"Well she is introverted"
"She's younger than the rest of the class"
"You have to remember that she is young."
"She has an ASD brother"
But lately, her social issues have been blaringly obvious that something is wrong. She spits at people who crowd her and threaten her. She is happy to be alone, and has to be strongly encouraged to play with her friends. She has poor eye contact. She doesn't know how to talk to people, how to have a conversation, and she doesn't care less about people. Sounds harsh I know, but for those who are in the know, they are blatant warning signs of ASD. Because they haven't been so in your face signs like EJ's, she has flown under the radar and then when it suddenly came to light, it was like being hit in the face with a chair!
Last month she had an IQ test. She has rated "Very Superior" - the highest level on the kids IQ test. We always knew she was a clever clogs, but this shocked me. I didn't realise she was THAT smart. Her Psychologist said her particular strengths are in her memory. And because of this, we should look into getting an Savant Autism diagnosis.
I must admit, I don't know a great deal about this. All I know that it's autism with a gift and that it's rare. So we are in the process of waiting for that assessment.
So we are starting this stage all over again, but with a different child. Assessments are coming up over the first part of December.
2 comments:
More and more I'm learning that girl Aspies are an entirely different kettle of fish to boys. There are, of course some similarities but more that is different.
It'll be good to get the assessment. I'm a huge believe in knowledge being power.
Alexander was also tested as gifted etc and his memory was one of the things they flagged. His short term memory (being able to remember to do more than one task in a row) is appalling. But everything else - frighteningly sharp.
When he as 2 we moved to the Whitsundays. We came back about a year later for a quick visit. We'd not been to a particular shopping centre (one of the biggest in Brisbane and one that is constantly upgrading and growing). Despite only having been there once (at 18months), when we walked into the store (from a different, but fairly close by entrance) he led us right to the old Wiggles Ride on Car he used to love.
Since then his memory and sense of direction astounds us.
xxx big hugs Skip xxx
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