The Autism Network Discussion Forum

I have a 3 year old that I feel is demonstrating some of the symptoms of Autism. My relatives are telling me these things are all just acts of defiance. I would love some advice from anyone that can give some. I understand that only a medical professional can give me adirect diagnosis. If I am worrying for nothing I would rather be told than have to put her through the tests.

She is an identical twin, born first. Her sister does not do any of these things. They are seen as individuals and recognized all the time, by us. She gets just as much attention as her twin.
she is not very anti social with me (her mom) as she is with her other family members.
She has a fascination for touching everything regardless what it is. Not any one thing in particular
She will pee or mess her pants quite often, but some days she will actually try to make it to the bathroom other times she will sit right in front of me and wet her pants.
She will bite and scratch her twin and her 5 year old sister. She really does not want to play with them all the time.
She does insist that I cuddle her to go to sleep at night.
She wants one particular snack at a snack time. Scooby Doo fruit snacks. She refers to them as scooby snacks.
She has to watch 3 shows only and has no patients for being told that they are not on. She throws an actual screaming fit. When we do get her calmed down she wants to watch animated that has bright colors. Such Miss Spyder's Sunny Patch friends, but this is not one of her shows that she insists on.
She will watch the same movie over and over again.
She doesn't like to sit still for a story or being read to.
She will color on the walls even though you can see her. If you take the crayon or pen, etc. away she will find another and repeat the same action in the same general area, not trying to hide it.
She always thinks people are serious. But, I can change my facial expression and my tone and get her to laugh.
Tickling her is hard to do without her thinking you are hurting her.

I could sit here all night and list the things I am noticing. I just want to be sure I'm not worrying over behavior. If anyone has seen these symptoms in there own children I would love to know what to do.

Thank you,
Mom of Twins

I'm not sure if your daughter is exhibiting symptoms of Autism, per se, however from what you've described she may have some sensory issues, AD/HD also comes to mind. Identicals, despite having the same genetic make-up often have very different personalities. You may want to have her checked by a developmental pediatrician if you have further concerns. Many disorders mimic one another, and many are co-morbid and overlap one another, making diagnosis difficult. Were the twins born early, or have any difficuties with breathing when they were born?

The symptoms you described do not seem of Autistic nature more like ADHD. You should express your concerns to your pediatrician.

i have an autistic son.. he is like that also when he was young.

ADHD does seem a high potability but obviously i am not a professional.

I said above some disorders can at times mimic others hence the mention of Autism.
I would suggest as above to see your pediatrician.

I hope the post here help, remember we are always here to support and offer advice/experiences.

I think some of the behaviour has Autistic traits-like insisting on watching the same programmes, having the same snacks, taking things literally (seriously) but other behaviour seems more like ADHD or even just a mischiverous 4 year old!?
My Autistic daughter touches things and rubs them on her face and accross her lips.

hiya, I can relate to a fair few of those things with my 4yr old and she is being referred to a paed, ADHD / AS and ASD have all crossed my mind as have PDA too.

She watches Tom & Jerry over and over and strops badly if it is not on the telly, messes herself when stressed, excited and was awful to toilet train in the first instance, at nearly 4.5yrs she is still unable to wait even a few minutes when needing the toilet and says she knows she needs to go when it starts coming out!

Food is her main obssession, wanting food and then hardly eating what she has been given then demanding more

She is also fairly literal and is a selective mute at nursery, although recently she has started speaking a little to a couple of the staff

The other thing is she has to touch and collect things, mainly stuff that isn't hers and she knows she is not allowed to touch, she also struggles with a consequence to her actions, she sits on the norty step and is right back doing the same thing over again once she is off the step