Gifted or ASD or both?

[louiseanne76]

Probably this topic has been exhausted before (apologies if so!) but we are so worried about our son. 2 years old, soon to be 3. Just loves his alphabet so much, and counting, and shapes etc. Has done for the past year and a half. Everything is about counting and reading and shapes. Can read most words now. If not his favourite question is "what does that say?" And colours. I know he's very ahead of his peers in this kind of stuff but we are so worried. Some days he displays ASD behaviours, some days not at all. He can get so overwhelmed, so angry, so upset sometimes. Cries in a "wild" manner. But loves his friends at nursery. Loves his music and dancing. Loves his sand and "mucky" play. Loves his family. Loves his routine... Very affectionate. Long attention span on things that interest him. Speech was delayed but now getting there very quickly.

A diagnosis is miles away due to waiting lists.

Anyone in the same boat?

[BlackeyedSusan]

dabrowski's overexcitabilities?

dd is, as far as I know, NT. her speech was delayed... then improved rapidly and for a while she never shut up has overexcitabilities in spades. also hypermobile so tiptoe walked.

ds, ASD, speech delayed. he also nevershuts up speaks well now. spotted asd as he waved objects back and forward, was obsessed with wheels.

thing is sometiems you just have to wait for the diagnosis process which is very slow... when really you could do with knowing when they are three.

[insanityscratching]

I have two dc with autism I also have two who are gifted. Ds and dd were diagnosed at age two and just three so diagnosis doesn't have to take years IME.
For me the difference between those who were gifted compared to the ones with autism was quite subtle. Both ds (one with ASD and one gifted) were able to recognise shapes numbers and letters before they were eighteen months and ASD ds could read at age two. Gifted ds though could equally easily hold a conversation (stunned he GP at 15 months discussing forthcoming holiday and what he wanted to do) whereas ASD ds was far more focused on learning new words to read. Gifted ds's play pushed the boundaries on what he had played before whereas ASD ds play was somewhat repetitive and was recreating scenes from books and tv. Gifted ds was also able to turn off his interests to fit in with the play with his peers whereas ASD ds always had his own agenda and those around him doing differently didn't alter that.
I would say that a parent should be concerned and a GP should share those concerns if a child's development isn't roughly even across all areas. Being able to read but not being able to have a conversation should be a warning flag to a GP (some GPs are very ignorant of child development) being able to add subtract and multiply but being unable to play the shopping list game because of an inability to take turns should be a concern, a young child having interests that they aren't easily distracted from and that inhibit their interest in other people or subjects should be a concern.
Early diagnosis and intervention is the key to best outcomes, dd diagnosed a week after her second birthday with moderate to severe autism, statemented before her third birthday left year six in July with level fives and any autism unnoticeable to both her peers and the professionals who have known her from being 13 months old which s when I raised concerns.

[Greengrow]

He sounds fine. My daughter read at age 3. I think some children just are more into that than others. She read 2 years before her big sister who was much more active, than sitting still reading in those years. They both got almost identical exam results and are London lawyers.

It does not sound as though how he is is a problem. It might be worth considering an academically selective school at age 5 if you could work full time to pay the school fees however as those schools may be better for bright children than a mixed ability standard primary school.

[triballeader]

In honesty if ASD is there you would be dealing with ASD type behaviour every single day. Sometimes an expressive speech delay can cause immense frustration resulting in some hard to live behaviour off any young kid. That can be more so if they are also a sensitive little soul whose brain is racing faster than their speech and fingers are capable of going. With ASD the core deficit shows in a range from semantic-pragmatic disordered speech patterns to a complete communication impairment at all levels.
Imagination and empathy of others is impaired and social difficulties with their close family let alone teachers and friends is also present.

Given your post above so far I think continuing to work with the SALT to continue his ability to express himself verbally will be a great help.

[Goldmandra]

My DD1 was labelled as gifted by the HV at her 12 mth check. She taught herself to read and write aged just 2y and has continued to be very academically able.

When she was 12 she fell to pieces in high school and was diagnosed with AS. The diagnosis has enabled her to access support for anxiety and sensory processing difficulties.

It is entirely possible to be both gifted and Autistic and to mask some of the ASD symptoms in order to fit in socially from being a toddler.

If you think a diagnosis is necessary to allow your child to access support in school, definitely go with the assessment ASAP? It is long winded and the resulting battles for support can take years.

[6031769]

i could have written that post about my ds when he was two. He was really obsessed with numbers and letters. We couldn't go past a street name without him stopping to spell out the letters. My ds was behind in the more practical things eg. he was over 3 when he potty trained and was probably slightly behind socially. He's 4.4 now and has just started in reception and seems to be getting on ok. Over the two years he has come on more in the social and practical things, i would say at age 2 he was really really ahead in some things and behind in others which made him stick out as average kids tend to be, well... more average over everything. I posted about this two years ago will try and find my post and bump it for you so you can see the answers.

[sandrinha1]

Hello,
My beautiful one has 6 years old, year 1. He is very bright for his age, very advanced academically. He has been diagnosed with ASD when he was 4 years old. He has a statement of special needs in school, in which they gave him support, not every day, I believe 15 hours a week, the rest of the hours he is all by himself, behaving in an awkward way, according to the teacher. In spite of all this, he loves his school and his friends and he is very happy in going to school every morning. The problem is, when is time to pick him up, I have to listen the teacher complaining about his behaviour and I feel so hopeless because I cannot do anything...When I ask my son "Why don't you behave nicely in school?" he answers "Is so difficult mummy...."
I know that he is very bright (in school they know as well), reads nicely, spells nicely, do his maths...but in what concerns social needs he is a bit low, but I have the feeling that in school they do not understand this, maybe because they have little experience on this matter. I feel so hopeless, without no where to turn and I am very scared that one of these days they would say to me that my son needs a Special school, which I really do not want, because I feel it will be a shame because he is so bright, learning things very fast the way he does...
I feel I do not have no where to turn, nobody to talk about this. My husband gives all the support in saying that eventually he will learn how to behave one day...but until then I have the feeling that all those parents look at me in a very funny way....sorry about the speech, anybody in this position as well?? :(