Would someone with Asperger's have...

February 21, 2005

social referencing at all? Dinah's speech path suggested the

possibility of Dinah having Asperger's because of her lack of eye

contact and issues with processing language. The thing is that Dinah

has eye contact, it's just not *always* there. Dinah socially

references and pretend-plays all the time with me and sissies. We were

watching a video last night and she would point and tell me about what

was going on then look up at me grinning from ear to ear. I really

don't think I'm in denial, I just don't see it as being Aspie, if

anything, just learned behavior from big sis. Her home speech path

said today that Dinah lacked eye contact with her initial visits but

it seems to her the more Dinah gets to know someone the more eye

contact she makes. After having a child with autism I don't know what

is just shy and avoidance behavior and what is a real inability. It

seems to me if she has autism/Aspergers that she would not be

referencing at all to share enjoyment, at least not at 29 mos old.

TIA,

Debi

February 21, 2005

Yes, they can, but you probably don't have anything to worry about

at this age. Asperger's usually isn't dx'd until around 5 or later,

unless it's pretty signifigant, in which case you'd already be

worried. I have seen a lot of younger sibs scare their parents by

imitating some autie behaviors, the vast majority on them were

absolutely fine. I think drs and therapists are hyper-aware of

problems with sibs, and sometimes see problems where there are none.

Amnesty

>

> social referencing at all? Dinah's speech path suggested the

> possibility of Dinah having Asperger's because of her lack of eye

> contact and issues with processing language. The thing is that

Dinah

> has eye contact, it's just not *always* there. Dinah socially

> references and pretend-plays all the time with me and sissies. We

were

> watching a video last night and she would point and tell me about

what

> was going on then look up at me grinning from ear to ear. I really

> don't think I'm in denial, I just don't see it as being Aspie, if

> anything, just learned behavior from big sis. Her home speech path

> said today that Dinah lacked eye contact with her initial visits

but

> it seems to her the more Dinah gets to know someone the more eye

> contact she makes. After having a child with autism I don't know

what

> is just shy and avoidance behavior and what is a real inability. It

> seems to me if she has autism/Aspergers that she would not be

> referencing at all to share enjoyment, at least not at 29 mos old.

>

> TIA,

> Debi

February 21, 2005

This is my first time to post, but felt a need to respond. My daughter is 7

and Diagnosed as Aspergers 1 year ago. We had always noticed problems but

did not become incredibly apparent until she had problems in Kindergarden.

You would not notice anything about her other than being shy if you did not

know her. She had some eye contact, but not a lot. She would particularly

avoid if she was feeling stressed. She was, and still is, afraid of some

sounds. She very much needs to be in control of her surroundings and

prefers routines so that she knows what to expect. She was always verbal,

but mostly talked at us instead of to us. She also used a lot of movie

speak, always quoting her favorite lines instead of telling us any original

thoughts. She did not do the typical pretend play as in playing dolls or

playing house. She still doesn't do that much. What she did do was organize

the toys and draw the same pictures over and over. She also liked to dress

up in costumes, particularly a Tinkerbell costume with wings and pretend to

fly. It would have been helpful for us to better understand the language

processing problems earlier on. They were always there, we just did not

understand what they were. Since the Diagnosis, we have learned so much,

and we now know better how to best communicate with her and it makes her

behaviors so much easier to understand. My advice is to be open to the

diagnosis. No 2 Aspies are alike. It may turn out to not be applicable to

your daughter later on, but since early intervention is the key, why wait

until she is 7 or 8 to have it confirmed or denied? Just my ideas, for what

they are worth. Dianna

_____

From: Debi

Sent: Monday, February 21, 2005 4:17 PM

To: Autism_in_Girls

Subject: Would someone with Asperger's have...