ds has a question about autism

[twokids]

ds was out playing yesterday and one of the kids in the group(he doesn't know him) said he has autism. ds has now been asking me loads of questions which i don't feel qualified to answer so can anyone help please.
This boy was playing football and interacting weel with the others which led ds not to believe him.

Yes, my DS2 (ASD) has just been playing in the garden with DS1 and 2 friends, running, chasing (but if you watch for a long time you'll realise he's following the others but not following the rules of their game!).

He's also come inside and had a tantrum/meltdown because he's overloaded on fun and the effort of joining in.

Maybe point out to your DS that he's only seen part of the other boy's day, that he can obviously handle ok at the time, but there's lots of other parts of the day, meals/change of scene/tiredness/frustration, that he might not handle as well.

As Socci says the whole thing is "vast", confusing/contradictory, there's no real hard and fast rules that can be applied to everyone!

I must have picked up loads by reading posts as this is mainly what I told him. Just wanted to make sure I hadn't got it wrong. He knows all about cp but isn't so clued up on the not so visible things apart from aspergers.

My DS1 has a diagnosis of high-functioning autism but a lot of the time he's fine and you wouldn't know he had any problems interacting with other kids. He met up with two other mumsnetters' DSs on Saturday and yes, played football with them. But as tobysmum says, he can seem quite different when he's stressed/overloaded.

So it is possible, yes.

My ds1 has autism. He hates football but is generally okay with games as long as he knows the rules. You would probably only notice his difficulties if another child didn't follow the rules as that's when ds1 starts 'policing' people.

Coppertop's post brought a smile to my face. Recently I was asked by a medical professional what sport does my son play? The SENCO and I both said "none if he can get away with it. He would rather be the referee!" He loves to police as well.

My son has ASD, and he desperately wants to be liked by everybody but the trouble is, the way he goes about it......... He loves to play with other children but after a while, they have had enough of him. It is very sad to watch but it is a trait of autism.

I would say to your son that Autism, if it is high functioning and it sounds like it might be as your son did not think he was any different to himself, is also known as "The Invisible Disability" and it is just that these children think and understand the world differently to the rest of us.

I think it is a credit to you that your son wanted to know more. He sounds lovely.

Ditto what coppertop and pisces have said, DS came in yesterday after playing football outside and he had a big tantrum, he said they werent "playing properly", he likes to be in goal so he can stand and watch the others and tell them when they are doing it wrong, to outsiders it appears as if he is interacting but hes only doing it on his terms.

HTH