This is our youngest granddaughter and she is so sweet, I want to share some information with you... she is just over 3 years old and while it isn't confirmed yet, she has Aspergers Syndrome like her daddy.
After many tests for her hearing, for her speech and other things, my son who also has Aspergers took it upon himself to go into the local school district in their area and say, 'I think my daughter needs to be in school and I need to know if you can help us.'
That began many months of testing at the school at doctors offices and at their home and oft times she was uncooperative which caused appointments to be rescheduled and my son and daughter in law to figure out how the next time they would get her talked into doing something she didn't want to.
It wasn't until the final testing day with the psychcologist at the school my son told them HE had Aspergers and the psychcolologist told him she would need to be tested and observed again and in the mean time they were going to place her in a pre-school program to help her.
This was her first day of school and unlike her daddy and much to everyone's surprise, she was happy at school, she didn't cry at all, but oh how her little brother wailed and cried because they were leaving her behind.
Friday was just her second day at school and the report was she would not sit in group with the others (neither would her daddy), she sat outside the circle and watched and sang the songs from outside the circle (as her daddy did), but she wasn't disruptive and had a good time.
It is interesting to note here that boys are diagnose with Aspergers syndrome 4:1 over girls and it isn't because they do not have Aspergers it is because the boys display more aggressive tendencies so the girls many times go undiagnosed.
My granddaughter is no different, she is extremely shy, quiet and yet, she is very bright (she can operate a smart phone, call me and find her favorite Disney shows), she helps with her brother and she loves her parents.
The other thing is that Aspergers is genetic and does tend to run in families and while that may not be what we want to hear, it is important to know that it does happen and she is blessed to be living in a time when there is more know about Aspergers and how to treat it.
Her daddy on the other hand was 17 and in and out of treatment facilities with so many different diagnosis that he used to say he was the ABC kid and he was firm in what he had and didn't have....
ADD...yes, ADHD he once told the doctor he wasn't hyper and he needed to get the H stood for hell as in get it the hell out of my diagnosis. They said he was bi-polar because he admitted he once heard someone call his name but no one was around. To which he told the doctor, 'uh, does that mean you got your license in a cracker jack box? Because my parents often ask if I was talking to them and I am not so every parent is Bi-Polar?'
Why was he not diagnose earlier? Because doctors were pretty ignorant back then. When I once asked his pediatrician if he could be Autistic he said, not at all, kids with Autism don't talk.
My granddaughter is lucky, she has a daddy who love her very much and has been in her shoes and I know when no one else will understand what she is going through, he will and he will be there for her.
I can't wait to see how school and speech therapy help to unlock that voice she has. Then again, I wanted that for her daddy and he hasn't stopped talking since he started...!
While many parents just want to hear from their child, this one and her daddy call me about 20 times a day and he knows at times it drives me crazy, but he also knows if he doesn't call me, then I wonder what is going on.
Welcome to school little one!
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