Thank god today is over. Had my second appointment at the autism resource centre (apparently the 1st one was just a 'screening' assessment). Had to take my mum with me this time.
It went well, although the majority of it was them asking my mum questions.
Even I didn't realise quite how weird a child I was- the way my mum described it, it was like I sat on my own, did the same jigsaws over and over again, read books (I could read at nursery) and lined up my cuddly toys! The woman also thought it was very telling that my mum could remember some things really well, but couldn't remember whether or not I did pretend play as a toddler- she could only remember me pretending things when I was playing with my brother, after age 4/5.
When they asked me some more questions, they kept pointing out my lack of eye contact and that I didn't gesture. In particular there was one strange question were I had to describe what was in my living room and where the sofa was in relation to the window. I was very puzzled as to why she wanted to know, but just told her the different furniture and that the sofa was next to the window. (my mum butted in to explain the windows are big doors that open onto a balconette thing and drew them with her hands in mid air) She said the question had highlighted how much I don't use gestures- I just sat and described it without moving my hands once. Apparently most people would point and wave their hands around. I would have done that if she'd asked, or told me to sign it, but she didn't, so I hadn't even thought about doing that.
She said that if I'm not on the autistic spectrum she'll 'eat her hat' (a weird expression, since she wasn't even wearing a hat), but I've got to go back AGAIN on the 13th August.
So much for getting it over and done with... another hour and a half of questions to look forward to, oh joy.
23 Jul 2009, 2:27 pm
