OP, he sounds somewhat like my kid who has "almost ADHD" and mild hypotonia and sensory issues. Start treating the symptoms. Have you requested an eval by your school system? That should get you on your way while you wait for the Dev ped. My kid has no repetitive behaviors / restrictive interests so he doesn't fall into the ASd box. He has challenges though!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know Aspergers doesn't exist as a diagnosis anymore, but I'm not sure what it has been replaced with. Recently, we have had some people mention Aspergers to us in regards to DC4. We have an appointment with a developmental pediatrician, but we can't get in for a while.

In the meantime, I am trying to figure out DC. DC struggles initiating play with peers and has some social challenges. However, once comfortable, DC will run, play and talk with peers and adults. DC speaks with emotion and makes good eye contact. DC also has anxiety, sensory, and motor challenges that may indicate something like Aspergers, as well. DC does not seem to understand personal space boundaries and often needs to touch people. We have no concerns with pre-academics or speech/language. We are just trying to understand how best to help DC. Thanks!

This doesn't necessarily sound like ASD. Could be ADHD with a language based learning disability.

Could be but you can't tell unless you get an evaluation. Adhd is commonly comorbid with Asperger's. My kid with Asperger's who presented similarly to OP's description when he was 4 yrs old has Adhd but no language based learning disabilities. He has no academic issues and has friends. He has troubles with social cues and other nonverbal things like interpreting body language but his eye contact is normal and receptive/expressive language are very superior according to his recent neuropsych eval. The ADHD was not diagnosed until now when he is 7. Previous testing did not show ADHD but we had him tested by a neuropsych whose specialty is Asperger's this time.

Since OP's son is 4, a psychoeducational evaluation or ADOS/ADI-R testing will be a good idea. You can request a psychoeducational eval though the school system and these evaluations always include a school observation by the evaluator which is useful for diagnosing Asperger's.

Anonymous wrote:I know Aspergers doesn't exist as a diagnosis anymore, but I'm not sure what it has been replaced with. Recently, we have had some people mention Aspergers to us in regards to DC4. We have an appointment with a developmental pediatrician, but we can't get in for a while.

In the meantime, I am trying to figure out DC. DC struggles initiating play with peers and has some social challenges. However, once comfortable, DC will run, play and talk with peers and adults. DC speaks with emotion and makes good eye contact. DC also has anxiety, sensory, and motor challenges that may indicate something like Aspergers, as well. DC does not seem to understand personal space boundaries and often needs to touch people. We have no concerns with pre-academics or speech/language. We are just trying to understand how best to help DC. Thanks!

This doesn't necessarily sound like ASD. Could be ADHD with a language based learning disability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not be in a hurry to affix a label to your child, OP. Your child may have a number of issues, but they may or may not add up to an actual diagnosis. My DD has never had a diagnosis of ASD, but she has some similar symptoms. I focus on the symptoms, not the diagnosis. I read a very interesting article about Round Up as a cause of the huge increase in autism, ADD and other similar issues in children in the last 20 years, and I think it's a good hypothesis. I would try to clean up your child's environment and diet as a very basic start, eliminating sugar and processed foods, and see if her behavior changes. DD no longer has a LD diagnosis, and most of her symptoms are gone. A developmental ped will not tell you about diet and biomedical treatments, but in DDs case, they made all the difference, along with speech therapy and a few other therapies. Best of luck to you sorting it out, OP.

Uh, yeah, because they believe in science...

Diet is science. Chemistry.

NP here OP - I agree not to jump with labeling and diagnosing. It is very easy to get up in all of this but some kids have more anxiety than others which tends to exhibit quirky behavior. Others just need more gross/motor work. It may not need a lot to change things. Clean up the diet, keep a schedule, regulate sleep, keep a log. Talk to your regular Ped, preschool teachers, and get a reputable OT eval.

But again, docs, OT's, and parents of SN are very quick to label and diagnose so be careful.

Good luck

The dietary changes you're talking about aren't evidence based. That's the difference.

Child has a food allergy if it can be fixed by diet. It is not a fix for autism.

Well all the more reason to start with diet. Kids react to dyes, preservatives, sugar, gluten etc... In different ways. And the fact that OP's child is not diagnosed with anything means to start with things YOU can change first and log differences. If he changes for the better, than go from there. If he doesnt, it is ruled out.

Not every kid with some quirks needs a SN diagnosis.

OP, my ds is EXACTLY as you describe. I mean everything. We've also gone back and forth in our heads as to whether he could have Aspergers. He's been followed by a developmental ped since a year old who has never mentioned it to us, and he's an ASD expert. I think many other issues, also neurological in nature, are similar in presentation. In fact, I personally believe that there is a 'spectrum on the way to the spectrum' and that's where ds falls. I think that makes some things easier and others harder, like knowing how much school support he will really need (he's in pre-k still) and what we will qualify for. I think when your child sort of lives in the in-between zone of definite Aspergers and not quite sure, all you can do is monitor where they need support and provide it as best you can.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not be in a hurry to affix a label to your child, OP. Your child may have a number of issues, but they may or may not add up to an actual diagnosis. My DD has never had a diagnosis of ASD, but she has some similar symptoms. I focus on the symptoms, not the diagnosis. I read a very interesting article about Round Up as a cause of the huge increase in autism, ADD and other similar issues in children in the last 20 years, and I think it's a good hypothesis. I would try to clean up your child's environment and diet as a very basic start, eliminating sugar and processed foods, and see if her behavior changes. DD no longer has a LD diagnosis, and most of her symptoms are gone. A developmental ped will not tell you about diet and biomedical treatments, but in DDs case, they made all the difference, along with speech therapy and a few other therapies. Best of luck to you sorting it out, OP.

Uh, yeah, because they believe in science...

Diet is science. Chemistry.

NP here OP - I agree not to jump with labeling and diagnosing. It is very easy to get up in all of this but some kids have more anxiety than others which tends to exhibit quirky behavior. Others just need more gross/motor work. It may not need a lot to change things. Clean up the diet, keep a schedule, regulate sleep, keep a log. Talk to your regular Ped, preschool teachers, and get a reputable OT eval.

But again, docs, OT's, and parents of SN are very quick to label and diagnose so be careful.

Good luck

The dietary changes you're talking about aren't evidence based. That's the difference.

Child has a food allergy if it can be fixed by diet. It is not a fix for autism.