please help are these signs of autism

If the paediatrician does the ASC assessment it won't be them alone, they will have also probably a speech and language therapist and a psychologist as it's a multi-disciplinary assessment for a child.

My 8yo did a test in a different room, which I know included the "ice cream" test, which is a social story they tell them and then ask them questions and they either pass or fail.  They will ask you a lot about his developmental history and they will be on high alert to notice behaviours.  For instance, my daughter apparently kept commenting on the door in the hallway banging on the other side of the door and found it difficult to ignore, she also panicked that her pen dropped on the floor and said it needed to be washed because of germs and then freaked because she splashed water on herself when she washed her hands.  She also got worried when we waited in the "Parents Room" because it only said "Parents" so she thought she wasn't allowed in it.

There is no uniform way assessments are carried out, it varies across the UK but it would be highly unlikely your son would get diagnosed if he didn't have it, the more likely option is that he had it and they didn't pick up enough signs and might want some more appointments to be sure. 

just thought i would let you know leo had another lady come over today to test him she said she come to save weeks of waiting as my appointment for next week with the pediatrician was result in leo getting reffered to her and doing a abc test and other thing so she thought if she did it before hand it would help.

I avoided mentioning Autism as i wanted to see what she said she thought Leo had she did the ABC test on Leo and found he is now at the development age od top end of  years lower end of 5

I then asked her what she thought and she said straight away that she thinks Autism with dyspraxia More on the Autistic side than Dyspraxia she spent a few hours with Leo so i think she would probably be a good judge i also showed her a recording of Leo earlier that day on his all fours like a god on the sofa zoned out whispering really quick to himself his ABCs this habbit seems to be getting worse im findin it harder and harder to go out with him (i feel bad for saying it) he has also started just saying things that are a bit shocking if that makes any sence i was in council and he was saying no thats not true and answering questions they were asking me made it sound like i was lying like saying i was single not with anyone he was saying yer you are what about dad so it looked like i was lying but they meant living with him which im not.

he did this alot in his test also she noticed it to.

Leos new thing is he will not eat brown food now he said he doesnt like brown food so has stopped eatin meat chocolate and his toast is more like stale bread.

she said the reason these things are happening now is because Autism is more apparent from 7 (she said)

I dont know why but i still feel like i am going to turn round on wednesday and they are going to say nothing is rong with him or its not either of these things i just dont believe myself really is that silly?

the two proffesionals the health visitor and the school nurse have both mentioned autism and dyspraxia they are likey to know really aint they?

sorry to blabber on i just have no one to talk to about it.

how will the pediatrician test him? what do they do? what if leo is having a better day and doesnt do all the things he usually does i know it sounds silly me saying that im just worried.

the lady has sent the list i posted one here and her findings to the doctor already so he will have it all at our appointment fingers crossed

I'm concerned at your son's school's attitude.  Giving your son breakfast secretly for a month is not on.  They should have checked with you first as his parent what the situation was and asked your permission to give him food that you didn't know about, and then you could have set the record straight.  This surreptitious behaviour is very concerning.

Also, they seem to think they have powers they don't.  I am presuming the HT asked you to write this diary of his breakfasts?  They do not have the power to do that.  You are not a child, you are an adult and you have rights.  The school is your son's educator not his parent and they are not in charge of you.  Of course your son has rights too and they obviously believe they are protecting his rights - obviously school staff have a duty to report any concerns but they are making big assumptions based on the statement of a child.  If you think about it, in a court of law, how much can they legally rely on a child's statement - children are known to lie, and the younger the child the more possible this is.  So for the school to rely on what he has said without checking anything at all with you is wrong.

Not wearing socks should not give off red flags to a school, again they are jumping to conclusions and making assumptions.

This sort of thing makes me so angry, because there are these children that they don't help such as Baby P and Daniel Pelka who was starved and battered to death right under their noses, and people that have done nothing get suspected of all sorts.

If I were you, I would write a letter to the school (and copy in social services) to say that whilst you appreciate they have a duty to children, they have not behaved in an acceptable manner and you do not intend giving in to any further demands.  You expect them to fulfil their duty regarding your son's special needs and assist you in getting him assessed/statemented or whatever you are seeking.  I would also demand to know why they automatically believed a child without checking with the parent first too.

Don't be intimidated by the school, they are your son's teachers not yours!

I would request in the letter that they keep a copy of the assembly video for the purposes of your son's assessment/statement whatever, so they have no excuse to delete it.

Here is the information about behaviour:

http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/understanding-behaviour/behaviour-common-questions-answered/different-behaviour-between-school-and-home.aspx

with the lying i found out he was telling the school everyday he had not had breakfast this resulted in him getting given secretly by the school for a whole month breakfast every morning on arrival until i got a call adventurely. then i had to go in and explain myself. ANOTHER concern for them was the fact leo does not wear socks another one of leos querks he will not wear sock refuses and takes them off if i do get them on his feet. i tried to explain that to them but with the NO breakfast thing they already had a false opinion. this is the meeting is when i also brought up getting leo reffered for his development n behaviour ect... this is when they said they would not support it although they did notice his running hadnt developed.

I WAS TOLD WITH AUTISM ITS LESS NOTICEABLE AT SCHOOL AS ITS REUTINE IS THIS TRUE.

Even though the school had apparently not noticed anything i was asked to stay for assembly as they were showing leos class the video of the play they just did i watched it and it made me so fustrated leo was the ONLY child without words as he still couldnt read and he was just rolling about on the floor whispering to himself. it was like everyone was ignoring the elephant in the room it made my heart sink and made me so angry how could they not notice that. i want this video to show the pediatrision but dont know how to ask the school for it as they said they would support e on this

When i asked Leo when i got home " What do you think the school wanted me for " He said straight away "ow because they give me breakfast and i lied" (so he knew what he was doing)

because of this i had to go through the humiliation of writting to the head every day for a month what leo had had for breakfast lunch and dinner what she thought he was doing at the weekend i dont know!

I have told petty lies in the past to avoid punishment if I did something naughty and I did not want my parents to find out.

Also, age 6, I threw a magnifying glass into the school toilet (have no idea why I did this), when no-one was looking. The teacher then asked who went into the middle toilet, where the magnifying glass was thrown. I did not own up, and the teacher simply assumed that it was a child in the year above. So I think I have always had the ability to lie, but I have never been able to deceive or manipulate people in a complicated way.

On the other hand, I am extremely asperger in other areas, such as my extreme egocentricity, obsessive interests/rituals, and inability to have meaningful relationships with people. I was diagnosed despite being able to lie, so I don't think your ability to lie should automatically mean you can't have Aspergers, if you have all the other traits.

Some people on the spectrum (possibly more so children) lie because of problems with empathy.  Tony Attwood writes about this in at least one of his books.

It's not uncommon for children with ASCs to live in a fantasy world either, and this can come across as lying if they are talking about their fantasy world and what happened in it.

Another possibility, is that someone on the spectrum misunderstands meaning and therefore is answering a different question than the person asked, so they think they are lying.

Also, an AS child could be mimicking peers in an effort to get accepted, because having autism means being more likely to be a poor judge of character and acceptable behaviour.

Nothing is cut and dried.  All people have their own personalities and environmental influences whether they are autistic or not.

People with AS are blunt and honest frequently, but that doesn't mean always. Although I am the honest type, I have read experiences of other Aspies on another forum and quite a few said they told lots of lies when they were younger.

People with Autism are more likely to speak their mind (which has got some of us into trouble!) rather than lying.

thank u very much his is lovely

with the eyes yes i think thats what its called.

when i got him assessed at 2 i was at a live in college when i went back home it was shrugged off say well he seems okay now.

i have pushed and pushed and finally a doctor said he would reffer us that was first week in april i got a letter 2 days ago finally for a peditrision appointment.

i told the school they said they wouldnt support it but they did noticed his running had not developed runs with flappin arms

i have just had another baby and although leo is out of her age group she done some tests with him mentioned dyspraxia. she saw him whispering to himself counting really quick in a worlld of his own she looked at me and said there is deffinately a problem just at what level she also mentioned autism

thank u very much his is lovely

with the eyes yes i think thats what its called.

when i got him assessed at 2 i was at a live in college when i went back home it was shrugged off say well he seems okay now.

i have pushed and pushed and finally a doctor said he would reffer us that was first week in april i got a letter 2 days ago finally for a peditrision appointment.

i told the school they said they wouldnt support it but they did noticed his running had not developed runs with flappin arms

i have just had another baby and although leo is out of her age group she done some tests with him mentioned dyspraxia. she saw him whispering to himself counting really quick in a worlld of his own she looked at me and said there is deffinately a problem just at what level she also mentioned autism

As far as I know, slow bone growth has nothing to do with autism.  When you say "webbed eyes" do you mean the epicanthal folds are pronounced/distinctive?

This can be a morphological feature of autism but is by no means diagnostic and plenty of people with autism don't have this.

There are a lot of red flags that could be signs of autism which you detail.

Can I ask why no-one has suggested assessment before, bearing in mind all his delays with speech, toileting, walking and eating?  I would have thought the HV would have recommended getting him assessed, even if not for autism for whatever could be causing him all these issues.

I would definitely suggest taking him to the GP and asking for immediate referral for ASD assessment, he clearly has a lot of issues that need investigating, and it could be autism, or could even be something genetic that causes autistic-like traits.

He sounds a lovely little boy BTW.