Possible mild autism - DD age 6

[Willoraway]

I’ve suspected for a while that DD age 6 might be on the spectrum. She is the loveliest and happiest little girl but has few difficulties such as:

Rigidity in her imaginative play and lack of independent imaginative play
Slight struggles with picking up social cues
Horror at failure/making mistakes
Some mild sensory issues
Strong adherence to rules
Poor dexterity
Struggles with some self-care eg doesn’t realise when she’s thirsty

I spoke to her class teacher who agrees and is supportive, and has made a referral. He’s advised it could be 12 months plus for her to be seen in a clinic.

is there anything else I can be doing to support her in the meantime? Or anything to be aware of? This is all new to me and I want to help her as much as possible. Although she isn’t struggling too much at the moment I’m concerned that these issues will cause her problems as she grows up.

Request a meeting with the SENCO. Support in school is based on needs, not diagnosis.

For example, what adjustments for sensory difficulties have they put in place, do they run sensory circuits, do they run a nurture group, lego therapy, motor skills programme?

You might find The Out of Sync Child book helpful. This booklet is aimed at slightly younger children but will still be useful with sensory needs. Also some of the ideas on this website and the Occuplaytional therapist’s resources.

The autism spectrum isn’t a linear spectrum with mild at one end and severe at the other. The spectrum part of the name relates to the different elements of needs. In order to be diagnosed there has to be a significant impairment.

My advice would be the stop worrying about the label for now and just focus on her individual needs and accepting her differences.
lack of independent imaginative play- okay do what sort of play does she like how can you grow that strength.
Slight struggles with picking up social cues- okay so be aware that she needs literal answers not inferences and respond accordingly
Horror at failure/making mistakes- ( that's not necessarily autism) show her that it's okay to get things wrong, make mistakes yourself and show her that it's not a big deal.
Some mild sensory issues- accept them
Strong adherence to rules- be grateful and work with it.
Poor dexterity- speak to an OT for strengthening exercises around fine motor skills
Struggles with some self-care eg doesn’t realise when she’s thirsty- that's about introspection not self care, use her adherence to rules to help with this. E.g we need water to keep us healthy have a glass every hour maybe use a timer to help her.