on because I’m not qualified to do so! However I do have a child with ASD (who went through the NHS diagnostic process) and we fight every day against people like OP who seem to think Autism is a type of leprosy and also parents who have DC with signs & symptoms of ASD but no diagnosis because of their parent’s perceived shame.
Maybe this little girl isn’t Autistic 🤷🏼‍♀️ But saying that she has letters from Psychiatrists & Teachers declaring the child as “not autistic” is always going to be called out by people who’ve been through the system as it just doesn’t work that way!

honestly just ignore this behaviour. It’s either a phrase or she’s working through something. If there’s no special needs of trauma it’s probably some kind of regression which can be common as children move on to new year groups or transition.
Similarly, it could just be a habit she’s got into following watching you tube or whatever
If she asks for a bobo or anything else in a baby voice just reply that she can have it when she asks you sensibly.

It's a phase. I would just reply to her repeating back to her what she has said using the correct language and then responding. So if she gets ice cream on her fingers and says icky, you say oh, your fingers are sticky from ice-cream? Go and wash them in the sink. She may be slightly fearful of going back to year 4. It's far more "grown up" than previous years and maybe she finds the idea of becoming more independent overwhelming. But I'm sure it will pass. I'm with you though, it would drive me nuts.

Don't be ridiculous. From the little you've read about OP's child, you think you can diagnose her just because she does ONE thing similar to your ND child?

She’s likely under some sort of stress or trauma.

I’m under a huge amount of stress and I still find myself reverting to baby talk sometimes as an adult, but just with myself.

It’s fulfilling some sort of need in her.

Instead of ignoring her, ignore the baby talk and spend time with her and give cuddles as required.

Sending moral support. It's been a long, long, long summer holiday and thank Christ we will soon be booting them over the school gate.

I'm not sure that six weeks off is good for either children or parents.

When my 6 (almost seven) year old does this, I respond with the same. ‘Is Baby X back with mummy today! Oh no, I didn’t bring buggy boo boo. How will we get home. Does your nappy need changing?’. She’s doing it for your attention, in a kids simple mind, babies get lots of attention and they want some of it too. Everyone’s kids are generally grinding their gears at this point in the holiday, only a few more days until school is back…

Speech regression / baby voices etc like you’re describing is clinically significant and requires a consult with a medical professional. Not a ranty mother.

This. OP has just tripped herself up here. First she said her DD had been seen by a child psychologist then it was three different psychiatrists - this is impossible on the NHS for ANY reason let alone just for an autism assessment! Psychiatrists don’t get involved in autism assessments

I'm saying that your DD very much is neurodivergent and that it's nothing to be ashamed of!

Seriously, the armchair diagnoses on here are out of control.

Also if my child had a behaviour that was worrying and I was worried that a teacher would berate them for it (rather than trying to get to bottom of it), I wouldn’t think highly of the teacher. Can you reframe and see your child’s behaviour as not annoying but as an underlying symptom of SOMETHING. That something could be as simple as boredom, but it could be something else.
What is her explanation for why she does it?

Three psychiatrists have seen her? Why? And when?

Is she generally quite immature for her age? I did this, infact was still doing it at high school, and often seemed/felt more immature than my peers. I was diagnosed ND at age 39 (not autism but ADHD)

I work with a lot of children who have had input from Mental Health services. It's very, very rare for an 8 year old to have been assessed by three different Psychiatrists. Can you explain how this came about?

Psychiatrists don’t get involved in autism assessments/diagnosis love! None of them do. Also, Teachers are NOT autism assessors! They don’t have the qualifications nor rights to declare a child not autistic so that’s completely wrong!

Why are you hateful of neurodiversity? It’s nothing to be ashamed of

Have you asked her why she does it? In a calm moment, in a just out of curiosity sort of way? And if so, what did she say?

Ok but there is neurodivergence beyond autism. Can I ask why she has seen three psychiatrists? Is it just for the baby talk or have there been other things that have worried you?

I also fail to see how 'baby talk' riles people up so much. ND or not, if the child can speak normally but just does this for whatever reason (since you have no idea), they aren't hurting anyone. Why is it so bad? Second-hand embarrassment? Social rejection? These and more are all things that shouldn't be the poor kids' problem. Your issue to sort out.

Let them suit and soothe themselves the way they can, just like you do with whatever you approve of and choose for yourself.

DGD watched a lot of US tv during lockdown and developed a very very whiny American accent.
A lot of ‘awww no fairrrrr’ in a very high-pitched tone.
She persisted in spite of the telling off and the ignoring.
I told her I thought it was cute and she stopped doing it 😃

(I would be extremely surprised if your dd did it with her teacher. Not twice anyway. I don’t think you need to worry about that.)

Why stressing out? Be glad the teacher won't tolerate her nonsense.

I'd actually completely ignore her unless she speaks normally.

Me too.