Concerns about dd3 - possible ASD?

[perceptionreality]

I've already posted in behaviour but thought I would also put a thread on here as I don't know much about HFA. Dd1 (11) has classic autism and quite severe learning difficulties so she's very different. Dd2 (9) is NT. But I've started to have general concerns about dd3 who is now 3 years, 8 months.

The main things is that she is terrified to poo. She will use the toilet for wees but is quite obsessive about routines there and if I try to help her she goes all the way back to step 1 and starts again. The only way I can get her to poo is to put a suppository in. And what follows that is 20 minutes of screaming and crying until she finally goes in a nappy.

Brushing her hair and cleaning her teeth is always a battle and she screams all the way through.

If anyone wants anything on the television other than Cbeebies, we all have to put up with about 30 minutes of crying.

Every time we leave the house she has to have her drink, bear, dummy and blanket otherwise she screams the house down. She also has to go out of the door first.

If I try to explain why she can't do something or have something she doesn't seem to understand and keeps repeating the request over and over again.

Having said that, her language development has seemed normal. She would have passed the CHAT test at 18 months. Her play seems quite normal. But something is not right. Nursery were a bit concerned that her language seemed slow at the beginning of last year but then said when she came back after the summer holidays that she seemed to have caught up. They have not said anything since.

I wondered if anyone on here thinks any of this sounds like she could be on the spectrum? I'm going to see the GP again. So far they have been rubbish about the poo problem.

Hi perception, I think if you are worried you should ask your GP to refer your dd3 to a developmental paediatrician or your local CDC.

I work in a preschool and TBH I am not surprised that nursery are not really seeing anything.

There is a massive range of skills that children learn during the preschool years and there will be children at all different levels at nursery.

If your Dd is able to follow the routine and conform for short periods of time in nursery then she is probably not massively outside the normal range for a 3 yr old.

Of course you are an expert on her development so if you feel there is an issue then you need to get it checked.

Good luck

Thanks for your replies. She is nothing like dd1 except, forgot to mention that lately I have noticed her reciting scripts from cbeebies or books - which dd1 did do and which strikes me as echolalic and not really that normal. She also likes the same book read every night - but not sure if this is typical of other children?

Yes lisa, what made me think was that when I read George and Sam by Charlotte Moore (whose oldest two boys both have autism) she says that Sam was so different to George that they didn't suspect it for some time.

What you are saying about your DD is more sensory issues than classic ASD signs IMO. Try googling Sensory integration disorder or sensory processing disorder- may be you'll find smth useful. I would also think that her having a normal speech development pattern is a big reassuring sign.
HTH.

Thanks, I am taking her to the doctor next week. Children with AS are hard to spot at this age anyway aren't they? And iirc girls with AS look very different to boys with AS as a rule. She certainly doesn't have any obvious odd behaviours except the obsessions about routine. She sat very late and walked very late.