Asperger's Syndrome

Well, its been 2 weeks since the kiddie shrink said Marian had Aspergers. I admit that some of the characteristics of it do fit her. Some do not. She is not focused exclusively on certain subjects. She can make eye contact and she didn't have any delayed motor skills. As a matter of fact, she's not only NOT clumsy, she is actually quite athletic. So that doesn't fit. But the speech part is right on. She has a odd manner of speech. The doc called it monotone, but that's not quite right. She has no inflection in her individual words, but she does in the overall sentence. She also has a huge vocabulary and she does use bigger words. She'll say she wants to "trade humans" at bedtime when she wants me to tuck her in rather than her dad.

Web MD has the best description of the stuff that does actually fit Marian. Some other websites are more broad, but the Web MD list of symptons are a lot clearer. These are the ones that fit Marian to a T (Okay, except for starting a conversation. That she does!):

* Not pick up on social cues and lack inborn social skills, such as being able to read others' body language, start or maintain a conversation, and take turns talking.
*Dislike any changes in routines.
*Appear to lack empathy.
*Be unable to recognize subtle differences in speech tone, pitch, and accent that alter the meaning of others’ speech. Thus, your child may not understand a joke or may take a sarcastic comment literally. Likewise, his or her speech may be flat and difficult to understand because it lacks tone, pitch, and accent.

So, that's my girl. She is a sweetie and she loves to cuddle and to be held. She definately wants attention and enjoys one on one time with me or Dan. She also loves friends and wants to play with other kids. I'm not too worried about her right now. I expect when she gets older, the social lack will stand out more, but she's pretty borderline normal right now. We're going in next week to see a family therapist so we can learn how to work with Marian and be good parents to her specific needs. She does not need therapy, I do, to learn how to raise her! She should be fine and grow into a beautiful, wonderful young woman with a few quirks of personality, which is fine with me!