3 year olds

joshierocks wrote: I know I've said this a few times already in the past, but I have a memory like a sieve and I can't recall what your answer was.... But her dislike of food, inabilitly to keep still, rocking and making loud noises are all quite pointed indicators of Autism. Has she been seen by anyone like a psychologist? Someone who could figure out if there were things you could be doing to combat these things?

Yeap a while ago but as she is so strong with language and empathy they thought it unlikely. However my GP may send us for assessment for autistic spectrum / ADHD stuff. The rocking etc ONLY occur in the night....never ever in the daytime so they suspected a sleep disorder of some sort but had no suggestions for how to help it.

She has been much better since I cut out dairy. She can tolerate some but if she has it daily her behaviour goes to pot. I'm very pleased with the way is is behaving at the mo.

I've spoken with her Kindy teachers and they have no concerns. She is very empathetic, her language is amazing (she had 5 words by 9.5months). Her imaginery play is really amazing. Based on the empathy, language and play we've been told there is no way she is high functioning autistic.

The current belief is that she has Rhythmic Movement Disorder. It is usually a stand alone sleep disorder. She has it to a severe degree combined with a REM cycle disorder. So she is in light sleep longer than most people and the RMD occurs during that. It naturally leads to less than restful sleep and hence tiredness and behavioural issues can sometimes be a side effect during bad episodes

In some cases RMD is linked to ADHD so that is what we need to watch for when she starts school. As always it is unknown which comes first...a sleep disorder and hence behaviour issues or a brain wiring issue and hence a sleep disorder. At present signs are good as she can sit still at kindy during mat time, listens well, puts her hand up if asked questions etc. So fingers crossed it is all ok.

It goes without saying that she is what many would consider "quirky" but let's face it...quirky / brilliant people are world-changers.

Thanks Summerlamb. How old is her boy?

See Elle does sleep...almost always up until 1am and then again after 5am. This week she has slept through every night. She eats loads of fruit, bread, crackers, cheese, carrot, mince (yay!) and now some pasta (yay!)....we've been working really hard on textures and tastes and are making good progress.

Not sure about the sarcasm thing as Elle appears to use it sometimes but I'm not sure if that is even possible at 3.

Would be really interested to hear more about your friends boy though. Thank you.