as she lectured about beetles etc. This is common and I have seen her in teaching and correcting mode with her friends in a way that also makes me a little uncomfortable. We had an evaluation in the past and the examiner focused on giftedness while admitting she has plenty of ADHD symptoms. She was an expert in ASD, and said that she did not think there were any signs of ASD, but then again, she only met with her one on one. She has some sensory issues that seem better after OT though she is still highly excitable and even shakes her hands when excited. She is always smiling and is very creative with a great imagination and a quick sense of humor with a love of sarcasm. So far, kids seem to really like her, but I see her making social blunders that her younger sister would never make.
Mine (far from typical, 2E/AS) definitely is the lecturer type. He tells people stuff, whether they are interested or no. Sharing interesting facts is one of the major modes of social contact that come naturally to him. He believes these facts (often obscure scientific ones) are of intrinsic interest to everybody.
My list of things to watch would be:
--does she have lots of other modes of approach to peers available, and does she use them all easily? Or is lecturing her main skill for approaching and talking to peers?
--does she listen to others as well as she lectures? What if someone else her age has a great idea?
--what happens when she is not in charge? Does she follow, or does she leave?
--can she engage in reciprocal conversational turn-taking with a peer-- turn-taking? How many turns?
We are thinking of having her enroll in a theater / singing class or camp because she actually has talent in this area and seems very comfortable on stage. [quote]
We did this for DS, but didn't get any bang for our buck out of it. (As a therapist pointed out to us, "well, what did you expect? It's not like he needs help approaching people...") Not everything has to improve a person, so it was fine, but it did not build the recprocal interaction skills we were looking for.
[quote=TwinkleToes] At home, she wants almost constant conversation with me, if you can call it conversation. She wants me to listen and watch what I consider lectures or shows all the time. I have an introverted streak and find this highly draining.
You do NOT have to acquiesce to this all the time. You can say that "showtime starts at 6:30 pm, when the dishes are done, and I will listen to shows for 15 minutes" (or however long.) Please save up today's lectures and give me your best material then." She does need to learn that some people do not like being lectured to, and nobody can tolerate an infinite amount of it. That is not an unkind lesson, even from mom.
DeeDee
