is my son autistic?

[kezza576]

hiy, my son is 5 years old and since he was 10 months old has displayed some odd behaviour and as the years have gone on has gotten worse.
he was a very cuddley baby and only mainly with me but he bagan to not want to cuddle very much and when he does it will only be with me.he always lines his cars up in a line and the rest of his toys when he has them out and when someone takes one or one of them gets knocked out of place he he clenches his fists and teeth and grunts and has to start all over again.ive noticed he does this with his shoes a lot too and with his dvds.he finds it hard to get dressed sometimes and doesnt like when hes out of a routine.hes never dealt well at beaing surrounded by a lot of people of children at nursery and at school and will lash out or walk off and hide so he can be on his own.he doesnt like other children being in his space and will only allow them to join in if they play his way.his imagination doesnt seem to great and i noticed a while ago that he wont make up a senario with his toys but he will remember a scene from a film or a cartoon and reanact it other and other again.he is at the moment struggling at school and refuses to join in class activities or sit down and do his work or read his school books.he is very good at maths but struggles at his writing and reading and i never know if hes learnt new words because he will memorise every word from the book.hes always been very immature for his age and often gets picked on by other kids at school for this but has no idea that they are being mean.he also has noidea about consequences either.i dont know what to do?
any answers or advice would be great.
many thanks kerry

[specialmom]

Oh, I am just not giving up on my sensory idea.  LOL  Motor planning can also cause these deficits in connection.  Sensory integration disorder is a processing issue within the brain and nervous system.  Motor planning is part of that and this involves how the brain organizes thought.  

[kezza576]

what youve just said sounds just like my son.
he gets confused about being hot so he asks for another jumper or when when hes cold he thinks he should take off a jumper. he gets it right 1 in 10 but other then that he doesnt get the hot and cold situation.if its raining out he would just put on trainers without asking or his sandals as they are all lined up together but its how he feels and i dont think ive ever seen him put welly boots on when hes sen that its raining.
he asks constantly about how do you get to places but never accepts the answer will ask over and over again even though he knows that if we take the bus or the train we can get to the same place but when we walk somewhere and i go a different route he gets confused and will always ask where are we going and then he woll sometimes become distressed about it.
all i keep getting told is if your child has autism it would be asbergers because he doesnt seen withdrawn enough.he is withdrawn in a certain way but has so much energy at the same time and i mean so much because he will never stop unless he is eating or sleeping.

[jdtm]

Your description reminds me of our nephew.  He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS - a high functioning form of autism.  Sensory issues are common with those on the spectrum.  The way I like to describe an autistic child is that they have trouble "joining the dots" or "thinking through" to a logical but obvious solution.  For example, it is raining outside and you tell you son to get ready to go to school.  Would he "know" that he would require boots and a coat without being told?  Or, if you mentioned that the stove was hot as you were baking a cake - would he "know" not to touch the stove because it would be hot?  Or if you travelled to the store you frequent often - would he "know" that if you took another route, you would be able to find the store.  Just some questions ......

[specialmom]

Hm.  Please google sensory integration disorder.  My son did many of these things and he is a sensory kid.  There are many facets to sensory integration disorder and not what people typically think of.  It can definately involve tactile things like certain socks bothering them or not wanting to get dirty or the opposite and constantly wanting to be dirty but . . . it can involve much of what you mention.  Writing is fine motor control and if a child has any difficulty with "motor planning" which is part of the sensory system, it will be hard.  Actually what you describe for reading at age 5 is age appropriate so I would not worry about that.  Emergent reading is memorizing and actually the first step to reading and about where a lot of kids are at the age of 5.  Re enacting scenes from tv and movies is also very very normal.  Both of my boys do that and so do all the friends we have over for play dates.  Now my boy takes it to a whole new level as he is very rigid about how its going to go and that is his sensory trying to control a situation.  Wandering, avoiding activities and peer issues are all symptoms of sensory.  They could not be, of course, but since you are looking into the root cause and are concerned---------- I'd like you to add sensory to the things you look into.  Difficulty dressing oneself again could be part of motor planning.  Not wanting to be touched is tactile defensiveness.  My son was not too cuddly as a toddler with anyone but me.  

Anyway, we had our son evaluated and diagnosed at age 4 for sensory and then started occupational therapy to treat it.  He is a different kid.  Much happier and thriving.  If you google sensory and think it fits at all, let me know.  I have lots of ideas of things you can try to help with these things as learning about sensory strategies became my new full time job.  My son is now 6.5 and really doing fantastic.  I couldn't be happier.  
good luck