My son is nearly six and would likely be described as a bit of a character. He has a very unusual manner and I guess the easiest way to describe him is that he is a bit like an old man in the way he speaks and his mannerisms. He is a real stickler for rules and gets frustrated if he perceives others not doing things correctly. He often talks to himself, complete with big hand gestures.
He can and will talk to anyone about anything, including adults, but sometimes other children don’t quite know how to relate to him. As a result, he struggles with close friendships. Sometimes he becomes very fixated on one thing and will talk to me about it incessantly for hours. He is extremely creative and loves building, writing books, drawing pictures and making up games. He’s also very strong and athletic, but isn’t crazy about team sports.
As he’s learning to read, I’ve noticed that he struggles to remember some things, even if we’ve just talked about them. So, we can work out a word together and he won’t remember it the next time we encounter it. He’s having some additional support with reading, and I can’t figure out if there’s a processing issue affecting his ability to remember everything he’s learning, or if it’s due to some unusual circumstances we’ve had that have caused inconsistency in his education.
I guess I’m just trying to figure out if he’s just slightly eccentric or if there are some additional needs. I worry that he’s socially awkward and that it’s going to become a bigger issue as he gets older. He has a twin brother who seems to relate to other children much more easily. I’m just not sure at what point we’ll know whether he’s got an unusual personality, or if there could be something else to consider.