Autism or aspergers learning difficulties when young???

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My 5 year old daughter has moderate functioning autism. I'm concerned because she has a learning issue as well. Her neurologist suspects "auditory processing disorder," but she's too young to test for it. She's having difficulty with phonics and is horrible at writing and remembering stuff that doesn't interest her (which is basically everything except penguins).

Anyway, do people with aspergers have any learning difficulties when young? And if so, what were they? Is the difference between autism and aspergers is that one has challenges in school work and the other doesn't? can my daughters autism develop into aspergers when she grows up?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought autism always comes with sensory processing disorder?

The difference between aspergers and autism was learning language. If they speak well they were likely to be diagnosed with aspergers and not autism, regardless of how they learn and how independent they are. That's all. Regardless, aspergers is not in the DSM anymore which means your daughter falls under the autism umbrella now.

I had a lot of difficulty in school but I think a lot of that was because I wasn't liked by my teachers or the other students. I was usually ignored whenever I had a question about something, so I never fully understood whatever I was supposed to be learning. That led to me getting bad grades, which was frustrating and eventually I stopped doing homework and schoolwork entirely because there was no point if I was going to get bad grades anyways, which just made my teachers like me less. I was really quiet but by about 2nd grade I was a very angry child, just too frustrated for too long, that's when behavioral problems started. I was also a foster kid so there were other problems at home, etc. I hadn't been diagnosed with autism so I didn't get any kind of help from my school in the areas I needed it in, I was just labelled a bad kid.
Focusing on things that aren't interesting is difficult even now, because my head is so full of other stuff all the time. Keep working with your daughter on her writing and phonics, make it more interesting, maybe have her write names of penguins or something like that. Ask her questions about how she prefers to learn and really listen to her.

Thank you Soyer, your advice means a lot to me. That was very sweet of you. I am trying different angles teaching my little one, but it can get really frustrating at times because it's not sticking in her head. It seems like she's very behind compared to her peers and the problem is she really doesn't give a crap. She says to me "hurry and finish this damn book..." LoL. I just hope she will overcome her obstacles and function well as an adult.

Hope all is well with you! Thank you for your response!

Mariam

I learned to read, pretty much, through memory--through (indirectly) the "whole word method." I actually learned to read when I was about four.

I used to get zeroes in phonics however, because I didn't understand the relationship between letters and sounds AT ALL.

Maybe you can use the "whole word method" to teach your son to read. Show him cue cards pictures of common objects, and the word below the picture. I believe that's probably how I learned to read: through my mother doing this.

It's possible to have a learning disorder or delay because Autism comes with a whole bunch of problems with it. I wouldn't be surprised if your daughter also has ADHD.

In my case, there was good and there was bad,
and I ended up doing well because my parents
fought for me more than once to get me what I needed.

1) My first day of kindergarten was when I found out I had a "speech problem"
in that I didn't pronounce words the same way the other kids did.
My parents ended up threatening the school with a class action lawsuit
when I was in second grade
until the school gave in and provided me with a personal speech therapist.
That therapy helped me so much that today
I am an expert at pronouncing foreign languages as well as English.
I can mimic accents really well.

2) Partly based on the speech impediment and
partly based on the fact that I had an abusive second grade teacher,
my parents had to stand up for me again.
They had me transferred to a new class with a different teacher,
and my grades went back up from borderline failure to excellent.

3) In high school, the school administrators wanted me to take Home Economics
instead of Latin, even though I was pulling a near 100% grade in Spanish
and was college bound ...
So my parents and I had a meeting with the principal,
and I ended up getting to study Latin
just like I wanted, and getting excellent grades in it.

As far as reading, both my parents were avid readers.
Books were everywhere
so I learned how to read starting at the age of four.
I loved phonics, to me it was a game.

As for your child, everybody is different,
with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Best thing to do in my opinion is to
find your child's strengths and build on them.

I use both my English and foreign language skills at my day job ...
thanks in large part to my parents.

Wishing you the best ...

...

My mother, at times, had the same bulldog determination as your parents.

The trouble: she thought most of the hassles I was experiencing were MY FAULT.

Your parents enabled you to be the Phoenix and Butterfly you are today.

Well kraftiekortie,

It seems to me you overcame the obstacles in your path excellently.
In some ways you could say you're way more successful than I am.
For one thing, you're married.
For another, you seem to be able to relate to people on a more normal level
and be accepted.
You definitely are a leader here
and do much good.

We all have advantages and disadvantages
and our own set of triumphs and challenges.

...

I think you're pretty darn good too, Phoenix!

You have an unpretentious way about you....even though you are eclectically artistic.

Remember, everyone: we're not Autistic...we're Awe-tistic!
I had so much trouble in Kindergarden and Grade 1... I loved Nursery School because I actually got to do the things I wanted to do.

I was known for being inexplicably hyper. When it came to classes, the teachers thought they were helping me; letting me enter the next year because of all my effort. My behavioral and slight learning delay was overlooked.