Obsession with mechanical objects

[Mom2Emmalu]

My 5 year old daughter only seems to be interested in talking about mechanical things.  She talks to other people about the ADT alarm, the smoke alarm, clocks, robots, and anything else involving mechanics.  She only draws animals that are robots.  She tells stories about the machines, gives them personalities, and says that the alarms in the house love her and watch her.  She also takes everything apart that she can get her hands on.  We are concerned because she seems to be emotionally detached from real people and animals and doesn't show any empathy for our cat, who she has tried to "take apart" by pulling out her fur and whiskers.  Her best friend is the vacuum cleaner.  Is this normal?  If it isn't, are there any alarm signs for something we need to look out for?

[Cleveland Mom]

Based on your most recent post, the behaviors you describe could be consistent with Asberger's Syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum.  Individuals with this condition often have average or above average intelligence, their language development is also normal.  The main feature of this condition is significant difficulties in the area of social interaction.  The display odd behaviors and mannerisms.  At your dtr.'s age her play should have moved beyond parallel play, she should be playing cooperatively with similar aged peers.  The rocking behavior may be self-soothing behavior and it is seen often in those with a condition along the spectrum of autism.  The droning sound, as you described it may be self-stimulating behavior.  Many with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulties with sensory processing.  You may want to learn more about sensory processing by doing a search of "sensory processing" or "Sensory Processing Disorder" (SID).

I feel that you should begin to seek the evaluation now as opossed to waiting until she begins Kindergarten.  This is because, often it may take months to see the appropriate specialist.  This means that she may be in school for a couple of months before she can be evaluated, this may not be in her best interest.  In the least, you should schedule and appointment with her health care provider as soon as possible and have a very frank discussion about these concerns.  In addtion to this, you could post this question on the Doctor-Patient forum of this board and get Dr. Kennedy's opinion.  He is a child psychologist.  Best wishes...

[Mom2Emmalu]

Thanks, I will definitely look into that.  When in an environment with other children, she does what her old preschool teacher calls "parallel play".  She acts as if she is alone.  In two weeks, she starts public kindergarten.  We live 2000 miles away from our families, so she doesn't have any other children nearby to communicate with.  While in preschool we were told by her teachers that she got very anxious when in the company of other children, particularly those older than her.  Her teacher had to carry her around a lot because of her anxieties.  But when she starts kindergarten, we planned to ask the teacher if her behavior seemed abnormal to her, and take her to a child psychologist if she believes there is a need for concern.  She seems to have an above average vocabulary and is already reading, but she also rocks in place a lot on the floor and makes a "droning" sound.  It appears as though her intelligence is above the norm, but her behavior is odd.

[Cleveland Mom]

I am concerned that you stated that she appears to be emotionally detached from people , specifically. In line with anxiousmomtobe?, what more can you tell us about her communication and relationships with peers?  The behaviors that you are reporting could be consistent with a Pervasive Developmental Disorder.  Do a google search of autism, pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) to learn more.  I agree that you need to talk to your healthcare provider and request evaluation by a specialist i.e. child psychologist, child psychiatrist.  Best wishes...

[anxiousmomtobe?]

Is she in preschool or daycare?  Does she interact well with other children her own age?  Is she communicative?

If so, she just has a mechanical mind and may choose a career in something like engineering.  

If not, she should be evaluated by a ped.