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Autistic Spectrum Disorder?
Hi everyone,
I was just looking for some advice/guidance from parents with children with ASD.
My daughter is almost 5 years old. She is the second of 4 children. We have always known she has what have been classed as "mild learning difficulties", and have learned to live with them and accept that she needs a little extra support from us, and got on with our lives. We have never had any outside help from healthcare professionals or organisations, as I don't really see what it would achieve.
I was recently chatting to a family friend, who is a teacher, and my daughter was having a bit of a bad day. This friend just casually said "are you sure she doesnt have ASD?". I just said no, but since then it has been playing on my mind.
Some of the things she does are mentioned as signs of ASD on the different websites I have looked at, but it seems IF she does have ASD, it would only be a mild case.
But do I need to get it investigated? I dont want to feel like I am trying to get a diagnosis as I dont see how getting a definite yes or no would help in Ellie's case. She has support at school and her teacher is great with her.
I just dont know if I am now looking for something that isnt there, thinking she may have ASD when she might not.
I am just rambling a bit really. I have spoken to my husband about it, but he just says "she is happy, loved and well cared for, and better than she used to be, so there's not a problem".
If it were you, what would you do? Would you get it investigated just for the sake of having a name for your child's problems?
Its all just a bit of a muddle in my head really. Thanks for reading xxxx
I was just looking for some advice/guidance from parents with children with ASD.
My daughter is almost 5 years old. She is the second of 4 children. We have always known she has what have been classed as "mild learning difficulties", and have learned to live with them and accept that she needs a little extra support from us, and got on with our lives. We have never had any outside help from healthcare professionals or organisations, as I don't really see what it would achieve.
I was recently chatting to a family friend, who is a teacher, and my daughter was having a bit of a bad day. This friend just casually said "are you sure she doesnt have ASD?". I just said no, but since then it has been playing on my mind.
Some of the things she does are mentioned as signs of ASD on the different websites I have looked at, but it seems IF she does have ASD, it would only be a mild case.
But do I need to get it investigated? I dont want to feel like I am trying to get a diagnosis as I dont see how getting a definite yes or no would help in Ellie's case. She has support at school and her teacher is great with her.
I just dont know if I am now looking for something that isnt there, thinking she may have ASD when she might not.
I am just rambling a bit really. I have spoken to my husband about it, but he just says "she is happy, loved and well cared for, and better than she used to be, so there's not a problem".
If it were you, what would you do? Would you get it investigated just for the sake of having a name for your child's problems?
Its all just a bit of a muddle in my head really. Thanks for reading xxxx
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Replies
I would say if you are happy at the moment that you and the school can meet her needs then leave it for now, you can always readdress the situation in the future. xx
Thanks H xx
When we discharge from SLT services, often we're not saying that the child does not have any needs, but that the child will not benefit from our input at this particular time. I wonder if this is the case with Isaac? Children who are bright and have Asperger's or high-functioning autism often manage very well during their early years as the demands for social interaction are relatively low. There is often no requirement for input from SLT until the child enters primary school and needs support to develop social skills to maintain friendships. Children with these difficulties often find ambiguous or abstract language difficult to understand e.g. word-play, sarcasm, metaphor etc. Again, a child is only expected to begin starting to understand this as they get towards 6 or 7 years of age, so before this the child manages well.
Not knowing Isaac, I guess I can't comment any more. If it is Asperger's or high-functioning autism, the difficulties will not go away but they will change over time and he will learn to manage any problems so that they are not as obvious. Lots of kids cope well in mainstream without the help of any outside agencies but an understanding and supportive school is a must. In the meantime, it sounds like he has lots of strengths and building on these will give him confidence. All kids, those with 'diagnoses' or not, have their own strengths and weaknesses and Isaac is no different.
Hope that's been helpful. Let me know if there's anything else.
Sorry for gate-crashing Cazzywoo!
The EYSST said he was very repetative in what he said but couldnt be sure whether it was echolalia or whether he was just repeating stuff back so that he could process it himself, he does repeat things he hears such as the sat nav in the car and nursery rhymes, when he repeats the nursery rhymes he also repeats the extra bits that his nursery teacher has added in, to use an example, he was in his room the other day singing baa baa black sheep, he got to a point in the song when he said "Kyle you need to sit down please" then he did the nursery rhyme again, saying the same thing at the same point in the rhyme. He also uses really complicated phrases that he has heard me or his older siblings use but he uses them out of context, for instance he says "Its not an option" which is something I have said to his 14 year old brother.
For the moment I think I am just going to chill and enjoy him, at the end of the day, when he gets to school his teachers will hopefully pick up any problems and for now I am just going to concentrate on his strengths and encourage him.
Thanks again and sorry for hijacking your post cazzywoo
Thank you to everyone for your brilliant advice, it is such a tricky situation. I think what we are going to do is stay as we are for now, but if we find she is needing extra support in the future, take some more steps then. xxxxx