Does DS have aspergers/autism?

[Namechanged2112112]

Over the last 2/3 years I have grown more and more suspicious that DS (16) has some form of autism. I've noticed a lot of things about the way he acts that give me this idea, but I might be overthinking this.

• As a young child he was very outgoing and confident and also used to be very good at public speaking but as he's become a teenager he's become much more shy and socially anxious.

• He becomes very easily flustered and turns red over the smallest things

• As a child he was considered to be remarkably intelligent, but as he's got older he's fallen away a bit (to be fair to him he got decent GCSE results, but not what I would've expected he'd get when he was younger)

• He seems to struggle to accept criticism, even over little things

• He struggles to cope with loud or annoying noises and will often get angry over them

• Recently I've noticed that he has stopped making eye contact with people and more notably myself

Other small things I've noticed are that he is very disorganised, tends to isolate himself from people and has great difficulty following instructions.

Do you think he has autism/aspergers or are these just normal parts of growing up? I'm a single mother so I don't have a husband to ask if this is normal for a boy.

I’d be considering some kind of mental health thing more than a developmental disability based on that description.

well, first, no-one can diagnose anything over the internet!

second, a lot of what you say sounds very like a normal teen, social shyness, struggling to accept criticism, easily flustered/turns red etc.
Teenagers are VERY conscious of what others say and think and can be paralysed by anxiety when actually no-one else if noticing at all.

But I a couple of the things you say do make me wonder if it is worth looking at.
eg, - early potential, but not achieving it, disorganised, difficulty following instructions,.
But I wouldn't be looking for Aspergers, I would be looking at dyslexia, or dyspraxia? Or even ADHD?
A couple of people I know were diagnosed as teens, as they were bright, and found coping strategies all through school, but in sixth form they just didn't cover it any more.

At the same time, all those things can also be normal for a shy teen.

I would have thought Asperger's would be apparent at a younger age? My 6 and 8 yr olds are likely to be assessed.
No experience of teenagers yet so can't advise there. Hope you get the answers you need.

You've just described many of my own traits, and I'm not autistic. If you're concerned, you MUST get a professional referral, no one can diagnose over a forum.

It must be a worry for you OP, and I hope you get the help you both need

stop this shit. walk away from the internet.

if you're concerned about your DS, get him a GPs appointment.

don't ask random people on the internet to diagnose someone they've never met in real life with a really complex disorder that it can takes months for people with experience and you know, qualifications, to diagnose.

you're belittling the experience of thousands of people with kids who are on the autism spectrum.

if you are concerned, speak to your gp. otherwise you're just another goady fucker clogging up the interweb with the idea that everything different needs an armchair diagnosis from a keyboard warrior.

ps YABU but only because you're asking the internet, not for being concerned about your kid.

every single thing you've listed is very very typical of a teenager. Do you not know any other teens/ were you never one yourself?
FGS don't go sending him for medical checks ( poor perfectly normal teen)

I'd say it's unlikely given his having been an outgoing and confident child. However, we can't say either way based on a forum post.

Autism diagnostic criteria states the signs and symptoms must be present from an early age.

But many things will have a cross over and the symptoms will be the same. He sounds like he may have some form of social anxiety, low self confidence or esteem.
Very clever children can still have some form of specific leading difficulty (eg dyslexia) because the learn through play but as they go through formal education and learning becomes more rigid on delivery and expression they can struggle and that affects self esteem massively.

My son has Aspergers. I think you should speak to a doctor but I would also be more inclined to think your son might have mental health/stress issues. The reason I say this is that I think that from my experience my son's eye contact has improved with age where your son's is regressing. But aspergers/austism is different for everyone so you would need to speak to a doctor.

My son's ASD was visible from birth and when you're having a diagnostic assessment they will go back to birth in their note taking.

Autistic features are usually most obvious as a young child as autism is a developmental disorder so it sounds a bit more likely that this is either due to normal adolescence or a mental health condition.

If symptoms weren’t present before the age of 3 it would exclude an asd diagnosis. Is it possible he’s depressed?

It could be a lot of things from teen angst, depression, drugs, dyspraxia, bullying.
I would speak to your son and see if you can get him to go to the GP.

Mental health problems and asd are not mutually exclusive. They often combine during adolescence as the world becomes a more difficult place to negotiate.A confident primary school child can be overwhelmed by the demands of secondary school and growing up.

No one on here can say for sure from your description, but I would be asking a few questions and seeking some help for your DS if he were mine. As ittakes2 says,there are very many presentations of asd. However,there are commonalities (otherwise any diagnosis would be a nonsense)and I think you are not unreasonable to wonder.

He definitely sounds like he needs extra support,whatever the reason.

I should add that my lovely 15 yo DS finds most things excruciatingly embarrassing at the moment (sometimes including the fact that I occupy the same bit of the planet as him). So some of what you described is definitely within the range of normal teen boy based on my sample size of 1

My limited understanding of autism is you either have it or you don't, you don't grow in to it.
So, if he displayed no sign at all as a youngster, I don't think he is.

My son was diagnosed with autism at 15 years old. He'd been in a mainstream primary school then a school specialising in SPLD, and then back into mainstream from year 9.

I'm afraid the view expressed here that it would be spotted only when the child is very young is far from true in all cases. My son was statemented from year 1 and it was still missed.

I would seek professional advice in your position.

Good luck!

But in your case shop your ds presented with send from a young age.

That's what is taken into account with asd. Of course none of us can say as we are reading words on a screen. Definitely something seems to be amiss though.

DS suffered severe mental health difficulties at that age but they started earlier. I found his ASD obvious from about 4 but it wasn't diagnosed until 16.

Definitely talk to your GP

shoppers if your child was statemented from year one then there was always grounds for autism to be diagnosed. ASD is not one size fits all and there will always be times the diagnosis is very delayed. Mine was 7 because before that it was gdd on his hospital letters.

It is entirely possible for ASD not to present in a typical way due to masking.

When pressures get greater then the mask can slip and the child/ person can appear more autistic. This is more common in girls but can apply to boys too.

My son was DX at 11 and it was pretty much a surprise to everyone who had ever taught him.

When it came to diagnosis there were signs when he was pre-3 such as some early lack of eye contact, slightly delayed speech and some sensory difficulties, dislike of loud noises and some movement, but they were certainly not sufficient to diagnose at that point.

OP I would speak to your GP about your concerns. No one can categorically tell you whether your child has ASD but some of the things you describe could be explained by that. One thing I will say though is unless he is really failing to cope you may find you hit a blank as it is quite difficult to get a diagnosis contrary to what some people would have you believe.