Question:
Mild Autism = 10 y/o Child ???
BeBeMaMa
2008-07-07 21:31:34 UTC
Is it possible I could just now be finding out my 10 y/o daughter is borderline / MILD autistic???
She has some "traits" of autism, and will begin testing in less than 2 weeks.

What does a MILD autistic child act like???
Six answers:
beetlemilk
2008-07-08 10:42:18 UTC
There is a wide range of what mild autism can look like. I have one, my son is 7 and dx autistic spectrum disorder at 25m.



Chances are since she has some autistic traits you will be able to find a professional to say she is PDD.NOS, and you will be able to find a professional that says no she is not.



My father is asperger's. He is a 60 yr. old psychologist, married, father of 4. He was dx at age 35 when my brother was dx PDD.NOS. My father was dx as hyperlexic at age 3. There are many parents getting dx concurrently with there child. Liane Holliday Willey is an example.



My son looks like this. He has great humor. His eyecontact is good, but he avoids the camera (video, photo). His fine motor skills are a bit behind. He is particular about his clothing (no tags). He has an excellent memory, and is a backseat driver. He interrupts, sometimes has pressured speech (talks fast) and talks too loud. He is popular and has friends. Most of his friends are unusual. Sometimes he is excessively silly. He does not have a flat or blunted affect, and does not talk pedantically. Sometimes he answers in a nonsensical way. Sometimes he scripts and repeats verbatim lines from a movie/tv show. He has flight of ideas (changes topic). He is extremely good looking. He has a macrocephalic head, super recessive, green eyes (only 1-2% pop. has), he is very thin, and stature is between 25-50%tile. He is a bit immature with peers and doesn't always approach them in the most appropriate way. His girlfriend "Tessa" he used to kiss in kindergarten. After his teacher said, no kissing and was approached for a kiss by grandma he said, "Mrs Mosel says no kissing". We had to change that to no kissing friends, kissing family is ok. He is very literal. If I say we are going to run into walmart, he says, ah I think its safer to walk. He can get anxious and will wring his hands. He does not stand out from his peers. Sometimes he says awkward things. Like when reading the other day he said, "My heart is hurting from just sound-it-out". My son likes to wrestle, he craves deep pressure, he likes to be hugged. He has a broad range of interests, has never flapped. He is low muscle tone. His reading is at level, his writing is below. In school for schoolwork he is easily distracted, and needs to be told specific instructions to get started. Sometimes transitions for him are difficult. My son is very sensitive.



PDD.NOS is autistic features. This child has better social skills than asperger's, typical IQ, worse fine motor, and worse speech. Have difficulty reading nonverbal cues. Likely to be sp. ed or 504 accommodation plan



Asperger's is further into the spectrum. This child craves adults over peers, excels at languages, has ave-above ave IQ, usually has a harder time fitting in and is bullied, has more anxiety, and does not pick up social cues very well. Coversation skills are noticeably impaired. Have difficulty remembering names, or recognizing faces. Have social emotional issues. Have difficulty speaking on topics the audience is interested in even when told, this is boring. This child is likely to have a 504 accommodation plan



Further down is HFA- Ave IQ. Less interested in peers, more perseverative, sp. ed usually. Academic and social delays. Spend time in there own world. More likely to have social emotional issues than PDD.NOS



LFA the IQ is impaired, not interested in people. Prefers objects over people. May be violent
canup
2016-10-16 03:47:49 UTC
Very Mild Autism
Sparkles
2008-07-07 22:36:59 UTC
Well mildly autistic children have communication problems and often speak in a very formal manner. They are very withdrawn socially and don't like physical contact. You will often find they have difficulties reading and writing although there is normally one thing that they are absolutely obssessed with and immerse themselves in that subject, consequently becoming very knowledgeable about it. They also like order and routine. Once they have a routine they will always do everything exactly that way and become extremely upset if it doesn't work. They often have a hunched posture and flap their arms (like wings) when they are excited about something.

She could always have aspergers though which is kind of higher functioning autism, ie, they can often read and write better and often try hard to get along in social situations.

I do agree with what the person above me said that it is extremely over diagnosed and people often give the label to children because they quite simply don't understand them and their behaviour. It's good that she's getting tested.
?
2008-07-08 14:55:48 UTC
Yes, it's quite possible. The average age of diagnosis for aspergers is 8 and 1/2. The deal with what autistic children act like, it's SO different from child to child. None of my autistic children throw tantrums or 'drama' around, and I have three. Two with aspergers and one with autism. Even my two aspies are so completely different. My oldest one is spacy, easily loses track of what he's doing, has trouble following directions with more than four steps. My younger aspie is hypersensitive, picks up on EVERYthing, and remembers every thing (and gets upset if we don't follow the exact same steps every time)
NewSong
2008-07-09 18:54:55 UTC
Yes. It is possible to find out your child is autistic at the age of 10. There are high functioning autistic people who dont find out until they are an adult. High functioning autism/Aspergers is often missdiagnosed as ADD and other things too. Often adult high functioning autistic people go themselves for testing, and that is when they find out. So certainly it is possible to find out at 10.

I cannot tell you what mild autism is like. I think you mean 'high functioning' autism. There are so many combination of symptoms, no two autistic children are exactly alike.
allieluvsorli
2008-07-07 21:40:18 UTC
Autism seems to be over-diagnosed these days, kind of like ADD/ADHD has been the last five or so years. I'd say it means she's a fairly normal tantrum-throwing drama queen child.


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