Love on the spectrum
I sought out and watched shows that deals with autism as I continue seeking to understand how best to support DD12. I did learn things I didn't know as I watched Love on the spectrum. Now I'm watching the Australia version of the show.
Jabber warning. I obviously am not sure about my decision to get DD12 officially diagnosed with autism and so I keep talking talking talking about it. Usually this chatter happens in my head but here it is spilling out onto the SHE board again.
I recently went back to Sept 2023 post on SHE forum and read the discussion that we had about Autism. I continue to second guess and question my decision to not have DD12 receive an official diagnosis from medical professional. I discussed this decision again with DD12 counselor last week because DD12 has developed her first tic. It is a mild head shaking tic that isn't very noticeable and doesn't cause her physical harm, so medication isn't needed (yet?). I don't want to let DS15 experience receiving official medical DSM diagnoses color my view/decisions of DD12 challenges & experiences because everyone is different. The two kids share DNA but are opposites in most ways. D12 has a complete mental block of her earlier years where DS15 remembers almost everything from a very young age. DD12 learns quickly and makes straight A's with minimum effort. DS15 is smart but needs to frequently manage his anxiety and hyper distraction so he learns at his own rate/way. DS15 makes friends easily and talks to anyone without much encouragement. DD12 has a group of 5 friends at school that she hangs around with when she is in school but she doesn't make friends easily and tends to shy away from people. When it is just DD12 and me then she talks nonstop and is very animated but she reverts to being quiet when other people are around. I was soooo very proud of DD12 last week because she talked to the waitress at the restaurant to give her food order. This was a huge step for DD12.
Yikes! How did I go on for so long? Maybe I should delete or not post this but here I am sharing my lack of confidence and hesitation in the decision to officially put that autism label on DD12. If there was a need then I would do it in an instant. But she gets accommodations from school without having official DSM diagnoses declared and included on her IEP.
1. Know what you want.
2. Go after it relentlessly.