[wade moore]

DISCLAIMER:

I have absolutely no expertise in this. However, since my wife started teaching Kindergarten 4 years ago I have had many, many conversations with her about this and it is a topic that fascinates me. Before she starting teaching I had a huge misconception about these things and now seem to have a bit better understanding.

I hope that EF27 chimes in with anything he can as he has given me some good information about Autism in the past.

At any rate. First I'll echo Subby. Stay involved with the school and be sure that he has an IEP. Ensure that it is detailed and that they are FOLLOWING it. This is key. The schools can often slack off and not follow what the IEP says. Regardless of what is up with your son - even if it's just being a little delayed for now and he'll catch up - you want to take advantage of all of the services available.

Now.

On the does he have autism issue? From what you've described it seems to at least loosely fit my understanding of how Autism can manifest itself in a small child. My wife has had all range of children that are autistic, but there seem to be several common trends:

A) Normal socializing/communication are hard - particularly in dealing with emotions. One of the common traits of autism is that the children do not emotionally respond to situations in the same way that other children would. This may mean anything from no reaction to a situation that would make most children cry to throwing a complete fit at what seems like nothing.

B) They tend to excel academically. This often is because of their extreme focus - but there do seem to be potentially higher IQ's there as well.

C) Speaking issues specifically seem to be a common trend with the younger kids (like she sees). In the bit I've read this doesn't seem to be common at older ages necessarily, but for the younger kids it seems to be.

EDIT TO ADD THIS ONE: D) Routine is huge. They like to be in routine which includes repetition/mimicing.

E) It's nerve racking to diagnose, properly address, etc, etc.



So. I guess I'm not helping much except to say it seems like leaning towards Autism seems reasonable from what I know. But i also know that Autism is quite difficult to diagnose and also a label that is hard to get rid of. I would work with the school, doctors, experts, etc. closely. Make sure you are getting the care you think you need, but try not to fight them too much. Be sure they are being thorough, but be ready to accept a difficult diagnosis. I have heard too many stories about parents that refuse to admit what is going on with the child and it delays the child from getting the services they need.