Mrs Speechie P

Autistic kids are often missed (or misdiagnosed), and if I had to pick a number one reason, it would be that autism was dismissed because a person is socially motivated and friendly.

But Autistic people CAN be socially motivated and friendly. It’s not social = not autistic and asocial= autistic. When considering Autism, it’s HOW people are social. Which gets tricky, especially when people don’t know what they are looking for.

Other reasons many kids go undiagnosed:
• They internalize struggles and are quiet or “well behaved at school,” or like me, was viewed as the star student and teachers pet
• Smart kids and gifted kids can be (and are often) Autistic
• Kids who have inconsistent support needs- this can vary from day to day or setting to setting. Often Autistic kids do best in comfortable, familiar, and predictable environments
• Kids who already have a diagnosis which results in adults not looking deeper (ie ADHD, ID, Down syndrome, genetic disorders, anxiety, OCD, SPD, delayed communication, learning disorders, dyslexia, etc)
• Kids with high connection needs- seeking constant adult attention in an excessive or intense manner is actually a common autism trait, but people “rule out” autism because it’s socially based
• Kids who are hyper-verbal, spoke early, or talk a lot
• Kids who are highly in tune with emotions and have deep empathy - can still be autistic, and if it’s especially intense, is actually common in Autism

What would you add? ⤵️

Autism is genetic- but that doesn’t mean it will present the same way from sibling to sibling (or parent to child).

In fact, it’s very common for multiple siblings to be Autistic, but one to get diagnosed (in general, or one gets diagnosed much earlier than others). It’s usually the kids who externalize traits, struggles, and emotions and/or fit stereotypical traits who get diagnosed early. And then internalizers/maskers to go without support or without an accurate diagnosis.

The truth is, both of these kids would likely benefit from support and the ability to understand their neurology.