Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Think DD aged 16 is showing autistic tendancies and pmaybe has been for years .Any advice ?

4 replies

fakeblondie · 28/02/2009 11:38

DD was always a bit of a worry.
Diagnosed with epilepsy aged 7 - used to have hundreds of vacant seizures a day.She`s outgrown this now .

I have 2 other children aged 5 and 13 , and i know i shouldn`t compare but i cant help it.
I cant even put my finger on it but something is niggling at the back of mind .

Shes a lovely well liked girl-more so by adults as doesnt gel easily with peers.

Takes her ages to grasp anything .Its impossible to get her to listen to reason - she just doesnt seem to GET it IYKWIM. I dont just mean like many teenagers , i mean this is really really hard work. Trying to think of an eg. her job in the morning is to make her brothers bed.This has been her job for say 2 years . I would say out of 100 mornings i havent had to ask her say TWICE . It just wouldnt occur to her to make it without being asked.Tghe whole regime of getting her to make it takes longer than doing it myself. That is an example of how the whole day goes. I mean this is everything from brushing her teeth to taking her lunch money . Weve done the lets stand back and let her learn the hard way - but i genuinly think she cant help it.
Ok shell come down and i say " have you got your water bottle ".Shes says no .
I ask her to go fetch it.
She says why
I say because you wont get a drink all day otherwise.
She stomps upstairs saying whatever.
Every bloody morning.Ill prob have to send her up 5 times because she forgets what she went up for when she gets there. I say your lifts here go get in the car - she will be STARING at the car with our neighbour in waiting on the drive - but i have to say go get in car X is waiting ! That is how the day goes on. I have nt read the checklist or anything but what else should i look for. She has a very slight food issue - ie , she eats a massive amount of food on waking . She needs a lot of sleep. She bites her fingers a lot and stares at people so we have to nudge her and say stop it. Delayed puberty. Absolutely stunning to look at but absolutely no concept of boys ect yet (phew ). Working too hard for gcses this year-i mean shes gone from the bottom sets in everything to being moved up 3 or 4 sets in every subject. Couldnt tell the time until late.
Did have a TIC for about a year-arm twitching.
Is she showing any autistic tendancies, or am i over reacting.
im just fed up with the whole house revolving around her every morning befire school and poor ds1 wakes up 5 days a week to everyone trying to get her to do what she should do anyway at 16 - and she doesnt seem to listen or comprehend to any reason ?
I feel like 90 % of my attention is on DD1 and the other 10 % on my other 2 .
Sorry its so long x

OP posts:
drlove8 · 28/02/2009 12:28

think you need to post this on the SPECIAL NEEDS BOARD!

bigTillyMint · 28/02/2009 12:33

Difficulties with organisation can also be linked with other SpLD - like dyslexia. so like the making the bed, water bottle, etc. It might not be that obvious if she is bright, but what is her reading and spelling like?

Is she very literal, does she not "get" jokes? Does she have particular interests that she might bore others with? Can she empathise with how others are feeling?

fakeblondie · 28/02/2009 12:38

Thanks BTM
Whats SPLD ?
Reading is marvellous and in top set for english-maths she couldnt even tell the time until she was 14. Absolutley about the jokes - doesnt get them at all .
No comprehension of how others might feel .Its all about her.

Interests are a difficult one because she spent many years sailing thro Europe on a boat so that didn`t help really when others her age were at school .

She likes music but doesnt seem to be on the same wave length as other teenagers. Shes happy coming out with us a bit too much if thats possible ?

OP posts:
bigTillyMint · 28/02/2009 14:37

Sorry for the delay in replying - FIL was monopolising the PC!

SpLD is Specific Learning DIfficulties.

Not understanding jokes and no empathy are key indicators. As she is bright you could well be looking at Aspergers. ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) is inder diagnosed in girls - they are probably better at trying to be like their peers than boys! Also if you were away sailing, you perhaps wouldn't have noticed the differences between her and her peers.

Try googling Aspergers to see if it fits, and there are lots of threads on it on here. I'm sure at least one MNer is Aspergers, which mught be a useful insight for you.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread