keista
New Member
I know some of you have experience with a mis-diagnosed child - diagnosed as bipolar but it turned out to be Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). And others just have a huge wealth of knowledge. I hope you all can help me reconcile one issue I'm still stuck on.
More and more I'm getting my head wrapped around the fact that DD1 might actually be on the spectrum. Taking a step back and looking at her major issues and seeing them more clearly and, yeah, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may indeed be a better explanation. For example the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) type episodes she had this past summer - obsessing over tic tacs for 3 days, obsessing over duct tape wallets for 2 days. Literally NOT being able do or think of anything else until she got her 'fix'. Not your typical perseverative manifestation, but she was on Abilify that activated her, and this is a child, who until recently, has not had ANY long term interests - not even in the neurotypical kid sense. She would however fixate on things in the very short term.
Her "moodiness" and outbursts seem to be caused by either sensory issues or conflicts with friends. Hmmmmmmmm Now this is a child who knows pretty much all the social rules. KNOWS being the operative word. I take a step back and realize that although she KNOWS the rules, she only rarely practices them. As if they apply to others and not to her. She is rigid in her thinking and interaction with her friends. It's her way or the highway. In a girl, (seriously can't believe I got caught in this trap) it manifests as "bossiness" and if she doesn't get her way, a tantrum.
There's more, but these are the big easy ones to write up.
What I can't reconcile is the fact she WAS a compulsive liar - NOT generally an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) trait (or am I wrong on that too?) and I'm not talking only self preservation type lies. Detailed, intricate, "why are you bothering with this" type of lies. The type that are symptomatic of bipolar. The field trip she went to at school to a park for a picnic. ~Mom! They had carnival rides there too! My favorite was the RED choo choo train. WTF? Mom would have been notified of rides. ~No, I did not poo in the hallway. Then why is there poo on your butt? DD2 picked it up and smeared it on me. ~Ms F gave me this blanket as a gift. OK it's the week before Christmas break, makes sense and is believable, but by the end of Christmas break: Do you know why she gave me this blanket? It used to be her's when she was little and now she passed it on to me. Reality was, some kid left the blanket at school, no one claimed it, so she did. I had no knowledge of this until I asked the teacher why she gave DD1 the blanket.
These and more spanned age 3 to 8. Currently she is very honest, almost to a fault now - very Aspieish.
So what am I seeing here? Could this have been an odd developmental thing? At the time it started, I knew (felt) immediately that it wasn't in "normal" scope. Is it possible to reconcile such tall tales through an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) 'filter', or is it something entirely different?
More and more I'm getting my head wrapped around the fact that DD1 might actually be on the spectrum. Taking a step back and looking at her major issues and seeing them more clearly and, yeah, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may indeed be a better explanation. For example the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) type episodes she had this past summer - obsessing over tic tacs for 3 days, obsessing over duct tape wallets for 2 days. Literally NOT being able do or think of anything else until she got her 'fix'. Not your typical perseverative manifestation, but she was on Abilify that activated her, and this is a child, who until recently, has not had ANY long term interests - not even in the neurotypical kid sense. She would however fixate on things in the very short term.
Her "moodiness" and outbursts seem to be caused by either sensory issues or conflicts with friends. Hmmmmmmmm Now this is a child who knows pretty much all the social rules. KNOWS being the operative word. I take a step back and realize that although she KNOWS the rules, she only rarely practices them. As if they apply to others and not to her. She is rigid in her thinking and interaction with her friends. It's her way or the highway. In a girl, (seriously can't believe I got caught in this trap) it manifests as "bossiness" and if she doesn't get her way, a tantrum.
There's more, but these are the big easy ones to write up.
What I can't reconcile is the fact she WAS a compulsive liar - NOT generally an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) trait (or am I wrong on that too?) and I'm not talking only self preservation type lies. Detailed, intricate, "why are you bothering with this" type of lies. The type that are symptomatic of bipolar. The field trip she went to at school to a park for a picnic. ~Mom! They had carnival rides there too! My favorite was the RED choo choo train. WTF? Mom would have been notified of rides. ~No, I did not poo in the hallway. Then why is there poo on your butt? DD2 picked it up and smeared it on me. ~Ms F gave me this blanket as a gift. OK it's the week before Christmas break, makes sense and is believable, but by the end of Christmas break: Do you know why she gave me this blanket? It used to be her's when she was little and now she passed it on to me. Reality was, some kid left the blanket at school, no one claimed it, so she did. I had no knowledge of this until I asked the teacher why she gave DD1 the blanket.
These and more spanned age 3 to 8. Currently she is very honest, almost to a fault now - very Aspieish.
So what am I seeing here? Could this have been an odd developmental thing? At the time it started, I knew (felt) immediately that it wasn't in "normal" scope. Is it possible to reconcile such tall tales through an Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) 'filter', or is it something entirely different?