Accident prone dd....

[Girliefriendlikescake]

My 13yo dd has recently been told it's highly probable she is on the ASD spectrum and we are just beginning the journey of getting a more formal diagnosis.

Yesterday evening was spent sorting her out after she had a nasty accident at the park where a roundabout swing hit her on the side of the head. It hit her hard enough to knock her down and her ear is really bruised and swollen.

I've lost track of the number of times she has injured herself over the years. I've always just assumed she's unlucky and accident prone however now I'm wondering whether it's actually all part of having ASD and linked to poor spacial awareness??

It's almost predictable she will hurt herself sometimes and her 'clumsiness' is worse if she is excited or tired.

Does this fit with having ASD?

General 'clumsiness' can be Dyspraxia which has a lot of overlaps with ASD and can exist as a condition on its own or be co-morbid with ASD. Also some of the sensory processing presentations can be very much like Dyspraxia and will be included in the latest ASD assessments. She may have hypermobile joints which affect movement and speed of movement and a lot of other things.

The only way to find out is to go for a comprehensive assessment, so many of the co-morbids have symptoms that overlap with ASD it's impossible to say which your daughter could have.

It's best to head for assessment with a list of behaviours and an open mind and see what the professionals find, rather than thinking of it in terms of an ASD assessment or an ADHD assessment or a Dyspraxia assessment etc.