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Kodos
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16 Nov 2009, 6:44 pm

Hello all, I'm new to the forum but really glad to have found it. My daughter is six now, but was diagnosed with AS about six months ago when she was five and in kindergarten. Despite the fact that her uncle has severe autism, her grandmother has an anxiety disorder and depression and her grandfather is clearly undiagnosed AS, it was a BOMBSHELL dropped on me. I don't know planet I was on! Well, lately, my daughter has become more and more anxious. She can't stand to be left alone, even in our own house. She does constant checks to make sure we are still in the immediate vicinity. Remarkablly she goes to school okay and she even played at her friend's house next door (although I heard that she made frequent checks to make sure her friend's mom was nearby). My wife thinks it's another phase (my daugher has previously been afraid of rain and cartoons. . .both of which she is now over). But I'm not so sure given the familial history. I don't want to be quick to medicate her. . . but I also don't want her to be unnecessarily anxious. Has anybody had similar experiences? Remedies?



DW_a_mom
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16 Nov 2009, 7:31 pm

I guess I would start by doing everything you can to make her world feel comfortable and secure. First grade can be quite a leap from K, and it is possible that she is reacting to the increased responsibilities and expectations. My NT daughter had a very rough first 3 or 4 months in 1st grade. Add to that the fact that most AS kids are stressed by more things than most NT kids, and it doesn't sound surprising (it isn't uncommon for AS kids to be frightened by things as common as a toilet flush).

Anxiety can be a common co-morbid with AS, but it doesn't sound like anything debilitating or over the top at this point. Kids of all sorts regularly need a little extra mom or dad; it phases in or out. Even at 12, my AS son goes through very short waves of not wanting to be separated from me. When the anxiety reaches a point she is fearful of all sorts of things she would otherwise enjoy, then it becomes more important to give it a serious look, IMHO.


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Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).


HH
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16 Nov 2009, 7:43 pm

The avoidance of being alone that you're describing sounds pretty harmless to me, especially in a child as young as six. I'd say run with it for the time being.

It's worth trying to remember whether she has expressed any complaints or worries, no matter how seemingly trivial, that might shed insight into this current behavior. When I was your daughter's age, I had a little stalker for an entire school year, and the little jerk made my life a misery. I told my parents, my teacher, and my big sister, and they all laughed it off. Then they complained for the next eight months about my "inexplicable" behavior.

At your daughter's age, if she's made one attempt to tell you the problem and been brushed off because it sounded minor to you, she's probably not going to make another attempt. She might not even try again if you ask her, because she'll remember the misery of trying before and not being listened to. So do try to remember if there are any complaints or worries she expressed.



Kodos
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16 Nov 2009, 9:01 pm

Thanks for your replies. I'm pretty sure part of it, has to do with a safety presentation her class
had at school. They apparently talked about kidnapping. She is now very afraid of being kidnapped. It reminds me of when they talked about hand washing in kindergarten and she was washing her hands every five minutes! That did pass, so perhaps this will too.



CRD
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16 Nov 2009, 10:08 pm

It might help if you all talk about her feelings and make sure she knows how much you love her. Also you might want to avoid the news for the next few weeks as they just found a little girl about her age who was killed see that sort of thing always upset my kids, heck it upsets me too. Big hugs < if she likes to be huged> and alot of postive talk and I think she'll be just fine very soon. Much luck and welcome to WP :)



arielhawksquill
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16 Nov 2009, 10:21 pm

My AS ex-husband mentioned going through a phase like this as a child. He said it was because he thought things ceased to exist if he wasn't aware of them, and he didn't want his mom to cease to exist, so he kept her in his sight at all times. He was just a little late developing a sense of "object permanence", but he got it eventually.



ouinon
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17 Nov 2009, 3:52 am

And another thing which might be worth considering:

Increasingly chronic/permanent anxiety ( about anything and everything ), is one of the most reliable signs of vitamin B deficiency, even/particularly, I discovered recently, of Vitamin B12, ( present mainly, like most of the Bs, in meat and fish but also dairy and eggs ), a deficiency which is a lot more common than most people think.

Cutting out sugar, and refined/white carbohydrates generally, and increasing the amount of meat or fish in the diet, aswell as green vegetables ( parsley, really green salad, etc ), can make a huge difference to anxiety levels.

.



Azharia
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17 Nov 2009, 7:53 am

my aspie cousin went through a phaze like this. To the extent where he COULDN'T sleep, but was terrified to be awake without his mom awake too. The whole family were wrecked.

I think anxiety goes with the diagnosis in some kids. He's on a modified diet, designed by a DAN lady. He has no sugar and no wheat. he is 14 now, and has seen himself that if he has sugar by accident, he gets SO Anxious. So perhaps a dietary change of some description may help? YOu'd have to see a specialist or just experiment.

Another thing would be to make sure she knows what is coming up? Surprises in her day that she is not expecting could have her anxious, and if she is worrying about what might happen in 30 mins, she could be very anxious. School wouldn't do this, as she KNOWS she has to go, and pehaps she was well prepared for her friends house visit? Just try telling her the day plan, and notifying her of changes to it in plenty of time?