Hi, I have undiagnosed Aspergers in my family (my brother and possibly mum) and so I've always been worried that my children might suffer too.
My eldest is now 5 and whilst he has some traits but not others. It may be that he's just shy/intorverted and because I am inevitably going to worry about it, I would appreciate your views...
He hums a lot (monotone), usually when playing with vehicles (ie making the engine noise) but sometimes just for the sake of it. He is an extremely fussy eater, worse than any other child I know. A lot of this is to do with the texture of the food and he refuses to try most foods.
He plays well one-to-one with other children but struggles in groups. At school he does everything with his best friend from nursery and his cousin, but doesn't seem interested in making other new friends. He is bright, especially with maths, but has issues with concentration and focus.
His speech is almost always louder than necessary and quite nasal in quality (he does have some fluid in his inner ears though so this could be the reason). He can play independently for long periods and usually goes for the same kind of toy (right now lego but used to be cars) but enjoys a wide range of activities.
He often doesn't respond to greetings etc and isn't great at smalltalk, but this may be down to his age, shyness and taking a while to warm up. He has a few phobias eg handdryers and hairdressers but others (eg showers, hairdryers and alarms) we have made good progress on.
On the other hand, his eye contact is fine. He is very loving and tactile. He knows how to behave with other children (ie sharing etc) and is normally the well-bahaved one. He doesn't have meltdowns, he doesn't seem to have issues with change or routines, he does show empathy and keen to do the right thing. He does show creativity but not so keen in role-play etc, again maybe this is because he's more of an introvert.
I have flagged up my concerns with the school and they are keeping an eye on him. They are not yet referring him for diagnosis. What are your gut feelings? Thanks