How do I know if my son has aspergers

[charlydawn]

Well were to start I have notice these behaviors for almost a year now and this school he is in second grade and we are having problems with him communicating with his teacher he would just sit there and not ask for help and is making bad grades and I had a talk with the teacher and said he will not ask for help he waits to he gets home to ask for help from me, well the teacher did not like that at all, we finally had to change teachers cause the teacher refused to work with me on helping my son , but now to the behaviors he is having long list: 1.his inability to form a correct sentence he put the end of the sentence first and the first of the sentence last,2.his inability to communicate confidently at school or at home we have to play 20 questions to get down to what he is trying to say,3.has a hard time understanding humor.,4.he cant hold eye contact.,5.he has awkward body postures and gestures.,6.really sensitive about every thing.,7.when you touch him he says he hurts and is sensitive to sounds and smells,8. he has to have a consistant schedule if not he has an melt down,
9.he will hit him self in the head if he is confornted on how to something the right way.,10.he has primary interest in video games, spiders, tornado's and swords and shields, he can talk your ear off about it and other kids his age thinks he is weird for that.11. we had to pull him off the bus cause he was being bullied so badly and then i had to start feeding him at home for breakfast cause of the bulling in the morning in the breakfast line, oh he also does if he bumps himself on something he will hit that object as a form of punishment for hurting him.

he also has asthma, serve allergies, von willow brands disorder "bleeding disorder", acid reflux, also note his father also has dyslexia and our son is showing signs of it but the school will not test him cause he is not failing.

[Jessica L Thomason Sassi, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Asperger’s Disorder is diagnosed based on narrow or repetitive patterns of behavior or interests and severe and sustained impairment in social interactions. Given the number of problems you are seeing and the impairment it is causing for him at school and home, you should speak with your pediatrician – only a professional who sees your child in person will be able to provide you with an accurate diagnosis.  Whether he is diagnosed with a spectrum disorder or not, I’d also suggest that you consider seeing a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) to address some of the behavior problems that you are seeing. You can find a BCBA in your area at the BABB website (http://www.bacb.com/consum_frame.html).

[rowett30]

Our son was 2 when nursery decided something wasn't right with our son and 5 years on at the age of 7 he was diagnosed last week with ASD Aspergers, ADHD and Dyspraxia.  The most common symptom was our son has no empathy, he upsets others really easily, prefers his own company and a need for a very strict routine.  The problem we found over the last 5 years is that he is super at school so our sons school wouldn't co-operate saying he was no different.  The ASD spectrum is so big that your son could be anywhere on it and the multi-disciplinary assessment took 2 years for our result.  Our son also has asthma, excema and night time incontinence (enurisis) as well as allergies to all kids medicines with a flavour (fructose intolerent).  If your GP has already suggested the aspergers ask for a referral to the multi disciplinary team which consisted for us of a Consultant Peadiatrician, Speech & Language Therapist and a Psychologist.  It could take time like ours took 2 years for the assessment but don't let the authorities fob you off that nothing is wrong.  We find our sons weekly psychologist appointments really help him so perhaps that might be your starting point for a referral seen as though they are involved with the assessment.  Good luck, just send me an e-mail if you want any more help.

[charlydawn]

we have gone to the gp and the speech therpist  and she was the one who suggest aspergers

[Sally44]

The first step would be to go to your GP and ask for a multi disciplinary team assessment by professionals who have experience of diagnosising autism and aspergers.  The first professional to go in is usually the Speech and Language Therapist.  Alot of the difficulties you have mentioned could be down to communication and speech disorders.
It is totally unacceptable that the teacher refused to work with you on your son's difficulties.  She is being more 'autistic' then your son!!!
If you feel that this school is not able to deal with his very real difficulties that are not down to him being spoilt, naughty, or rude, then it might be better to look for another school that does have other pupils on the spectrum and which has experience of teaching children with autism or aspergers.  These don't have to be special schools, although that too must be considered IF you think that is the environment that would suit him best.
Your son might have Disordered Speech; Semantic Pragmatic Speech Disorder, differences in his Receptive and Expressive speech (receptive speech is usually much weaker, delayed, or disordered); Auditory Processing Disorder or Delayed Auditory Processing.  When you google those and read them, if any sound relevant ask the SALT to assess your son for them.
Does your son ever repeat things he has heard on TV or in films, or does he repeat things you have said to him?
My son also did not ask for help in school.  This is down to a concept called 'generalisation' where those on the spectrum learning to do a certain skills in one environment or with one person (eg. at home with mum), but cannot use that same skill in a different environment or with a different person (eg. at school with a teacher).  This will apply to everything he learns and the teachers need to be working with you so that he learns things in many different environments and also with different people.