from WebMD......
What Are the Symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome?
The symptoms of Asperger's syndrome vary and can range from mild to severe. Common symptoms include:
- Problems with social skills: Children with Asperger's syndrome generally have difficulty interacting with others and often are awkward in social situations. They generally do not make friends easily. They have difficulty initiating and maintaining conversation.
- Eccentric or repetitive behaviors: Children with this condition may develop odd, repetitive movements, such as hand wringing or finger twisting.
- Unusual preoccupations or rituals: A child with Asperger's syndrome may develop rituals that he or she refuses to alter, such as getting dressed in a specific order.
- Communication difficulties: People with Asperger's syndrome may not make eye contact when speaking with someone. They may have trouble using facial expressions and gestures, and understanding body language. They also tend to have problems understanding language in context.
- Limited range of interests: A child with Asperger's syndrome may develop an intense, almost obsessive, interest in a few areas, such as sports schedules, weather, or maps.
- Coordination problems: The movements of children with Asperger's syndrome may seem clumsy or awkward.
- Skilled or talented: Many children with Asperger's syndrome are exceptionally talented or skilled in a particular area, such as music or math.
Did you know that Asperger's is more likely to be diagnosed after a child enters school?
While I don't think that April has all of these symptoms, she does have some. I have taken a class in autism. I know a lot about autism, not so much about Asperger's.
I just don't know. We are going to try and get more evaluations but from what the therapist tells me it may be hard to diagnose until she starts school.
Our issues have been: tantrums, baby/hard to understand speech sometimes, bruises/clumsy, academically on target but emotionally much younger, not quite understanding what is happening at times, constant lies but seem to be her truth at times, typically doesn't look at you when talking to you, high anxiety, artificial emotions, lack of empathy.
At this moment I just don't know what to think. This has rocked my foundation.
Hm. Interesting. We had a young man in our school several years back who had Asperger's that would tantrum. My room was to the bottom left of a stairwell and the child's classes were up stairs. There were doors at each end of the stairwell, yet when he tantrumed, we could hear him through the stairwell wall.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that's something worth pursuing. Prayers that the outcome of further testing is what you want to hear, whatever that may be.
Tyler was not diagnosed until he was 15 even though I was pretty sure. By then the window of opportunity had pretty much closed as far as intervention. His does not present like hers does, but there is a lot of differences in how it affects children.
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