I am new to all of this and eagar to learn.~*

[AubreysMommyxo]

Hi, my name is Jessica. I have two beautiful daughters... my almost 5 year old Maliyah and Aubrey who turned 3 in Dec. I just took Aubrey to her doctor last Tuesday to talk to him about my concerns with Aubrey and he told me he thinks it could be Autism. He said he feels like she is in her own lil world. I still don't fully understand what he meant by that. We are going back to the doctor next Tuesday for a hearing test and some other test to find out more

. Ever since I left the doctor's that day I have been reading as much about autism as possible. I would like to share with you my concerns about my daughter and see what some of you think about her and how what you think are some good things I should try to do to help her progress. My concerns are sometimes it feels like she ignores me or doesn't even hear me when I am saying her name and trying to get her attention. Not all of the time, but enough to where it concerns me. She repeats me and can say words very well. But a lot of times for example I will tell her "hair" and show her.. she repeats me and does it. Then I move on to " ears" and so on. When I get back to hair I will say " What is this Aubrey? " and she won't tell me or sometimes she will reply " What is this? " Like she is still repeating me. She does throw tantrums and points  for things instead of asking, but she doesn't throw bad tantrums just gets a lil frustrated. When she points I make her say what she wants before I give it to her. For the most part she is very well bahved.

She loves to play with a lot of different toys, but does have her favorites. She is a girl, but loves her train set and lil match box cars. My other concern is she is bad at sharing her FAV TOYS. If another kid touches her train and moves it, she will try to hit that child to get it back or just grab it back and wants it in the spot she had it. But she is only like that with a very few things.  My other concern is she doesn't seem interested in playing with other kids much... She has always been my very " Chill" kid. That is what I like to call her. She is very different form her older sister who is a social butterfly. But Aubrey does love to go bye bye.

Sorry this is so long... I just want to know if any of your children do things like this and if you know what kind of autism I should maybe research more. I would also like to know if I should try this gluten free diet for her and if it does some good. I just really want to be able to understand my daughter and be able to help her. She is my world!  Thank you!!

[BeccaGK]

Hi Jessica and welcome to the group! I have a 5 yr old son with aspergers(unofficially) and a 3 yr old daughter. It doesn't sound like your daughter does too much like my son did. We do have problems with him listening and most of the time we have to yell his name or actually touch him to get his attention. My son never really did the "lining everything up thing" so I really can't help you there. He never cared if someone had his toys or anything. He didn't play with traditional toys. He didn't have any kind of imagination so he only played with electronic stuff that did something. Gavin likes other kids but he really doesn't care if he's playing with someone else or not. The only person he really wants to play with is his sister. Don't know if any of this helps or not. If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to anwer as best as I can.

[AngelaPatton]

Welcome!
I have a 9 yr old with high functioning autism. I also was a preschool teacher for many years :)
Has your daughter been evaluated by the school district for their early intervention program? What stands out for me with what you described is her trouble with communication. It sounds like she can say the words, but really isn't understanding. (receptive language delay). This is very common in autistic kids and can be one way to distinguish autism from Asbergers. Whatever the ultimate diagnosis, the school would offer speech therapy services if she qualifies for early intervention. They also only have so many days after she qualifies to begin services, so it's a good way to get the ball rolling. Sometimes it's hard to get services in place through the doctor.
Good luck in your quest for a diagnosis and services for your little one. Glad you found us. These ladies rock!

[Lisa.Ross]

Welcome!  My DD is 4... she is also into cars and trains, she lines them up - also shoes and little action figures like army men.  She will play alongside other children, but does not really play WITH them.  She has a large vocabulary, but not much purposeful speech.  She RARELY says Momma, though she certainly knows that's who I am!  As for the gluten free diet, I personally, wouldn't do that yet.  It can be expensive and my child does well without it.  Since she doesn't seem to have any digestive issues I still want her to try lots of everything...

 Here is a link for an informative web page...

http://www.autismweb.com/signs.htm

 

[crossnlilly]

Hi and welcome. You've come to the right place. I have a daughter who is four and has regressive autism. The other moms here have helped me a lot. My daughter is on a glutten free diet and it has helped alot.shes had a lot of digestive problems. There are test you can have taken to see if she has a hard time with glutten. I recomend to get in touch with your local school district. They have many programs that can help. School has helped my daughter become social again. I wish you the best and we r all here for you.

[AubreysMommyxo]

Thanks. I really want to just learn as much as I can. I want to be able to communicate with my daughter better and look forward to Tuesday so I can get some more answers. Tuesday could not come fast enough. From what I have been reading and learning about autism I have noticed one thing in common with most children is that they are all sweet loving kids just like my Aubrey. Learning about autism and reading in these social groups I feel like there has been a whole world I never knew about. I appreciate your comments and I feel less alone already. Thanks again!

[Apple1]

 

Hi and welcome :)  I have a 5 year old boy with autism.  So much help out there now days for our children, sounds like you are on the right path!  Once you have your daughter diagnosed, special pre-schools can help so much for them, they have speech, occupational therapy, and physical therapy.  We started our son when he turned 4 and he has learned so much.  The gluten free casein free diet is also really benifital for our children.  Often times these proteins can be really hard to digest and cause behavioral problems and frustrations.  Wonderful group here on cafemom that talks about the diets, and other supplements and vitamins that can help is called the biomed momma's group!!  Sending big hugs to you!!

[AubreysMommyxo]

aww thank you. I really appreciate it. tomorrow is the big day. i am really glad I joined this site. The people are so nice and supportive. Hope your little one is doing good.

[squeekysmom]

As an old-timer I have come to grips with this by imagining that my children hear and see the world as we do but our children interpret it different. Sometimes they can't compute the emotions and meaning of people speaking to them and sometimes they are in their own little world and nothing gets in but garbled images and key words.

[KeishaWoods]

Hello Moms,

Im new to this also, my 2 1/2 year old boy was just diagnosed with Autism.  Im feel upset, mad at myself and confused. I feel like it my fault, i know its not but I cant help but feel that way becuase i gave him life.  Where did i go wrong, is it something I didnt do? Im looking forward to learning everything there is to know.

[Apple1]

 

Quoting KeishaWoods:

Hello Moms,

Im new to this also, my 2 1/2 year old boy was just diagnosed with Autism.  Im feel upset, mad at myself and confused. I feel like it my fault, i know its not but I cant help but feel that way becuase i gave him life.  Where did i go wrong, is it something I didnt do? Im looking forward to learning everything there is to know.

Hi Keishawoods,

In the beginning when our children are first diagnosed, it feels so lonely, hard, sad and frustrating!  As you go through this journey it will start to get easier and your will learn so much about autism, so much about your son and how beautiful he is even though he has autism.  So many therapy's now and help for them, my son just turned 5 and was diagnosed when he was 18 months of age.  He has come a long way, from where he was and he learned so much in those years.  Diet has been such a help for him in more ways then one, the gluten free casein free diet helps our children as the proteins in them can be so hard to digest and case behavioral problems etc.  Sending hugs to you, remember to take things one step at a time, I sometimes will start to think about the big picture and then feel so overwelemed, but taking things day by day helps a lot.  His autism isn't your fault momma, I know it isn't easy to go through this, but please don't blame yourself....I have gone through similar feelings, but have had to tell myself, that I have always tried to  what is best for my son and that's all us mom's can do...   It will get easier as you go...Big, big hugs to you both!!!