What are the symptoms

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We have had our daughter seen by a counselor which mentioned some of the stuff we "told her" sounded like AS, however it was going to cost quite a bit of money to get a diagnosis etc which we don't have right now, and we are self employed so we have major medical.

The school psychologists is very disorganized, and that whole situation dealing with the school is a joke.


I'm having a difficult time deciding whether or not the child is just spoiled rotten and this is all the result of a lack of discipline, or if there is a real problem.

She is fourteen years old, and is pretty much a hibitual liar. A good example is today. She has her own computer with a schedule on it that will only allow access during certain times. While I was gone, and her mom was here, she used my business computer in my home office which has ALWAYS been off limits. She never recognizes any fault and always has an excuse like, you let me use it before which is untrue.

The problem I have with the whole suggestion this is AS is she will do stuff if she knows she is going to have a coinciquence. For example, her choir is the dishes, she is expected to do them after dinner and at this age, without being told aka forced. At some point I told her, you either start doing the dishes, or I will do them for you, and you will have no computer or video games until you do them. Well miraculously all of the sudden the kid can do dishes perfectly AND without being told.

The same principal worked in other typical problem areas you have with teens like not pickup up after yourself, throwing dirty clothes in the floor instead of the laundry basket.

It would seem if a person had this disorder, they would not be able to start doing tasks as a result of punishments, etc. Any thoughts?

I wouldn't put a lot of emphasis in the area of tasks and consequences when it comes to diagnosing AS. There's a lot of kids that age with various disorders and no disorders whatsoever--and younger and older for that matter--who struggle with this as well.

Looking back from birth to present, how would she score on these questions?

Does/did the child
a. Favor objects for play that aren’t typically used as toys by their peers (such as wheels, sticks, magnet letters, etc.)?
ob. Seem fascinated or obsessed by objects/topics that aren’t typical for kids of their age (such as numbers, the alphabet, words, math, geography, mechanical things such as air conditioners or vacuum cleaners, things with motors, etc)?
c. Play “differently” with toys or household objects (such as spin them, line them up in straight lines, set them up in formations, etc.)?
d. Exhibit weak or unusual pretend play skills (such as act out memorized scenes from books/films/TV/DVD instead of creating situations and dialogue, move toy trains around but not pretend to be the engineer/go places/pick up passengers, arrange pretend people or action figures but not create imaginary situations with them or have them interact with each other, etc.)?
e. Display behaviors and/or routines that seem unusual or quirky?

Obsessions

Like what? I can't think of anything unusual that most teenagers don't do. She does have a great interest in Anime, however she can go without it.

Hi,

Follow this link to a summary of diagnostic criteria. The last example on the list is easiest to read.


http://web.syr.edu/~rjkopp/data/as_diag_list.html


If you live near a university with PHD psychology programs, often you can get evaluated by doctoral canidates for a nominal fee.

We are near the University of Tennessee.

my aspies recognize consequences....their deficits are more in the range of misinterpreting other's intentions & taking other's speech literally.

The immediate threat of losing "privileges" or things is a classic technique in helping autistic kids. Mentioning chores several times without consequences if they aren't done sounds more like a suggestion or chatter. Expectations need to be clearly explained and even written down.
"Her mom" suggests this is a step-daughter and your language suggests some issues with that. Your wife needs to know exactly what you expect, if your rules are different than hers and you two need to agree with a plan.
Asperger's doesn't necessarily mean that she will "get away" with anything, just that y'all can find tools to communicate and interact better. 50 years ago mothers were blamed for being "cold" and too strict and causing their kids to be autistic, now we are blamed for spoiling the kids and creating a diagnosis for kids that just need a swift kick in the butt.

With little ones it's just as hard. I'm watching this spot for tips for the future.
Best wishes
http://whitterer-autism.blogspot.com

That stuff works for some kids regardless of label but with my son for instance there was no connection. Rewards did not work either so some kids are outside of that realm. He is starting to pick up on some of that stuff now though. Another thing too is with depression this stuff can have no effect because the person does not care about consequences or rewards - I forget the technical term for it. So if an older child has been able to understand this and now does not seem fazed by it or if it only works part time it might be another aspect to consider especially if other new behavior problems are prevelant.

I have doubt that it's Asperger's, due to the fact that you described her as a "habitual liar." Aspies are notoriously honest, so honest that we'd much rather tell the truth and hurt somebody's feelings, rather than go through the guilt of either lying or not telling the person something.
-OddDuckNash99-

it sounds like a "normal " 14 year trying to test the limits.
you tell her you will do the dishes and she is like so what i off the hook/
if you look back and i can go back to when my son was born and see the sign of
asperger when he was born but we didnot know what was going till he was 6 years old he was 6 and going on 7 when we find out .

I agree that Aspies are usually horrible liars who feel guilty when we do lie. I also don't know that I believe most teens are habitual liars. I had one who was (she did drugs, so she wasn't a typical teen, at least not until she stopped). My other teenagers didn't lie more than the usual, such as "Oh, I thought I'd done my homework" once in a while. If she is really a problem, I'd take her for a full evaluation to a NeuroPsych or Psychitrist if you live in the US. Habitual lying, imo, *is* a symptom of something, and I'd want to find out what. I would be surprised if it were Aspergers.