C.R.
Well, I can speak from the other side of things. I don't want to worry you because your daughter may be just fine but I think you should hear another point of view. My son, Noah, was diagnosed late because everyone kept telling me he just had developmental delays (possibly apraxia and sensory integration dysfunction). At the age of 6 1/2 he has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. I always saw my son to be very social too or so I thought. He went through four teachers before someone saw there might be more of a problem. The pediatrician brushed it off too until this year. In a large group, his behavior became more noticable. He started chewing on his shirt and rocking in his chair. Most things, everyone blamed on frustration because of his speech issues. As he has gotten older we have noticed that he will be around children but tends to play next to them, rather than with them. He does better with small groups and can play fine with one child but has problems when there are more than that. He hugs people and can be very affectionate with people he knows. He doesn't maintain eye contact and has moments where he is on his own little world though. He does pretty well with most adults. He is perfectly happy playing by himself for hours but will play with other children if given the opportunity. He does have a lot of sensory issues though and prefers kids not to get in his space, but will get into theirs. He will sometimes hit kids when they get too close to him. Things have to be on his terms. Plain and simple, I guess what I am trying to say is that no two kids with autism are the same. There is no exact set of symptoms really because they vary in degrees. In order to be diagnosed with autism, they have to fit certain criteria though from each group of symptoms. There are different levels of autism too...there is aspergers, PDD-NOS, and autism. My son has moderate to severe autism, surprisingly enough. For years, everyone told me he was fine, which makes me wonder who I should have been listening to. I always had a gut feeling something else was wrong. He has potty delays, sensory issues, trouble adjusting to new routines, speech delay, plays with toys in strange ways (spinning things or lining them up) and has some social issues (but these were not real clear at first and are not severe). Like I said, different degrees. Not all kids with autism have a cold nature about them either, which is what I thought until now. My son is very empathetic and loving at times. I also have a nephew with PDD-NOS. He speaks but has severe social issues. If your child just has one symptom, more than likely she is fine and you don't need to worry. You should bring it up to your pediatrician if you have any concerns about her development or behavior though. Or ask the school for more testing or a psychological eval (if it is in writing, they have to consider it). It doesn't hurt to be sure, and if anything, it might put your mind at ease. A speech delay in itself is very hard to deal with and causes you to worry, which is understandable. If you ever need to talk to someone who has been there, feel free to email me. I hope I haven't caused you to worry more. You didn't mention your daughters symptoms, so it is really hard to make any judgement of whether I should be telling you all this or not. I thought if I can help someone to avoid making the same mistakes I did though, I should....
