Could my 3 year old neice have asperger's?

[tiff_87]

My 3 year old neice and her 3 older brothers and sisters were removed from their parents home due to neglect, and have been living with us for the past 2 years. I'm very concerned about her behaviors as she acts differently than other children her age. She is very destructive to toys and objects, she is easily upset and throws tantrums where she hits and bites herself, pulls her own hair out, pulls nails off, and pulls fingers painfully far back. She is unable to process her emotions, anytime she's upset it results in inflicting pain upon her self, and she says she doe'snt know why or how she's feeling. She is unable to detect other people's emotions, she has to ask if your happy/mad she can not tell by you gestures, or tones. She continually gets in trouble daily for the same things, she says she knows it's wrong but continues to do it, no reward, punishment, techniques have worked. At 2 and a half she was still only saying one word, and it was very hard to understand her. It took a year to get her potty trained, it was very difficult for her. She has to touch everything, if you shut or close something she has to go back and open it and shut it herself or she throws a tantrum. She also falls down a lot and runs into easily seen objects.She has difficulty learning new things like abc's and numbers, and also has problems with shapes and puzzles. She seems withdrawn, a lot of times in her own little world. A major issue is for over a year now she humps everything objects, toys, beds, even slides and bannisters. A dr told us to ignore it and it will go away, it's been a year and is only escalating she now uses her hands in her pants. No matter what we do she won't stop. I'm very worried about her, and her development, she functions normally but has issues emotionally and behaviorally. Do you think this is aspergers? How do we get her tested? Is she old enough to be diagnosed and treated? Thank you so much!
                  

[William L Holcomb, Ph.D., BCBA]

Given your niece’s early history there may be a number of factors contributing to the behaviors you describe.  The one thing that is certain is that you should definitely pursue having a full assessment of her development.  The typical place to start is with your niece’s pediatrician.  After you describe the above behaviors to him or her, they should make a referral to your local educational authority (usually the school department of the town where you live) and they will do a full educational assessment.  You pediatrician may also recommend some additional medical and neuropsychological assessments.  In the USA, every child at age three may receive educational services from their local educational authority if they are identified as having some special need.  I encourage you to pursue help for your niece as soon as possible.  The earlier she receives any help that she needs to better for everyone concerned.