But Is it Aspergers?

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My little boy is 2 years old and 3 months, I've always known there was something unique about my son since he was born.... But I thought that was me just being bias!!
He never really played with any toys,, but at 10 months he grew a massive obssession with balls, and anything round, it was sooo bad that he would scream and throw a fit if he saw one that was out of his reach... Or if a child had a a balloon and walked past us... We used to dread going anywhere where there would be balls or balloons that he couldn't play with.
He's also always loved piling toys on people or on steps or wherever he can that was 'different'.
His speech has always been delayed and he just copies alot of what we say (what I now know to be called Echolalia) he never responds to questions, just copies what you say, or says a few of his favourite words...
He gets very frightened by noise, the vacuum, hairdryer, dogs barking etc....

He hates mess and can't stand a little bit of food on him.... He is constantly saying 'wipe it'.
He doesnt like playing with children his own age, but older children are fine, he gets very very anxious around peers and only calms down when taken away from them or when they have left the room.
He is also very obsessive with his toys, he will not share, and will not take turns at all...

When he gets angry or upset he sometimes hits himself on the face and head.

He's never really phased by us telling him off for things, he seems to do things all the more when shouted at!!

So all These above are just some of the reasons why I rang my health visitor to come and check my little boy out.. And she came to speak to us....
She asked loads of questions wrote lots down and told us she thought Leo ( my son) had mild Aspergers syndrome ... And would refer him for formal diagnosis.... This could take months where I live in the UK, I feel like I just need some advice as I am new to this??
I have been trying to read up as much as possible, but there is so much information it is mind boggling!!

Thankyou
x

Last edited by Missmac1109 on 12 Dec 2010, 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good luck! I have no information as we have only just started on the journey ourselves. Oh I do - one bit - there is a user called Tracker who you will meet, he has a book detailing his experience growing up which is really useful to read.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? Please dont say if you dont want to. We are in Berkshire and from referral (which itself can take a few months), the Dingley Centre at Royal Berks (just in case you are in Berks) has a 3 month waiting list.

As for the shouting - I would use distraction or removal, but that's easy to say. One reason for joining was that I can get so angry and I need to understand what Deborah is going through.

Even tho I cannot say if it is Asperger's or not,
I know how he feels (I think).

If I get upset enough I have bashed my
head into the wall or smacked myself
about the head, its just the way I
react to things that upset me.
My parents often joked with each
other that they didn't have to smack
me because I did it myself, often to
the point I was crying and bleeding
and they had to stop me.

I am very picky about who I share my
stuff with because I am afraid to loan
things out to much anyone except my
brother, because I am afraid I will
never see it again. It cannot be replaced,
it costs me money that I could have used
for eating, my toys are the only ones in
the world to me.

I don't like being messy, it feels bad,
I am always using napkins and there is
often a Pile of them on the table when
dinner is completed.

I am the oposite of people shouting at me
I tend to mirror them and upset them
because I am "shouting at them" just
like I thought they wanted me to, I
just react that way, I cannot stop.

If someone talks quiet i tend to mirror that.

I influence easy I guess.

I tend to get on better with older people
than me, younger people or those around
my outside age tend to hate me for some
reason, Not Always, but often.

Yes my daughter mirrors me shouting too. Interesting perspective thank you.

thank you for your replies and all your insights....
it really helps to understand things alot more in my head.... ive been reading and reading constantly.

I dont mind saying where i am from at all..... we live in East Yorkshire and apparently the waiting list is really long... but they have started the ball rolling

I forgot to mention, My son is obsessed with Water? he knows where all the places of water are where we live ponds / streams / ditches even haha he even licks the floor when i clean it.... I now have to wait till he is in bed to clean the windows and floors

Asperger's Syndrome does not involve speech delays.

Any child that has speech delays should have a proper evaluation, which also includes hearing tests even if it's clear the child can hear.

Your child could have some other autistic spectrum disorder, or something related. For example, higher functioning autism (HFA), semantic pragmatic disorder (SPD), or a pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). He could also have some other type of thing.

You will see that I "belly ache" a lot about people assigning a labels of AS to such young children, however I don't believe people should take a "wait and see" approach when there are language delays because the window of opportunity to acquire effective use of language is so small. I have a friend with autism who could not use language effectively until he was almost 12, and now communicates verbally quite well, but he's in the minority and he had rigorous intervention.

I have been informed that Aspergers can have mild speech delays, maybe i have been informed wrong? like i said I am new to all this, so all your input is much appreciated.

Leo has had a hearing test and it was all fine, that was about 6 months ago... so all is well on that side of things

Asperger's can indeed involve speech delays, the delays just might present themselves differently. My son (diagnosed with AS) went from having only a handful of words (not even mama) to sentences almost overnight (near age 3). He did receive speech therapy, but it didn't really help a whole lot. In my son's case, being the perfectionist that he is, he didn't want to say anything wrong so he avoided saying anything at all.

As he got older, he would only talk about his special interest so most people had no idea what he was talking about and assumed it was just nonsense speech. He also repeated a lot of what he heard (echolalia) and would use strange phrases that were sophisticated for his age, but completely out of context for the situation. Actually, he still does that.

The behaviors described by the OP sound familiar, but the child's still quite young. No harm in getting it checked out and adding services, if needed but, IMO, it would be better to wait a bit for an official diagnosis, at least until 4 or so. A lot of changes can happen in the toddler years. Good luck!

According to the DSM-IV


If a child has speech delays and meets all other criteria for AS, without meeting criteria for excluding disorders, the child would most likely be considered to have HFA.

From the standpoint of a parent, the distinction between HFA v. AS is purely semantic. Either way, you parent the child the same. In some localities one title v. the other can change access to the services, in which case you just pick the one that gets you the services you think your child needs. Which is the "right" answer really isn't something parents need to focus on. For parents, labels are tools. As a pragmatic matter, if the tool is getting you what you need, then it doesn't matter if the specialists might have split the hairs differently.

I would think a diagnosis of HFA would actually get one more resources.

However, for research purposes, I think it is important to determine whether or not there was a language delay, and distinguish the subject from those who did not have a language delay. A language delay has a lot of neurological implications.

Neither my son's nor the OP's son's described speech delay falls into the "clinically significant general delay" as described by the above criteria. I can't speak for the OP, but my son's delay was considered relatively mild, but significant enough for services. The diagnosing doctor was fully aware of my son's mild speech delay and still considered AS to be the most appropriate diagnosis (as do I).

I have a family member who is diagnosed with PDD-NOS and there is a significant difference between this child and my son. They did, however, have similar speech delays.

My son was diagnosed at 2.5 yrs of age as PDD-NOS/possible Asperger's. He had words at 10 mos old, and was repeating and memorizing children's books at 2 yrs of age. He did lots of echolalia, and lots of speaking out of context. He was pronouncing big words like "diagnosis and diarreah)LOL! at 2 yrs of age. However, it was the back and forth language that was lacking.

He is now 5 yrs old, and many of his behaviors do present more like Asperger's to me, but not all, so I am content to say that the PDD-NOS is probably the best diagnosis.

I think that you are doing the right thing by having your son evaluated. I can't say that he has Asperger's, but it sounds as though he may be on the spectrum. My son has been receiving therapy since he was 18 mos old, and is doing well in many areas, though we still struggle in some areas. He still does not enjoy playing with peers, but his speech is progressing very nicely.

Just keep reading and educating yourself as much as you can, and you will learn effective ways to engage with your son, and ways to work with him to reduce his difficult behaviors. Please come to Wrong Planet anytime you have a question, and hopefully, you will find good support here.

Hang in there, I know this is a tough time, especially with the waiting.

Haha kids are great..... Typical of a little boy to say Diarreah!!
thankyou for your reply I appreciate it...

I do keep reading as much as I can?? I'm worried that I am Reading the wrong things... But since being a member on here it has helped a great deal..

Thanks again

Sounds like me.

I cdon't think there is a day that
goes by without me sayuing something
about boogers, snot. poop, diarrhea and farts.

Boys will be boys