is this aspergers???

[tucker123]

My 4 year old has recently been diagnosed with a mild case of aspergers...He has a lot of anxiety at times...trouble winding down at night...gets very quiet around other kids...He's been on small amounts of resperdal and prozac and has been responding vey well.  Contrary to what i've read about AS kids being uncoordinated he possesses a circus like coordination and is extremely fast.  He also recognizes nonverbal cues and has empathy for other people and kids who are sad or hurt.  He is also very funny.  He does freeze up around new kids   He started pre-school and after crying for the first few weeks has really started to adjust and do quite well...He does seem to do better around me than my wife...not that she does anything wrong...maybe this is just part of being 4....you end up analyzing everything after awhile...Is this really aspergers????

[Sally44]

Try and look at any symptoms as being part of a fruit salad.  Some children have the right amount of the right ingredients and get the right diagnosis.  Alot of children have different kinds of fruit in their salad.  So, for example, a child can have alot of traits for Aspergers (but maybe not quite enough for a diagnosis), with also a few traits of ADHD etc.  It does tend to get a bit clearer as they get older.
Not all Aspergers children are clumsy.  There is alot of interest recently in sensory integration/sensory differences.  The senses of Vestibular (balance) and Proprioception (awareness of where your body parts are and how to move them) seem of interest in your child because one child may be at one extreme and may panic every time their feet are lifted off the floor.  At the other extreme a child could be brilliant at gymnastics without ever having been coached.  I know an autistic child who is brilliant on the trampoline.  Have a search on the internet for 'sensory differences in autism and aspergers'.

[berly4909]

It sounds more like ADHD which alot of people can easily confuse with Aspergers. My friends daughter was diagnosed with Aspergers and later found out she had ADHD instead. Also about the Prozac, You need to take him off it! My son is on risperidal also  but Prozac is a horrible drug, one its not safe for little children, wspecially his age and two and can worsen him also I was on it before for my bi-polar and it made me act  as a scizophraniac, my brother was on it for bi-polar also and now he does have scizophrania. I don't care how safe they say it is , its not!!!

[mjthewriterdad]

looks like whatever you're doing is working, for now, anyway.  Just keep watching his behaviors / learning styles and adjusting over the years.

Maybe your perceptions about AS are shaped by the media which is kinda mixed.
When you watch the movie PS, I love you, Harry Connick Jr plays the role a man with Aspergers and he seems very funny and maybe a little awkward, but he functions very wel, socially.  Harry was interveiwed recently about his and suspects he may have Aspergers afterresearching what the role required.  Boston legal, IMO, does not portray AS accuratly.  Jerry (hands) Espenson played by Christian Clemenson is just a cheap attempt to get some laughs and make for a colorful show.  

You'd be surprised on how many successful people are on the spectrum:
Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon
Vernon Smith, Nobel Prize-winning economist
Daryl Hannah, actress (Splash, Blade Runner, Kill Bill) was diagnosed as borderline autistic
Dan Aykroyd, comedian, actor

Aspergers or not, who he is is who he is.  PDD-nos has the same treatment options as well.  I s'pose if I were you, I wouldn't get too worked up about the label; If the treatment options work, they work.  I guess the label is inconsequential at this stage.  Maybe later on in his life you can have him re-evaluated, in fact, the school system should, by USA federal law, do this every 3 years.