DD has a ped visit scheduled and I'm going to ask for a referral. The hard part is that I don't really want DD to listen to this conversation.

I've taken some notes on DD to help me clarify my concerns. I'm just going to post them in here in case anyone has thoughts. The three things I consider possibilities are ADHD, ASD, or anxiety (or more than one), but nothing ever seems quite right from my layman's perspective.

Concersn:

very defensive, victim mentality
argumentative, reflexively negative
rude in tone
obsessed with accuracy; corrects others
high anxiety�upset by things like smoke alarms, unexplained sounds, others� injuries, mentions of bad topics; worries about death, war, disease, natural disasters
some immature social behavior; seems to act more like a boy in the grade below her; occasional failure to read social cues
very literal, does not like to be teased even when it�s friendly, dislikes exaggeration
nonsense talk and inappropriate laughter when excited
highly emotional, cries easily, highly sensitive to sad stories or themes
easily overstimulated
has nervous habits such as nose picking, throat clearing
loves spinning, swinging, scary rides
mild motor clumsiness
becomes enraged easily and is unable to respond rationally or think clearly in that state�escalates small things into huge ones. When angry seems very unaware of what others are thinking or feeling, though when calm shows excellent comprehension of this.

Things that point against a diagnosis in my mind:

no obsessions
no issues with pretend play
holds a conversation very well
highly imaginative and artistic, excellent fine motor skills
does very well in school�no behavior problems
no issues with attention to work�very long attention span
not physically hyperactive
has many friends
interests (chess, birding, drawing, books) are mature and change often
able to understand what friends may be thinking or feeling
mature reading comprehension
even skill profile, processes fast

Other:
says she dislikes being a child
highly independent
high degree of internal motivation
says she is bad and that she doesn�t like herself
says it is hard to behave well even though she really wants to

Last edited by ultramarina; 01/18/12 01:56 PM.