Attachment vs Autism? Or both?

[Rainallnight]

DD (7) has had some struggles over the years, which have always been put down to attachment issues.

She’s a wonderful, funny, cleverly, quite quirky little girl. She struggles with emotional regulation. We have noticed recently that her sensory difficulties are getting worse and she’s had some social difficulties in school.

We’re having a very challenging summer, being out of school routine, going on holidays, etc.

I’ve begun to wonder whether in fact she might have some ASD instead of/as well as attachment difficulties. There is some very interesting reading about this on the internet.

I wanted to ask here if anyone has had similar thoughts about their DC who are adopted, and whether having an ASD assessment was useful.

I’m also looking for recommendations for a professional who could do an assessment that could unpick any potential ASD from any attachment difficulties (I believe there are assessment tools especially for this purpose).

Thanks for reading.

Both my two are looking at assessment for neurodivergence- suspect ASD in one and ADHD in the other, along with the constellation that goes with developmental trauma etc. It’s entirely possible that both are at play, though it tends to be that neurodivergence becomes clearer as children get older, both mine were 9 before it became apparent there was something in addition to trauma/attachment issues.

Our neurodevelopmental team will do a comprehensive assessment looking for things like ADHD, ASD, FASD and attachment difficulties - there’s a lot of overlap in presentation so it can be tricky but I think it’ll make a huge difference to my kids being able to understand themselves better and to be able to communicate their needs.

Our DS is 7 and sounds exactly like your DD we’re about to have an assessment starting in the next month or so through the ASF which will hopefully give us some answers. There is a lot of developmental trauma but they also want to check for ADHD and ASD. He’s been with us 2 years now and his sensory difficulties especially at school have become more apparent the last few months.

Hi, my daughter is 7, adopted at 15 months and diagnosed at 5 with Aspergers. Both are definitely at play with us.
There were some oddities early on which we flagged with SW and health visitors and it was always put down to normal age and stage ir attachment.
By 4 it was very obvious that she wasn't playing or connecting with other children although it took us to point it out to nursery for them to agree. They were great and did a formal observation and realised she wasn't actually engaging with others, just giving a very good impression of it. Sensory issues were always there and extreme separation anxiety. Repetitive play was also quite subtle. We observed she always played the same story with the same things and controlled the narrative strictly. Watched thongs on loop and rewinds to watch the same bit repetitively. Behaviour changes due to anxiety at transitions, speech and processing of what's going on becomes fractured and Repetitive with Repetitive questioning. Explosive reactions to getting things wrong or not managing something.
The Hv at her pre school check admitted later that she only referred us for assessment of development skills because I asked. She didn't think I'd get a referral for diagnosis never mind a diagnosis at 5. She admits she knew nothing re presentation of asd in girls and although lovely. She knew little re developmental trauma I adopted children.
I would push for a referral.

I should add that her issues are rarely recognised at school. Part of that is 'masking' though I think the term is misused often and a large part of that is lack of understanding and knowledge from teachers, despite their protests that they're well trained in such.

My son has trauma and attachment issues and has been queried as autistic in the past. I found the Coventry Grid very helpful to look at his different behaviours and possible reasons behind them. My son isn’t autistic but does present that way to people unfamiliar with the results of attachment and trauma.