I think she is quite high functioning, she feeds herself and doesn't want anyone else to do it and some other things that, if i compare her with some other children we know that are higher on the spectrum, are well advanced. She can even do things my 7yr old can't do, but we just need to find a good balance i suppose.Try not to worry about the future(impossible, I know) she sounds like she is high functioning, so that is good news, girls tend to cope with ASD better than boys. Speech and language sessions is vital for her, sooner the better if she isn't having them(keep pushing and fighting)
A lot of special needs schools have the stay and play sessions, might be worth ringing round.
My little girl is 6 in November, is non verbal, also has a learning disability. If you go on you tube, there is a comedian called Paul smith who has a non verbal son with autism, (he's a scouser but don't let it put you off) he tells a couple of stories and his son sounds just like my daughter, me and the mrs cried laughing watching it.
I think she likes how sound changes rather than being afraid of any different sounds, but there's no way she would keep on any ear defenders for long enough for them to have any benefit. It's hard enough to get her to allow us to brush her hair, huge fight.Have a read up on the differences between male and female autism if you haven't done already.
Autistic children are often over-sensitive to sounds and smells so ear defenders would be good for noisy places and try not to use products that are perfumed or have air fresheners in the house that may go off near her.
You will find it much easier to get a referral to cmahs than the school will so push for that through that route rather than relying on the school
Cheers mate i'll take a look.useful organisation is the national autistic society
Autism support - leading UK charity - National Autistic Society
a very interesting book written by a parent is called Facing Autism written by Lynn Hamilton
worked with autistic children and adults but totally different being a parent of a child on the spectrum. some professionals can be biased re treatments etc but bear in mind your the expert on your child.
Hi mate, yes we are under Dr Berchtold as well - he's brilliant and seems to know what you are going to say before you say it, but let's you say it anyway, top man. We are in the Heatons as well (Heaton Moor) and the nursery is already looking for funding to help them with her as she will also be moving up to the larger part of their nursery soon as she turned 3 last month. Have you found any ways to help her socially, like when you go shopping is there anything special you have found helps your daughter? How is your girl doing in school (assume she's in reception)? Does she have someone who's with her all the time or do they just have an extra helper who is there when needed?Hi, my daughter who is 5 was diagnosed with being on the spectrum last year. She was assessed at Stepping Hill by a fantastic doctor (Dr Berchtold) who we need to go back to see yearly - she's on the minor side of the scale and only really struggles socially. We first noticed an issue around her third birthday when she started to struggle at the nursery she was in - she moved up into a larger room and there were dozens of kids in there and she just hated it and couldn't handle it (it was proper loud and crazy busy in there). We managed to move her to our local school in Heaton Chapel and they've been fantastic and she's doing well.
It was a tough time for about a year when we didn't know what was going on or even what Autism is but once she was referred and had the ADOS it's got gradually easier. The Dr said not to think of this as any form of disability or disadvantage but to treat as a part of her unique personality and that's what we do.
Good luck on your path - I hope you have the same good experience as we had at Stepping Hill
Hi mate, yes we are under Dr Berchtold as well - he's brilliant and seems to know what you are going to say before you say it, but let's you say it anyway, top man. We are in the Heatons as well (Heaton Moor) and the nursery is already looking for funding to help them with her as she will also be moving up to the larger part of their nursery soon as she turned 3 last month. Have you found any ways to help her socially, like when you go shopping is there anything special you have found helps your daughter? How is your girl doing in school (assume she's in reception)? Does she have someone who's with her all the time or do they just have an extra helper who is there when needed?
Yeah we try and treat her the same as her sister but it's difficult, it has been getting easier since she started nursery but you have some good days and bad days.