What would you think about this 9 year old child if I told you the following?

[Nosuchthingastoomuchcheese]

Favourite type of humour is slapstick.
Doesn't really understand irony or subtle humour.
Quite routine driven but copes with change
Love and are excellent at maths and building stuff
Perfectionist, very hard on themselves. Has very occasionally hit themselves in the head, cried and said they are stupid.
Sometimes unsure how to be in a social situation or what to say and can come across as rude, also used to be very shy
Quite sensory about certain fabrics, loud noises, certain foods.
Amazing memory
Very sporty, excellent at almost all sports
Has friends and well liked in their class and makes their friends laugh.
Can make eye contact
Can be very chatty but likes to talk about things that are of interest to them
Gets engrossed and slightly fixated on things.
Struggles to talk about feelings, emotions, struggles to express an opinion.
Hates losing but this is much improved!

Would you think this child might be on the autistic spectrum?
The autistic type behaviours are generally very mild.
If these do sound autistic what should be done about it? Nothing presents a problem, just his little quirks!

Sounds just like my dd. I suspect she may have a touch of adhd but I'm not concerned or suspecting anything further.

Also lots of typical behaviour for this age - winds up and annoys older sister, loves poo and toilet talk, singing, dancing and being silly. Very normal behaviour for his age when with friends. Actually a lot lot more confident with adults than he used to be

Sounds pretty normal. Could also be sensory issues. Only way really to tell is to have a Full educational psychologist assessment.

Sounds like an average 9 year old.

He's popular, can make people laugh, makes eye contact, and excels at sport (physical coordination) so I'm guessing it's personality, not autism.

@Serenschintte

Sounds pretty normal. Could also be sensory issues. Only way really to tell is to have a Full educational psychologist assessment.

Which he would be very unlikely to meet the threshold for unless OP was planning to pay privately.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Sounds just like my dd. I suspect she may have a touch of adhd but I'm not concerned or suspecting anything further.

Thank you. I've always suspected he might be slightly on the autistic spectrum and that's fine but just interested in others views and whether I need to do anything.

He is also absolutely full of energy and making up games with various toys!

Sounds a lot like my ds, apart from the excelling at sport.

My ds does have ASD, dx’d at age 3.

None of the things you list are actual diagnostic criteria for ASD, so it would be impossible to judge on these grounds.

Sounds like a typical 9 year old to me. Tbh if none of these behaviours/personality traits are causing him issue then I wouldn't be looking to do anything particular about it. He may be mildly autistic but I can't see the need for assessment etc.

Thank you elfdragon. So does sound like your son who is autistic?
What are the diagnostic criteria?

Also I feel that mildly autistic isn't a great phrase there but you see what I'm saying I'm sure. He sounds like he's doing well overall, let him at it.

Sounds like a normal,bright child.

No I think that sounds really normal for a 9 year old, but that said it’s all in the nuance isn’t it. If you’re worried speak to your Senco.

@SionnachRua

Sounds like a typical 9 year old to me. Tbh if none of these behaviours/personality traits are causing him issue then I wouldn't be looking to do anything particular about it. He may be mildly autistic but I can't see the need for assessment etc.

No they arent but I guess I wonder if they might when he's older? He got told off at school this week for being rude, either he didnt understand what to say or more likely I think he was being deliberately awkward! Hes so different to his sister and always always has to be prompted with please and thank you but then his older sister has always a lot more confident than him.

The diagnostic criteria are not going to help you because they need to be applied by an psychologist not a worried parent. I don’t mean they as harsh as it sounds I just couldn’t think how so say it better! When we as parents read these things we just see the evidence for and none of that against

No normal

@SionnachRua

Also I feel that mildly autistic isn't a great phrase there but you see what I'm saying I'm sure. He sounds like he's doing well overall, let him at it.

No sorry I dont know what you mean? How would I contact my SENCO? What is a SENCO?

He sounds exactly like my 10 year old DS except the sport. I’d describe him as quirky but don’t think he would benefit from any diagnosis. Whereas my 8 year old needs a diagnosis to access the support she requires.

OP, google “triage of impairments” for dx criteria.

@GaryTheDemon

The diagnostic criteria are not going to help you because they need to be applied by an psychologist not a worried parent. I don’t mean they as harsh as it sounds I just couldn’t think how so say it better! When we as parents read these things we just see the evidence for and none of that against

Thank you. I do see what you mean although I dont think I'm massively worried just wondering!

I disagree with those saying that if it isn’t causing him an issue he doesn’t need a diagnosis.

I was diagnosed at 38. I wouldn’t want a child of mine to go through life not quite getting it socially and having to work so hard at fitting in but not knowing why, and judging themselves harshly.

Diagnosis has moved on from ‘triad of impairments’ Saz12

He got told off at school this week for being rude, either he didnt understand what to say or more likely I think he was being deliberately awkward!

I teach that age group, I tell mine off for being rude all the time tbh 💁🏻‍♀️ It's quite normal at that age. Ditto the perfectionism, love of slapstick, not understanding irony, struggles to talk about feelings, wanting to talk about interests...all fairly everyday things in my room. And don't get me started on pleases and thank yous! Like blood from a stone with some kids!

Now, if I knew your child my opinion might change but none of this raises massive red flags for me.

Yes, it does sound a lot like my ds. The only differences are:

My ds does understand subtle humour/irony
My ds is not a natural sportsman
My ds is certainly well able to express an opinion, and can talk reasonably well about his emotions (he sometimes struggles to, but I think that is more to do with struggling against societal expectations of boys ‘being brave’ etc)

As another poster touched on - mild is not a very helpful term where autism is concerned. A lot of people might say my ds has ‘mild’ autism - he is in mainstream school, with no real cognitive issues, he is popular and funny and charming, and so on - but he doesn’t. It affects him quite profoundly, in some ways more than his older sister (severe ASD + learning difficulties) is affected (and in other ways, much less - if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met just one autistic person and cannot generalise across traits or personality types)

When we as parents read these things we just see the evidence for and none of that against

I disagree with this. As parents we see our children day to day and actually don’t see the signs because we are so used to who they are and don’t really have anything to compare it to.

I know far more parents who don’t see an issue than parents who see one where there is none.