Does this sound like Aspurgers syndrome to you?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, my daughter is 5.5 and has a two year developmental delay. She has very poor speech and her understanding of speech isn't good either.
She is very sociable and will happily talk in front of her class. She makes friends easily but finds it harder to keep them, perhaps because they find her difficult to understand they'd rather play with someone else.
She does show empathy a lot. If someone is crying, she'll give them a cuddle. When I read her the book Dandilion, when the little lion was told he was too different and he walked sadly away, she kissed the picture of him.
She dosn't seem to understand social bounderies, she'll often cuddle shop keepers if they show her any attention. She's very affectionate.
She does make silly noises like "yeeee-yeeee-yeee's" or "yaaa-yeeee". Usually when she's excited.
She did something strange the other day, she wanted to play her DVD again and I'd said no. She was pressing all the buttons to try to work the DVD but it wouldn't work. She then took my finger and was pressing random buttons with my finger. She must think that my finger works the DVD remote rather than, I know whick buttons to press.
That might have nothing to do with aspurges, it was just interesting.
I think she might have an auditory processing disorder as she often appears like she can't hear properly with background noise. She'll often say "pardon" or she'll try to repeat what I've said and it's totally wrong. She also takes a few seconds to respond to speech.
I've heard that Auditory processing disorder is often mistaken for ASD. I just wondered if my daughter might have ASD?
I've been posting about her for a while now and several people have said they think she might have Asburges but I'm not convinced.

bump

it's impossible for anyone on here to do more than take an informed guess - it takes a paediatrician possibly in conjunction with other health professionals to make that decision. the behaviour/social difficulties around asd can seem similar to those caused by language/communication problems. I think it's definitely worth her seeing a developmental paediatrician again anyway, given they said she has a significant developmental delay.

I do have an appointment with the Pead soon. I'll ask then. I don't want to be barking up the wrong tree, but If she does have it then we need to know.

I've read about it and she only seems to tick a small nomber of boxes, where as with APD, she ticks every box.

As TC said, it's impossible (and not a good idea) for anyone here to try and diagnose dd. But I just wanted to ask if she is receiving help for her speech/language delay?

You say a 2-year development delay - is this across the board? It may be that if it is primarily her speech & language (rather than, eg motor skills, or unspecified learning difficulties), this might be affecting everything else, so once her s&l is improved, everything else might too.

I would very much hope she is getting good support with s&l, as from what you've said it is definitely hindering her development, certainly socially. How is she doing at school academically? Does she have support at school? I would, in your shoes, be trying to make sure she has as much help as possible.

It could well be all due to an auditory processing disorder as the effect on education can be devastating. Her results are always spikey. She's good at maths if it's visual, eg she can see the sum written down.
She is in a small class that is joined with year 2. There are only 14 children but she's the only one with SEN's.

Is she getting extra support at school?

She know knows most of her letter sounds, and is blending them together to read some 3 letter words and can spell some 3 letter words. Her writing is quite neat too.
She has made a lot of progress recently so it'll be interesting when she's acessed again to see what progress she's made.

Only what the teacher can give her. They don't have a TA. Her Ed Psych said she wouldn't be entitled to any extra help as she's not bad enough. She's on an IEP at the moment.

She does also have speech therapy, she's been having it since she was two.

i'm going to ask the school if I can come in and help her several times a week. I could be her TA, that way I'd know what she was doing and how I could help her at home as well. I doubt they'll agree to that though.

I'm looking for other schools at the moment, I've seen 3 already, but I'm looking for one that's small and quiet with excellent SEN's facilities. It will be a huge change for her, but if there's any chance of more help then we have to go for it.

Do not let EP fob you off by telling you she's not "bad enough". Tsk to this person!. It sounds like the EP (who is employed by the LEA) is under pressure from them re statementing i.e do not do this for parents hence her offputting words. You could apply personally for a Statement of special needs for your DD from the LEA and I would suggest you do this asap. Look at IPSEA's website for more information:-

www.ipsea.org.uk

Would not just accept the IEP either; she needs long term support with regards to her educational needs. Anything short of a Statement is not legally binding. I would certainly look at other schools with better facilities.

I doubt very much that school will let you into be her assistant. You need to fight for her corner differently and doing the above is a good way forward.

Thank you, I've added it to favourites and i'll go through it soon. I'm too tired now. My little treasure was up at 5am. she's usually such a good sleeper, it was a shock to the system.

MLL - Aspergers in girls often looks a bit diff to Aspergers in boys - and is frequently misdiagnosed.

Lucy obviuosly has complex problems (based on all your prev threads) and may or may not have Aspergers.

But, because she's a girl, and has a lot of problems, you will have to push twice as hard to find out if she has Aspergers or not.

The right diagnosis (and the right school) will help you so much in trying to help Lucy. I know she's behind academically, the right dx will give the school clues as to what is the best way to teach her.

So, what I am trying to say, is certainly get her assessed for Aspergers. If she doesn't have it - great. If she does have it - great, because then you will have loads of new ideas for how to get her the help she needs....

Thank you.

Have a look at the NAS web site. National Autistic Society.

I couldn't say whether your DD has ASD either but from what you say, and what I have been told by DS's school, if she has a 2 yr delay then she could very well get a statement. Children round here need to be 2 yrs behind to be considered as needing a statement for academic purposes (although of course there are other grounds for a statement).

If you have trouble getting through to the IPSEA (I haven't ever managed it and gave up in the end) have a look at your LA website. Ours do something called the Parent Partnership which also help out with statementing. They are independent of the LA and help with dealing with schools and other professionals. They can act as an advocate and give you support in meetings and with the statementing process.

Sorry Niecie but my understanding is that Parent Partnership is run by the LA and is not impartial. Certainly many on this board have not had good experiences but I know that some others have. Our PP is in the same office as the SEN case managers/support team so I have never gone to them for independent advice.

fightingthezombies - that isn't how it works in our LA - you can get volunteer helper who admittedly has had training but still, they aren't employed by the LA and are usually a parent who has been through the process or you can nominate a friend, relative or colleague to be part of the process which of course would not normally be allowed. Either will act as an advocate and bring support to meeting between the school and LEA.

In common with lot of people on these boards I haven't been able to get hold of the IPSEA. I didn't have the time to keep trying them (I know most get through eventually), I needed more immediate advice and although the PP weren't quick they did at least get back to me.

Obviously if you use the PP you need to be aware that my LA is not the same as others, it seems.

PP paid by LA but supposedly independent of them in terms of policy here.