possible autism

[dionnec1988]

Hey, im new to mums net but i have come on here for some advice really.. My son is six and is really struggling at school, his teacher says that he is very hands on with other children invades their personal space and when told not to do it he says ok, but then he does straight away afterwards.
He was a late developer he didn't start walking till he was 18 months, attended speech therapy and had all tests for hearing etc. (all encouragement was given at home to help all of these issues).
He is about a year behind on his reading and writing and now is point blank refusing to do his work in class, we read every night and have done from a young age to no avail. Although he is above average in maths, but the teacher has said as the maths is getting more challenging he is starting to give up on that as well.
She has suggested that he could possibly be on the autistic spectrum, but seems to have made no progress on getting him assessed as of yet. i do realise that this can take a long time but my fear is that the teacher will become fed up of his "behaviour" and just start chastising him and i dont want that to happen if he has got real problems then they need to be correctly looked at.
i was wondering if anyone else has had similar issues and if their child has been diagnosed with autism?
any advice would be kindly appreciated

thankyou x

have you met with the school's SENCO ? You could also ask your gp progress an assessment. Noone can diagnose your child over the internet.

No i haven't met with the schools SENCO but a meeting is going to be put in place this week. I do realise this i was just asking for advise not a diagnosis. i wanted to know if people had been in a similar situation, therefore giving all the facts that i have.
Thank you ill be sure to meet with them.

A teacher cannot diagnose ASD neither can an Educational Psychologist; although they will definitely know all the signs and will have experience of working with children affected. The only way you can get a diagnosis is through a Paediatrician. The school can encourage and advise you and will take part in the process but it is ultimately up to you to get the ball rolling. It is a lengthy process with assessments undertaken by a Speech & Language Therapist, Paediatrician and Occupational Therapist and lots of history from you and the school. If you feel that the teacher's suggestion of ASD is possible then book an appointment with your GP.
Best of luck

We tried to go through our GP, but in our area they only pursue if moderate to severe. Our son is showing signs of high functioning autism. The school he was at would not assess further, but two of his three teachers in the time he was at the school were ok about moaning about his behaviour. It sounds promising that your child's teacher has picked up on there needs to be further investigation. Have you asked them for an estimated time frame? Hope you get some support and advice soon.

Hi,

my son has just turned 3. He still isn't talking and communicates by touch. I have to take him to speech therapy which leaves me and him even more distressed. I'm told it's not normal at his age not to start talking.

I already know this. He can put jigsaws together very quickly and likes patterns... but he still doesn't talk. Therapists are insisting that he must communicate either by recognising images or respond to commands.