Does my nephew have autism?

[Chris_45]

I posted my concerns a few weeks ago but I only got one response so i'm gonna try once more. ; ) My nephew is 12 years old and about to be in the 7th grade. He is no where near ready to be in the 7th grade socially. My family and I have been worried about him for years but his mom refuses to admit there is anything going on other than him being "immature". He speaks like he's still a baby, he still carries around stuffed animals and says that he can't sleep without them. When children come over to see if he can come out to play he has his mom tell them he's grounded because he wants to "play with his imagination". He can go off in imaginary worlds for hours by himself. The only kids he will play with are ones he's related to. He interrupts convesations and has no idea that he's doing anything wrong but when you tell him that he shouldn't do things like that his immediate response is "sorry" and then he walks away but he doesn't understand why he needed to say sorry he's just learned that it's what people expect him to say so it's the fastest way to move on. He does really really well in math and history but he is in special classes for all other subjects. He very overweight and even though he's going into 7th grade he has no understanding up personal hygiene. He has to be told over and over again to wash areas (genitals,hair,under arms) even though he's been taught a million times to do these things. He has been diagnosed with ADHD but he can't take meds for it because he will throw them up. He won't take liquid meds or if they use the patch on him he will just pull it off. He really doesn't seem to have ADHD to me and I have a son with it. He's going into the 7th grade and i'm worried that he is going to be picked on. Does this sound like a form of autisim? I would compare him to a child of maybe 5-7. I just need to know what it is so I can figure out how to help. Thank you

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

May I suggest that you use your influence to have his parents arrange an evaluation for him. That is the priority. The purpose of the evaluation is to figure out what is going on - then direction for intervention will be clearer. He is clealry showing developmental disorder. Whether or not it warrants a PDD-level diagnosis will be determined by the evaluation. The evaluation can be conducted by a developmental pediatrician, a developmental psychologist or a pediatric mental health professional.

[NOMA0512]

It does not sound normal.  I do not really have experience in the subject but I agree with you that he needs to be checked out.  At 12 the child should be able to tell the difference between fantasy and reality.