Hi all, my DD is turning 3 in under a week. Recently I have been getting worried about her behaviour.
My first concern is going to sound trivial, so please do say if I'm worried over nothing. I know the whole 'terrible two's' 'troublesome there's' thing, but after having a look at recent surveys I'm a bit concerned that my DD's tantrums are a cause for concern. On average I would say she has atleast 4 tantrums a day. And everyone of her tantrums is violent and destructive. She hits me, kicks me, hits herself (especially on her legs) she spits, scratches things around her, bangs her head (intentionally) on the floor, she tries to break things and has recently tried ripping my carpet up. This is every tantrum, not just the odd one, every tantrum!
My next concern is she doesn't like other children. She goes to nursery 4 mornings a week. A lovely little girl there comes running up to her every morning to say hello, DD will smile at her and tell me who the other little girl is and may possibly be coaxed into holding her hand, but apart from that, that's it. She doesn't want to play with the other children, or interact with them at all. She would rarer sit in her own little world and be left there.
My next concern, she doesn't like physical contact. I lived giving her cuddles and kisses and endless skin-to-skin before she could run away from me. She will sit on my lap, or snuggle into my side, or cling to my leg, but if I try and snuggle her back or give her a cuddle she screams at me and runs away! She will give cuddles but only on her terms. She has to instigate it, I can't go and sit on the sofa and put my arm round her, she hates it!
Another concern of mine is she never refers to herself as 'me' or 'I'. She calls herself 'Leela' which isn't her name, but sounds phonically like it. For example if I try and put her coat on she would say 'leela do it! Not mummy do it!' Instead of 'I want to do it, not you'. I don't think she has ever referred to herself in first person. Despite my best efforts.
Possibly my last concern is that she is so ignorant! I could call her name 5 or 6 times and she just ignores me. Sometimes until I actually go and tap her shoulder or sit in her eyeline. Sometimes It's as if she's staring into space. She tends to look at me from the corner of her eye quite a bit aswell. Instead of giving proper eye contact.
Ok I lied, thought of another thing that's troubling me about DD. She does play imaginatively, she will pretend he has a cup and is drinking out of it. Sometimes she pretends to be talking in the phone, but will only copy the conversations she has heArd me have on the phone or ones from peppa pig. When she plays with her peppa pig figures they only ever do the same things they do on the programme. They don't do imaginative things like climbing mountains or skiing etc, they only do things like jumping in puddles, or going to bed, or having a bath, things she's seen on the episodes. Her dollys do the same aswell, they have a bath or eat dinner or go to bed. Am I missing the point with the whole imaginative play thing? Her games seem very structured and realistic based.
Now in all honesty my brother has autistic spectrum disorder and aspergers, so I know that it may sound like I'm trying to get at autism, but really I just want confirmation that other peoples LO's do these things and that she is just normal. Any advice?