Hello, is this asd? www.childbrain.com is the link. I would take her to a deveopmental pediatrician. To me, she sounds as though she has stand-alone ADHD.  This is still nothing to sneeze at.  Many ADHD kids have dyslexia and learning disabilities, so you'll want to know that to keep a good eye out.  A developmental ped. should be able to distinguish ADHD from an autism spectrum disorder, but may not be able to give an accurate autism dx if he or she thinks it IS autism. For that, you may have to go further, but I think it may not be an ASD. Hello.  I have reading as much as I possibly can on this site.  I decided to write because I am terribly afraid right now. I think my daughter may have some form of autism.  She is four and a half and is currently in preschool.  She is in a regualr classroom setting part time.  So far so good.  The thing is, I know something is wrong but I am not so sure what it can be.  I have a nephew with ADHD, we considered that and it can be the case but my daughter has more going on than him.  I also think I may be ADHD myself but I was never dx with anything.  I want to list her concerns - sorry if my posts gets too long. She is very hyper.  She seems like she is being pushed by a motor.  This, I understand is ADHD but it seems like autism can cause this too.  She is always running, even if it is just going down the hall to her room.  She does not walk.  Her attention is short.  As a baby I was upset with my mother for "buying too many toys."  I though she just had too much infront of her and never learned how to play with one thing at a time.  She used to watch my daughter while I worked.  I may have been wrong.   Her speech is at a passing level.  She does talk and can tell us what she likes/dislikes.  We can even talk about what she did at school.  But, she will just lists them, not go into much detail.  I think other kids her age talk better than her.  I worry about it myself but nobody around us seems to have the same concerns.  Its like something is missing, like meaningful conversation.  It does not seem connected.  But, as I am always told, how connected is a four year old? She does have empathy.  She is home today and I have the news on.  The news was showing an apartment fire in NY.  She saw it and said Oh my god, that is so sad.   But sometimes I cry and she doesnt "feel" bad for me.  She will only say Mommy dont cry, ok.  She seems to get nervous around people that cry.  Even babies. She has sensory problems but we have not addressed them yet.  From what I have read her problems are with spinning and jumping.  Mostly when she is happy.  She does not seem senstitive to sound or touch or anything like that.  Until now I guessed the running, spinning and jumping was her hyper activity. She does not sleep well.  From day one, I have needed to sleep with her.  Her crib was totally unused.  She has a full sized bed in her room so we can both fit.  I dont know if I spoiled her into this. But, again, I may be wrong.  I just dont know. Things I do not worry about... She has good eye contact and she is social.  She likes to play with the kids at school and I have seen her join in on games.  She was driving her trycicle to the gas station and another little boy filled her up.  She said thank you and drove off.  She also pretends to shop and cook in her kitchen.  She will also do off the wall things like putting a flower down her pants and saying she grew a tail.  Is this imagination or just plain weird?    She is very connected to her family.  She has an older brother and pretty much follows him around.  She loves my parents and my husbands parents although she does not see them as much.  She plays well with her cousins and likes to call them on the phone.  She also LOVES her uncle.  She wants him to come over all the time and play with her.  She is VERY giving.  She makes art projects all the time and always makes them for other people.  She get very excited when she gets to hand them over.  She also likes to mail things to my parents.  They live in the same city but she just enjoys the mail process.  So, I know this is the beginning of a ramble but I dont want to leave anything out.  Can someone tell me if this sounds like autism?  She can be adhd but like I said, she has more going on than my nephew.  Any advise is most appreciated. I also wanted to add...perhaps you sould check into what sensory issues she does have.  The Out-of-Sync child has a "quiz" that may help to see what sensory issues she has and there is an activity book that goes along with it.  Some may disagree, but I think pretty much ALL children could benefit from a "sensory diet" no matter the diagnosis!   It doesn't sound like ASD to me. She sounds pretty connected with what goes on around her and playing with peers, speech and empathy are all good things. It may be some other learning disability. I'd have it checked out too, just to make sure she gets the help she needs.Autism spectrum disorders cause children to have very obvious deficits in social development. I don't get that in your descrption. But, I am definitley in agreement with Tristan's mom, you should read the OUT-OF-SYNC child. I have met many children in our OT clinic who receive the same types of therapy as my ASD son who have ADHD with sensory issues. It's really great that you are trying to figure this out, and following your gut as a parent. It is so important to understand learning differences early, so you can learn to teach your child in the way that works for them. Good Luck, and don't be scared--remember knowledge is empowering. I agree with the others.  I dont think it sounds like autism at all...Or I may just be looking at it with a bias, as my son is moderate-severe autistic. This section makes me believe that she is not autistic.. She is very connected to her family.  She has an older brother and pretty much follows him around.  She loves my parents and my husbands parents although she does not see them as much.  She plays well with her cousins and likes to call them on the phone.  She also LOVES her uncle.  She wants him to come over all the time and play with her.  She is VERY giving.  She makes art projects all the time and always makes them for other people.  She get very excited when she gets to hand them over.  She also likes to mail things to my parents.  They live in the same city but she just enjoys the mail process.  My son does not do any of that.  My son is indifferent to us..yes hes happy to see us, but he doesnt show us any love, and he doesnt play normally.  His idea of playing is spinning wheels on cars, or tearing up paper to shreds...I wouldnt worry about autism, I would be concerned with ADHD.... Hi, thank you all very much.  Holly_2, I am with you.  I think I was ADHD as a child but no way as an adult.  In HS I was a horrible student.  I didnt try to be that way and every year I remember going into a new year promising myself I would do better but by Christmas I was in big trouble.  I do remember being very hyper as a small child as well.  My mom says my daughter and I are a lot alike.  I just wonder why my mom wasnt worried about me, LOL.  Maybe I am making this a bigger deal than I need to.  But, like tzoya said, this is still nothing to sneeze at. Boy, is this the truth.  She is soooo different than my son was at her age.  I cant keep up with her, it breaks my heart. I wanted to mention that my husband pointed out something very interesting to me.  When my daughter was smaller, she would shake when she was excited.  She still kind of does this but not as much.  It seems more internal.  I can tell she is doing it but its under wraps if you know what I mean.  Again, I didnt think it was anything other than her built up energy from being so hyper but the more I read the brighter the light appears for asd.  I dont want to jump the gun but I am.  This forum is wonderful, I cant get away from it today.  Thank you all. If you fill out the PDD questionnaire at childbrain.com, you might have a better idea of what issues to be looking at. And look up the DSM-IV criteria for autism. It's overwhelming at first, but once you get it unraveled, you'll really know what to look for. Then the questions might become, "is she ~severe~ enough in this particular issue, to fail it?" You might try searching this board's posts, because I started a thread for each of the criteria for us to discuss/compare. =o) Remember there are 12 criteria, but not all must be failed to be autistic, and even fewer can present a dx of ppd-nos. It's always hard to say if a child is ASD or not, because they all vary so much! Some can talk, some can imagine, some don't rock/flap, etc. Anyway, please keep posting and keep us up with your thoughts! There are many of us here who are still wondering if our child is ASD or not, or to what degree. Outsiders are notorious for insisting that your child is "fine!" Hi, I hope you won't worry too much. I know it's easier said than done. My own son hasn't been diagnosed w autism yet but I worry and cry all the time now anyhow. My son has been diagnosed by three different people as adhd and anxiety/ocd. I think I had it as a child and teenager too. I have since outgrown that somehow. I used to have a hard time concentrating in school, it took me longer to complete homework, I was incredibly impulsive. But now that is not the case. I am no clinician but it just doesn't sound like autism. As far as adhd goes, it never hindered me in any way, not with career, life, love, etc...I found ways to adapt and I'm sure your child will too - with your help. Just to be safe, have her checked out with a developmental pediatrician and be thankful it isn't anything more serious.
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