differing opinions about AS

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Hmm. This reminds me, of how a couple years ago they were testing me on what I know of idiomatic language. Except, at the time I didn't realize it was a test, I thought it was social interaction therapy like I'd been in the last 5 years, and part of my humor is to take non-literal language extremely literally (especially as a fan of Get Smart). However, I comprehend a lot of figurative language, both in daily conversation and in fiction, as my dad (also aspie) used and still uses lots of idioms that are mostly dated, and most people my age wouldn't know but I know (he also writes and reads fiction).

However, much of the time when I am joking I get taken seriously. So while difficulty understanding non-literal language is common among autistic people, it's not something I've had a difficulty with, though I have other speech/communication difficulties and oddities.

So while I scored low on that test because I was joking and didn't know it was a test (also I felt sick of the stereotype that we lack humor and wanted to show this professional how untrue that is), I could easily have scored in average to above average range if I'd understood it was a test, and if I'd gotten to see the sentences, due to as-yet-unrecognized auditory processing disorder.

Did they say what the speech/language tests were measuring? Vocabulary and articulation, non-literal language, some other areas? Because it could well be testing for some particular skill sets that don't affect us all, like how many of us speak, and some of us don't have any problems with non-literal language.

It looks to me like your son has many AS-related traits, but each of them mildly. He may not "score enough points" in the eyes of a diagnostician. That need not matter, though -- I think various literature on AS (e.g. the latest edition of Tony Attwood's The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome) may of help to him, and he should check out the abundance of resources for Aspies on the internet, including this site.

About his social difficulties, it might be good for him to ask himself how much sociality he truly wants (rather than believes he "should" have). Social interaction is like water for NT's, they need frequent large supplies of it. For many Aspies it's more like salt, life gets blah without it but it can quickly become too much. It's hard for a teenager to figure this out, because at school and elsewhere he's constantly being bombarded with the message that there's little else to life besides socializing.