Thanks everyone for the replies. I think my son would be cooperative in testing and it also would not be financially difficult for us. He has a great preschool and we’re having continuing conversations with his teachers this week. I saw a small improvement in his behavior report today after he and I had a heart to heart over the weekend.
My theory behind his behavior, which is defiant to an excessive degree, is that he feels powerless against banal routine and gets to feel in control when he disrupts class by throwing toys or refuses to line up for recess (common examples). One teacher is from the district he will be attending for kindergarten. I will ask her and our family support person for the district what, if anything, can be done to accommodate him.
I feel like school might be boring or constrictive to him because it isn’t engaging or challenging enough. It’s a daycare that has a district school teacher come in for part of the day. Kids are learning letters and their sounds, for instance—something he has literally mastered before 2yo. My son is reading currently—he knows a lot of words by sight. When I say that, I don’t mean the typical words one is drilled on in grade school (and, the, and so on), but random stuff like “coconut.” He just picks it up. His idea of fun is building circuits or creating his own board games, drawing maps, or playing board games and card games, including Dungeons and Dragons. He plays like a normal 5yo; everyday he does typical 5yo stuff. But everyday he also works on myriad projects that take a long attention span and concentration. It’s the second thing that I think isn’t getting nourished at his current school. It seems when he is able to start something like that during a class work period, that it is either ruined by a classmate using the same space or interrupted abruptly by the next phase of the day (snack or whatever).
Kindergarten is this fall. I will work with the district resources to see what they recommend and if that includes testing of some kind. If he has any other considerations, my guess would be very mild Aspergers. (My husband thinks he himself is undiagnosed. Probably genetic.)
