Curious behavior in my Mexican niece

[squeakyshoe]

My husband's niece is here visiting us from Mexico and she displays some of the most funny behaviors I've seen in a child her age.  She is soon to be 13 years old and still plays with dolls.  She gets along wonderfully with my 3 year old daughter and prefers to play with younger children.  She acts like a child half her age.  She also has what seems like bouts of nerves where she screams, cries, or spontaneously laughs for short periods of time every so often.  She has also not yet learned to read and doesn't write well.  She seems to speak well, but the tone of her speech and the way she speaks in general, again, seems to be that of a child much younger.  I understand and speak Spanish quite well, so I can understand her and the connotations she uses.  She's never seen any sort of specialist or anything since there aren't many doctors in the small town they live in down there.  I just wondered if she could possibly be autistic or something?  What does this sound like?

[tejodouro]

Did you ask the parents about the way that she is?  please be aware that it is very difficult to come from a small Mexican village to a big USA environment.   Maybe she is having a hard time adjusting? Children in small villages of less developed countries do not develop as fast as the kids here in the USA or England.   Talk to her parents about how she does versus the children in her village.  Do the parents state to you that they worry about her behavior and development in hr village?  Maybe this is the way that she is and the way her small village is.  I was in the same situation as a 13 year old that came to this country in 1978 and placed in a big Southern California city.  Within 3 to 5 years, I had adjusted and ended up going to UCLA to obyain a Master degree (without any intervation).  Also if she is always going to live in her small city in Mexico, maybe they can not affort to go to Mexico City for help or any other city.  In less developed coutries, it is very hard to travel and get the help for the child. I am trying express that if she has someting very mild, it is better to not open Pandora's Box if she is always going to live in her small village and maybe she is fine given that she is from a small village.  Her parents know best and know her best.  Good luck and God bless her.

[squeakyshoe]

Is there anywhere in Mexico City that would maybe be good that you could recommend?

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

A thorough, in-person evaluation is necessary for diagnosis. Her family may need to travel to a larger city to have her evaluated; it certainly sounds as though she has some delays.