Does my son ( 5years old ) have Aspergers ? Autism ? Pdd ?

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He just turned 5 last month. He has a slight speech delay, was tested and the ST said he is at about 4 yrs , mostly delayed in expressive language. He is not very clear , probably about 80%.

Sometimes, his eye contact seems either very intense or poor . He is frustrated when we don't allow him to do something he wants and hits us or pinches or steps on our foot , etc . We can't have a real conversation with him . He doesn't seem to understand stories from simple books or maybe he does but cannot express himself . He seems overwhelmed when I read books and asks me to stop , "it's too much reading" he sais.
What I find strange is that he carries with him a map from Busch Gardens (a theme park in FL) , before used to be Universal Studios . He looks at it and studies it all day and the map is so worn .

He also seems obsessed with snow and throws in the air little things like leaves , paper towel ripped in small pieces , etc . When I ask "why do you do that?" he says "because it's snow" .He has never seen the snow, we live in FL.

Sometimes he arranges cars and books in rows and he pretends he is a singer and the cars or books are the audience .

At church , he doesn't play or talk with anyone but he likes watching everybody . At home he plays well with siblings but not real creative play , just running around .

Otherwise , he seems normal academically. He just started to read , does some basic math and has a good memory. His IQ was slightly above normal.He is even learning very well a foreign language (which is mine ) although I mostly speak to him in English.

We brought him to a developmental pediatrician , but he said he is not in the autism spectrum . His dg was "social anxiety and language delay" .He said he doesn't have auditory processing issues either.

However, since he is affected in the 3 areas i.e. --speech , social and behavior , why wouldn't he qualify for autism?
I say that because in this case he could qualify for more services like speech therapy.

He did go to a preschool for language delay for 6 months but was so anxious and crying every morning that I gave up. And he didn't seem to learn anything or change in a better way. Also , I brought him to a speech therapist at school for 30 min. 2 times/week but with an infant, a toddler and a kindergartner it wasn't easy to drive ... so I gave up with that too. Anyway that service didn't seem to help him either. He seems to learn in a relaxed place (home) .So I home school him for now .

I appreciate any advice/suggestion. If you do think he might be in the spectrum , please give me any advice on how to help him . Right now I read a lot of books to him , we do his math&phonics( he is doing great with that) , I ask his comprehension questions ...I do have a strong foreign accent but I don't think this is the cause of his behavior and delay. My 6 yrs old is reading at 5-6th grade level and doesn't have my accent at all ! I taught him the same as my 5 yrs old.

Anyone with a similar child ? I would appreciate any advice or just to know that I am not alone ..
Thanks for reading.

It probably won't matter in a few years. They're talking about changing the names and definitions and combining them in the next edition of the DSM. It's a complicated question, with lots of pros & cons. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/healt ... ef=science

What matters is his unique combination of specific strengths and weaknesses, whether he gets whatever kind of education he needs. If he can get that with an inoffensive diagnosis, I'd go for it.

The developmental pediatrician doesn't sound very bright.

Go with your instincts, and his. If he hates the program, it's a bad program.

By the way, you should probably be in the parents' forum.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/forum19.html

i recommend taking thsi quiz, this can give a somewhat accurate answer whether he is or isnt on the spectrum http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html but its not a diagnosis, if it does say yes he is on the spectrum, print the results out to the devleopmental pediatrician again, sometimes they arent seein the real picture. from what u said if he has significant speech problems, social problems, behavioral problems, yes he could be on the spectrum, but idk if i can even give ua qualified answer but jus suggest from what u written it is def a possibility. I hope you find some answers and good luck either way!

Welcome to WP!

Ahhh, yes. Maps. I remember when I first figured out what maps were. I did the same, except it was Silver Springs for me. I don't know if that place is still around, but I can still see the map in my head.


Both of these sound fairly normal.


Frankly, I wouldn't pursue a diagnosis too hard if he's generally doing well in school and obviously not impeded by his traits which may be a little different from his peers.


While it's quite possible he may be somewhere on the spectrum, the best way to help him regardless is to sense what he needs from you and continue giving it to him. Have confidence in yourself as a parent, and never let anyone tell you that you need to be doing X, Y, or Z for him if you yourself don't believe it. It sounds like you are doing great thus far. While he may be slower to learn certain things or show significantly different interests from his peers, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The speech will come in time, I'm sure. Who knows? He might currently be occupied with learning things that will astound you later.


My childhood sounds similar in many ways to your child's, (though I don't have perfect insight into my childhood). I was obviously different. I didn't play "pretend" the way my brother did, I didn't make friends or really show any interest in talking to people my age, and I sat in my room for hours on end singing into a tape recorder. My mother refused to believe that there was something wrong with me, despite my teachers telling her that she should have had me tested (for what, I never really will know. They didn't know about AS back then). I was doing more than fine at school, and she didn't see a need for me to be held back a grade simply for social reasons.

My clumsiness she attributed to not knowing I needed glasses from an early enough age (though when I got glasses, this didn't particularly help). She attributed my hypersensitivities simply to being a "sensitive person." To her, I wasn't unusual; I was "unique." I believed that for a long time, as did many, many people here on this forum... until they found out about AS.

The absolute best thing my parents ever did for me was to let me be myself. If I had the choice of going back in time and having my parents successfully seek an AS diagnosis in my childhood, I wouldn't do it. Life really couldn't have turned out much better, and I think having a label to grow up with, at least in my case, would have only hurt me.

That said, if you believe that there are real tangible, long-term benefits that your child would get if he had an AS diagnosis, by all means you should seek it out. If, however, you're fairly unsure about this, perhaps the answer to whether your son is autistic is better left unanswered.