Surfbaby - you DS sounds a lot like my DS5 in a bunch of ways. He really sounds like a gifted quirky kid. That's definitely how my guy is. He is quite extroverted and always has been great at memorizing everything (license plates, phone numbers, etc). It just comes easy to him. He has always been into numbers, letters, etc. He is socially much better with adults than kids his age. He acts "silly" (for lack of a better word because I really can't describe it) with peers his age, or mostly when there is a lot going on and seems overstimulated (that is my guess at this point). My theory with the behaviors with kids his age as he isn't quite sure how to relate with them because he sees how different they are. They have completely different interests then him for the most part. I think he interprets them as much different. He also can act immature and "silly" with older kids and adults too, but it is not at much at all. He does experiment sometimes. Like he will wonder what will happen and then will try something out to see. He pushes limits more with people that don't have clear limits becaue he wants to know and understand what they are. I think it is hard too because he is such a little man and always has been. I constantly say to myself "okay, he is 5 and it's okay if he wants to act goofy a bit...even though it doesn't makes sense at all to me" He is just a little goofy sometimes, and that's okay. It is nice sometimes because it reminds me that he is a kid.
My DS enjoys challenging himself, but isn't used to not getting something right away. He can be very patient and work hard, but having to work at something for a long time and not get it is quite foreign to him.
Oh, and we skipped K with DS5 and it seems to be working well. He is a HG+ kid and I don't think K would have been a good fit for him at all. He gets a ton of differentiation in first now.
Good luck, glad to see you on here and learn more about your DS.
