My DS is 3 and a summer born.
He's currently at nursery and doing well. He's exceptionally bright. He recognised numbers before the age of 1. He knows numbers into the hundreds of thousands, he knows most of his times tables up to 12 in rote fashion, he has a grasp of fractions, knows decimal numbers and can do relatively simple adding/subtraction sums. 100 + 200 = for example. He identifies patterns in numbers pretty quickly and has a very deep, keen interest in anything to do with numbers. He's also taught himself to count in various foreign languages through watching you tube videos. This also extends to languages with different alphabets. He's beginning to tell the time with o'clock and half past times.
He can also ready pretty fluently. He was reading at 2. He reads picture books such as the gruffalo with very little help. I taught him phonics from a young age as he took a genuine interest so this is less surprising. Comprehension is there too - he knows what he's reading, reads with expression in his voice and can predict what happens next etc. He also writes simples sentences with words spelt phonetically. He can write his full name (has been doing since very young) and other familiar names/words like Mummy, Daddy etc.
His memory is really sharp. He can recall events that happened months prior, he has memorised mine and my DH's phone numbers, he knows our full address. If he interacts with someone he hasn't seen in months, he will make reference to things that they did last time they saw each other.
He's such a bright, happy child. He's funny, he tells jokes and plays pretend, I'd say a 'normal' (although I hate to use that word) child. We will role play drs and vets, he enjoys construction toys and we build Duplo and Lego together. He enjoys singing and dancing, he plays football and swims. He's my only child and so I have nothing else to base off of but he doesn't give us any problems at all. He took to potty training immediately, we're not very strict with routine for naps and such anymore and he's always been very flexible - well, as much as toddlers can be. He's very well behaved and his teachers say he's a pleasure. They also say they've never taught a child like him with regards to his abilities.
Here's where my concerns come in. He's the youngest in his year group. The nursery haven't expressed any outright concerns re. his development to us but they have said that he prefers to play alone or with the adult staff. He has friends and does engage with them, he says hello, makes eye contact and joins in if he feels like it but he's noticeably less chatty with his peers than he is with other adults. He will chew your ear off if you're an adult and in a room full of children he gravitates to older children. I put a lot of this down to him being a lockdown child and socialising much less than what would have been typical in the years previous but without having anything to 'compare with' if you will, I don't really know how much of this is usual.
I don't know, does this ring any bells for anyone with their experience of ASD? If it is the case and DS does have additional needs, I want to ensure he has access to full support. My family and friends all insist he's just extremely clever but I sometimes have doubts. If he wasn't able to do the things he can do academically, I don't think I'd have ever thought twice about it but it's the number obsession particularly that causes me concern.
Are there any warning signs I should look out for as he grows? Thanks