One of my sons, let's call him J, has recently developed an obsession with spelling words with magnetic letters. He's mainly copying words that he sees around the house (buttons on the dishwasher, dvd player, etc.), and it's hard to tell if he knows what the letters are spelling. It looks almost like he's playing a sequencing game, not really spelling words. Although he did spell out NOTI one time, stand across the room and point at it with wide eyes and say "Ooooh, it's naughty! Naughty!".
I had to reply to this because my son did this a lot when he was in the 2-4 y/o range. He is not autistic, but is PG. He began *trying* to spell words phonetically when he was around two. (He began reading early.) This went on for a year or so. Your "noti" description is a good fit for how mine interacted with letters and trying to spell.
One day I walked into the kitchen and saw "sicad" on the fridge. On closer inspection I noticed that he had placed an empty "cicada" shell on top of the word. It helped me figure out what he had spelled.
I only recall him *copying* the spelling of words around the house a few times.
I say all of this because I think it's interesting that yours did spell "noti" and did identify it as "naughty" at such a young age. Maybe if you kept a notebook nearby and jotted down the things he does, you could get a clearer picture. (I'm sure twins keep you busy and leave little time for contemplation!) Ultimately, I too believe that watching his social interactions is going to be of more help than focusing on his spelling and letter interests. Trust your instincts, too.
