He also lacks inference skills so, even though he excels in most academic subjects, his reading comprehension is his major weakness.
I think AS is more than excessive obsession and social awkwardness.
Yes to this. We had aspergers suggested to us by a person at a Mensa AG of all places b/c dd was completely overwhelmed by the group in the kids trek area. Dd does not have aspergers. She is highly gifted and has SPD, though. However, at nearly 11, you would never even know that she has sensory issues anymore though. She, too, has been evaluated by a number of professionals (psych, OT, etc.)
The big difference I see btwn her and a friend of hers who does have aspergers is much the same as that which I quoted above. Her friend, while also gifted, has some significant weaknesses in language arts, has an unusual intonation to speech patterns (dd says it sounds like he has a foreign accent), and the friend has some ecolalia issues -- will repeat things back to you. The social structure of conversations is really impaired. I might say, "dd is at a friend's right now. I'll have her call you back." and get a response of "dd is at a friend's right now. I realize that. I'll have her call you back. I realize that."
