The neuropsych I took DS to said that if I had taken him to certain centers they might have slapped him with an asperger's label due to his cognitive ability and odd speech/mannerisms (like flapping hands, walking on toes, etc). But he does fine on tests for asperger's/autism and there are no red flags other than the superficial type ones. There is an overlap between dyspraxia/developmental coordination disorder and autism. Wikipedia has a good page.
Some autistic people do have stereotyped (repetitive/odd) behaviors or motor delays, as well as comorbid conditions like dyspraxia, but autistic people all have some delay in social skills, which is not necessarily true with those other disorders. In addition, not all autistic people have the motor issues you describe.
I'm not saying nobody is ever wrongly diagnosed-- it happens-- but a careful neuropsych will tease out the difference between these distinct diagnoses.
It makes sense for parents to ask lots of questions about how the neuropsych arrived at their conclusions, and follow up on any conclusions that don't make sense with the parents' gut feeling.
DeeDee
