Autism In Girls | Autism Signs in 7yr Old Girl | Autism Signs We Noticed

#autism #autismingirls #autismdiagnosisprocess #autismmom #hidinginplainsight
In this video, I share our journey to getting my 7 year old diagnosed with Autism. I discuss the signs we noticed, and where we are in the process.
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00:00 INTRO
00:48 Evaluation History: Autism Signs and Symptoms We Noticed
04:30 High Functioning Autism Signs in 7 Yr Old Girl
07:35 Doubting Ourselves/ Battle for Recognition of Autism
08:19 Developmental Delays and getting ADD diagnosis
10:19 Autism Re-Evaluation
13:20 Genetic Testing for Autism And Conclusions

[@user-vb6ky1mo9e]

Falling through the cracks like that is exactly why functioning labels are problematic. If they view you as high functioning, you don't get help, and if they view you as low functioning, they infantilize you.

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

So true, it's a catch 22.

[@DanTheMeek]

Autistic father here of an autistic daughter, we noticed the signs at about 2 and a half years, but took till she was 3 and a half before we could get off the waiting list for an evaluation which diagnosed her as ASD level 2. She's 5, just about to turn 6 now, and I do wonder if she'd still get an ASD diagnosis if she was re-evaluated today, not because she's not autistic, but because she's so much higher functioning. In fact I'm pretty sure if they'd have let us bring her in when we first applied she'd have gotten a level 3 because initially she was basically dead to the world around her, you could wave a hand in front of her face or make loud noises around her, call her name, anything, and she didn't react to you or her surroundings. With that background out of the way, my daughter's never had issues identifying relationships (as far as I know) but she does CONSTANTLY ask questions about why people respond with emotions to things. Like we'll watch a movie and she'll ask me "why is she making that face?" and I'll explain because she's sad and she'll ask "why is she sad?" even though something just happened that would make any kid sad. She's curious about emotions and particularly the way people express them, but doesn't seem to understand them or what leads to them. Daughter definitely had speech issues and still sees a speech therapist, though in her case the issue was always far more with her receptive language then her expressive. She was always great at repeating us, echolalia from a young age, but I don't think she even really started to understand basic words till she was nearly 4. Daughter has always had good eye contact... if she's paying attention to you. Again, for a long time she was living in her head, so she didn't give eye contact but also didn't acknowldge your presence at all. These days thats no longer an issue, so with her good eye contact she's often very "passing" as neurotypical. Daughter is TERRIBLE at social interactions with strangers and always has been. I think she used to try, but no adays she just keeps to herself mostly when we're at a park or in some public space. My wife used to say she could always tell our daughter WANTED to interact and be friends, but just couldn't seem to figure out what to do when another little boy or girl would come up to her and want to play. The only kid she really plays with these days is her male cousin of similar age, and they still have a lot of awkwardness and friction. We ended up taking our daughter out of preschool and home schooling her because of a great GREAT many issues. One such issue is that they had her in a special education class so she was also picking up a TON of bad habits from some of them who were self harming or having intense meltdowns in the middle of class every day. She was also the only verbal child in the class at that point which felt like it was actually causing her only just budding speech skills to stagnate and even deprecate. At this point, though, she speaks really well, still makes good eye contact, can interact socially with people she knows. She stims a little bit, has sounds and textures and stuff like that which can trigger her into an overwhelmed state, and has both occasional autistic meltdowns, meltups, and autistic burn out when we've been spending a lot of time outside her normal comfort zone, but its possible for some one to spend significant time with her and not see any of that and then question her autism diagnosis later, which I must say to any non-autistic parents reading this, please PLEASE never do that. Feel how you feel, but invalidating an autistic persons diagnosis because "they don't look autistic" to you is almost always harmful, regardless of your intentions.

[@joliebelle9787]

This was beyond helpful. Thank you for sharing.

[@tuxu14]

Sounds so much like my daughter. And me growing up.

[@smalik4854]

It's so informative! Thank you for sharing this!

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ririwatermelon8681]

hi! just to let you know that most autistic people don’t like the terms ‘high functioning’ or ‘low functioning’ or similar terms because they don’t accurately describe the spectrum (they imply it’s a linear gradient, when it’s actually more similar to a colour spectrum). have a lovely day! :)

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Thank you for taking time to comment. I am aware that autistic’s in general don’t love the labels. However I am creating these videos for people who are new to autism and wondering about diagnosis and what the levels mean. I will try to remember in the future to add this disclaimer to help others understand that side as well. Have a lovely day!!

[@ririwatermelon8681]

@@navigatingautismwithdani thank you for responding! a lot of parents of autistic kids tend to ignore autistic people so i really appreciate you listening and adding a disclaimer in future :)

[@0903Cici]

If you feel she has it 9 times out of 10 she’s does. I knew when my daughter was 1 1/2 she had autism. (She’s 5now got diagnosed at 3)So you’ll know as a mom. If you can’t it from one doctor try another. My daughter was diagnosed with high functioning autism and her first evaluation . Keep trying

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Thanks for the support!! You are very right!!

[@earthgirl7861]

So sorry the professionals are incompetent! Warrior mom you are.

[@evoz4489]

I would have gotten the genetic testing after the first child. And it would make sense that at least some of it is learned behavior, especially if you have two other older children. My ex girlfriend's daughter (from previous marriage) has high-functioning autism at 8 years old. She is also diagnosed with Oppositional Defiance Disorder, which her mother didn't want to believe or admit to. The daughter is extremely violent when angry and it doesn't take much to provoke that. Unfortunately, she has harmed an animal, which is actually a reg flag factor that can determine if a child will have psychopathy later on. Autistic children don't typically understand the emotions of others because they lack a certain kind of empathy. They demonstrate "cognitive empathy" which means if they see a child crying, they may ask why the child is crying and rely on an adult to tell them that child is sad and so the child will know now that the child is sad. But, they don't have "emotional empathy" or relational empathy. That is when you see someone suffering and you almost feel what they feel because you can "relate" to it. You want to comfort or help that person. There is also a lack of impulse control and sometimes an oscillation between being a bully and then playing victim. One reason why I broke up with her mother was because every time her daughter hurt the feelings of another child or hit someone, she always used the autism as an excuse to justify it...which itself is kind of narcissistic. There are some interesting findings on connections between narcissistic personality disorder or traits and autism. See the YT channel "Prof. Sam Vaknin". He is quite an expert on Cluster B, and origins of disorders such as ODD, Conduct Disorder and its ties to NPD, Borderline, and Psychopathy.

[@laciehamblin8584]

I have a feeling my daughter is, she’s having such a hard time at school, she has a hard time making friends and she breaks down and just cries, and screams. She’s 7 years old. I want to get her in for a screening, she feels breaks down and says there’s something wrong with her and it breaks my heart

[@GABRIELLA3254]

I have no kids and know no kids with autism (althoug I suspect my 12 year old cousin has ADHD, however his parents don't want him to get evaluation). But I find these videos very interesting and informative, especially because I hope to be a teacher and (if possible) a mother

[@bolinhong2598]

I got the herbs from Dr Oyalo and use the remedy on my son as he instructed. As I speak my child is speaking well and his social skill has improved. It a good thing to tell this and his herbs is the best for autism kids than any therapy. Thanks

[@mjones2619]

My daughter always preferred to play with boys as well, recently diagnosed at age 11

[@heartz500]

I had my 4 1/2 year old daughter assessed twice by 2 different Neurologists and both said she doesn’t meet the criteria. The first dr said she does have speech delay (she’s currently in speech therapy) and does echolalia and scripting but other than that she doesn’t show any other signs. Second dr said it’s speech delay as she was interacting with the dr. It’s frustrating because she’s 4 1/2 and very smart- she knows how to read and loves books but doesn’t show interest in conversations and only says 2-3 word sentences.

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

This can be so frustrating. It's hard when they won't hear it, but trust your gut. The important thing is to find someone who is super familiar with girl symptoms it makes a huge difference and they will most likely see the issues much quicker. Keep Strong Mama! 💪

[@melbrown6019]

My daughter is 9 and I feel like she has autism. Her oldest brother has it. However she’s only been diagnosed with ADHD. My oldest son wasn’t diagnosed until he was 11 with autism.

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

This can sometimes be the problem with girls. I have experienced this with my 7.5 yr old daughter, only now have we finally got her diagnosis. I recommend if you feel in your gut she is to keep pushing for an evaluation. I also recommend seeking someone who specializes in diagnosing girls, as it makes it much easier. Remember Mama knows best! If you are unable to get the diagnosis the next best thing is to help her with the tools you have learned from your other child. Best of luck!

[@-_IRIS_-]

I’m a 9 year old girl (almost 10), and I do believe I have symptoms of autism. Especially trouble in speaking. But I don’t really know how to tell my mom like, “Hey, so I’ve been noticing signs of autism in myself, can we try and go somewhere to diagnose me or see if I have autism or not?” because I feel like that would be awkward, and she would question why I randomly started talking about autism. So I was wondering how I should tell something to my mom without making it really awkward?

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Definitely you should speak to your mom and let her know your concerns. The best would be to have you and your mom speak with your pediatrician, as they can further refer you if they think a further evaluation is needed.

[@bolinhong2598]

I got the herbs from Dr Oyalo and use the remedy on my son as he instructed. As I speak my child is speaking well and his social skill has improved. It a good thing to tell this and his herbs is the best for autism kids than any therapy. Thanks

[@cassandraforzetting9910]

My daughter is the same way new things pop up she's angry all the time she's very violent abusive and very mean disrespectful file mouth kicks screams curses us out it's so draining

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Meltdowns can be very draining for everyone involved. I find generally trying to prevent something that you know will trigger them can help. But in addition, once everyone has calmed down to discuss what upset them and how to better manage next time. Letting them draw it out or you drawing to help explain can really help them understand or you understand what upset them.

[@-hanako-3912]

ah *file mouth*

[@daniellewills8335]

Can you please tell me a little more signs that she showed at young age? I believe my daughter is on the spectrum but man family members think I’m overreacting and that she is just speech delayed. I really appreciate your video. My daughter is 17 months. When did your daughter start speaking saying words?

[@Lovely_Jay22]

My daughter was diagnosed with high functioning autism at the age of 2 years and 7 months. I noticed she would always be on her tippy toes, she was delayed in milestones, for example…walking and crawling. She took speech therapy close to being 3 and improved so much. I also noticed because she would stem a lot. She has a sensory processing disorder so when she gets happy she stems by moving her wrist and fingers back and forth together frequently. She is super creative that it amazes me! I hope if your daughter does have autism, you can get her early intervention as it would only benefit her in the long run!

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

She showed emotional regulation issues, stemming with her blanket, and sleep issues. As she grew her intensity became more obvious as well as routine and transitions. Her speech developed but isn’t always clear, she is getting speech now to help with her speech delays. She started around a year.

[@daniellewills8335]

@@navigatingautismwithdani thank you so much for the help and reply!

[@intelitex.cz_2023]

Was she responding to her name?

[@AH-ru8ei]

This really makes me sad that you basically have to prove to the doctors that she has autism….why is it so hard to get a girl diagnosed?? How have they not created proper evaluation tests for girls? So frustrating. I’m having issues with my daughter and we are wondering if she has autism. She’s 6, has ADHD, anxiety, ODD. Takes Prozac which has been life changing for us. But she still struggles and it seems like she’s masking. However she has different symptoms than your daughter…:she has no problems with speech and she loves imaginative play. She struggles with handling frustration, having meltdowns when something is challenging, and socially struggles as well. Her judgement isn’t where it should be. Idk….it’s so hard 😭

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

It is frustrating that you basically have to prove yourself. My younger daughter has really amazing imaginative play but would get stuck in the same game over and over or she parrots what she watches. As my kids age up I see they all struggle with anxiety but it isn’t as obvious in some as others. One of my doctors that evaluated my kids said when you start getting all these diagnoses you kind of have to look at the larger picture. A lot of those issues can fall under the autism umbrella.

[@Eggo2341]

im sorry but the doctors saying her symptoms are environmental need to go back to medical school. Thats probably the stupidest thing ive heard from a doctor.

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Yes, they kept saying it was learned behavior and I kept asking how do you learn to not understand social situations, you can't. Love your comment and thanks for the support!

[@Eggo2341]

@@navigatingautismwithdani not only did they dismiss your concerns, but also blamed your 2 sons for your daughters struggles with autism. so sorry you had to deal with that:(

[@bolinhong2598]

I got the herbs from Dr Oyalo and use the remedy on my son as he instructed. As I speak my child is speaking well and his social skill has improved. It a good thing to tell this and his herbs is the best for autism kids than any therapy. Thanks

[@heatherogoussan7984]

It really bothers me that they don't seem to know that girls mask. Trust your instincts.

[@navigatingautismwithdani]

Yes, a lot of medical and educational professionals are only aware of really outdated information about autism.

[@bolinhong2598]

I got the herbs from Dr Oyalo and use the remedy on my son as he instructed. As I speak my child is speaking well and his social skill has improved. It a good thing to tell this and his herbs is the best for autism kids than any therapy. Thanks