Separation Anxiety at 5 years !

[cyberseraphim]

DS1 has started behaving like an NT baby showing separation anxiety as he gets really upset whenever it looks like I might be about to leave. He drags me back and shouts at me to 'sit down'. I am loving it as when he was a baby he seemed not to notice or care who was with him. So - is this an important developmental stage ? I suppose I am fishing for yes as the answer but how does this issue arise for others ? I have read of autistic children who are very attached from a much younger age whereas others are not.

Has anything significant happened recently that could be making him feel like this ??

My son is also 5 and has ASD. He was diagnosed at 3. As a baby, he would go to anybody & never seemed to care whether I was there or not. However, at 2 (before DX), he started at pre-school & this seemed to cause him to worry about me not being around. For about 6 months, he cried when I left him, and also did the same when I took him to my mums, even though he had been staying the night there once a week since he was a few weeks old !!

Even now, when he meets new people or goes somewhere new, he's a bit apprehensive. When I say "Mummy see you later", he will say "Where's Mummy" (meaning where am I going) so I just tell him that mummy will be back to pick him up later & he's fine after that.

No nothing has happened. This has come out of the blue. I'm hoping it's a growing awareness that other people are separate from his world view and this now frightens him - which is a good thing as he needs this awareness of his own identity ?

Thats the thing, now he's a bit older, he's just becoming aware of the fact that you're not always around.
It's definitely a good sign, and for us mums, it's nice to know they love us !!x