Diagnosing Girls with Aspergers

As some of you know from reading this blog, Hannah will be going to the Riley Developmental clinic in February for an appointment. What you may not know is exactly why. So many people see Hannah and think (and often say) there's no way she has any developmental delays, she's so smart. BUT from a very young age we knew that there was something different about Hannah and it wasn't just her intelligence. From before she was a year old I suspected autism based on my work in special education and therapeutic horseback riding, but of course no one really wants to believe their child has autism so I was always searching for things to prove to me that there was nothing really wrong. After all, Hannah is extremely verbal, makes eye contact, and doesn't do obvious self stimming activities like hand flapping. Still, it lingered in the back of my mind every day. At her 18 month well baby appointment Hannah was put on an autism watch list. When she hadn't made satisfactory improvement in the areas of concern by her 2 yr check-up we were referred to the early intervention agency. That's where we learned about Hannah's SPD and I pretty much put autism out of my mind, or at least I tried to until the doctor referred her to the Riley clinic. The more research I did on the Internet and through reading books I learned that although Hannah doesn't fit the typical profile I've come to expect for Asperger's Syndrome (a type of high functioning autism) she does seem to fit the profile being developed for girls' with Asperger's Syndrome. Apparently girls with Aspergers often present with different indicators than boys and so it is often left undiagnosed and therefore those girls are denied services that could significantly impact their life for the better. I came across a very interesting video done by ABC News back in January 2008 about diagnosing girls with autism. To watch the story click on the link below and then click on the corresponding link on the blog I have linked to. For some reason I can't make the direct link work.

Blog with link to a video of diagnosing girls with aspergers syndrome

http://www.aspieweb.net/video-diagnosing-a-girls-autism-aspergers/

While Hannah is much younger than the little girl in this video, so much of her reminds me of Hannah. I am so anxious for February to get here so that we can talk to the developmental pediatrician to see what her take is on our observations. Speaking of reminding me of this little girl. Here's a picture taken of Hannah at a Christmas party we attended that really captures how Hannah reacts to stressful social situations. Notice the other kids playing together while Hannah stands off to the side with her hand in her mouth looking dazed.