Is aspergers really a possibility? What else could it be?

[kama]

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[garddwr]

Definitely have her evaluated. Here are a couple of links on how Aspergers presents differently in girls:

http://www.yourlittleprofessor.com/girls.html

http://www.autismkey.com/asperger-syndrome-in-girls-more-common-than-once-thought/

 

Both mention these girls doing things like playing with dolls, having imaginary friends, and living in fantasy worlds. Your daughter's behavior sounds like it would fit right in.

 

Good luck figuring out what is going on with your dd and finding the resources you need to help her thrive.

 

--Sarah

[TippyCanoe]

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[MomatHWTK]

Here are some of the links I found while researching:

Bipolar Information: http://www.jbrf.org/pdf/CBQ_Development.pdf

Bipolar Questionnaire: http://www.jbrf.org/cbq/cbq_survey.cfm

Scoring Guidelines: http://www.jbrf.org/pdf/cbq_srv.pdf

http://www.psbmed.com/pdf/teenChildBipolarQuestionnaireForm.pdf

Vanderbilt Assessment Tool:

http://www.cap4kids.org/new_york_city/download/ADHDParent.pdf

Scoring: http://www.nichq.org/toolkits_publications/complete_adhd/07Scoring%20Instructions.pdf

http://aspergersyndrome.org/

[Crimson Wife]

I have a female relative who is almost certainly an undiagnosed Aspie and when she was growing up, she was very much into pretend play (to the point where she preferred her imaginary companions to real ones).

 

My youngest DD has high-functioning autism (her speech delay makes it that dx rather than Asperger's) and loves pretend play. However, it has a more "scripted" nature to it compared to her NT older sister at the same age.

[Crimson Wife]

One thing I forgot to mention is to check around with pediatric neurologists to see if they might have a shorter waitlist for an Asperger's evaluation.

 

I waited for 6 months for DD to get in to see the developmental pediatrician. After she was diagnosed, I got a referral to a pediatric neurologist to check for hypotonia and to discuss whether DD might benefit from being seen at a neurometabolic clinic. Anyways, I was able to see the neurologist within 3 weeks of calling her office. It turns out that I could've gone to her for the original diagnosis instead of waiting so long for the developmental pediatrician. It hadn't occurred to me to go see a neurologist for the initial diagnosis, but it makes sense that it would fall within her area of expertise.

[kama]

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[dsmith]

I second the suggestion of a pediatric neurologist. That's where we went for the diagnosis and continue to go every six months. Hospital evaluations always have long wait lists. We tried that route first. Our neurologist specializes in ASD and ADHD.

[LittleIzumi]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: to the OP. I hope you get some answers soon.

 

Definitely have her evaluated. Here are a couple of links on how Aspergers presents differently in girls:

http://www.yourlittleprofessor.com/girls.html

http://www.autismkey.com/asperger-syndrome-in-girls-more-common-than-once-thought/

 

--Sarah

 

Well that's interesting. I clicked on the links to see if some of dd's behavior's fit and took the adult autism test in the second link. I tested into the Very High/most adults with HFA or Aspergers score about that high. Huh.

[Guest]

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[Greta Lea]

He's 18yo now.

 

My son does have a narrow interest, *but* his narrow interests have changed over the years. He has 3 different narrow interests over his 18 years.

 

Our pshy. suggested that when our son did the pretend play and INSISTED he WAS the character and not pretending, to *NOT* push him to say that he's pretending. The dr. said that our son was flexible enough that he would eventually see for himself that he was indeed actually pretending.

 

This was a slow process, but eventually my son DID begin to say that his play IS *very* real IN HIS OWN HEAD, so that's why he'd say he was not pretending. This thought process of his began when his friends and younger brother would just INSIST that he was pretending and wasn't really Spiderman.

 

My son's creative side has helped him be able to study people in a controlled way. When he was younger, he had this running story in his head (never, ever wrote it down). ALL of his friends had a certain character and part in this storyline (it was a fantasy type storyline...everyone had superpowers and were *all* working TOGETHER to fight the one evil bad guy in the story. My ds was, of course, the leader of the entire group fighting the bad guys).

 

Over the years (yes, this went on for YEARS), if a new friend came into his life, they got put in the story. If he didn't play with an old friend for a long time, I wouldn't hear about that friend in the story line UNTIL they got together to play again.

 

The interesting thing is that my son would create his friend's character in his story in a way that FIT that person. He would describe their personality and create super powers that fit that friend. It's really odd and impressive.

 

His psych. said this was his way of sorting everyone and analyzing them in a safe, yet controllable way.

 

He's currently being evaluated again (first dx was when he was 7yo) so he can have that updated dx for any special services he might can get in college (like a note taker!) We go next week to finish the evals. So far, his dr. says he's *barely* meeting the criteria for AS. He's made LOTS of progress since he was 7yo!!

[Guest]

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[Finnella]

Aspies can definitely have imagination; my DS has a very strong one. And many of them have sensory issues; that set of problems was what started convincing me that the psychologist was right about the diagnosis. I think anxiety is also pretty common additional diagnosis for Aspies; it is for my son.

 

One of the psychologists in our area who specializes in Aspies say, "Aspies can outlast God." Whether it's a tantrum or something else, they have incredible tenacity. Hopefully that'll be a good thing when they're older.

 

Good luck, and I hope you get a good evaluation once you get in. :grouphug:

[mchel210]

Yes...all our aspie girls are very different. Mine is not creative and doesnt play pretend like your daughter. She does play with dolls but not in that creative way.

 

The one benefit you have from testing...is that it shouldnt be testing only for aspergers...these tests will determine most psychological or neurological issues...and not be specific to one.

[Misty]

Aspie girls definitely do pretend play.. But not all do. My oldest Aspie had the most outlandish imagination and LIVED in pretend world. My 2nd Aspie did not have imagination and had a hard time pretending when she was younger, but does okay now. My 3rd daughter pretends things, but only with dinosaurs or reptiles (her obsessions).

[Laurie4b]

She loves to play with other kids, she just has absolutely no social skills and will try to force them to play the game exactly her way, occasionally she tries to physically show them what she wants them to do, it is almost like it is so unbelievable to her that someone wouldn't just follow her rules that she thinks they must not understand.

 

I am involved with a playgroup for NT kids and children with autism. It's run by a teacher who works with kids with autism. She mentioned with regard to one child that you had to look closely because it looked like normal play, but really the child was directing play to the extent that other children were pretty much used as objects in the play--just harder to manipulate than dolls.

[Guest elvis333]

wow, Kama's post really had my wife and I laughing because her daughter sounded just like our 6 year old son.

[Lecka]

My cousin I grew up with was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was 20 and he liked pretend play when he was a child. He was a little rigid with it and did not like it if you wanted to make some little unapproved adaptation. He had an idea how he wanted it to be and be could get very upset about it not being followed properly.

 

He has only been helped by having the diagnosis and having greater understanding.

 

I have no idea what an evaluation will say, but I do think some of the "theory of mind" and "empathy" stuff is very overblown and not something that fits everyone, I think it is an unfortunate stereotype in many cases. Just my personal opinion.

[nitascool]

My aspie son likes to pretend play. In fact, that's all he would do if we let him. One thing this year that has helped him is Minecraft... it has helped him have a "normal" pretend thing that his nt brothers also do so that he can see how to pretend play a little more on the norm. As a second child he's never been able to be the manipulator of his siblings and is likely why he likes to play with things over people.

 

When you go to your OT you should mention the fits and meltdowns... your dd is old enough to learn to control those. The OT will be your best help in the beginning to reach your goals. It's not easy for them (Aspies) but they can learn to deal with the overwhelming sensations that they must go through. It took my son a couple years of OT before he could relax in his own skin but now at 11 he can deal with Sensory overload much better. He rarely has a meltdown these days. Your daughter can get there too. You will likely see the anxiety drop once she feels more comfortable with herself.

[kama]

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[Crimson Wife]

One thing our family's pediatric neurologist told me is that the combination of ADHD + anxiety can present similar symptoms to Asperger's on the surface. I had my DS evaluated after my youngest DD's diagnosis with HFA and the neurologist felt strongly that he was NOT "on the spectrum" but rather that he had ADHD + anxiety.

 

Now I did decide to get him on the waiting list for a full neuropsychological evaluation after there were some "red flags" for Non-Verbal Learning Disorder on the IQ testing he did as part of the WPPSI-IV norming study. We will have to see what the NP eval says, but I think it is more likely he'd get a diagnosis of NVLD rather than Asperger's.