Parents of children with Autism

[SaharaSahara]

Hi all

I wish to reach out to any parent who has a child with Autism regarding some concerns I have about my 9yo daughter.

I have spent loads of time on google but I feel like creating this thread might be more supportive as I’m feeling quite down about it all.

I’ll go ahead and list my concerns and would love to hear if any of your children displayed these symptoms? Or what were your first indicators that something wasn’t right?

My daughter:
walks on her tippy toes
highly emotional
can be disoriented
coordination issues - holding things
clumsy - always dropping things
distressed by loud noises such as music at restaurants
doesn’t like soft play as too many children
issues with food such as getting messy
breaks food into little pieces before eating
makes noises such as gagging or squealing randomly

My DS presented with classic autism, he always had obsessions and intense interests. Soaked up facts about his interests. Didn't 'play' or understand make believe. Never needed sleep. Hated loud noises. He got diagnosed quickly and easily.
More notably Classic Autism would present with language/speech delay and regression at 18-48 months.

@queenjaneappro we also have the shoe and sock problem - you might already know of these but we've have some success with Happy Little Soles online (especially the 'barefoot' styles) and the seamless socks from Sensory Direct.

It's really hard to say op because every autistic child is different. Mine was diagnosed at 10 but I can only tick 2 things on your list. Speak to your GP and the SENCO at school.

@Phineyj Thank you, will have a look at those socks now. Best we have found so far are the bamboo ones from sock shop - they tend to wear very quickly though. And even they aren't always ok!

Does she have a physical disability that affects her ability to walk? Meaning she walks on her tip toes?

Hi all

Thank you for all the replies, they have confirmed my suspicions. I’m going to make an appointment with the GP as soon as.

@herecomesthsun my daughter also has certain interests that she’s very obsessive about, I forgot to mention that in the OP.

@PickAChew no concerns at school but I haven’t mentioned all this to them, that’s next on my list once she returns to school, I shall schedule a chat with her new teacher. She could well be masking at school though? Seems to be a lot of kids do?

somebody asked if she had a disability causing the walking on tippy toes - no she doesn’t. Just something she’s done from a young age and we always thought she’d grow out of it but this hasn’t happened.

A few other things have come to mind after reading all the responses.

issues with tags - I tend to cut them off

issues with waistband on most bottoms, usually folds them

issues with underwear, doesn’t like it feeling “loose”

socks are never on correct, I always thought it was laziness or carelessness

can get distressed when doesn’t understand instructions

no awareness of people’s personal space, for example will brush right past you rather than saying “excuse me”

trips up a lot

I'm autistic and I've never walked on my tip toes. Half the things that people mention above you'd probably find plenty of autistic people going 'nope, not me, completely the opposite'. It's all this rush to generalise that means we get stuck with labels like 'can't make eye contact, must be autistic' (when I know plenty of NT people with far worse eye contact than me) or worse 'can make eye contact, can't be autistic'.

I hope this isn't annoyingly obvious, but with the socks, has she tried wearing them inside-out? I have lovely soft bamboo socks but sometimes the corners of the toe-seam are unbearable if they're on right-way-round.
Also, if socks have a pattern of polka dots, stars, flowers etc there can be annoying lumps of thread inside where they've changed colour. So plain colours, or stripes, are likely to be much better.
Plain socks will also look better when worn inside-out (than patterned ones do), if that is a concern.

ASD symptoms seem to have become so varied (online anyway) that the diagnosis risks becoming so dilute as to be meaningless. As can be seen by some of the replies here.

OP, you’ll get very mixed advice on a forum like this. I know you’re worried about your DD so the best thing to do is to ask for an assessment from a paediatrician who specialises in neurodevelopment. Hope you can get some answers and a path forward x

GP will refer based on what you’ve said here.

Many of these things can be signs of a neurodiverse condition - sometimes autism but sometimes it could indicate a number of things. Context is important and that's something that cannot be gleaned by a post on Mumsnet. The only way to know for sure is to try and push for assessment.

My thoughts - for what they are worth...
walks on her tippy toes - definitely a sign of someone who is sensory seeking.

highly emotional - can be autism, add, adhd, sensory processing disorder, anxiety or any number of things. More context needed for sure...

can be disoriented - can be autism, dyspraxia or sensory processing disorder.

coordination issues - holding things / clumsy - always dropping things
Ditto my previous answer

distressed by loud noises - can definitely be a sign of ASD or sensory processing.

doesn’t like soft play as too many children - again, can be ASD or sensory processing. But could also be anxiety.

issues with food such as getting messy
breaks food into little pieces before eating - can be ASD

makes noises such as gagging or squealing randomly - again, can be ASD.

There's definitely enough here to warrant further investigation IMO. But important not to jump to conclusions about whether there's a diagnosis and what type of diagnosis it is...

They are all signs of neuro diversity.

Definitely sensory issues and possibly autism or dyspraxia.

Thanks all, yes I intend to speak to the GP, I was just wanting to reach out to other parents on here as well.