Expert: James Michael Roan - 1/18/2008

Question
Hope you can help. Our son is 8 and I think he has an asd. He didnt speak until after he was 2. We thought he was deaf but the tests said he wasn't. He would run from one end of the room to the other constantly when he was small(something he still does)but we just thought it was toddler behaviour.Ever since he has arm flapped especially in front of his face. He now explains that as getting the "characters" in his head to do things in his stories. He lines everything up and is obsessed with time and pokemon! He doesnt talk with you he talks at you. He has been bullied at school a lot so we changed school but he still had trouble. This was when we took him to the psychiatrist. He spoke with him for about 3 minutes and told him a joke. My son half laughed at the joke(in fairness, it wasn't that funny). On this, the doctor said it couldnt be asd as he had gotten the joke and that the arm flapping was just "a habit". He has no friends in class but says he likes everyone the same.The arm flapping and his "own world place" have taken him over so much that on holiday last year he wouldnt even swim for long as he would have to get back out of the water to resume what he calls"his games" again. Any advice?

Answer
Hi Deborah;

Please keep in mind that I do not diagnose over the internet, but I would encourage you to have a psychologist who specializes in Asperger's syndrome (AS) have a look at him. AS is a high functioning form of autism. Other than myself (ha,ha!), Tony Attwood is the primary expert professional in this area and has a web page. You can also go to:
http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/tests/cast_test.asp

and download the Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test (CAST) and Scoring Key. It will give some sense of whether you should have him evaluated or not.

Kind regards,
James