Neurologist

I have an appointment this month with a Neurologist for our youngest wee lassie who is 5 years old.

We want to have her properly diagnosed for Asperger’s Syndrome because she is going into Grade R next year and I want to be prepared for the possibility that she may not be able to attend mainstream school. I want a proper diagnosis from a professional who can recommend what next step to take. Whether is Occupational Therapy or Speech Therapy…we want to give her the best opportunity at being able to attend a mainstream school without too much stress and pressure on her capabilities.

Kaylin is a smart little girl but she shows no interested in learning how to do things properly. When you try and “teach” her something. For example: Kaylin, this is how your draw a square. Can you try too?”. She will NOT do it. To make her sit in a chair and concentrate on something is virtually impossible – unless SHE wants to do it. Then she will spend hours doing the same thing over and over and over. She loves Jigsaw puzzles, building blocks, writing her name over and over but not taking any guidance from anyone if the letters are written incorrectly. She wants to do is HER way.

I must admit though, as time has gone on, from the time we were first told about Asperger’s and that our Kaylin has most of the symptoms, she has improved over the last year. In fact, some of the symptoms and characteristics have diminished and her behaviour now points more towards ADD or ADHD.

This is a subject to don’t know too much about and how it differs from Asperger’s Syndrome.

I only hope that the Neurologist will be able to identify it promptly. We have waited almost 3 months for this appointment and so much anticipation has been placed upon it. I just want to stay calm so that Kaylin doesn’t arrive feeling stressed and ready to perform. I just want to keep her relaxed and happy.

Any Suggestions?

 

The Things Aspergers Kiddlettes Do...

Piles of things with no shirt because it "itches"

Yesterday when I arrived to collect KK from school, she was sitting in the middle of the rugby field outside trying to get her "closed shoes" on.  (that's what she calls them)  See picture on the left.


She was in tears and kept screaming "My Shoes are Broken!" but they were not.  Of course they weren't.  She was just struggling to get them on.  I don't buy her shoes with laces anymore (its just too frustrating for her and causes meltdowns).  

So, I buy her the shoes with either velcro or that are elasticated so she can get them on and off easily (or so I thought).


Back to my story...


KK's sitting there, alone, sobbing with one shoe in her hand, her face soaked with tears, her skin red from rubbing the tears away, her eyes starting to get all puffy and her hair full of dry grass because she'd flung herself backwards lying on the grass with frustration.


I went up to her, sat down next to her on the grass and with a sigh of relief from KK that mummy had arrived, and a high-pitched full-volume screech to announce: "I can't get my shoe on".  I held her tight, let her have her wee cry, calmed her down, helped her put her shoe on.  


A little boy came up to us while I was putting her shoe back on and asked me "Why is Kaylin crying to loud?".  I told him that she couldn't get her shoe on without help.... and then it happened!  Kaylin spotted this child's dirty, muddy toes!  

She freaked the fuck out!!


I mean she literally behaved liked she'd seen something from Exorcist - horrific that terrified her!  Her eyes bulged, her mouth formed a perfect O and from her seated position on the grass, she crab-walked actually crab-ran backwards at top speed before falling on to her back again.  She started screeching "I don't like dirty feet!  I - HATE - HIS - DIRTY - TOES!".


Well, all I could do was hold her again, tight,  while she sobbed and trembled, more tears, more snot, more fret but eventually recovered from the horror of the boys dirty feet being remotely near her!

Oh the horror!


It took me half an hour to get her calmed down and walk herself to the car.


Other things she does:

 

Rows of things

Closes her ears with loud or irritating sounds

But talks at full volume most of the time.

Overwhelming emotions

Listening to her own voice and repetitive words through filtered ears

and yet thinks she's an angel princess

Anything to do with water calms her down and enthralls her for hours!

Has an amazing bond and love for animals

A unique wee person who keeps me on my toes, gives me grey hair and nightmares

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Aspergers and Autism

Temple Grandin speaks about Austism and Aspergers Syndrome and explains it very simply and very well.

Aspies Girl

Most people say we should not label our children or confine them to a specific box but when you're faced with symptoms that are often quite bizarre, heart-breaking and incredibly frustrating, you look for answers by googling and doing research.

When I read up on Aspergers Syndrome it is so typical of my four-year old Kaylin.  I was eventually so relieved to find information on the internet that explained why she does the things she does so that I can understand her more and that we can get less frustrated with each other.

You must understand Kaylin and I have a love / hate relationship.  She pushes my buttons and in turn she gets to control my reactions.  She is the only person that can do this!! At first, I thought she was just a strong-willed spirited child with manipulative nature.  We argued a lot, I smacked a lot, we yelled at each other, we ignored each other, I couldnt find a discpline technique that would work for her.  She would be defiant, agressive and completely out of control with me.

We went for play therapy from the age of 3 and sorted a lot of our issues out with a very patient lady called Lynne that KK immediately took to.  But the therapist said we couldn't diagnose her with Aspies until she was 6 or 7.   We left it but the more I read up on Aspergers, the more I understand about it, the more she slots in there.

Firstly, I need to tell you that my youngest girl-child has a few obsessions:  clothes and shoes is one of them, making piles and rows of stuff on a daily basis and her connection with animals (espeically our female tabby cat).  She terrorises our poor Pickles on a daily basis.

 6:30 am this morning I am awoken by my youngest girl-child who's walking around naked and frustrated because the clothes she wants to put on, she can't get on or she's chuffed with herself for puting on a completely ridiculous outfit which is nowhere suitable for the weather.  If I try to convince her that she'll be cold or that she can't wear knickers on the outside of her pants, the crazier she gets.

Kaylin sobs, she whines, she screams, she stomps and kicks, she wails and she creates such drama...she wants me to give in and sometimes I do.  I know I shouldn't, but sometimes I don't have the energry or the time to indulge her.  By then my ears are bleeding anyway.


This morning Kaylin had taken every single one of my pots and caserole dishes out of the cupboard and layed them on the kitchen floor neatly in rows, she was fitting the lids to the pots and saying out loud "Yes, thats the one that fits...maybe it fits another" and swapping the lids between the pots engrossed in her own little world.  I was frustrated because I wanted her to comb her hair and brush her teeth.  A lot of coaxing to get her away from her queue of pots...*sigh*.  Its tiring and draining...


In the beginning of the nursery school year, I spoke to her nursey school teacher about her and made her aware of the things she does at home so that we can monitor the things she does at school too.  Just so we can weigh up what she really has difficulty with and what she's just winding me up with.  Kaylin is a master at manipulating her Mummy, you see...

Kaylin is a smart little girl but the smallest of things freak her out.  She wants to be fiercely independent and yet when she can't get a simple task right she gets frustrated but she does NOT give up. She is a determined little girl.  She arranges her toys over and over into little piles or long lines.  She can do this for hours.  Sometimes she is silent in her play, sometimes she gives a running commentary on what shes doing and you'll often hear "Oh Come on!".

Kaylin loves her routine and likes to know what the programme for the day looks like.  Once you've told her the programme she will repeat it over and over again to me, to her sister, to her father, to herself until she has convinced herself all will be okay.


Liz, Kaylin's teacher called me aside this week to tell me that she noticed the first typical Aspergers behaviour with our Kaylin.  Liz had 3 or 4 children seated at a table ready to blow paint with straws.  All the other children got the hang of it immediately and Kaylin was struggling to blow the paint instead of suck it through the straw.  Normally Kaylin would throw everything down and give up and being in a foul mood the rest of hte day.

Liz encouraged her softly and showed lots of patience repeating what she must do everytime she did it incorrectly.  She was saying "You can do it, you're doing such a great job" and this got Kaylin so focussed and concentrating so hard on getting it right that her little body was shaking.  Liz said that her heart went out to her.  Eventually KK got it right and Liz made such a HUGE deal about this and all the other children applauded her.  Kaylin was thrilled to bits, appartnetly she was in an awesome mood for the rest of the day, no tantrums, no huffing, just joyous play with her friends and teachers.

It just shows you what an encouraging carer can do for a child.  I am so very grateful that someone else can see the greatness in Kaylin.  She's such an affectionate, loving, happy little girl most of the time and its how someone reacts to her, that sets her off.

I am so proud of her and how far she has come this year.