Aspergers

[diananow]

Hi my name is Diana and I have a son (turns 3 in September)  who we are having diagnosed. We think he has Asperger’s but not sure.  He seemed perfectly normal as he was growing and reached every milestone around the correct time but he always seemed to bang things from about 1 year old. Anything that he could get his hands on he banged and not just for a little while but would do it all day long.  He also will not let anyone take his plate or bowl from the table when he has finished. He has to give it to you himself. Once I took the bowl to put in the dishwasher and he went absolutely crazy and I had to get the bowl out of the dishwasher and give it back to him which he then handed to me and then he was ok.  He is currently seeing a speechy as I was told that he was delayed in his receptive and expressive language. He has just started to colour in but will not draw anything, instead he colours the whole page in until there is no white left and does this every time.  He searches for any area that is not covered and wont stop until it is.  He does play with things but more often just likes to line things up in a row. The one thing that really gets him excited is music and he really really loves it and has the most amazing memory. I swear he can remember every tune of every cartoon and add on tv....it’s just mind boggling. He does not bang things so much of late but instead runs up and down the hall way (i timed him once and it went for nearly  25minutes one day) and has these little spasms. I was told by an OT that he suffers from Sensory Processing Disorder.  Sometimes I feel that when I speak to him he is not even there....it can be scary.  Please does this sound like he has Autism or am I just being a worried parent?  Thank you. Diana

[tejodouro]

I am not a doctor, just a mom that reads alot.
I do not think that he has Aspergers.  The main characteristic of Aspergers is that children with aspergers do not have a speech delay like thair autistic counterparts. They can speak well at an appropriate age. They do have social skills issues such as playing with other children and making friends. They also are stuck in certain topics.  They might only want to talk about trains or the weather or cars (and know everything that there is to know about their particular topic of interest).  They do have great memories.  If he is not talking at an age appropriate level, he probably does not have Aspergers.  He might have autism, PPD -NOS (mild autism) or ADHD.  It sounds to me like the fact that he is running in the hallway and bagging things is a characteristic of  ADHD.  ADHD children also are very stuborn and want to do things their way such as putting their dishes away. They also seem not to hear at times.  Read up on ADHD (Barkley is a writer/expert on ADHD)  and see if it fits him better.  How is he with other children? if he is social, he probably is not in the autism spectrum or PPD-NOS.  Is he very loving towards family members? does he have good eye contact when he talks? If so, again he is not in the autism or PDD spectrum and his symptoms sound more like ADHD.  Get him evaluated by a child development specialist to put your mind at ease and so that you can help him.  And maybe, he is only 2 years old almost three and there is nothing wrong with him, except he is a boy full of energy with his own leadership type mind.