When your ASD kid is sick

Keeptruckin · September 2014

Do you find behaviours come out more? DD has had a cold she can't shake and the two days she was stuffed up and worn down she was awful. Yesterday a child put a red pencil crayon in the orange jar at school. This is montessori so it's all pretty organized. My daughter went on her own to the principals office and asked if the child could be punished. And she has been a nightmare at home. I now see there seems to be more focus on her obsessions too. I guess any kid can be this way when sick but I am seriously going to sell her.

Keeptruckin · September 2014

Auntie, I think it's the not sleeping. Up all night coughing equals being very rigid. Weeks like this one make me wonder more about anxiety disorders and OCD. Her assessment showed a 95 percentile indication of anxiety. They told me the anxiety is part of her ASD. Has your son ever been on medication for anxiety, I thought I remember you mentioning GAD? I think our future involves lots of working on anxiety.

lite-bright · September 2014

DD1 tends to fly off the handle more when she's sick.

But in general, I feel like some of her ASD stuff lightens up when she is sick, particularly with a fever. Her speech gets noticeably more fluid and animated. Even with the flying off the handle, considering how even-keeled and passive she is on a daily basis, I almost feel sometimes like being a little more volatile is probably also more like a typical 6-YO would be.