Some advice needed please

[Mermaidspam]

Hi,

I think that DD (Age 7) may have High Functioning Autism.

We have known for about 5 years that there was "something" with her, IYSWIM? The repetitive behaviour, obsession with order and routine, etc.

I was reading a thread on here last night which linked to the AQ tests so completed it. Apparently a score over 32 meant "significant levels of autistic traits". DD's score was 96 .

We have talked about numerous options in the past, such as OCD, Autism, ADHD but they have never "fit" her behaviour. HFA seems to. She is academic and was a very good talker from an early age.

I have mentioned it to her teacher tonight at Parent's evening and she has suggested that she gets the SENCO to have a chat to her.

I just wanted to know where to go from here really. I'm concerned that there are things she does that we are correcting, that she maybe can't help and just feel a bit lost.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

hope i can help but im sure there will be somoene else more traveled than me along shortly.

I guess you need to decide weather to get a dx or not, wheather you want one ect.
If you do ask SENCO or school nurse to refer, if they wont then GP will.
Start a daily diary of her behaviours (your need it if you go for assessment, and its good for you too)

HTH

oh and Girls present differently than boys with ASD so dont worry if you doesnt tick all ASD boxes.
Get school to start making notes about times that are more difficult for her than others and what her triggers are if possibke

Never thought of the diary, good idea.

What are the benefits of getting a dx? I don't really understand the possibilities for her TBH.

(Thanks, btw)

The school don't seem to have noticed. She has hearing aids so they seem all consumed with that at the mo!

we choose to go down dx road, as we werent getting enough support for her with an informal dx.
Problem is, as wrong as it is, that dx = help, funding and guidelines they have to follow though.

We have also told DD1 that she has HFA and this has helped her to understand her own behaviours.

Diary has helped no end tbh, especially as if you go down dx road they will ask for examples and my mind is pretty full most days its hard to recall. It also helped to indenify triggers for her behaviours.

I know! The teacher asked for specifics and all I could think of was:

• Change in routines
• Lack of understanding of tone of voice
• Hates disorder (though you should see her bedroom!)

DD was at the parent's evening with us and asked what we were talking about. I said "you know how you get upset when things change, and that you need your little boy and girl with you all the time? Well, one of the teachers is going to have a chat with you to see if there's anything they can do to help you. There's nothing wrong, they just want to know what they can do for you"

(The little boy and girl are 2 toys (from the Big Red Fun Bus ) which are her latest obsession, she usually moves on to something new every couple of months)

Do you think this was okay? May I ask how you explained it?

sounds fine to me. We said something simular when it all started that these people were going to help her with her worries ect. Then she started asking more questioned and we explained that some childrens/peoples brains arent wired the same way, not wrong just different, which made them behave and think differently to their friends. We used a friends son as an example who has ASD. Then we had quite a few books around which she would pick up and read and then she saw it written in a report and asked about it so we told her. Wasnt a big sit down thing, just drip drip information which worked well for us.

We have a toy pig, that goes everywhere with her, even to school everyday

Books about ASD? Could you recommend any?

Thanks so much for your advice.

Is there anything you think I should be more understanding of with regards to her behaviours that fit with HFA?

For example, when she's sing-songing (If there's such a word!) the same word or phrase over and over again we would usually tell her to stop being annoying (in a jokey way).

Should we keep on as we were, or change how we see these "annoyances"?

hello, my ds is also very repetitive, using learned phrases over and over again (echolalia). his occupational therapist recently advised that we allow him to do it sometimes if he is using it as a tool to relax or wind down, but that we should try to limit it to appropriate times, so we discourage it at the dinner table, etc.

hope this helps!

Thanks RR, it does

you could try:
Complete-Guide-Aspergers-Syndrome by Tony Attwood

Thanks