Does my 10 Year Old Son Have Aspergers Syndrom

[deezin]

It started when he was an infant. He would make a droning noise and move his mouth in a strange way while he did it. He has mostly stopped this noise except for when he is very sleepy, sick, or upset about something.But there are many other symptoms as well  .. (1) Extremely intelligent, especially at science and math(2)socially inept .. (3) Talks about things, going on and on and on, without realizing people aren't interested (4) Very Rigid(5) Very sloppy handwriting .. (6) if he doesn't like the taste of something or the texture of something, he will vomit. .. (7) Intense Sense of Smell - he doesn't like the smell of certain cars and will vomit or almost vomit - he has to let a car air out before he gets into a car. .. (8) If My husband, me, or his baby sister gets hurt (for example hit our leg on the wall and start whimpering about it) my son will cry hysterically to the point that it is comical. He has 3 sibling and will only cry if his youngest baby sister gets hurt. Other than this there is usually no empathy for other people.  (9) If he gets a question wrong at school he might come home with an anxiety attack .. (10) If a teacher or principal or cafeteria worker yells at an entire room of kids or the whole school, my son will sob the entire day (but he is old enough to know that he has to hide it - he will cover his face)
(11) He always takes everything literally .. (12)Very clumsy and can't do sports at all .. (13) His room is like a museum, he won't throw away anything .. (14) Very good memory...one time he came home telling me what each child had for lunch, telling me because it was odd that 18 people bought lunch when an average of 10 people usually bought lunch .. I'm sure there are other symptoms, but I can't think of them at this moment.

[Sally44]

You can google DSM IV Aspergers for the diagnostic criteria the professionals are looking at to see if a child has enough of the behaviours to get a diagnosis.  I am a parent of a high functioning autistic and your son is showing difficulties and behaviours that are common in people with a diagnosis.
As he has sensory issues google Sensory Integration Disorder.  Also google the name Olga Bogdashina and read an article by her printed in Autism Today.
Your son also notices 'changes in the routine' eg. commenting on everyones dinner and a higher number that is usual.  Do changes in routine or expectations upset him?
When your son gets upset when the teacher yells at the whole class, he may not be able to understand or distinguish that the children is shouting at the children who have been naughty.  When my son was younger, if I told his older sister off he would go and sit on the naughty step!
Taking things literally is common.  Also concrete thinking where things can only be done in a certain way or in a certain sequence.  This can also lead to rigid behaviours or routines.
Anxiety and stress is common.  When confronted with situations they don't know how to cope with.  So he will need to be told and taught that it is okay not to know the answers, or not to understand what you have to do, and that in those situations you ask for help.  If he finds it hard to initiate conversation to ask for help, he should be given a card with a help symbol on it and he needs to be taught how to use it.  Eg. Get up and give the help symbol to the classroom teacher/assistant etc.  That should reduce the anxiety.  Try to imagine how you used to feel in school when you didn't know what to do.  That is how many of these children feel all day long.
Being clumsy etc is also down to poor balance or proprioception (these are also senses) - an Occupational Therapist should assess him - and also assess handwriting skills and motor planning skills.  This should also rule in/out dyspraxia.
Problems with smells/tastes/textures/sound/visual (eg. bright sunlight) - difficulties in these areas are due to sensory issues.  My son also does the same thing about having to open the window of the car.  If I try to stop him he says it stinks and it makes him feel sick.  If I don't allow him to open the window he will frequently vomit.
Having a limited range of interests/obsessions is typical.  So is talking about it regardless of whether the other person is even interested.  That is a social interaction difficulty.  He hasn't learnt the art of conversation or to recognise how to alter or stop his interactions depending on the response of the other person.  How does he respond to people when they interact with him?  Can he play with his peers?
Google Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder to see if that is relevant.
Not having empathy is common.  However this is usually down to not understanding the situation and the implications of it, rather than not feeling.  You say your son crys when the younger sibling is hurt - so he does get that - unless it is a learnt rigid response.  Can he watch TV eg. something like 'Lassie Come Home' and understand why the boy is sad?  If so he maybe able to understanding things in some circumstances - but not be able to use that learnt information and apply it to another situation.  This is called problems with generalisation.  

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

Your description sounds consistent with the DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria.  But, of course, diagnosis requires a thorough, in-person assessment by a qualified professional. I recommend that you seek an evaluation. Unfortunately, a diagnosis alone does not tell you what to do to address your son's difficulties. So, be sure that you receive recommendations for addressing your son's social and behavioral difficulties whether or not he receives a diagnosis.

[MomofGBMGC]

Wow!  You have almost completely described my 12 year old son!  About a year and a half ago my son's teacher spoke with me about her suspicion that he might have Asperger's.  I didn't know anything about it and had never even heard of it.  I decided to research the subject.  I did so extensively and also purchased several books on various aspects of Asperger's.  There's a wealth of information out there that is extremely helpful.  I took my son to see a psychiatrist and he confirmed Asperger's.  The Dr. recommended regular therapy visits.  He's doing great.  Therapy helped him a lot.

[Sally44]

I'll try and come up with a couple of suggestions for the crying when a close family member is hurt.
He may notice a change in your behaviour because when we are in pain our faces look different, we may stop talking or may shout an expletive!  Anyway, it could be a change in your behaviour that upsets him (as he is very rigid with his behaviour anyway if he needs his own chair, placemat, cup etc).  So that might be down to it.
Or he may well understand that the family member is hurt and that really upsets him.  It is not true that those on the spectrum do not have emotions or empathy.  They often do - which is why I asked about the Lassie film.  If you do watch something like that try not to give him the answers, but ask questions like  "what does that boy's face look like - is he happy or sad".  "What do you think has made him sad" - and see what his answers are.  My son can show empathy in some situations with some people.  But he cannot generalise that understanding into other environments.  So he may understand that I hurt myself and he may ask if I am okay, or he may get upset.  If he sees someone fall down on the street he would be more inclined to laugh, because it is like a Tom and Jerry Cartoon.  He cannot see the other persons point of view (lack of Theory of Mind), but with close family members it is easier.
Interestingly, when I had an operation on my foot, and it was explained to both my children that I would need help etc - it was my autistic son who kept trying to help me (trying to push me up the stairs - bless him!).  So, my opinion is that they cannot generalise things they know into other situations.  And that if the situation is fully explained to them (rather than leaving them to try to work it out) - they will behave appropriately.  But without it being explicitly explained to them they do not make the connections between information and are not able to predict outcomes.
In general do you think he can understand facial expressions.  Try doing some with him at home and see if he can recognise different facial expressions and also different tones of voice.  Eg. say something nice to him in an angry voice and see if he thinks you are happy or angry etc.
You can do a home test for theory of mind.  Have two teddies and have teddy (a) in the room and teddy (b) out of the room.  The teddy in the room (a) has some chocolate and eats some of it.  Then that same teddy (a) hides it behind one of the cushions on your sofa and then leaves the room.  Then in comes teddy (b) who accidently finds the chocolate, eats some of it and then puts the chocolate behind a different cushion and then leaves the room.  Then bring back teddy (a) and ask your child where teddy will go to get his chocolate.  If he gets the answer wrong and says he would go to the cushion were teddy (b) left the choclate - this means he cannot understand that teddy (a) was not in the room and did not see where teddy (b) put the chocolate.  There are alot of speech and communication and social interaction that needs the above skill.  If he fails the 'test' also mention it when you see whoever is seeing your son.
Back to the crying ... Has there ever been an incident when someone hurt themselves and it meant a negative outcome for your child eg. you were going to go to the cinema and someone hurt themselves and you had to cancel?  
Is your son very sound sensitive?  It might be the actual crying that is upsetting him.  I know of a number of children who are absolutely distraught if a baby cries - not because they are concerned about the baby but because the noise just sends them crazy.  
If he does have sensory issues please post back.
So really, to try to get to the bottom of it you have to be a bit of a detective.  From the examples above you will see that there could be many causes and all of them tie in with an autistic trait.  The thing is with these children (and adults) is that they have what is called 'a spiky profile'.  This means there are things they are good at and things we consider much easier, they cannot do.  

[deezin]

I forgot to mention that Semantic Pragmatic Disorder doesn't match my son - he was always a sponge and learned all his letters and numbers as an infant and always has been ahead of his age group (except for emotionally). When he was younger, I tried to get him diagnosed with something. I thought that he had Tourrettes Syndrome because he was always doing that droning noise I spoke of (and didn't know that he was doing it) but the doctor thought that it was that he had a tick. Even if I find out that he has Aspergers I probably can't do much about it. My husband knows something is wrong with him but doesn't believe me that it is Aspergers.

[deezin]

Hi Sally. Thank you so much for your very thorough answer to me. Yes, changes in routine upset him. If anyone sits in his chair or if he doesn't have his special placemat, he freaks out...stuff like that. How does he act when people try to interact with him? It depends. He isolates himself at the bus stop. But, for example, my 2 year old daughter is on the spectrum, so when her therapists come to the house, I have had to scold him many times because he won't stop talking about Katie to them. He now isn't allowed to be in the same room while we are having therapy. He doesn't react well to kids, but he talks and talks and talks to adults. One of our neighbors had my son over to her autistic sons' therapy session and the therapist asked my neighbor if my son had Aspergers so that is when I know that my suspicions were probably correct. My son doesn't have any friends (even though there are tons of kids where we live)...but he does have one friend at school. You also asked if he would understand why Lassie come home is sad. I am not sure. I have 4 kids so sometimes it is hard to keep track of each of them (I know that sounds awful). But I will test this out during this long weekend.  Why do you think that he cries hysterically when either I, my husband, or his baby sister gets hurt? Is this something that a child with Aspergers Syndrome would do?

Thank you for being so kind to me. :)

[deezin]

Thank you very much for your assessment. I do have a question about one of his behaviors that doesn't seem to match. Why does he cry hysterically when either I, my husband, or his baby sister gets hurt? Is this something that a child with Aspergers Syndrome would do?

Thanks in advance.