My DD was so effing weird at 3. Does that help?
Haha! I guess we're all characters.
You probably will not like this advice, but it might be sort of instructive to get him into some group situations more often. You might get a better sense of what you are looking at, it's good to see what other adults see in his behvaior and how he does with other authority figures, and you could probably use a break.
I'm not quite so aversive as you might think.
I've been getting out and meeting a LOT of local groups and parents to find group activities where DS might enjoy meeting some new friends who share some of his interests. The challenge at this age is that so much of what is available is either infantile or top-down dictated.
I've found an open-ended, multi-age children's theater group for the fall in which DS would be one of the youngest participants. Given that he's the size of a 5 year old and tends to lead play, I am hopeful that he would enjoy creating imaginary worlds with 5-6 year olds. We've also started attending family open swim at a university, and it's giving DS an opportunity to play with some older children, which he enjoys. His preferred play partnership short of his parents, are boys in the 5-8 range.
I'm also exploring some multi-age sports clubs.
Most adults who meet him think he is a well-behaved 5 or 6 year old. And then he talks about something on his mind, like hematology or space elevators, and they don't know what to say.
