Autistic traits but not Autistic

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My daughter 18yrs old has a lot of Autistic traits but after waiting 4yrs for assessment she finally met with a psychologist specializing in Autism.

His conclusion was that although she behaves like she is on the spectrum she is not Autistic he gave this explanation a name but I cant remember what he said maybe someone here might know.

I found him to be very much looking for atypical signs my daughter masks her traits very well and only the immediate family pick up on it. I know she is an adult now and if she doesn't want the autistic label I have to respect this. The Psychologist said that I paint a different picture of my daughter than she did I feel I only spoke the truth.

Maybe he said "broad autism phenotype"?
That is when someone displays autism symptoms, but not to a clinical degree.
She may be autistic, but if she is coping well and doesn't want the label, you should respect her choice.

Not sure what (if anything) you're looking for here in the way of replies.

It'd help if you could recall the term that was used for the diagnosis.

Without that, it sort of gives us no information.

I mean, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck. For an autism expert to say someone has the symptoms of autism but isn't on the spectrum is like saying someone's pancreas isn't working, there's no insulin being made, but they're not diabetic.

I'd really like to hear more about this, and likely others would too.

phenotype was his explanation.

If it's any comfort yo you, your daughters emphasis on strengths may be accurate or misleading but doesn't invalidate your concerns about areas in which you see her struggle. Rather I think points to the subjectivity in the diagnostic process. I'm sorry this is proving difficult and wish her, and you, the best.

That is weird. Phenotype is a genetics term that refers to the physiological traits that result of the expression of the genetic information (the genotype). For example (vastly simplified) if you have two instances of the "blue eyes" recessive allele (version) of the "eye colour" gene in your chromosomes (that's your genotype) you end up with your eyes being blue (or sometimes green, or gray, as I mentioned it is simplified), which is the phenotype.

It is well known (although no much more is known on the topic) that autism has a genetic factor but it is not completely genetic either. But any way, I don't see how that relates to what the expert was trying to say.

You might be interested in this:
http://www.jneurodevdisorders.com/content/5/1/11

ouroborosUK

His explanation was that she appears to be autistic but she is not and had I heard of phenotype which I had not.

His explanation for her anxiety was that I went into premature labor which was stopped by drugs and I was anxious for the rest of the pregnancy. I thought ok here we go again blame the parent . Yes I was anxious because I had to be alert for the rest of the pregnancy which was about 7 weeks.

I will research for my own information about Phenotype there seems to be information relating to the parents.

I might not fully understand his point, but to me it is in no way a valid "explanation". It looks like the kind of BS a doctor would tell a layman to look intelligent, make you feel stupid and make you accept whatever opinion he has. Even if it is not as bad, you have a right to a real, understandable, fact-based explanation for his diagnosis (or lack thereof) whatever your mastery of scientific language.



That may be his opinion, but that kind of cheap Freudian thinking is now contradicted by decades of research, at least as far as autism is concerned. My opinion is that your daughter was assessed by a strongly biased and possibly incompetent person.

ouroborosUK

I believe my daughter is on the spectrum although she does not maybe its time to keep my promise. She is an adult now I will respect her opinion, you are right he was full of s**t kept looking for atypical behaviors. My daughter wants to be an actress she feels she is nothing like her brother who has a ASD dx.

Yes, keep your promise and maintain your relationship with your daughter by respecting her wishes. But you will remember what you think. If you are right, she may see this eventually if it would serve her.

Yes, it is possible to have autistic traits but not be autistic.

Autism is a psychological diagnosis. That means they only diagnose you if you have significant problems--if you need help, or if you use a lot more effort, or if you need adapted technology or you learn different ways to cope (ex., like how a blind person might learn Braille so they can read; an autistic person might learn to ask people what they are feeling because he can't read faces). If there's no significant impairment, you can still have autistic traits, but there'd be no reason to diagnose you with anything.

If a psychologist says, "You have autistic traits; you are on the broader autism phenotype; but you are not autistic," what he likely means is, "Your autistic traits are there, but they're not causing any disability." If you're having trouble, it's due to something else, rather than the autistic traits themselves." In this case the psychologist mentioned anxiety, which (check the paperwork) may be what he feels your daughter's primary problem is. Knowing that she is on the BAP--i.e., that she has autistic traits--may help her in the future because it implies an autistic-like style of thinking, learning, and communicating, but without impairment.

It's actually not so far-fetched for a doctor to think that because someone was very anxious during pregnancy (either because of stress or because of an anxiety disorder), their child might become more vulnerable to anxiety. It's not really a Freudian thing; it's more chemical--a child is prenatally exposed to stress hormones, and becomes more sensitive to them as a result. It's not been totally proven, but it's a testable idea that is making the rounds of the laboratories. On the bright side, children with this kind of prenatal history may have a vulnerability to anxiety, but it might turn out to be a pretty small increase in the chances that they'll develop an anxiety disorder; and even then, a stable environment to grow up in will encourage stability no matter the prenatal and genetic history, and people who do get anxiety disorders can learn various mental tricks and coping skills to deal with them.

She will be just fine. If she doesn't have any serious issues, no one will need to go digging around. Not even her. It is important to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. A lamen thing to say would be that just maybe people with asd around her are rubbing off on her, and perhaps she is mimicking. (Phenotype). Time may change things for her, but for now, I do not believe it would be healthy to push her into another diagnosis unless she has issues. Let the quack think his diagnosis is correct.

Callista

She has a dx of ADD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, she is also was below average for dyspraxia but did not score enough for dx.

Her anxiety impairs her as she does not perform to her potential her clumsiness causes her serious embarrassment and at times injuries. She takes Ritalin this helps her with clumsiness seems to allow her to plan ahead. There are many red flags I don't believe you can have so many traits and it doesn't fit into a box but that's just my opinion.

She is happy not to be labelled Autistic and I will respect this but I do feel she is doing herself an injustice as her difficulties are effecting her education and performance. As her parent just want best for her but she is her own person.

Her high anxiety levels has effected her and the family since she was born. Her brother has an ASD dx and he is younger than her. I was always more concern about my daughter than my son as a baby and a toddler. But I will research BAP maybe this does fit! Thanks for all your opinions it does help to trash things out.

Annmaria since your daughter isn't open to the autism diagnosis, I understand that it's hard when you see so much, but if she chose to, she has two other diagnoses that would normally qualify her to receive support if she were willing. I hope she can see a way to use that and not be so turned off by labels she rejects help. Because I think it's available, and the help for ADHD would cross over considerably with what someone with autism might need for schooling because there too it would be executive functioning issues.

I wish you the best.

Such a tough situation to be going through. As Waterfalls mentioned, it's a good "compromise" if you will to get her support for the ADHD and GAD. I remember reading about people with autism having this thing where they're fine until the social demands exceed something or other (someone can help me out for being so vague, I just woke up!). Most of us that were diagnosed later in life encountered this thing, some of us have had nervous breakdowns. I'm not trying to scare you, I just want to help with the perspective... if she doesn't know, she could be in for a rough crash later when things become unmanageable.

I'm talking only because I'm one of those "fakers" , I try to really honestly get by and pass for normal, but I really don't and it's extremely stressful, depressing and sometimes I get relief when I get to hang out with someone that isn't "socially demanding" and let's me "talk weird". I don't want to be negative I just don't like rude awakenings myself. (What if something happens to her and she gets diagnosed later and wants to ask you didn't you know? weren't there signs?)

Then also, if she knows something is "wrong with her" will it limit her achievements in the future? Make her not push as hard? (But this is already a potential issue bc of ADHD and GAD)


My goodness. I appreciate the gravity of your decision. I also have the same triad of dx's (Mar 2012). Have had the ADHD dx since age 8.