2yr old daughter diagnosed (High Functioning) Autism

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Emotional reciprocity in the form of hugs and kisses is an area in which daughter is markedly different from other kids. She will give hugs (strong suffocating bear hugs) on her own terms-when she wants to. She doesn't do it to make someone feel better or even as a token of affection-it is a physical action for her. I think she was more accepting of physical attention when she was younger but as she's grown she has somewhat physically pulled away.

She also asks to be hugged strongly but again it is not an emotional exchange, it is physical. She has always been someone that you can't calm or commisserate with through hugs and caresses-she doesn't want to be touched in that way.

This is also strange because as an infant I carried her a lot, slept with her, snuggled with her. She had some sensory issues at age 2, but I don't recall her recoiling from touch until later. I remember she wouldn't let other children touch her and she is still adverse to that now unless it is a child she really likes.

Early morning sunlight is great for almost everybody's mood. The wavelength of sunlight is different across the time of day, and some sleepcycle related neurological functions that regulate energy and motivation to daytime and relaxation to nighttime respond to your eyes catching it. =)


I think depression is a symptom that can have a whole bunch of causes... not a mood, exactly, but the delayed effect that too many bad moods in succession have on your perception of self and life. Antidepressants rarely address depression at its cause, they just kind of heavy-handedly drag your mood to new places in hope of interrupting the chain and allowing recovery.

That said, unless side effects particularly upset the patient, they work more often than not for people without co-morbid mental conditions. Which technically isn't us, but I've no experience with its interaction with the autism spectrum.

Anyway, you'd probably be better off building on healthy lifestyle changes like catching sunlight, exercising, sleeping regularly and eating well, perhaps with some over-the-counter neurotransmitter prodrug supplements like tyrosine, tryptophan and picamilon (depending on what exactly you find unpleasant about your moods)... more sustainable, fewer side effects, no withdrawals that way. Does take a bit more research, but if your depressions have been coming and going on their own accord you shouldn't be in the treatment-resistant deep end.


I wouldn't write her physical affections off as mere imitation just yet. You may not be able to calm her with hugs because once she's upset, she'll have retreated beyond the mechanism's reach... but if she comes to ask for hugs there'll be something she finds rewarding to them at least at those times. The fact that she lets people she particularly likes touch her also indicates that touches still work from the same base mechanism for her.

Not hugging people for comfort or reward may simply be her inability to gauge the emotional load of social situations coming in to play. The hug itself might well be genuine, even if the delivery seems awkward, situationally inappropriate or otherwise non-communicative.