Autism in girls

[Sallyring]

I wanted to connect with other parents who have daughters on the spectrum. We are just starting the assessment process

I have a nearly 5 year old girl with autism - the process of diagnosis can be really long but that's because there is often a long waiting time between appointments. I was told that my DD had autism when she was 2 but still had to go through the salt, camhs and multidisciplinary assessment. Even though they knew what it was they had to rule out everything else and make sure it wasn't a dual diagnosis. How old is your DD?

She is 6. We were told she "may" have certain traits of aspergers/autism 2 yrs ago by a paediatrician. We took it no further as we found the consultation distressing due to the Drs approach etc. she has since retired and we have moved areas (partly due to school issues). Some days I think yes there's something there, other days I don't. She works in the yr below at school as her previous school refused to move her into reception from their nursery as they didn't have the resources.

It's good that you have changed doctors. Has your daughter been referred to a paediatrician? That is the first step as all the appointments are made from there. My daughter is in reception and can't do anything academically that is expected of her. At the initial assessment at school they said she is assessed at the lowest end of 30-50 months for everything. Even after the diagnosis getting the support in in place is really hard work.

DD1 is nearly 8 and been waiting 13 months for an assessment, plus the 6 months from seeing GP to being put on the waiting list.

I was at a meeting with SENCO, specialist nurse and ed psychologist yesterday. It was a case if when she gets diagnosed not if. School can't afford one to one so they have to deal (badly) with her melt downs. She's lovely out of school.

We've been told ASD is harder to diagnosis in a lot of girls. DD had great language development, bright and articulate although socially immature, fantastic imagination, kind, loving, makes friends easily, funny but has shocking meltdowns in school. Also sleeps badly, terrible anxiety, hyper sensitive to noise and visually too. Easily distracted.

Having a really bad week but we seem to finally be getting somewhere. If I wasn't working I would pull her out of school.

My DD is 21 now and wasn't diagnosed until she was in 6th form. Years of living with her quirks and sensitivity made complete sense once we'd been through the assessment process. It's lengthy and hard going at times but I'm glad we got there in the end (even though I still feel guilty for not realising earlier that the meltdowns at home were due to her holding it all in and being so rule bound at school).

Thanks everyone for your input. I feel really positive about the next few months. Emotionally I'm ready. I too have read and seen things about getting a diagnosis as soon as possible. As she learns in the class below her actual class I don't want to run into problems down the line with secondary school. As she is very social in her class, with friends coming over etc I don't want her to suddenly be flung into her age class. Once you've seen the paediatrician, do they do the testing/assessment?

Hi my dd is five and was diagnosed with autism last July (2014). The whole process from originally seeing the paediatrician to getting the diagnosis took about 18 months. The paediatrician assessed our dd then referred her to be seen by a speech and language therapist and also an educational psychologist. There were long waits for both of these although it probably depends on where you live as to how long the process takes!. Our dd finally started in a special needs school in September after an 18 month fight to get her the educational provision she needs. Unfortunately the diagnosis is just the beginning there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. But it's all worthwhile

School are starting to think my dd has many traits. Its not surprising in some ways as both her brothers have ASD and are statemented, and in all honesty she is more difficult than they are, although she doesnt come across as obviously autistic, as shes bright and has friends, but she dances to a different drummer a lot of the time and is starting to alienate her friends with her behaviour, and she has massive sensory issues

My dd also has sensory processing disorder and is practically non verbal so it was easier to spot her special needs iyswim

Branleuse, you've just described my DD, who Camhs suggested be assessed for AS.

'shes bright and has friends, but she dances to a different drummer a lot of the time and is starting to alienate her friends with her behaviour, and she has massive sensory issues'

That's it in a nutshell.