Is this aspergers?

[mom2ck]

Following is a little about my son who was diagnosed with adhd, ocd, and tics disorder a little over 1 year ago. A child psych recently diagnosed him as PDD. She wants a neuro test of him as well. I asked about AS, and she told me he wasn't autistic. I never thought he was autistic, but from my research I see maybe AS which falls under PDD. (this same info is under another topic in Tourettes and Tics, but thought someone here might have more experience with this).

 

The school psychologist did report she thought he was aspergers. She did some checklist of questions which showed it was probable. His teacher reports he is very bright, one of the brightest in the class. He always has the answer and remembers everything he learns. He is very fascinated with learning. However, it is sometimes hard to get or keep his attention because of distractions or ticcing which causes him to lose focus. He is also behind in motor skills which causes poor hand writing skills and not very good in sports. Therefore other boys don't want him on their team on the playground. He is up in your face when talking to you or trying to get your attention. He doesn't observe personal space. He also likes to play alone. This is mainly due to other kids not wanting to play his game, which is usually star wars or some sort of fighting. He hardly ever makes eye contact. He can stay on tasks for hours when playing his Wii or computer games, building legos, playing with his Thomas trains, drawing, or watching Star Wars. At home, I find staying on task isnt hard. It is transitiioning from one thing to another. But, with verbal cues and touch it helps.

 

As a little guy (2-3) he was very interested in Thomas the train and played with them all of the time. He also occasionally played with his lego table. At 5-6 he became very interested in legos and anything to do with the Army and fighting. At 6, we got him a Wii for Christmas against my better judgement because his ped. said it would help with his motor skills. I didnt want this as I knew he would hyperfocus on it and be addicted to it. He did fine for a while with bowling, shooting, etc. But then started playing Batallion Wars II. It is a game that is army tanks that fight off enemies. It quickly became his favorite game and he played it over and over. It is rated T for teen and he has conquered it. For his 7th birthday, we got him star wars lego wii game as he became very interested in Star Wars. Again, it became his favorite. For Christmas a couple of days ago he got a few Star War lego sets. Within an hour he had the first mini one already put together. Now it is torn apart as he has made his own things out of it. He keeps himself occupied by pretending to play army or star wars even when other kids are around. His free drawings are always an army or star wars scene complete with tanks, missiles, people, etc. He has every last detail.

 

We started him in karate this fall and the spatial awareness is his biggest issue. His instructor is great and very patient! He has to constantly ask him to step back, or get in line, or move over. His tics do cause him to lose focus especially the smelling fingers/ nose touching. Other times, his own little games or punching the air or fighting sounds cause him to lose focus, especially when the instructor is talking alot instead of demonstrating. Again, his instructor says "eyes on me" or "look up here" or something alot during the 50 min. class. He loves karate and it is giving a sense of accomplishment. But, it is evident he is behind in motor skills on his movements. He constantly gets messed up about what hand or foot to make a move with even with demonstration. He also gives up easily when he doesn't do things well...pushups or situps. He wants to stop and take a break which he can't do.

 

In soccer this year, he was fine as long as he was in the action. When the coach put him back to defense he lost focus and had no clue what was going on. The bad thing, he isn't the fastest or most athletic so his turns on offense were limited. He also would ask to take a break as he was hot or needed a drink even though he might have just had one. He said he wanted to play soccer and he likes soccer, but it is very frustrating to me (a pe teacher and coach for 8 years) and his dad to see him do these things. I am very much, you start something, you finish it. So, not sure if we will do this next year. We have already decided baseball isn't going to happen again. He says he wants to play, but he losses focus as there isn't enough movement. Plus, hand eye coordition isnt there. Hitting a ball is hard for him and catching a ball doesn't occur because of the motor skill delays. His dad and I have decided he isn't going to be an athlete and aren't encouraging him to go that route. We see he is different and has different interests. So, we are trying to help him with that. Right now, karate is it. Plus, he loves photography so we got him a camera for Christmas. In less than 24 hours he has taken 130+ pictures. They are all centered and many are excellent pics. It is just funny to me to see what catches his eye. He has photographed everything!

 

Well sorry for the long story again. There is just so much to share about our son and some of which has been shared in other posts. He is different, but he also is very special in his own ways.

Thanks

Christy

[anewnormal]

It does sound like Asperger's to me. I have four children with Asperger's and I have Asperger's myself so I know it well. Does he have sensory issues and high anxiety?

 

All the things you mentioned... motor tics, hyperfocus behaviors, very smart, trouble with friends, poor fine motor skills, poor eye contact, etc. All of these things point to Asperger's. I would evaluate how he interprets tone of voice, sarcasm, etc. and whether or not he takes things literally too often. You might also want to do research on Nonverbal Learning Disorder. Asperger's and NVLD overlap in many ways and are very similar to each other.

 

I think an evaluation is definitely in order. He has many signs of Asperger's. And he doesn't have to have every single sign to get the diagnosis. All Aspies are different and they can present with many different signs. For example... I have two brothers, both with Asperger's, both adults. One of them is very shy, awkward, social phobia, no eye contact, barely talks, etc. The other is very talkative and doesn't have the ability to filter what he says. This means he says EVERY SINGLE THING that pops into his head. The problem with this is he is a very negative person. He has offended and shocked so many people, it's unbelievable. Both brothers are obsessive, anxious, have sensory issues, and have trouble with friendships. And even though they have trouble with friendships for different reasons, it all comes from Asperger's.

 

Like they say, if you've met one Aspie, you've met ONE Aspie!

 

Good luck!

[mom2ck]

Thanks for responding!

He has many sensory issues and high anxiety. When we went to the Neuro she asked what were the top 3 things we saw as issues. They were tics, anxiety,and concentration (mostly due to tics)