Looking for some insight....

[Guest guest]

Hello All, I am new to the group and not really sure if I belong here, but hope

some of you can read my story and offer some insight.

So, I am the mom of a very spirited 14 month old little girl. She is highly

intense, tightly wound, and extremely demanding...and yes, even more so than a

typical 14 month old. She seems to be extremely smart for her age and blows me

away with some of the things she does. Despite all of her challenges, she can

be very delightful and such a joy to be around. She has reached all of her

milestones (sitting, crawling, walking) early. Sat at about 4 months, crawled

at 6.5 mo and walked at 9 months.

It seems as if her bad days are REALLY BAD. She can throw tantrums like I have

never seen and I am quiet surprised that she hasn't hurt herself yet. She

throws her body around, while kicking and screaming. She will bite and pinch

out of anger. Though, she usually does this to me and only once with my husband

(her father). These behaviors started at around 9 months of age.

She was a late babbler, still doesn't say MaMa, but does say Papa (this is what

she will call her Daddy). She clearly understands who Mama is when asked where

I am as she will turn and look at me or point. She has some speech delays, but

her ST has chalked it up to dyspraxia. She does say about 8 words. She is

orally defensive. She has yet to start eating solids. She will put food in her

mouth, but spits it out, put it back in, and repeats this over and over. She

doesn't swallow the food. She will, however, from time to time eat 8-10 bites

of something. This seldom happens. She does seem to have some oral sensory

related issues. She will not put any type of pureed food in her mouth. She

tests all food with her hands before she will even place it in her mouth.

Basically, she still loves off of formula. It doesn't matter how much we limit

her intake, she is content to starve if the only other option is to eat food.

We have seen a Peadi GI who has ruled out any medical conditions. She does go

to an OT, but we haven't made any progress.

I have also noticed that she doesn't always respond to her name. This seems to

happen when she is very engaged in playing, or some other type of activity. She

does know her name and usually does respond to it. It is only on occasion that

she doesn't.

So, basically I am writing to this group to see if any of you have any insight

on our story. Do these sound like typical early symptoms of Asperger's? I know

it is almost impossible to get a diagnosis at her age, but I am also sure that

most of you noticed that there was something different much earlier than when

your children were actually diagnosed. I shared these stories with a family

member who teaches special needs children and she was the first to mention AS.

I have wondered myself in the past, but never verbalized any concerns to anyone.

Can you all offer any insight?

Thanks,

Betsy