Hmm. My DD is very quirky. I would not be surprised if she grows into an ASD diagnosis. But, for right now all her quirks seem to be sub-clinical. She is a really happy little kid that is doing great in all aspects of life. When I look at the DSM IV or V she is just not there at all, yet she has many aspy traits.
She hums while she eats.
She has a voiceless grunt that comes and goes.
She looks away when she is talking to you to think.
She is a picky eater.
She is hyper sensitive to smell.
She has a great aural memory.
In a good way, but really abnormally so--
She is one of the most imaginative kids I have ever heard of.
She can play all day by herself with a handful of simple toys and imagination.
She never tantrummed.
She does not cry like a typical 3yo. She cries like a much older child, silently.
She was always easy to reason with.
She has an amazing ability to defer gratification.
And some advanced quirks--
She has an affinity for poetry, recites lines when appropriate, speaks in rhythm and rhyme.
She can read words spelled out to her aurally.
She reads very fast in her head. I think she takes in whole sentences before actually reading them aloud. She is a strong whole language reader. But, this seems to mean she will sometimes paraphrase the text, replacing "a" with "the" and even saying things like "runned" for "ran."
We have not pushed her academically yet, so I am not sure how she will respond to say direct instruction or workbooks. I have a feeling she is very intrinsically motivated. Which is probably why I have not bothered trying too hard to extrinsically motivate her. If she does not want to learn it, I don't think she can be taught it! I feel like I just need to convince her she is able to do things, or she should want to learn something. Because, once she is convinced, she learns without being taught.
