Aspergers? update post 19

[reneaumommy]

Does the fact that he sometimes makes eye contact sound like a positive thing? I heard back from his teacher and she is not having problems with him at school. The program at school is very structured and he has done amazing there. He thrives on structure.

Also with the Star Wars obsession most days he can't think/talk of anything else and then we will have a random day where his interest in it is appropriate. Is that typical with Aspergers to have some days where the obsessing is almost absent (its a rare day but it happens)

[Ky-Momma]

My son nor my husband WANT to make eye contact, but have learned they are SUPPOSED to. As for the obsession, our therapist said it would be more prevalent the more anxiety they were under. If my son is secure and in his routine he's fine but change the schedule or put him in a social situation and Toy Story is all he'll talk about.

Both DH and Jonah can look really close to NT when in a comfortable, familiar STRUCTURED environment, take them out of that and you would think they were aliens.

A lot of the "quirks" associated with Asperger's are seated in anxiety. Take away the factor that is causing the anxiety, and a lot of the "quirks" disappear. Of course, not all of them, but a lot of them are this way. My son and DH's eating habits NEVER change. Jonah MUST take his sandwich/hamburger/ect apart and eat each component separately. He HAS tp have a loaded pizza then peel every topping off and eat just the cheese and crust. DH can't have any food touching and has to eat each serving separately.

The obsessive talking, rubbing of head (J) or hands (DH), fidgeting and ignorig anyone around him all come on with anxiety.

Did his teacher mention how he is with his peers? That was a big clue with Jonah. He was attentive in.Sunday.school (we homeschool so had to rely on his church class for info) not disruptive, well-behaved, ect, but that he always chose to sit alone, as far from other kids as possible and he wouldn't interact with his peers, and if forced to, he'd talk AT them and dominate the conversation with Toy Story.

[reneaumommy]

His teacher last year (same program and normally he would have the same teacher both years but last years teacher switched to Kindergarten this year) mentioned last spring that he would attempt conversations with the other kids throughout the day but would basically say the same thing over and over. She felt it was age appropriate though. He approaches kids everywhere we go he is very social but he always talks about Star Wars. He will say... "I'm Cullen. I'm 4. There is a really big Lego Star Wars ship I want. It comes with lots of guys and ..." then he will name off which ones and go on and on. He never asks their name and it is 90% of the time about Star Wars the whole time. My 3 year old will ask what their name or age is. He is much better with friends and socializing despite being 18 months younger.

I found a screening tool

http://www.anst.uu.se/abduahma/Saxle.../CAST/CAST.pdf

I did it for Cullen. He got 20 (over 15 is possible ASD).
My mom suggested I do it for Sawyer. He got a 4.

I wanted to add: she suggested I do it for Sawyer to see what the result was in comparrison to Cullen's. We do no think Sawyer has any concerns and obviously the "screening" didn't either. lol

[Ky-Momma]

My son got a 31. LOL! I would see what your ped says. There are variable degrees of AS. He coyld just have a mild case. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[l_Kimmie_l]

Originally Posted by reneaumommy His teacher last year (same program and normally he would have the same teacher both years but last years teacher switched to Kindergarten this year) mentioned last spring that he would attempt conversations with the other kids throughout the day but would basically say the same thing over and over. She felt it was age appropriate though. He approaches kids everywhere we go he is very social but he always talks about Star Wars. He will say... "I'm Cullen. I'm 4. There is a really big Lego Star Wars ship I want. It comes with lots of guys and ..." then he will name off which ones and go on and on. He never asks their name and it is 90% of the time about Star Wars the whole time. My 3 year old will ask what their name or age is. He is much better with friends and socializing despite being 18 months younger. I found a screening tool http://www.anst.uu.se/abduahma/Saxle.../CAST/CAST.pdf I did it for Cullen. He got 20 (over 15 is possible ASD). My mom suggested I do it for Sawyer. He got a 4. I wanted to add: she suggested I do it for Sawyer to see what the result was in comparrison to Cullen's. We do no think Sawyer has any concerns and obviously the "screening" didn't either. lol

My 4 yr old got a 24 and my 3 yr old got a 13. My 4 yr old has PDD NOS with sensory integration disorder and my 3 yr old has Behavioral Disorder with sensory integration disorder. They are 15 months apart and both see a behavioral specialist.

[Suzi]

Sorry I didn't read the pp's. I'm sure they had some great info.

I have one son with autism and a nearly 8 year old that I usually say has aspergers. His teachers think he has it each year, we get him tested and he just barely doesn't qualify. But, we modify in school keeping in mind he is more or less aspergers.

When you talk with the doc I would I try to keep in mind what you want to get better for you son. His anxiety, behaviors, coping skills, attention...? My son is perfectly average intelligence so I've never had those issues.

We love lego star wars here too! DS was obsessed with Mario for years so I was glad to the move to star wars. Its star wars clone wars now and he knows all 2 million characters I've noticed now that he is older his obsessions aren't nearly as strong. He can talk to other kids about mario, star wars, lego ninjago, transformers...he's gaining some flexibility but we did work on it. We do own 7 light sabors and have 5 or so star wars costumes. So, the important question....does he play lego star wars on ds or the wii? and has he beaten the game? (This is what my ds would want to know)

Getting school involvement has been much more helpful than the doctor for my ds. We have anxiety plans and he gets social skills classes with a few select kids.

btw a book I like for very academically intelligent kids with aspergers is called Bright but not Broken, or something really close to that.

[reneaumommy]

He saw the Dr today. She did a screening on him and it indicated that he might be on the spectrum. The nurse at his Dr's office has a son with Autism so that helped. He is being referred for a full eval at Easter Seals.

[Chasing Zen]

Originally Posted by reneaumommy He saw the Dr today. She did a screening on him and it indicated that he might be on the spectrum. The nurse at his Dr's office has a son with Autism so that helped. He is being referred for a full eval at Easter Seals.

Yay! Soon you'll have some piece of mind knowing one way or the other

[reneaumommy]

We got all the paperwork filled out and sent in. We had our phone conference today. They determined he does need to be seen in the clinic. Unfortunately, there is a 9 month wait for an appointment so we are looking at next July.

[AVDesigns]

Call the office and keep a check to see if they have any cancellations. We were referred to a psychiatrist for an evaluation but I called a psychologist that my SIL recommended (she's an ABA therapist for autistic kids) and asked when they had an opening and they had just had a cancellation for the next week! So I took it and cancelled the psychiatrist appointment. Both will do the evals and diagnosis but it just meant that I had to get his meds from his doctor. Not a big deal.

I'd just call every now and then and ask if they have any cancellations. Good luck.