CWard12213
Active Member
Hello All -
I am posting in the hope of gathering insight/ideas into where to go with my 18 month old daughter. I know a diagnosis cannot be confirmed or denied via an Internet forum, but she has a mix of symptoms that I've never seen or heard of before and I am reaching out to see if this sounds like anyone else, and if so what treatments were utilized and what the outcomes were. I should add that I live in a fairly rural area in the Midwest so there aren't a lot of assessment or treatment resources in this area. We visited our pediatrician when she was 15 months old and he administered an MCHAT and said she was at risk for autism. In some ways autism seems to describe her perfectly, in other ways it sounds nothing like her. Here is a brief description.
What sounds/looks like autism:
Not speaking. Makes sounds and is very vocal, but nothing resembling words other than noises like "hey" or "yay" with no context.
Generally, social engagement is low. She rarely seeks people out for play. Eye contact is low. She doesn't respond to her name and rarely mimics gestures or sounds, though at times she will. She rarely smiles socially. It is quite hard, often impossible, to get her attention, e if she is playing with a toy or the TV is on. She will bring us toys if she needs something, like if she wants a book read to her or doesn't know how to turn on a toy, but never just for shared attention.
She has a very long attention span and will play with toys for 20+ minutes at a time sometimes, even when alone. I wouldn't say she prefers being alone, but she is much more OK with it than most kids her age. Watching TV is one of her favorite things to do.
Although she is physically able to walk, she rarely does. She prefers to crawl.
She is kind of obsessed with the color yellow and will always pick a yellow toy over any other toy. Sometimes she crawls around while carrying a random yellow toy.
No imaginative play at all that I have noticed.
What doesn't look/sounds like autism:
No apparent sensory sensitivities. She loves to be outside and crawl in the grass. She enjoys swinging, car rides, hugs, and being tossed in the air. She does fine at grocery stores, toy stores, Sunday school, and large family gatherings. Doesn't mind the mower and loves the vacuum. A little picky with her eating but nothing major. She is very physically affectionate and cuddly and seeks to be picked up and held, especially if hurt or distressed.
No real repetitive motor movements. Sometimes she flaps her hands for 2-3 seconds when excited. If you added up all her hand flapping, it might be 5 minutes a day. She sometimes rocks while standing like she wants to walk. Other than that, nothing.
No restricted interests. She loves to play with tons of different toys and plays with them correctly including stacking blocks, putting shapes into holes, turning pages in a book, rolling a ball back and forth, bouncing on a trampoline, playing piano, pushing keys on a cash register, moving beads on an abacus, etc.
No behavioral rigidity. You can pretty much interrupt her or take a toy away at any time and she might get a little grumpy, but gets over it in about 15 seconds. She doesn't mind being watched by grandparents, we've even left her overnight with her grandma and she left her feed her, rock her to sleep, etc with no problems.
If you can find an interactive game she enjoys, she suddenly becomes socially engaged. For example, she played peek a boo with me for 10 minutes this morning and was laughing and smiling with constant eye contact. But then she got bored and played with blocks for 30 minutes without looking over at me
Once.
So I am baffled. Her social development and lack of language seems very in line with autism, but she seems to be lacking s lot of symptoms needed for a diagnosis. Any thoughts? Any other questions about her? I just don't know where to go with her.
I am posting in the hope of gathering insight/ideas into where to go with my 18 month old daughter. I know a diagnosis cannot be confirmed or denied via an Internet forum, but she has a mix of symptoms that I've never seen or heard of before and I am reaching out to see if this sounds like anyone else, and if so what treatments were utilized and what the outcomes were. I should add that I live in a fairly rural area in the Midwest so there aren't a lot of assessment or treatment resources in this area. We visited our pediatrician when she was 15 months old and he administered an MCHAT and said she was at risk for autism. In some ways autism seems to describe her perfectly, in other ways it sounds nothing like her. Here is a brief description.
What sounds/looks like autism:
Not speaking. Makes sounds and is very vocal, but nothing resembling words other than noises like "hey" or "yay" with no context.
Generally, social engagement is low. She rarely seeks people out for play. Eye contact is low. She doesn't respond to her name and rarely mimics gestures or sounds, though at times she will. She rarely smiles socially. It is quite hard, often impossible, to get her attention, e if she is playing with a toy or the TV is on. She will bring us toys if she needs something, like if she wants a book read to her or doesn't know how to turn on a toy, but never just for shared attention.
She has a very long attention span and will play with toys for 20+ minutes at a time sometimes, even when alone. I wouldn't say she prefers being alone, but she is much more OK with it than most kids her age. Watching TV is one of her favorite things to do.
Although she is physically able to walk, she rarely does. She prefers to crawl.
She is kind of obsessed with the color yellow and will always pick a yellow toy over any other toy. Sometimes she crawls around while carrying a random yellow toy.
No imaginative play at all that I have noticed.
What doesn't look/sounds like autism:
No apparent sensory sensitivities. She loves to be outside and crawl in the grass. She enjoys swinging, car rides, hugs, and being tossed in the air. She does fine at grocery stores, toy stores, Sunday school, and large family gatherings. Doesn't mind the mower and loves the vacuum. A little picky with her eating but nothing major. She is very physically affectionate and cuddly and seeks to be picked up and held, especially if hurt or distressed.
No real repetitive motor movements. Sometimes she flaps her hands for 2-3 seconds when excited. If you added up all her hand flapping, it might be 5 minutes a day. She sometimes rocks while standing like she wants to walk. Other than that, nothing.
No restricted interests. She loves to play with tons of different toys and plays with them correctly including stacking blocks, putting shapes into holes, turning pages in a book, rolling a ball back and forth, bouncing on a trampoline, playing piano, pushing keys on a cash register, moving beads on an abacus, etc.
No behavioral rigidity. You can pretty much interrupt her or take a toy away at any time and she might get a little grumpy, but gets over it in about 15 seconds. She doesn't mind being watched by grandparents, we've even left her overnight with her grandma and she left her feed her, rock her to sleep, etc with no problems.
If you can find an interactive game she enjoys, she suddenly becomes socially engaged. For example, she played peek a boo with me for 10 minutes this morning and was laughing and smiling with constant eye contact. But then she got bored and played with blocks for 30 minutes without looking over at me
Once.
So I am baffled. Her social development and lack of language seems very in line with autism, but she seems to be lacking s lot of symptoms needed for a diagnosis. Any thoughts? Any other questions about her? I just don't know where to go with her.
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I'm just not seeing much progress that wouldn't be explained by age and maturation from the play therapy. She has a couple more games she will play with us now, but she already had several. She doesn't mimic us any more than she already did or seek out interactions with us.
