autism or deafness?

[janedo44]

We have just had parents eve for our 5 year old. The teacher queried autism and has referred us to senco with was a bit of a surprise. Also possible partial deafness, which we think is a possibility and have booked her into gp asap.
DD is very sociable, loves meeting new people and doing new things, no milestones or eye contact issues, good at imaginary games, gets sarcasm and is aware of others feelings, no obsession with anything.
Their query is based on...very advanced reading, at year 3 level already, but DH and I both primary teachers and taught her at a young age as we are avid readers. She does this weird thing where she shakes her finger near her eyes, hasn't done this for over two years and has recently started again. She was very popular with peers but teacher has noticed the other girls now have stronger friendships and she's is becoming more of an outsider, which shocked us. She said she has to give her one to one instructions and she relies on visual cues. She struggles to follow instructions in the school environment and shouts a lot.
Is this likely due to partial deafness and struggling in a school environment as her dad was partially deaf as a young child.
We did see SALT when she was two but she had no language issues so they weren't bothered. Nursery never raised any issues.
Entire family are teachers or work in sen and are all a bit surprised, tho we want to meet senco prepared to work with them

Flicking fingers at the side of the eyes is a potential sensory need, which is common in people with autism. So can hyperlexia, though this tends to be more like a fascination with letters rather than just being advanced in reading.

Shouting a lot may be because she can't hear.

But with just that information it's not really possible to know. Has she had a hearing test? That would seem a good first step while you wait for a meeting with the SENCO.

I guess first thing would be the hearing test. If she was being sent for an ASD assessment that would be one of the first things they would ask about as well.

You're probably already aware that girls are better at masking than boys so some signs are harder to see. I can't diagnose for you but I will say that some autistic children can be ok with eye contact, understanding other peoples feelings etc. But having 2 autistic kids I can definitely relate to the one to one instructions and the reliance on visuals. My youngest also likes to wiggle their fingers in front of their eyes. My eldest is hyperlexic and his reading is very advanced.

If she was, it could be that her needs aren't as high as other autistic children. I firmly believe there's no harm in investigating it further, and if she isn't then you know for sure, if she is then you can start to look at whether she needs more support.

I've looked at all the autism stims today and can't see any like hers..it's like if she's drawing she'll hold the pen to her eye and shake it/gaze at it intently.
The gp said it's not urgent so are making us wait til next week, then a wait for audiology I'm assuming.

She's also not fascinated with letters like hyperlexia, she just really enjoys reading although she's going off it a bit now. She'll read comics to herself before bed.

Yes I think it's worth investigating.
She's hard to have a conversation with sometimes..but we aren't sure if that is just because she is 5 or not!
She seems very deaf in one ear from what we've figured out tonight.

It's really hard to judge for sure when what you only have is what is the norm in your own household. Mine is also 5 but much limited in speech but will happily read out sentences and phrases or sing songs. Very much a gestalt learner. Good luck, I hope you get some answers x

My son does something similar. He is language delayed and hyperactive with ADHD being mentioned but is not classically autistic due to his non verbal communication abilities