do i need to get my DS medically assessed for autism/ aspergers?

[ChazDingle]

DS is 2.11, he my pfb so i've nothing to compare to, i've always felt there has always been something a little different about him, He's always seemed to be harder work/ more naughtly (if you can call it naughty at that age) than other kids. For example i remember going to first birthday parties a few years ago and coming away physically tied becuase DS had kept crawling off trying to rip telephone wires off the wall in the hall whilst the other kids would sit happily playing with the toys in the lounge.

As time has gone by i've found he has got easier as i can now give him more boundries so we're not chasing round after him so much. Eg. you can go as far as x but if you go past there you will have to come and sit on mummy or daddies knee. Whilst at home he will also now concentrate on the TV or his toys more so will watch/ play while i go and put out the washing for example.

Anyway the thoughts of autism/ aspergers had crossed my mind and i had goggled the symptoms but i was at a point where i thought - no its just typical 2 year old behaviour i;m being silly cus its my PFB and i'm no experience.

Then pre school leader had a few words with me one day and the things she was asking i picked up were signs of autism (becuase i had googled the symtoms) and so i got bit upset and think she felt bit awful as think she was trying to be subtle.

I suppose the key point here is that everyone has doubts about their child but you don't want someone else necessarily pointing them out (hope this doesn't come across wrong and you know what i mean!!)

That was a month ago or so and since then i've not really talked to anyone about it. I can't talk to DP or my mum (who looks after DS 3 days) as they would go mad that someone suggested there was something wrong with him so i wouldn't get a proper conversation. At this point in time i don't think there is anything wrong with DS but i dont won't to be a person in denial. Should i just leave things or should i try and get further assessement? I've not seen pre school leader since concerns were raised as i work the days DS attend pre school so don't usually drop him off. I suppose i should give her a call to discuss really.

Where should i go from here? Should i leave things to see how they pan out or should i try and get DS assessed in case something is wrong and he needs extra help for when he starts school.

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

Chaz it's such a worry when we're having doubts about our DC's development. I've been there with my DD1. What yo've described about DS isn't enough to judge whether you should have worries...how is his language and his understanding?

Does he point? Can he follow directions?

[firawla]

could you be more specific about the things that are worrying you? if its just that he's very lively, difficult to control etc like that then i wouldn't necessarily worry? what did the pre school teacher say exactly? maybe go back and ask her what does she suggest or ask her to be more specific if you feel she wasnt?
i have dc with asd and what you've posted doesn't jump out with any red flags really but you need to give more detail!

[ChazDingle]

thanks for the comments so far wasn't expecting to get anything this time of night!

I was not putting in too much detail in my post as didn't want to make it too long.

Will list some of the points specifically. The points are what are points out to me and i've picked up on the extra since observing

1. doesn't give eye contact- since being pointed out i've noticed that he does give very good eye contact to me when chatting/ but if tellng him off him he won't llook at me.
   
   
2. Hums a lot- he has always hummed since birth. At home he doesn't really hum now unless he his tired and now more sings than hums
   
   
3. counts in excess of a hundred- he is very good with numbers i've heard him count in excess of 300 and not sure how he picked it up, he just seems to know
   
   
4. doesn't interact with other children- pre school said this but since observing i think that he does to a certain extent.
   
   theres other things but i don't want to make an epic post yet so theres a start!

[NeoMaxiZoomDweebie]

Well....I know that eye contact and not socialising well can be red flags but in order to have a diagnosis of ASD a child needs to have the triad of impairments....so the child has to be affected in 3 ways...socially and emotionally, imaginatively and through language.

Does DS play in an imaginative way with other children yet? Though he's young, he should possibly be starting to pretend play with others.

Does he point? Show empathy? HOw is he with changes in routine?

ALso is he sensitive to any noises or textures and does he eat well?

[ChazDingle]

thanks for the replies. I've also posted onthe special needs board so theres comments in there as well.

Neo> He doesn't really play in an imaginative way with other children, he has started to play with other children but things like chase. However since i've been taking abit more notice i've noticed that none of the other children we know his age seem to play that much with each other. When they interact it is generally because they are fighting
over a toy!

He does point, i couldn't think when i was first asked but since looking out for this i noticed his does. I'm not sure if he shows empathy or not- its difficult to tell, i fell down the stairs a few weeks ago and he got hysterical and later on in the day he told my mum he was scared when i fell but its ok now as mummy is better. He likes certain things in his routines but not so much that it disrupts life, we can be quite flexible to an extent.

As regards textures i noticed he doesn't like playdough, he wouldn't even touch it for ages now he will touch it but he would never squeeze it in the same way other kids do. He got scared and had to come out when we saw a christmas show with
lots of lights and music.

Food wise he's not too bad, he used to be better and has got abit more fussy lately