Questions on autism??

Hello all. I happened upon this site as I am newly prego with my fourth baby and saw this board here. My 6 year old son Maximus has always been quite a handful. I started to wonder recently if he might have some extremely mild form of autism, as he has displayed some of the symptoms (rocking back and forth, humming, getting mad when I change routine in something, easily angered, doesn't talk to ANYONE outside of the family, lack of empathy, extremely artistic). Let me be clear: he is extremely bright and does well in school. He talks with no delay in speech. Are there varying degrees of autism? Like, from 1 to 100? I took him to the doctor and he didn't really give me any good answers, just that he thought if I was that concerned I should take him to a specialist. I didn't want to have to subject him to that, because it's not THAT big of a deal... he's just much more difficult than my other two children, and I can just tell that something is "off" there. Does this make sense to anybody here, or is this just all in my head?

Some autistic kids do have a vocabulary. Those with aspergers may have average or above average vocabulary. Because there's no absolute "if your child has delays in x, x, x he must be autistic" test it's important for a specialist - usually a team to make that decision, though some doctors feel comfortable diagnosing on their own.

There's a few threads at the top that may be able to give you some better information for your area. Its entirely a personal decision for you and your son as to whether or not you want to seek a diagnosis. I'm unsure of the resources or extra services you would be able to obtain at this juncture, but if he's only just starting school it may be something to consider.

Autism reaches across so many areas, please feel free to ask any questions. The board is a little slow but there are a couple ladies, including myself who would be happy to offer their perspective and research.

Congratulations on your newest edition and welcome to the boards. :)

Hi, My name is Kathy and I'm currently getting my Master's degree in Special Education. I interned last quarter in a self contained classroom and most of the children I worked with were somewhere on the Autistic Spectrum.

I'm not sure what state you're in but here in Washington we have something that is called Child Find. It's a service provided through the school district and it is totally free. They usually have an evaluation day once every couple of months. You should call and have your child evaluated. These people are trained professionals and they should be a great resource in helping you on your next step.

If Child Find does not exist in your state or you would just like a second opinion I would see about taking my child to a therapy center. It sounds like your pedi will give you a referral. If you feel like something is off then please follow your gut. This can make a huge difference to your child.

I also want to give you some hope. I worked with several children that have Asperger’s syndrome (high functioning autism) and they were able to take several classes in with the general ed population. Shoot I was totally shocked to find out that there are people out there with Autism that have PHD's.

I also found this site that you might find interesting:

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-syndrome-symptoms

It lists a bunch of symptoms that may or may not apply to your son. If you see any that do you might want to bring it up at your child find/therapy appointment.

Good Luck,

Kathy