Help, does my son have autism or am I going mad!

[Jirvine]

I guys,

I have a five year old son also who has just gone into P1 he has a twin sister who has settled well. He on the other hand has no he runs away from other children except she he wants to play lashes out for reasons he can always explain thoroughly - athough the reason is never good enough for unacceptable hitting.

he refuses to listen and pay attention in school and he has been placed in a focus group for language but I always thought these skills were good.

he is obsessed with volcanos and knows pretty much all there is to know about them, he has klioptomanic tendencies but doesn't see it as stealing just sharing. He has a particular interest in money and not even for the value he likes to play with it and feels it and line in up in a certain way and no one is allowed to touch it.

he can busy himself with what he calls smash work which is him rhyme ally smashing small stones inot fine sand type texture with a larger rock and you can't go near him during this time as he is so engrossed in what he has to complete.

He has recently been complaining about the sound of colouring pencils on paper and it is hard to get him to engage in these sort of activities.

if he gets frustrated he will growl rather than speak although will never lash out at me he will sort of go into himself and make growling sounds to indicate he is not happy.

he is very affectionate but it's always on his terms not mine, if you ask for a hug he might give you a kiss instead or vice versa but rarely both, he knows his phonics for school and has excellent recall of books and stories even if he has not read them in a long time and seems to have a good imagination in that he drifts off into his own world Ina regular basis and can tell a long protracted story about what he was thinking.

we had an incident recently with the volcano thing were he worked himself up due to believing clouds were volcanic ash and he was going to die! He is very sensitive and dwells on negativity

I met with the school today and they have him on a behaviour management plan and do not agree with me that he exhibits any thing which could be seen as autism or aspergers yet I'm starting to think I'm crazy! Could this be autism or am I just mad?

Nah, you’re not mad at all. It could be autism / Asperger’s though it might not be; it might be some other combination of things or it might be too mild for a diagnosis. But I don't think the school can rule it out, even if they don't see definite signs that it is.

Language skills are complex and some kids can be very good in some ways and very weak in others. At five my DS (diagnosed with Asperger’s aged 6) had a sophisticated vocabulary but he couldn’t/wouldn't ask for things he wanted, he would grunt and shriek at me and I had to guess for him. (He couldn’t tell me he wanted so much as a drink of orange juice until one day he suddenly came out with “Please pause the TV I want to go for a wee”!!!) And he was literal-minded, and couldn’t cope with small variations in wording so I always had to ask him to do the same thing in the same way, and he found it hard to tell when someone was joking….. He also has a good imagination (he’s writing a novel now!) and was actually very outgoing and sociable but always on his own terms and he'd thump them if they didn't do what he wanted (arrgh!)

You don’t have to wait for the school to agree. Something is affecting his behaviour, the school do say he has some language issues, and you are concerned. You can go to the GP and ask for a referral for a proper assessment.

Why on earth some teachers feel able to rule out a diagnosis like Autism really beats me. Psychologists with PHDs consult other professionals and use screening tests and play assessments before ruling it out FGS! Teachers are in no way qualified to make that judgement alone.

The behaviour you describe could very easily be symptoms of Autism and, if you think he has difficulties which impact on his ability to lead a normal life, you absolutely should ask for an assessment.

You're no mad. Go to your GP and ask for a referral. He won't get a diagnosis unless they are sure he needs one and you are in agreement.

I didn’t mean the teachers were ruling out a diagnosis. (As Goldmandra says they can’t do that!) I just meant that even if the teachers don’t see many signs of an ASC, that doesn’t mean that a diagnosis would be ruled out. CAMHS could do a proper assessment.

definite red flags there, I would ask for an ed psych assessment

Update, Have got my wonderful health visitor to give me a clincial referral and had the first appointment today prior to a 2.5 hr assessment when they have everything together - In the mean time the school have referred to Ed Physc too but are still not agreeing with what Im saying but are identifying the same behaviours?

Not actually sure whats going on but am much happier with the situation because at least something is happening!

I honestly think if we get a diagnosis then I will have to move from current school as their lack of support has made a great effect on me

Has anyone been through this or thought the same?