Is this autism/adhd/speech comprehension delayor just a developmental phase/delay?

[jvg]

My 3 and half year old son has been going to a day care since he was 2 years 4 months old. When he turned 3 he moved to a class that had 3-5 year old (most kids in his class were 5 or close to 5) and spoke very well. A couple months ago, we started receiving complains that he does not sit quiet at circle time, does not follow instrctions in school, wants to do his own thing, and pulls others hair and pushes other kids. We know that he mostly does that when something is wrong (except hair pulling which he has been doing since a baby and no amount of telling him/time out, etc. stops him). We thought that perhaps his speech delays are causing frustration...we are getting him evaluated but we also moved him to a new school a few days ago...and same complaints.
We've observed him in school...he prefers to do his own thing...but at home he listens to most instructions, says "want to play with mommy", and loves to play with a 2 1/2 year old boy who is our neighbour. His eye contact is minimal in school, but outside of school setting, when with us is good (even with strangers who are friendly and smile). He drools a bit (when anxious and its got down quite a bit with time), he knows his shapes, colors, numbers (1-30), aplhabets (most upper case, some lower case), sits quiet when we read to him at home/school, may sit by himself in bathtub for up to half hour...no more, and always wants to be doing something (he is active...but is able to sit still more now than before...but at home ONLY)...though he speaks 4-5 word sentences...he is not able to express emotions very clearly (understands scared and funny and where to use but no other emotions)....he is okay with 24 piece puzzles but needs help first couple of times...can draw a oval and calls it a citcle...is just now learning to cut with scissors (but has now grasped the concept), cannot pedal a cycle..but runs jumps fine. The new place is refusing to keep him and insisting he be evaluated (after 3 days of his being there) (which we are)...does he have symptoms of any disorders?

[venustiana]

Wether he has a problem or not, the daycare is doing something wrong. They should not have 3s and 5s together in the same classroom and expect the 3s to behave like the 5s.

[888mom]

if you live in the U.S., have the public school system do a free evaluation of speech/language and other developmental issues.  And if he needs therapy, find out what services they can provide and if they offer a developmental preschool (some school districts offer busing to the developmental preschool and can take a child from the public school back to a daycare center instead of to your house).  Sometimes the school might offer a therapist to go to the daycare center you would have him enrolled at and do services there, so you would not need to be present.  It really depends on what state and what city you are in.  What the public schools offer for pre-kindergarten varies so much between states.  Definitely worth a look into.  

[specialmom]

I think that I would definately have him evaluated at this point as these centers are seeing something that is making him stand out.  An occupational therapist is who evaluated my son and it was great because they deal with how to help a child fit into their enviroment.  There are developmental specialists, speech specialists and pediatric neurologists to evaluate kids as well.  Talk to your doctor about what they think is best.  Do you live in the US?  Our country has a law for early intervention for kids.  Your local public school system must also evaluate him (free) and then provide services for him.  Whether it is just speech therapy or early intervention preschool and occupational therapy.  Communication takes a lot to make it happen.  As far as sensory, the first time I looked, I didn't think it fit.  But it has so many little things with it and polar opposites of kids can still have sensory----- it is hard to tell when they are so little.  When my son was 4, it was much clearer.  (some kids don't like to touch certain things, some kids crave touching things.  My son didn't like wet hands but would roll in sand and pour it all over himself.  That is what is hard about sensory, it sometimes isn't cut and dry).  Your son may have issues with expressive and receptive language which can be speech or motor planning within sensory or something else.  You need a professional to help you so you can direct efforts where they need to be.
I will say-----  keep his physical activity high.  It helps the nervous system tremendously.
Good luck.

[jvg]

Checked sensory integration disorder, he does not seem to have most of what was written on that website...he is not sensitive to touch in a way that is unusual, does not prefer certain food textures over others, and does not seem to ever zone out when with us at home. Its so confusing...we just don't know what it is.

[specialmom]

Hi, my son has sensory integration disorder which is a delay involving the nervous system.  His delay started showing up at preschool when he was 3 (he's 5 now).  Sensory issues are common with many neurological issues.  Not sitting still and not following directions can be because of sensory.  Also invading others space, crashing and bumping people, becoming easily frustrated and having meltdowns.  Social problems can also be common.  Motor planning can take it's toll on speech.  Look up sensory integration disorder and see if it fits at all.  We've done occupational therapy and lots of sensory stuff at home----  my son functions very well now in the classroom setting.  He is a much happier kid now.  Good luck!!

[jvg]

CONTINUED: Is it autism/adhd/speech-comprehension delay?

Also, he does love making sounds like mixer sound, bird sound, car sound, etc...and does these a lot...he also repeats stuff that he sees on tv such as what Diego says etc and still address himself as "(name) wants this, did this" etc, He sometimes says "bye" when I ask him say "bye" and sometimes says "say bye"...something is different here....but we can't quite grasp it...we are worried sick....would appreciate your responses ver much!