Girls with Autism

[url=http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/fsdb/category.php?sid=22&cid=2]Autism Speaks, Community, Family Services, Louisiana: Early Intervention - Ages Birth-3[/url]

That is part of the problem as well. We did not adopt her through the state. It was a private adoption so she is on our private insurance. There is a Families Helping Families here but I tried to get help from them (their referral agencies) and they said that we make too much money to qualify for their services.:mad: I am a stay at home mom and my DH is a teacher. Apparently we are suppossed to be able to pay for these services on our HUGE teachers salary! There is a Dr in New Orleans who specializes in drug exposure but he won't see her because he only sees children that are or have been wards of the state.

Those places take private insurance too, but it sounds like they are really expensive. Once you have a diagnosis, you will be able to get her Medical Assistance; it will go off of her diagnosis then and not the amount you make. Do you know anyone that knows anyone and can get your daughter an appointment quicker? I had a client that had a friend that was a nurse and knew a doctor and got her kid in right away. Or if you are not on the 'cancellation list', get on that. Did your local MH/MR have any help? If I lived closer, I'd come to your house and see if I could help! I've done that for people here in PA before they had services because I felt so bad that they wanted help and couldn't get it.

I guess I am just not finding the right resources/services. I started about a year ago right before her 2nd bday and have gotten nothing but dead ends. First was the neurologist who referred me to a program that only sees foster children...dead end. Called her back and she said try EI. duh she's been recieving services through EI since 5 months old. Then I went to a Dev. Psychologist recommended by our adoption agency. She did a series of test and concluded that she does not play with toys at a dev appropriate level and is probably ADHD. Then she recommended we use a spec. instruction person from Early Intervention. We got someone from EI and she comes once a week and plays with her but does not have any idea what is "wrong"...there really isn't anything else EI can offer...dead end. Then I called Families helping families and went through this phone interview and they determined that we do not qualify for services through their refferal agency because we do not have food stamps or medicaid. She lost SSI when we finalized the adoption because of our income. I don't know who else to try. The only reason I am on this track of looking into ASD is because everytime I search her specific behaviors, ASD comes up. Everytime I listen to another parent talk about their child with an ASD, it sounds very familiar to me. I also started reading a lot about ASD's because my new FS tested positive on a screening. The more I read, the more I thought "wow, sounds like J!" NONE of her 4 therapists think she has autism. I wonder if that is because she doesn't have obvious stimming behaviors and her speech has taken off. They also only see her 1 hour a week and most of them put her in her highchair for therapy. HELLO, she is not in the highchair one-on-one with an adult 24/7 people!

Well, it doesn't sound like classic autism but it sounds an awful lot like Asperger's syndrome. Females are not immune, look at Temple Grandin (my hero)! I myself (female) have mild Aspergers and went undiagnosed until my early twenties. They just thought I was a geek before! I suspect my oldest dd (14) is also a mild Aspie and we are in the middle of adopting a little boy with Aspergers. He fits in great around here! I'd take her to a child psychologist. There are also some web tests you can do to "screen" her yourself to see where she scores. I don't flap, spin, or line things up. I do become fixated on topics, am a perfectionist, speak very formally, hate scratchy clothes/tags, can't stand flourescent lights or loud noises at night, and often offend others with my frank manner of speaking. I don't understand lying or it's purpose. I consider it a gift because I see all of the fine details others miss. Hope that helps!

While it may or may not be autism, if the symtoms are similar the therapies often will be too. You might want to sign up for Rethink Autism while waiting for a diagnosis. They are an online ABA program but if you pay a little extra you can get consultations over the phone. I found that our over-the-phone counselor understood my son better than the in-person therapist we'd been seeing for five months. It's usually $125 a month with consultations but they have frequent deep discounts. Even if you only sign up for a month it could be worth it to talk things over with their autism specialists, and you could always spend a day downloading the pdfs for ALL the lessons, not just those you're currently working on. Their website is [url=http://www.rethinkautism.com]RethinkAutism[/url].

Thanks I will check that out. We are broke right now, but will be getting an adoption tax credit. What better way to spend the money!

Yeah that does help. My DH has mentioned Aspergers. He is an elem. Teacher. So, how do I help her then? Why does she smile and laugh when she hits people. Why does she constantly test me, climb up on the counters and throw everything off, wrestle with me while I try to dress her? Her behavior is non-stop. Literally! If she is not sleeping, she is moving, throwing, hitting, grabbing, kicking, spitting, running away from me, dumping, it get's exhasting- and now that she is older...dangerous for her and our other 2 yr old. Today while I was getting dressed, she climbed up on the counter, opened the cabinet, climbed into the cabinet and used the shelves to pull up on top of the cabinet to get to the knives. ON TOP OF THE UPPER KITCHEN CABINETS! Thank GOd I walked in before she got her hands on them and started throwing them! Nowhere is safe anymore. How do you childproof when a child is able to climb mount everest for goodness sakes? I am going to have to get a lock box for my knives now! I was in my bathroom for less than 5 minutes. I usually take her with me to the bathroom but she was getting into my makeup and daddy's razors so I sent her out.

Well, you had mentioned drug exposure before and I'm not sure if your dd was drug exposed. Our adoptive son was, and I think most of his behaviors are attributed to that and not necessarily the autism. He was wild, out of control, and exposed to cocaine. Tenex REALLY helped to chill him out and slow him down. The antipsychotics made him worse (Risperdal, Seroquel). He used to laugh and smile when the other children were being scolded or when he was running away, acting defiant. That, I think, was the autism. He couldn't understand that laughing at someone else's misery was not socially acceptable (though some of us might find it slightly funny if one of our siblings was being scolded for doing something to us, we just wouldn't show it). Kids with Aspergers really can't hide their emotions to "lie" and pretend to feel something else. We're working with our son to show it is not okay to smile/laugh when others get hurt or in trouble. Half of the time he gets it. She may not be laughing at actual hitting but the response she gets to see the other child react. If she's only two they probably will not prescribe Tenex, but they might. Another option is Clonidine, in the same family though not as good. I don't know how you feel about medication but it sounds like she is over the top and it may make life better for her and you. If it's the effects from prenatal drug exposure, it is *supposed* to get better as they get older. Our son is a different child on this medication. He was wild before and sounds very much like how you have described your daughter. In two weeks it was heaven!

Perfect 7, I think you are right that the impulsivity and ADHD type behaviors do come from the drug exposure. She definately does the hitting and pushing and hair pulling for a reaction because it is totally out of the blue. I also think that she wants to interact with other kids but doesn't know another way. I try to teach her how to play with other kids, but I can't get enough cooperation to get anywhere. That is where the autism symptoms come in. She is so much in her own world and it takes a lot to get her to even hear what I am saying. She always has something that she is stuck on and it is VERY hard to get her mind to go another direction. I am not opposed to medications, just worried about starting them so early. She is also very tiny for her age so that worries me too. I am going to try to delay medication until kindergarten if I can.Hey, maybe by then she won't need it!;) Thanks so much for your input. It is very helpful. I am finding that no one in my life wants to talk about this with me. My DH just says he "supports whatever I decide to do" He is having a hard time accepting that his precious baby girl may carry a diagnosis like autism. He doesn't want to talk about it. Neither do any of the grandparents. My friends have no way to relate because none of them have special needs kids. My sister's son is autistic but she is not allowed to talk to me right now because her husband is a control freak! :( All I have is this web forum full of strangers who can relate :cheer:

Glad I could help! As mothers, we just know when something "isn't right" and people trying to convince us otherwise do not help. The key is early intervention, so I'd try to look now into getting her into an early intervention program. If not, maybe getting good books with social stories will help with some social issues. One day, her hyper focusing can be a great blessing. :-) My husband still gets frustrated to get my attention when I'm hard focusing on something (especially reading, which is 70% of my day). But....it was great in college because I could block out a nuclear bomb and keep on studying.

Chiming in super later here :)My son is also on the autism spectrum. I shutter to guess where he "fits" at this point. He USED to rock and spin and flap, he doesn't anymore. He frustration tolerance remains very low and his understanding of social cues is almost non-existent. He does read facial expressions and non-verbal language, but he cannot hold a conversation. Right now he is sick and acting VERY autistic and I think I might lose my mind :)All this aside, as Perfect said, your dd could definitely be on the spectrum. Keep working and fighting to do what she needs. Honestly, if your a SAHM, maybe you can just get her into a psych who will set up a program for YOU to run. We did this for many months with Tucker and it was pretty successful. That way you are paying for ONE psych visit a month rather than 20 hours a week of therapy (or whatever).

That would be wonderful! I just need someone with the experience to teach me. I need to understand what is going on in her head, what is she needing that she is not getting, a way to calm her down and get her attention. I did meet a new Occupational Therapist yesterday. She is seeing our FS. She said she would try to help me!:D Reality is hitting me real hard today that I should not have taken on another toddler with all the issues my DD is having. It is a nightmare. She is beating the crap out of him every second of the day and I think I am going to have to disrupt. I can't talk about it now because I will cry, but I know in my heart this is not the best place for him right now.:( I have never had to disrupt before and it sucks. I guess I am not wonderwoman afterall.

We are at a place where we know we could not possibly handle any babies or small toddlers because of our son's issues. Its a hard reality to know you can't continue with your foster son, but it sounds like it really would be best for him AND your daughter if he was placed elsewhere.

I just talked to his CW and she mentioned trying to get him daycare so that he and my dd aren't home all day together. I told her we would be willing to try that and see how it goes. We will see if they actually approve it or not.