I have posted before about my sister. 14 years old, hugely overweight (14 stone), no friends, no hobbies, no interests etc etc...
Well she finally got referred to a specialist team (cahms?) and link (mental health team), education are involved (because of the bullying and problems at school) and basically a load of profesionals.
After initial visits they thought she 'may' have aspergers but now they have decided there is nothing wrong with her other than low confidence, anxiety and depression (!!!)
However I think this is shit and think my mum should push for further diagnosis. Here are some of the things which make me think this, I would be very grateful if you could read them and then tell me if this does not point to autism/aspergers.
Obsessions with teddies
Since she could walk up until the age of about 9 she was obsessed with a Barney the Dinosaur teddy. She would take it everywhere, talk to it, have two way conversations with it, blame it for things, dance with it...then other people started buying her more barney teddies and she began lining them up in perfect lines on the sofa and started a daily ritual of saying "goodbye Barney no1, goodbye barney no2, goodbye barney no3..." all the way up to barney no. 15. EVERY morning, EVERY night she would do this. Then people started getting on at her that it was babyish and she was forced to leave barney no1 i n her room. We didn't realise at the time but she got around this by moving on to a new obsession. A Crazy Frog teddy. so at the age of 9, she carried on this behaviour of talking to frog, having conversations with it, rubbing it in her face (and then rubbing it in other people's faces), carrying it everywhere, she got a t-shirt with it on and wore it everywhere...then people got sick of the frog and she was forced to leave it in her room...needless to say, a new teddy took its place. cat teddy. The rituals continued until last year (age of 13) she was forced to leave that in her room...she has now moved on to a dragon teddy and at the age of 14...continues to talk to it, have two way convos with it, cuddle it, shout of it, push it in people's faces....it has its own spot on the sofa and you can guarantee it will be there whenever you go to their house.
Seal Dance
When she learnt to sit up, she immediately began this 'dance' where she would sit on the ground and swing from side to side like a seal. Depending on her mood she would either do it slowly or if she was upset/nervous she would do it wildly and litrally throw herself from side to side. I thought she'd stopped doing it around the age of 10 but my mum has admitted that she still does it. Sometimes my mum will peep into her room and she will be sat on the floor rocking from side to side, sometimes blowing rasperies whenever she 'lands'.
The Dreamcast
She became obsessed with a dreamcast console when she was about 10 and would turn it on and just sit and stare at the screen. She would never play it, she'd just put on a game and watch the opening scenes for hours and hours. Sometimes she would be in fits of hysterics whilst she did this. Then she began lining the floor with all the games, they'd all be laid out all over the carpet and she would sit in the middle and start talking to them, laughing at them, telling them off, 'answering' them as if they were speaking to her...then their house got burgled and the dreamcast was stolen and she was so upset, she was physically sick 3 times and was ill for over 2 weeks.
watching and listening
When she was about 5 she became obsessed with a Norwich Union advert that was repeated constantly on sky shopping channel. She would sit there and litrally watch it on a loop for hours on end. This went on for months. Now she does it with logos. For instance, she will go on yourtube and play 20th century fox theme over and over again, sometimes from 3.30pm until 10pm. Her very latest one is the tetris theme tune which she sits and listens to in her room (doing nothing else but sitting listening) all night, sometimes all weekend, the same tetris music on repeat.
There are other things to, things she says (like she told my mum that her dad was having sex with her grandma, his mother) and she sometimes throws herself into doors/walls on purpose and then pretends she did it by accident but has bruised herself doing this.
So, is this a 'simple' case of a teenager with low confidence or should it be pushed further?