oh dear have i got another one with AS?

[ivelostmyboobsboohoo]

my 2 older boys (age 8 and nearly 4) both have high functioning autism/AS and i also have a little girl aged just 2. now because i havent yet had experience of NT development i dont know whether what she is starting to do is usual toddler behaviour or whether she is going same way as the boys. i dont think she is copying (well no, she definitely isnt) because they dont do it..... she has started religiously lining things up, cars, playmobil people, beads, anything really. she has also become very fussy about what toilet she goes to. she wouldnt go in one the other day because it was 'melly' (smelly!!!!) which it actually wasnt really, not like some. she also gets furious if anyone sings, which is exactly what ds2 used to be like, and still can be sometimes.
please dont think i'm wishing it upon her because i so so hope its just toddler behaviour but just cant help picking up on things, now that i know. i kind of know too much now!

ds1 and ds2 didnt start exhibiting odd behaviours til 2 or 3. what do you think?

oh and she also has a thing about washing her hands ie wants to do it all the time.

hiya. ive no experience of autism, but ive got 4 kids and it all sounds like normal toddler behaviour to me. don't panic yourself too much yet.

I honestly have no idea but given the family history would it be worth putting her name on the waiting list to see the Paed just in case? If you feel she's okay when the appointment arrives then you could always cancel it.

Do your boys still have appointments with anyone who might be able to give you an informal opinion? When I was a little worried about my dd (ds1 and ds2 have HFA) the SALT was able to reassure me.

thanks both of you. coppertop- i am still seeing paeds consultant for both boys intermittently (sp?!) so will def mention it to them. thought i might talk to hv too. just thought would see what 'real mums' thought before i go potentially making a tit of myself in fron to f 'professionals' otherwise they will be sectioning me soon for munchausen by proxy!

which i dont have btw!!!

by the way, what was the outcome with your dd?

If they're anything like the pro's we see they won't think badly of you at all. Ours all have their own ways of discreetly asking if we have any concerns about dd.

My dd seems to be NT but she's only 9mths so I'm not sure what NT toddlers are supposed to do tbh. Have you looked at the CHAT test? Would dd have passed it at 18mths? (I can probably post a link for you if you don't know where it is)

My DS1 has a dx of HFA and although my DS2 is nt, my DS3 (who is 2.6) is showing many signs of also being on the spectrum - in fact it's much more pronounced with him than it was with DS1 at the same age. I know what you mean about worrying that I was somehow wishing it on him - as a result I was in denial about it for months - it was really only when we went away in the summer to family in Ireland and I could see him through everyone else's eyes that I realised how "different" he was.

I think you just have to trust your instincts, really. It's obviously good that she's talking (my DS3 isn't) - how is her communication generally? And what is she like socially?

Cross-posted there. The SALT informally looked at dd and said that she seemed fine. I only had one particular niggle about her but the SALT said that although it was an unusual thing, the rest of her social/communication skills were fine.

socially she seems very good, but then so is ds2, though he does misinterpret things. ds1 is the only one who has real trouble socially integrating (but only with his peers, he's almost too ok with adults and doesnt distinguish between adults and kids).

ds1 talked at 10 months (a full sentence no less!), ds2 talked at 2 and dd has been talking for ages as well. they are all so different and often dont fit that easily to the boxes.

what is the CHAT test?

i was in denial about ds2 being 'unusaul' til i went o n NAS eArlybird course for ds1 and thought 'god, thats ds2!) and he was then sent for assessment and dx. in fact it was ds2 good social and play skills (ie he did actually play with something- trains- still obsessed) that marked ds1 out as being non nt. as he was my 1st i thought they all did whta he did! ds2 has subsequently been found to be far 'worse' if you know what i mean

Yes, even siblings with autism can be very very different from each other. Have you read George and Sam - fantastic book by Charlotte Moore about her two sons with autism?

no, never heard of it but might just look it up at the library. thanks!

I have DS1 with AS, a "normal" DS2 and a DS3, who at just 2 is undiagnosed.

I know exactly what you mean about not wishing AS etc. upon siblings, but you do compare everything!

My DS3 has lined up cars and trains since he could move! Will hardly eat anything, likes routine and doesn't like dirty hands. On one hand I can say that all 3 are autistic traits, but on the other...

Some ok children do not like food, some children (like his uncle who's 14 and very intellegient and was a very well behaved/charming child lined up cars and trains)and as for the hands, I'm always cleaning them when they're dirty after food etc. He could just have learnt that it's good to wash hands.

My ds2 didn't like singing when he was younger. It was just a phase.

I have mentioned my concerns to the health vistor and pead so I have it on record.

I try and look for positive signs, like the fact that he plays really well with other children when he's with the child minder (so always so with me!), if I'm sad/crying (often over DS1) he knows immediately and give me a hug, he has good eye contact etc, etc...

Why not subtly get some advice from the health visitor/paed, just to make them aware?

thanks lorns, i will.
whats happening with ds3 then (sorry- am very nosy!)? is he going to be assessed?

Yes, DS3 has been referred to the Complex Communications Clinic for assessment - will all kick off in a couple of months time. In the meantime we are being offered (this is really fantastic) some one-to-one support for him to start at nursery (the same fab nursery who were great with DS1), and attendance at a little SALT group at the same nursery.

And we're just about to take him off cows milk and start him on goats milk, to see if that makes any difference.

oooh, thats interesting. ds2 is being tested for dairy and gluten intolerance at the moment. my friend isa natural nutritionist and she keeps on at me all the time to cut his dairy out- am very wary of starting it tho as he drinks 4 pints a day!!!! i guess you could say its a bit of an obsession......

plus it has to be in a baby bottle warmed to the optimum temperature!

by the way what does SALT mean? sorry if its a really dozy question- am new to MN- and relatively new to the whole SN thing

Sorry - speech and language therapy/therapist.

My DS3 is absolutely addicted to milk, which really makes me wonder. He has three 8 oz bottles a day, and would drink more if we let him (or if he could open the fridge himself) .

oh ok i guess that would have been obvious if i'd actuially tried to work it out!

He's not being assessed, but it is up to me to let them know if I want more help in diagnosing, but reading between the lines, I think they would ike me to wait until children are a bit older before anything is taken seriously.

By the way my DS3 is addicted to milk and yoghurts. Might not eat, but he'd drink gallons of the stuff if i'd let him. I just know he'd turn his nose up at goats milk, but you never know, maybe i'll give it a try!!!

they say you often crave the foods you are intolerant to dont they? i know someone who craved bread and ate tons of it then later found it was responsible for her irritable bowel.

i am going to try mixing a different milk in with it and then vaying the amopunt in stages so eventually it ends up with just the new milk.

my nutritionist friend reccomends Rice milk and says its much nicer than goats or soya milk. i used to have goats milk as a child as have eczema and know that its just bearable if its icy cold, anything else is utterly vile! but you never know they have funny tastes sometimes dont they?
apparently you can get this rice milk in sainsburys, dont think its 'fresh' think it might be one of these longlife ones in a carton in case you're interested

Funnily enough I have some in the fridge. Opened it when all the other milk was gone. I'm the only one having it and yes it is longlife. I'll give him some mixed now. Good idea!!

Two years olds always want to line things up, its actually normal at that age!

Mysds1 is HFA, ds2 is NT (we call him Mr Average but i was reading today and what i though was annoyances are actually traits- but he's scocially A1 so not AS), DS3 is seeing Aped soon but seems to be ASD

Normal to worry I think

BTW My ds1- casein intol, gluten intol
DS2- can eat anyting
ds3- casein intol

(me- casein intol)

and ds1 talked v early too, seemed like he was a genius at the time ()

Oh milks- i find rice milk is MUCH more tolerable! Also if there's no nut allergy and you can find it, almond milk is fantastic int hings like desserts (rice pudd etc). Tesco do an own brand soya- the one in the fridge, not the long life- and it is the only tolerable one I can find, but actuallyt hat's nice

ds3 (3.5) gets enfamil lactofree on prescription, I quite like that too

Sorry I didn't come back to this earlier.

Here is the CHAT test

oh thank you very much, i have had a look and i think she would pass everything on there. feel much relieved now! prob wont stop me worrying in future though! i hang on to knowledge that ASD is much much more common in boys than girls.