2.5 year old extremely cautious

[carefulcareful]

To preface, my dd has been assessed for possible asd. Professionals agree she has plenty traits but want to 'watch and wait' for a while longer before jumping to a diagnosis so young..
I'm not sure if it could be related, but she is sooo cautious it's ridiculous! So careful at the park on slides, will only go down lying on her front and even that sometimes takes a lot of coaxing. She has a balance bike, scooter, scuttlebug etc at home and hates them all, tried them once or twice when we first got them and now just refuses to go near them at all and will get upset if you try and encourage her to use them. She never hurt herself or fell off or anything like that so no negative experience associated with them.
Same story at the pool, she enjoys being there but clings to me the entire time, no chance would she ever jump in or go down a small water slide even if I catch her.
I see other toddlers her age (and much younger..) having so much fun jumping around and exploring and learning these new skills and it makes me a bit sad to see my dd always watching from the sidelines. She is very stubborn and doesn't care about doing the same as other kids or being a 'big girl'.
Has anyone else had a child like this? Would be interesting to know if they also had or suspected autism too.

Does she have speech delay, not interacting much socially or not looking in the eye?
I wouldn't care of those other things you mentioned, being cautious is not a bad thing, I'd rather have a cautious kid than a risky one.

DD1 was cautious. She didn't do anything unless she was sure she could do it. And once she could do it, she did it pretty fine. For example walking, she took her first steps at 15 months. Two days later she was walking fluently, within a week she walked everywhere and never crawled again. She hardly ever even tripped and never had a big fall, but if she wasn't sure she could manage eg a step, she'd wait for a hand.
In contrast one of dd2's first sentences was "am being careful". Often said as she climbed somewhere she shouldn't. She took her first step at 8 months. One week later she climbed to the back of the sofa and walked along there... but she also crawled when tired, or ill, up to about 18 months. We had 3 trips with head injuries (she also only has one hand so falling could be harder) and she constantly had bruises.

Both of them were good talkers.

Neither has been diagnosed with ASD (ds, who is between the two on carefulness, has) although dd1 definitely has some traits.

I don't think being cautious is an Autism thing, it's more a dislike of certain senses. Interestingly, not being aware of danger is an Autism trait. I'm a teacher in an SEN school.

It might be worth looking into difficulties with the vestibular sense and/or proprioceotion. They’re additional parts of the sensory system and are to do with the bodies awareness of itself in space, balance, movement etc. Whilst some children with ASD have very obvious sensory issues to do with texture, taste, lighting etc, some will have sensory differences in other areas.

I agree with lemon balm! Our little one is very risky! I’d love a little bit of caution.

I’d continue to support her with her precautionary approach. Maybe take smaller steps? What about watching you go down the slide (if another adult is at the park?), or a teddy etc? Lots of fun. Maybe smaller slides or just some simple stepping stones. Perhaps trying to work out what it might be that’s making her cautious will be a little bit of a guessing game but is it heights? Perhaps she’s just not much of a risk-taker. Just making it lots of fun? Does she like nursery rhymes like zoom zoom or no monkeys jumping on the bed? You could practise some of the skills with a soft landing on a bed or sofa using nursery rhymes :)

If it’s not having an impact on her day-to-day it’s probably worth just leaving her be. Doing things she enjoys instead if she’s not into the park very much.
Honestly, not what you want to hear but I have a huge risk taker at nearly 3 and I’d give anything for her to be less impulsive 😄