My reception son getting hit by autistic child

Hi all,

Looking for some advice really.

my son started school three days ago and has been hit by the same child every day. I'm told the other child is autistic or is on the scale. The teacher has told my son to raise his arms to protect his face while they (as in my son and teacher) teach the child not to do it.

the bit that concerns me, is the other boy is only hitting my son. He is bright and socially confident, but as far as the teacher is concerned my son has done nothing to provoke the hit. I only know second hand from a friend who has an autistic child, that close proximity and noisy environments can cause the hitting, I just don't understand why it is only my son. Is it normal for an autistit child to pick one person to lash out at?

I'm trying to process and think of how to deal with this. My son is popular and confident and has been at nursery part time for years. He has never dealt with this before.

My thought are ranging from hit him back then he'll hit some one else (nursery trained him well so he wouldn't do that, and hey, I know its not the best thing, but joking aside, if he does stand up for himself and shout, push etc, would that stop it?) to speaking to the other boys parents, to writing to the head.

dont want to create a storm Or upset the other child or his parents, but I can't accept my son getting walloped for months on end. Can young autistic children be taught early not to hit? Is there anything i can teach my son that will help? Should the school not have extra resources to deal with children with difficulties?

any thoughts would be appreciated.

thanks