1. Have you read Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children? It is a good book to have around if you have any questions like this. Not that all these questions can be answered easily though. It may take some time for the answer to come out.
2. My son was fixated on letters before his second birthday - read letters and numbers any time he saw them. License plates.... parking lots were pure misery as he wanted to read every plate. I saw a tv story on hyperlexia and definitely wondered. Then came the spelling fixation. And the reading fixation.
My son is gifted and is now 11 years old. No autism. I had complete strangers tell me that he was "obviously" autistic because of the early reading or "obviously" ADHD because he was active.
3. A child can be autistic and gifted at the same time. Some of the folks on the twice exceptional board might have some insights.
4. I guess what I am saying is that this might be gifted or autistic or both. However, I suspect it may be early to tell - and it may be unnecessary to tell at this point. However, if it is necessary to tell the difference, I suggest a pediatric neuropsychologist or a psychologist who is experienced with gifted children.
In any case - Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis is a great book to have.
Mary
