Child aspie behavior?

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I know every aspie is different, but could you describe the personalities and behaviors of your aspie child or children? I'm not trying to get in everyone's business, but I have a problem. I signed up to volunteer at an autism center strictly for little kids. I did this to observe other people with autism since I've never been around any other aspies. I thought I'd be able to bear it, but I'm freaking out! I don't be around children often let alone autistic kids. So not only am I scared of the staff, I've scared of the children, too. People are people no matter what age and people SCARE me. So I just wanted to know what I might be dealing with to prepare myself. The kids at the school/center are like kindergarten/1st grade age.

At that age my son, Asperger's, wanted people to answer his questions and listen to him talking about his obsession, the weather, trains and Thomas the Tank Engine mainly at that age. He talked all the time, and was particularly confident with adults. His vocabulary and grammar were very advanced for his age, as was his wide-ranging interest in the world around him.

My son has no awareness of personal space and gets very close to people, including grabbing hold of them and sitting on them. He flapped and banged his head a lot at that stage and was very physically and mentally active.

So, that's one type of autistic child for you. I hope that's helpful for you.

Have you spoken to the people who run this centre to make sure that you have support for yourself if you need it? Perhaps you could have a quiet place that you can go if you are at all overwhelmed...

Good luck with it, I'm sure it will be an interesting experience, but if you try it and find that you're not suited to that kind of work, then don't be afraid to admit that. Go into it with an open mind and see how it goes.

I admire you for taking on this new challenge. My son is only 4.5, so I am still trying to figure him out! He is more than likely Asperger's. He is overall a pleasant little boy, but he has challenges paying attention and focusing on new things that are being shown to him. He does like to sing and clap or talk about something off topic when the teachers are showing him something new. He flaps his hands when he is excited.

I have encountered some of the kids in his class that are a bit more severe. They seem to have loud outbursts of noises, scream sometimes, and cry sometimes. I see them putting their hands in their mouths or chewing on objects quite a bit. They are a bit younger than kindergarten, so I am not completely sure about that.

I hope this works out for you, but like the other posters said, don't be afraid to take a break!

Just a little update. I had so much fun today volunteering! The kids were adorable. At first I was put in a preschool class (I forgot there was a preschool class there), it was like sensory overload. They touched me, they were loud, they ran all over the place, and when they spoke to me I nearly fainted . I stuck it out, though and was moved to a 1st grade class where most of the kids had classic autism. A lot easier. I got kind of attached. They were so cute . For the last few hours, I was sent back to the same preschool class and as I observed them playing I think I could point out at least 3 kids with AS, so I felt better and not alone.

I had advanced vocabulary, talked non-stop about interests, poor eye-contact, and walked around on my tip-toes. I was also very rigid with rules and corrected everyone on everything.