HELP! I think my boyfriend's son has autism or AS.

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Hello....

In my family I have 2 younger cousins, one with Autism and one with AS. I do not think I am highly qualified to diagnose.. but I do know I have experience with the said syndromes.

I have been dating my boyfriend for only 5 months. In getting serious with him, he has introduced me to his 3yo (almost 4yo) son. His son only is interesting in playing 'Mario'. He repeats only what is said on the screen. Even when driving in the car, or eating out at dinner he will only say video game words, like- "Yoshi, Mario, Peach or Captain Falcon". When asked a simple question like "Are you Hungry?" He replies (Yelling) "NOO, no hungry." (He says "NO" to everything) Only after the question has been repeatably asked. When he gets excited he does (what my family calls it) the "Happy Dance", covering his face & running away. He shows absolutely NO interest in things. Does not count or say his ABC's. When he does talk on his own, you cannot understand because it sounds like he's speaking in his own language, using no sentence structure. He also has been described by others who have met him as being in his own world. When visiting family (ie. Grandma & Grandpa) he doesn't want to hug, he says again 'No'.

His father (my boyfriend) has mentioned to me before that he thought his son may have a behavioral disability, and that he brought it up to his son's mother, and she threw the idea away. Telling him there was nothing wrong with their son. I am fearful for him, if there is anything delayed in his learning, speech or hearing I feel it should be taken care of properly at a young age so we ALL know what we're dealing with, and how to help the young man.

I don't know what to do or how to handle this situation, I care about this boy & his father and only want what's best. What do y'all think?? What do I do???

We have a Parenting Forum, here at WP. There are lots of like-minded members, who can help you, there.

Ok, I just posted the same question to that forum. I'm new. Can ya tell!?!

A warranted query....you are right to consider he may be an ASD individual.

Just a note that may seem counterintuitive (?) and may be conjecture but evidence abounds - I am an Aspie/HFA. I have a high genetic predisposition to ASD's. Oftentimes if an individual, such as yourself, has Autism in the family they might be attracted to an individual who is similarly surrounded by Autism. This is logical, albeit anecdotal, since Autism is pervasive with both biochemical, physical, and behavioral differences, even amongst family members who are Neurotypical. You might be attracted to your bf for a reason.....you both have a connection to Autism.

Again, this might seem strange (?) but I've really noticed that if one has an Autistic child, for example, then they may later actually choose a mate with Autistic tendencies. Autism occurs in clusters. I can detect the scent of another Autistic (I've always been able to) and I find this compelling; I follow that scent. (btw, it's isovanillic acid which is a variant of dopamine predominant in ASD). Simply stated, Autistics have the scent of vanilla, however subtle. This is not strange or unexpected; recall that diabetics, for an analogy, can have a fruity scent (metabolic pathway) - - Ndotlevy, not to be presumptous, but you may have chosen your bf based upon latent chemical signals, at least in part. Like attracts like.

Oh, back to your question! Yes, the Parents' Discussion might be a good place to start (short-cut here): http://www.wrongplanet.net/forum19.html

And, welcome to the Wrong Planet! We have a forum for that too - - in the getting to know you forum.