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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For those of your with girls with late diagnoses (especially if they are social and do well in school), what are their symptoms? I think high functioning in girls is so hard to identify, I'm curious what behaviors led to a diagnosis. [/quote]

My 13 year old was diagnosed 3 months ago and I have been running this through my head almost every day as I try to make sense of it, so I will share!

As an infant she was “difficult.” Had problems eating and was just always irritable. She was not one of those happy and content babies. Early to hit milestones though and very verbal. Went from having tons of friends at age 2-3 preschool to starting to struggle around 4-5 preschool. Showed a lot of hyperactivity symptoms and was dx with adhd at 5.5 in kindergarten. Had a comprehensive evaluation in which ASD was ruled out.

Super smart and in level IV AAP. Well liked by teachers and most peers although in retrospect she had issues with bossing peers around.

Went thru a phase of massive anxiety and shyness from approx 1st-3rd grade, seemed like she was doing pretty well in 4th and most of 5th. Things went far downhill right around turning 11, which was also 2 mos before she got her period (which shocked me because she’s tiny). Started having a lot of executive functioning challenges as demands grew in school, and attaching on to peers who didn’t want to be her friend. Had another evaluation and neither the Dr (nor us) mentioned ASD as a possibility. I don’t know if it was specifically screened for the way it was as part of the K evaluation.

6th grade was a nightmare socially and also tough academically, she was still doing ok but had several power struggles with teachers. Switched schools. She started to become a little counter culture for lack of a better way to put it. One thing I remember vividly from this year was at thanksgiving she just would not stop talking, and not in a good way. Monopolizing conversations across the dinner table about things no one wanted to talk about and totally missing social cues. Therapist expressed concerns that ADHD meds werent working. Made lots of changes but nothing “worked.”

7th grade dropped two long term extracurriculars she had done (and LOVED) since K. Became extremely counter culture and seemed to take pride in being “weird.” Gave tons of pushback on showering and hygiene. At this point she did not have a single friend. Meds still “weren’t working.” Her therapist suggested she had oppositional defiant disorder. Asked us to get her screened for that and a psychologist diagnosed her with it. None of these people brought up autism.

Ultimately it was her guidance counselor at school who suggested it and we got a different comprehensive evaluation from a group known to be very thorough. Was found to be on border of level 1/2 with PDA.

2 things that stick out to me:

- the part in the research about some of the gene issues not being an issue until later in life with the first group of kids resonates. I couldn’t figure out how it was possible that this was the same kid, but that makes sense now if these particular genes wouldn’t show earlier.

- I think puberty had to play a role [/quote]

What do you mean by “gene issue?” It is really normal for adolescente to chance and rebell. You knew your dsughter had diferences from a young age. [/quote]

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