Hi everyone! Here for advice :)

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Hello...

I'm a NC teacher of a 3 year old classroom in a private preschool. I currently have one student with confirmed autism- very sweet, affectionate, loving - most of his challenges are speech related.

The reason I've joined this board is because while that particular student is now only present on public holidays (he's actually 4 years old, but his parents chose to keep him in my classroom), I have a new student who I suspect might be on the spectrum. I've only had to approach parents once before in my career, and though it went well (parents very receptive, later confirmed AS), this particular child's parents are a bit... different.

He's been enrolled for two weeks now, and at first I didn't see the signs, really, because of the crying, etc., I just chalked it up to him being new and wanting to go home. Meal times were a cue to get upset, but I thought it was because he had previously only been in a half day program and that was ordinarily the time he would go home. But as I've been observing him more, it's become apparent that there might be something else going on, and have since changed the way I interact with him. (It helps if we talk and "take a walk", leaving my assistant teacher in the classroom with the other children, and just walking laps around the playground, reinforcing our schedule in simple terms, or walking him up to the quiet room in the front of the center. I'm also working on a picture schedule for him, as talking about the schedule does calm him.)

The problem I'm having is that I'm fairly certain that his parents don't suspect anything, or are hesitant to talk about it.

I'd like to hear from you ... How did you first learn that your child was affected? Did you see the signs yourself? Family member? Teacher? Doctor? How would you like to be approached by a concerned teacher (or director, if you think that's better)? I don't want to ignore it, even if I'm wrong. The center director and my assistant have each independently expressed their "suspicions", so there might be something there.

Thank you all! I look forward to hearing from you!

I think you should go ahead and tell the parents. Getting the kid an early diagnosis could be good. You might suggest asperger's, though, even if it seems like classical autism. Asperger's has less of a "stupid" implication. Also, if the kid gets tested, the doctor will be able to tell if the kid has AS or classical autism. It's good that you're on the lookout for these things. People (teacher, pediatricians, friends, family, psychologists...) have been suggesting autism since I was less than two years old (lack of eye contact, not pointing, not smiling when smiled at, but talking in complete sentences), apparently. My mom never did a thing about it. Sure, she bought all the books on AS and skimmed through a few, but then she decided I was "most definitely not AUTISTIC!" even though I am exactly llke the book says I should be. Just remember, you could be helping the kid a lot, but on th other hand, the parents might blow you right off.

They *could* blow me off, but I feel like it's worth the risk to tell them, in case there is something to it. He's only been with me for two weeks, so I think I probably need to do the "teacher" thing and jot down some anecdotal notes that I can share with his parents (most likely his mom). That way I've got a solid set of examples I can use.

this is like me.
my teacher told my mom
because she knew I was different
but
did not know about autism.
I was 6 years old.
now
I am 20 years old.