I keep being asked "What made you think your daughter might have Asperger's?"  This is not an easy question to answer.  There are many things about Rosey (btw, that's her middle name, which I use quite often) that just culminated in my husband and I saying "Something ain't right with that kid."

As an infant she screamed for four months.  It stopped when we finally got her diagnosed with acid reflux.  Actually, I diagnosed it and then had to be sneaky in getting our old-fashioned doctor to consider it.  He was convinced it was colic.  I was convinced there was something seriously wrong.  I won.

Then there's the food issue.  Got a picky eater?  I bet your kid's got nothing on mine.  She eats Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal, Cheerios, Vanilla Rice Krispies, vanilla yogurt, hot dogs, peanut butter sandwiches, Kraft Dinner, cheese pizza and McNuggets.  For a bright kid, she either doesn't or chosen not to realize hot dogs and McNuggets are meat products.  She abhors the idea of eating meat.  I'd be okay with her being a vegetarian, except she refuses to eat vegetables, too.  Fruit is very iffy.  We're amazed she's healthy and right on track considering her limited diet.  And by the way, she's the kid who will starve herself to the point of vomiting rather than finally eating something in front of her she doesn't like.

Next is her very literal interpretation of everything.  Figures of speech have to explained to her, sometimes repeatedly.  She accepts the meaning, but I can see it in her face that she finds it odd not to say exactly what you mean.  I tried explaining some theological issues to her one night (theology is a favorite subject).  When I said that God will always pick you up if you make a mistake and help you get back on the narrow path, she thought He'd physically pick her up and demonstrated by jumping up and plopping down on her bed.  Next she looked around and argued that there was no path in her room, so how could He do that?

One thing I do love is her inability to lie.  Even other mom's have figured out that they might think their child doesn't lie, but mine really doesn't.  She's not allowed to jump on her bed.  One day we heard the tell-tale sounds coming from her room.  Her dad called up, "Are you jumping on your bed?"  Pause.  Silence.  "No."  "Were you jumping on your bed?"  "Yes!"  We've learned how to ask the question to get the right answer.  Obviously when she stopped she was no longer jumping so her 'no' was the honest truth.

There are other things.  Her inability to understand social cues when other kids are getting frustrated with her.  Her inability to understand the concept of friendly teasing.  Her belief that anything any other person does that she doesn't like was done on purpose to be mean to her.  Her refusal to accept compliments or constructive criticism.  Her refusal to speak to anyone she doesn't know, even if she really does.  I'm not sure at what point she determines she "knows" a person.  The latest thing her teacher and I have discovered is her inability to think outside the box with her lessons.  Once she learns something, like addition or subtraction, that's the only way it can be done.  There're no other possibilities, so don't even talk to her about it.  She's also begun saying her work is too easy and boring.  I'm not sure our school is ready to help an Apsie who's also gifted (just a thought) reach her potential.  That concerns me because bored kids can become "trouble" kids.  Just ask my brother.

We have at least one more session with the psychologist for the psych/ed assessment.  Rosey hated the first session.  Too many questions, she said.  She was also highly insulted that I actually paid someone to ask her so many questions.  She is happy, though, that the doctor asked her to bring her Uno cards next time so they can play a round or two.  She says this makes her happy because it means she won't have to speak to her during that time.  Yep, sounds like an Aspie to me.