WOW! My son, who just turned 3 in April sounds almost EXACTLY like your son. I am also fraught with anxiety over it as a friend just mentioned Aspergers to me and his teacher wants him evaluated for behavior and social issues. Apparently he is very distractable, doesn't stay on task well, and does parallel play.
My son can't read, but is starting to be able to sound out 3 letter words and spell them (sun, fan, etc.). He learned his letters(upper/lowercase), numbers, colors shapes, all between his first and 2nd year. His teacher believes he only does parallel play now. HOWEVER, I see him initiate play with other children all the time in playdates. BUT, he acts really silly and gets them to mimic him, basically. Other children think he's really fun because of that. He is the one controlling the play, though, which worries me. He will mimic other kids, too, but he prefers when they follow him. With older kids, he will "herd". The other day he kept following the older kids as they doorbell ditched. The older kids never payed attention to him. .
What sticks out to me is he doesn't really talk to other kids, mostly. It is basically physical play. But, if I think about it, other kids his age (while playing) don't really talk that much to eachother. Although with adults he is a chatterbox. My son does not do the baby talk as you mentioned, but he will make up words to be funny. He's call something the wrong name as a joke.
My son loves anything that spins and makes noise: fans, blenders, vaccuum cleaners. He never did the repetitive spinning of objects either. He has routines as well. If he reads a new book a certain way, it has to be read the same way every time after that. Like if he skips a page, he has to ALWAYS skips it. My son is constantly in motion, and it sounds like your son is too.
He has eye contact, smiled early, met milestones on time, loves affection and is very affectionate with everyone. Is also extremely compassionate. If a kid (girl) gets hurt, he goes over to them and rubs their back. If a kid is in time out, he will go over to them and try to make them laugh if they are crying. If my younger son (6 months) is crying, he will try everything under the sun to get him to stop (pacifier, doing something silly, singing for him). He understands when I'm mad, and will actually tell me this.
His sentences are still a bit disjointed sometimes and he mixes up pronouns. He memorizes factual information about cars, too and memorized the planets at 18 months I believe. STILL loves the planets. He also follows a story pretty well and when asked can answer what the book is about.
He DOES repeate questions we ask him sometimes. He also repeats things we say still. He does the exact same thing with asking questions to point things out. It's a way of engaging us in conversation and MAKING us talk to him. If he just states something, maybe we ignore him sometimes? So he asks us a question so we feel compelled to ansswer. Or maybe we ask him so many questions that he is just doing what we do?
He sings some songs, and seems to pick them up very quickly from school. Anything new in his life, he will talk and ask questions about incessantly until the next new thing or experience happens.
He is VERY good with gross motor. CLimbs everything, swims by himself a little, has no fear, and kicks, hits, throws well. He also doesn't like his tricycle though. He can barely copy a circle (horribly), will balk at holding crayons and drawing (wants me to do it for him). He will have strong reactions sometimes when we try to take something away from him or not give him what he wants, but is failry easily redirected when we threaten time out or if we use a logical explanation. Potty training is a struggle. Will go pee on the potty, but won't tell us when. He will NOT poopy on the potty.
He is also absoultely fine in crowds, groups, new situations. He actually seems to thrive and like new situations. Loved the dentist. Had a swim test today, and did even better for the instuctor than for my husband who takes him swimming every week.
We are getting him assessed by the OT/ST in 3 weeks and will let you know what they say. What was the outcome of your son's evaluation? Did they say he had Aspergers? I'm very interested since they sounds almost exactly the same.
Erin
