Autism? Dysphraxia? What is this?

[AngryFeet]

Since DS started school we have become more aware of his inability to socialise with other children. I suppose he has always been like that as although he loves to play with his older sister he seems suspicious of other children and can't relate to them. This was the only thing I thought was a problem with him but now there are other things I am concerned about. They are:-

Hand flapping - he does this when he is excited or trying to get his point across in conversation

His speech is behind - I understand him fine and he did speak quite early but he is speaking quickly and can't pronounce a lot of letters like g, k etc. Most people can't understand a fair bit of what he is saying

His motor skills are behind - he runs a bit funny (like galloping) and can't sit cross legged for example

He doesn't really look people in the eye

He has been at school since Sept and is still spending all day alone apart from when the teachers bring him into a small group to do stuff (then he is pretty chatty). The teacher has referred him to an OT for the motor skills stuff and he sees the SENCO twice a week with a small group of other children to work on speech and social skills.

Noone has mentioned autism to me and there is an autisic girl in his class who has a specialist TA who works with her so presumably she would have picked something up? As a baby he crawled at 7 months and walked at 8.5 so none of the traits there. He is also very affectionate.

But the hand flapping, eye contact and social issues worry me. His teacher says he is just immature but I am am concerned.

Hiya. No-one here would be able to say whether it was one, the other, both or neither, but pretty much all would say there was enough in your OP to merit a GP referal to a developmental paediatrician (try to get one with a specialism in ASD if at all possible).

Research the signs/symptoms that are listed in the CHAT questionnaire (google), the NAS and for dyspraxia and write a list of things that concern you with real life examples if you can so the GP doesn't think you have simply printed off a list.

That's the first step.

Next, contact your local Sleech and Language department and ask for the referral pathway and then follow it. Many accept parent referrals.

Good luck.

You can't rely on school to tell you if they think a child has ASD.

:(

They never told me that they thought DS1 had ASD, and I know there is a kid in DS2s class who they assume has it - and they haven't mentioned it to the parent. :(

Hi angryfeet and welcome to the board. I agree with the other posters that you need to get your GP to refer you to a development paediatrician. The waiting list could be long.

Also that schools often do not recognise ASD/ dyspraxia. My Dd3 has been to 2 primary schools, one was really bad at helping her and one which is fab.

Good luck.

I'm a TA supporting a DC with ASD and dyspraxia. From supporting him, I wouldn't ever feel qualified to spot difficulties in another child. From having a DS of my own with ASD, I do have a bit of a radar for quirky behaviour. But DC with ASD can be so different to each other. Don't expect the school to attempt a DX. As everyone above has suggested, get a referral to an expert, a developmental paed via your GP. Your GP won't have a clue, either in all probability.