My friend's DS is 3 and a half and at preschool. He's currently being assessed as having ASD.
My friend is worried about his future naturally...the educational phsych is coming tomorrow to observe him and talk to the teachers...and he's seen a Paed who siad that while the process of diagnosis will be ongoing, it's very likely he has HFA.
The little boy is clever and can already read a little, he counts to 100 and knows a million shapes etc but his language is quite significantly disordered. He enjoys preschool but plays alone with numbers for most of the day.
He has echolalia and doesn't converse at all, as a result his social interactions are limited but he does enjoy other kids company, especially older ones...he has toilet trained very recently and that's going well.
He does have some sensory issues and doesn't like loud noises...he wont use a pen or crayon and his play is limited....he uses a computer like an ipad very well but doesn't yet type words much.
My friend is worried the educational psychologist might recommend special school...she doesn't want this for him...there are no autism units in nearby mainstreams at all....the school which is linked to the preschool have been quite helpful and it was they that organised the visit tomorrow and they are chasing SALT for him as it's dissapeared after only 2 sessions since last year. Can anyone advise how things are likely to pan out? Does it sound like they will be happy to keep him at mainstream? Does my friend have a say? Could he be given a computer to work on perhaps? She's going to ask about a one to one for him...