It's been a label that's accessed him a lot of help
What kinds of help is he getting? It sounds like not much at school.
struggles with written tasks, maintaining attention & following instructions.... He doesn't receive any support or extension at school, though he's with an excellent teacher who has been amazing for him. Learning support seem to see him as not needing help.
My DS8 (gifted/Asperger's) took a while to take to school. The writing component was a big issue. Sometimes this can be addressed through OT; our school refused to address it, so we worked on it through outside ABA therapy (lots of speed-writing and fluency drills).
Do you have access to a speech/language therapist to work on the speech and receptive language issues? I would recommend it.
Does your DS do as well with comprehending fiction as nonfiction? My DS has always tested far above grade level in reading, but when he was younger he really had a hard time reading fiction (plots usually revolve around social understanding); we have worked on that through lots and lots of exposure, and it's improved markedly over time. If it's a relative weakness, I'd say work on it, because by 4th grade they are typically learning things like history and social studies by reading fiction books that deal with those issues.
Schools in the US are required to address "functional" (not only academic) needs; which means that DS has had access to a limited amount of social skills training at school, as well as direct support for things like sitting still for instruction and learning to look like he's paying attention. This has helped him "do school" more successfully and not alienate teachers or other kids.
DS's attention did improve in the gifted pullout (smaller group is better) and when he got appropriately accelerated math. At age 6, I don't know what's available to your DS, but you probably do want to keep an eye on the appropriateness of material. That said, people with Asperger's also generally have a very hard time learning what they're not interested in-- we have found it necessary to constantly try to expand his interests and his flexibility, in order that he pay attention in school.
I'd also recommend that you check in with the parent forum at
http://www.aspergersyndrome.org -- nice people who've solved a lot of tough problems.
DeeDee
