took a swing at the teacher

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so i spoke to one of the EA's in my son's class, who ahppened to be his preschool teacher last year and she siad that he was getting frustrated with the craft they were doing cause it was lots of cutting and different pieces and she went to lean down to him to talk to him more or help him out adn he took a swing at her.
this is not normal behavior for him!
he has been a miserable little kid lately, he used to be a happy easy going little guy but now he is a difficult grumpy little guy.
thing is he has more consistency now than he has in the past few years.
his dad is actually picking him up when he's supposed to on teh same days every week, he know's what's coming in tht regard.
i am just not sure what is going on with him.....
he is 5 and dx AS.

has the teacher ever leaned in like that before? I know if someone did something I wasnt expecting I'd react similarly, especially at that age. Even if the teacher thought they were speaking in a normal tone, that close could cause problems if his hearing is hypersensitve.

Also, a lot of teachers dont know s**t about how the class is ACTUALLY treating you. You may SEEM like you're getting along but thats only when being watched. I personally remember being hated by most people in preschool/kindergarten. In fact there was only one or 2 kids I got along with back then. That tends to add so much stress to us that, even at home, we are still upset/uncomfortable.

And just because he seems more consistent, its only because he's learning he needs to "hide" who he is. Its not ok to be as imaginative or freewilled. Its not ok to question the rules because its different. NTs learn that rules are in place because they keep us in line, aspies learn rules are in place to control our actions. The difference is the connotation. One is being given a path to follow, the other a cage to stay in...

sounds like he was just frustrated with the project..........frustration tolerance is a difficult thing to learn.....as he gets older, and tasks become more difficult- he'll need to learn how to cope with frustration.

school is a generally threatening environment for non-average kids, he's probabaly overwhelmed on a daily basis. I can see why someone leaning in to you may seem threatening to an autistic 5 year old.

I know that I have a really defined sense of personal space, and if someone was looming over me when I was really frustrated, it would feel very bad! Poor little guy!

Is it possible for you to spend some time in your sons classroom observing? You may notice some stresses and triggers that the teacher isn't seeing and can make suggestions for changes. If he has been "a miserable little kid lately" it means that something is wrong, likely at school and he needs different accommodations made for him.

I agree with the responses you've gotten so far; this may have been a defensive reaction to a sensory issue.

Do note that K is a very difficult time for AS kids. There is more of "everything" now, and "everything" is overwhelming. While having more consistency will help mitigate that, it can't take the core of it away, and your son is going to feel the stress of it.

Keep the lines of communication open, keep your eyes open, look for the triggers, and work on mitigating them.

I did that once in preschool, cant even remember why.

I attacked my teacher on multiple occasions in the first grade. Although I still think she deserved it. It doesn't really sound like that teacher did.

My son had several incidents involving physical aggression when he was in preschool. It didn't help that his teachers knew absolutely nothing about Asperger's kids and how to handle frustrations. He's in the first grade now, receives a lot of support, and has learned better coping skills.

thankfully the teachers understand or are trying to understand him, the EA knows that is not him that is not how he is.
i woud assume that she has leaned in to assist him before becasue i know that she has often worked with him.
i have talked to him reminding him that it was not appropriate and have tried to get him to say that he is feeling stressed out and needs a break if things are getting to be too much for him, but i am not quite sure what else to do.

i probably could go in and observe but i would hav e hard time not jumping in i am sure plus i woudl only have limited time as i have my daughter wiht me during the day most of teh time. i woudl almost think that it would be distracting or disruptive to have me hanging around teh classroom.

thanks for all the replies.
he has not jut become kind of defiant and jsut refuses to do things.
i will be talking to his teachers more soon i am sure and i may try to schedule a meeting with teh resource teacher to see what she thinks of it all or any suggestions she may have.