I didn't sleep as well as I had hoped, but I've gotten a lot done around the house. Well, a lot more than I had planned to anyway. Dishes are half done, the cat stuff/area is all clean (
canned food really changes litter box habits, ewwwww
), trash and recyling are taken out and the lawns are being watered.
I should really find out about filing for unemployment now so that I will have accomplished all that I set out to do today and I can be futless in stripey pink jammies without guilt.
I have this thing rattling in my brain though that maybe I just find jobs the way that some people find abusive partners. I don't know if I am obsessing or if I just had a moment of clarity...
Susan, the guy who writes Defective Yeti's son (who is about Annabel's age, IIRC) was just diagnosed with an ASD, and he has a long post on it here:
Actually, it was Matt's post that started the whole conversation.
{{{Bitches}}}
In totally shallow news, I'm in new khaki cords, a new dark brown twin set, and friggin flip flops. My new shoes would have really completed this look, damn it, but my feet just weren't having it. And I'm doing a presentation. Grrr.
If she does have one, it's probably mild--she acts like a fairly normal kid, just not an especially talkative one.
Thanks--this is especially reassuring coming from someone who's been around her recently. That's half my problem; I just don't have any context to judge. She's my first child, I'm the youngest in my family and never babysat much.
By comparison with the little boy in the blog link you posted, if she does have it, it sounds milder. She doesn't have the gaze avoidance, just some degree of speech delay and a tendency to play around rather than with other children--which could be as much a function of the fact she spends most of her life in a household with two adults, only seeing other kids once a week or so when we put her in the nursery at church. It'd hardly be surprising for people like Dylan and me to produce a kid with some degree of Asperger's-type behavior, since we both have some mild tendencies in that direction ourselves. But if she turns out like us, that's
fine.
We'll never win the prize for best social skills, but we're intelligent, articulate people who are fully engaged with the world around us. If I could just feel sure Annabel will reach that point, my mind will be at ease, and I'll just be more on guard than I already was to help her with socialization and to comfort her if it doesn't come easily for her.
The khaki cords and dark brown twin set sound like a good combo, GC. And flip-flops are all the rage.
I'm in a black suit that I bought last spring. After this Summer of Eating Dangerously, I'm kind of thrilled that the skirt still zips. Now if only I could get back into my jeans before NC gives up on the ghost of summer . . .
a tendency to play around rather than with other children
As many others have said, I think you are smart to check this out, but, I do have to tell you that I was an only child who spent almost all my time around adults and I did this. I am very far from autistic/aspergers, it was just a function of a) being shy and b) not being familiar with actual children (I think I thought I was just a small adult)
She doesn't have the gaze avoidance, just some degree of speech delay and a tendency to play around rather than with other children--
It's called Parallel Play. It's normal for that age.
Eighteen month old children don't play with other children. Really. She's just at the age where you'd expect to
start
to see an inclination for parallel play (playing near other children).
It's hard to compare from kid to kid. So much of their behavior is due to a combination of personality and preference. If the other children you are exposed to either have siblings, or are in daycare, they're going to be somewhat more socialized than an only child, who is home most of the time.
xpost with Hec
It's called Parallel Play. It's normal for that age.
Even if the nursery workers at church find her behavior remarkable? Apparently even in a room full of children between 12 and 24 months, she stands out for self-sufficiency and not needing anyone to entertain her. And from my own observation, she's less likely to be in a clump with other children when we come in to pick her up, and more likely to be deeply involved with some book or toy all on her own.
