My DD is 4 and is diagnosed with autism. She is 'high functioning' for want of a better term, and is fully verbal and generally very bright child. Her main struggles are with anxiety and with social situations.
A couple of months ago she started occasionally getting very upset when one of us would talk to her. This would usually be when she was in the middle of doing something like playing a game, and she would say that we'd made her jump. She would also sometimes say that we were talking too loudly even though it was just at a normal volume. I figured it was just that she wasn't expecting to be talked to at that time (and maybe we did actually make her jump) so I wasn't particularly worried and tried to be better about making sure that she's definitely seen me before I start talking to her and gently saying her name before making any requests.
However she is doing it more and more often and is now also sometimes doing it when we are literally in the middle of a conversation. For example:
Me: how was your day at nursery?
DD: it was good, I played in the sandpit
Me: Oh that sounds fun, who did you play with?
DD: Sophie and Sarah, but Alfie joined in too
Me: That's nice, you like playing with Alfie don't you
DD: (wailing and crying) Mummy! You made me jump! I didn't expect you to talk to me! You're talking too loudly!
This will be regardless of what we are talking about and I won't have changed my volume at all. It doesn't seem to be in response to a particular type of phrase or question etc. She seems genuinely taken aback and upset/scared. It's all totally new over the last couple of months, we have always had lots of chats and talked about things (she's not the kind of child who doesn't like interacting or chatting) so I don't know where this has come from. She will also sometimes say that she was in the middle of doing or listening to something else even though there is nothing else going on.
It may well just be a phase and/or a feature of her autism but I'm also getting worried that it might be something else more concerning but I'm not sure what. Mainly because each time it happens she does seem genuinely shocked and immediately gets very upset and it's making me wonder if she's not able to control her attention or something. I've even looked up absence seizures etc but it doesn't seem to fit with that. I wondered if she might have ADHD as well but I've never heard of another child doing this sort of thing.
Anyone had similar experiences? Or any idea of where this might be coming from, or how to deal with it? Thanks