We took him to a university neuropsych when he was six and he said autism was unlikely. His pragmatic language was good, the "Theory of Mind" test was good, and the parent/teacher rating scales were in the normal range for the most part, with some elevations (but nothing that would make a diagnosis clear cut). Neuropsych diagnosed him w/ DCD. He also had some informal autism evals when he was younger (a toddler and then again when he was three) and both times, we were told that autism was unlikely.
DS doesn't have any big sensory issues, except that he can't stand it when people chew gum. He used to flap his hands when he was excited. He has never had any repetitive behavior like lining things up, or obsessions with things. He loved things like carseat buckles and was fascinated with them, but if someone took the carseat away it wasn't a big deal to him. He does not have a lot of anxiety and has never had a real temper tantrum because he doesn't get upset enough. But he does come across as awkward. Sometimes silly when he shouldn't be, or doesn't continue conversations w/ people if he's not really interested in the topic.
I guess I don't really understand how a child with autism could have a good sense of humor if one of the main characteristics of autism is that they take things literally and have a literal use of language. Can someone please explain? I think that in an older child or adult, they could learn to understand puns and whatnot over time, but in a young child, you wouldn't expect them to actually be advanced in this if they have autism. Or at least I wouldn't.h
polarbear, you are right. There seems to be quite a bit of overlap and I did just give the school some articles. It turns out no one had really read the info in his file, for instance the neuropsych report, and I kept feeling like they were hinting at autism.
