Our little girl may have autism or something else, we just don't know what.

[Guest guest]

We have a 3.4 year old boy and twin 22 month old girls. We suspect one of our

girls (cara) may be autistic and wanted to get some feedback from others.

As a stay at home dad, I have no doubt my communication skills, or lack thereof,

has contributed in some way to our children being behind. That and them being a

few weeks early and watching too much tv with their brother.

Our son is/was a bit behind, but is coming along since starting preschool. The

girls have no real vocabulary (not even mama or dada). They do sign for more and

make a m type sound when doing so. Sara, the other twin, does make other sounds

for words like hat and so forth, and seems to be a bit father along then her

sister cara. We have had them in weekly 1 hour therapy, but they (the people at

the therapy place) seem to think it's more of a sensory issue.

Our daily routine is very loose. They wake up when they wake up, play, eat at

some point, play, snack, nap around 2 or 3 or whenever, snack, play, eat, play,

bedtime is sometime after 8:30.

Here's a list about cara -

Eye contact -- She does make eye contact, but it's limited. When we have close

up face to face time, she does look at me, but seems more interested in my mouth

then my eyes. Sometimes it seems hard for her to make eye contact, but she does

do it.

Stacking -- She does NOT stack or line things up abnormally. Not an issue.

Language -- As stated above, she has none. Therapy is geared towards her lack of

language being a sensory issue. She does babble a bit. More in the last few

weeks.

Hearing and responding to her name -- If I scold her not to go up the stairs,

she will listen. But she has very selective hearing. She sometimes will respond

to her name, but normally she doesn't unless she wants to or I'm getting after

her for something. Will not look up if we call her, but will jump up in a

heartbeat if she think she hears the theme song to one of her TV shows.

Bouncing and spinning -- She LOVES to bounce on the couch and recliner. This is

her thing. Will bounce and bounce with a big smile on her face. Will spin in

front of the Tv from time to time. Not everyday and not for long stretches of

time. This may be her just dancing.

Interactive games and smiling -- She does not do peek-a-boo herself, but loves

it when when we do it or play cows in the meadow, or itsy bitsy spider. She will

smile back at you.

Sensory and oral -- She will chew up ANYTHING. Most of our kid books have no

spine because the chews them up, wooden ledge in the rec room is chewed up, and

so on. We give them toothbrushes and they love them. Cara likes to turn hers

over and chew off the plastic on the bottom.

Wanting things -- The biggest thing would be the sippy cup. Her sister will

bring me the cup if it's empty, but cara won't. We just learn to know what they

want.

Touching and cuddling - She doesn't have a problem that I can see. She is a

wiggle worm though. May sit with you for a short while cuddling while watching

tv. She sometimes will give you a kiss if you force her to by holding her head

so she can't turn it. Her kiss is just a open mouth stick out the tongue kind of

a thing.

tantrums -- She doesn't really have one unless she's super tired. There are two

things she has seen on TV that she freaks out over (part of a weekly show and

one kids show she's scared of), but other then that she doesn't have tantrums.

Sleeping and eating -- Diet is somewhat limited. Fruit, cheese, crackers, fries,

chicken nuggets, toast, more carbs, more fruit, mac and cheese, and at least 16

oz of milk a day. Sleeping is not a problem.

Hand and arm flapping - will do so only if she's super excited at something on

tv or if she's super tired and can't reach her milk or if we are not picking her

up fast enough.

Books -- she loves flipping through books (when she's not eating them)

Spinning and light -- have not seen an issue in these areas.

Bathtime -- loves bathtime. Loves the shower. loves to lay down on her tummy

during bathtime.

Playing alone -- Seems to play alone a bit more then her siblings. Her brother

and sister seem to play together a bit more.

Pointing -- Doesn't point.

Imaginative play -- Her sister loves to play dress up. Cara does like to put on

hats, but not as much as her sister. Other then that, she doesn't really play

like tea time or mommy baby stuff.

Other people who visit -- warms up fast to visitors. In the past, her and her

sister would freak out to new people 50% of the time. Even with people who came

over a few times a month. But now, both seem to warm up to people much faster.

Waving bye-bye -- will sort of wave bye bye. limited.

What does this sound like to you after reading the list?