Does this sound just quirky? Alot of aspie kids flap and rock and....... My son is 8 and does more of the finger and wrist twisting. Heused to flap and he does continual jump up/down when watching or playing something exciting. It all could be a sign of anxiety also. My 12y is not ASD but she rocks and flaps(one hand) when overly anxious. Oh---and the spinning!!! Loves to spin on our barstool chair. I see some red flags too.  I see everyone through autism hued glasses (good description!) and see so many kids who are at the min. quirky!  I'd be worried about obsessions like that though.  If I come across things like that I might talk about some basic facts of asd in general conversation and see if the mom picks up on it.  If I was really convinced the kid had a problem I'd come out and say something but I'd have to be pretty sure.SOunds Quirky or Aspie This is about a neighbor's child, not mine, and just curious. He is 2.5, and I am wondering if this sounds like just quirky behavior, rather than spectrum. I think just quirky, but wanted to run it past the experts. He is an adorable little guy. He flaps a lot when he is excited. He is OBSESSED with balls. has 100s in his house. He will sit and bounce on large balls basically the whole time we play (he will get up and do other stuff, and do other things while bouncing, but bouncing is sort of the default) He rarely smiles, doesn't seem to like other kids much at this point (but is still young). He talks really well for a kid his age. Is very affectionate with mom, but not so much with his dad. I'm worried that I will only see **SPECTRUM** in everything now...sigh You have identified several red flags that are associated with aspergers. What do the parents think?   I guess that was my question. Most of my research has been with Kanner autism type characterisitics because they seem to fit my son better. Thanks alot for chiming in - I wasn't really aware of the common characterisitics of Asp. So... Asperberger kids flap and rock and bounce as well?   Oh, and as for the parents. I don't think they are too concerned about much. The mom showers him with attention, and I think is a little worried about the social aspects, but not too much. We have never discussed the possibility of the "Big A". Honestly, I just assumed I was looking through autism-hued glasses.   Shelly R ,My sons First Obsession were balls ,I remember going to WalMart with him and trying to avoid the Balls ,That seem to be Everywhere. Linda I see autism everywhere. It's been pretty rare that I've been wrong. In fact, our neighbor is just starting to suspect autism in her dd. I haven't been sure on that one - but I'm glad she's getting it checked out. She definitely has some red flags. I definitely see some red flags in your post. But, it could be quirky or autism. Autism is a spectrum and lots of kids on all ends of the spectrum can rock and hand-flap. The same symptoms apply for Asperger's  that do to autism - except they eliminate the communication category. The only exception is that the child cannot have a significant language delay before age 3 and they cannot have a clinically significant delay in cognitive development or adaptive behavioral skills. But the repetitive, stereotypical behaviors are definitely a criteria along with the social issues. My m-i-l gently asked me (when ds was almost 3) if I was at all concerned by how obsessed my ds was with vacuums. The woman has 13 kids and is an awesome mom so my reply was, "Well, not until you mentioned it!" I brought it up at ds' 3 year well-child visit and the ped encouraged us to keep an eye on him, particularly his social skills. I honestly don't think he would have gotten a diagnosis at that point - but after a year in pre-school, it was easier to get the diagnosis as we had more outside opinions. It's a hard position to be in, but sometimes sharing what YOU are going through with your child can get a parent thinking... I hope the parents decide to get him checked out soon! Sarah was really obsessed with balls...it was her first word..and had tons of them and sought them out no matter where we went. Since I stayed at home with her and nursed her..she was very attached to me and let me hold her and always had her hand wrapped up in my shirts constantly...but never noticed anyone else. Her sister felt it the most and felt she didnt love her...couldnt understand why she would play with her:(  Mine didnt have flapping or stimmy behaviors that were noticable but she did toe walked..I didnt think anything of it till it was pointed out to me as a red flag. Does he have any other sensory issues to noise or clothing..food adversions..clumsy gait or motor skills behind peers? I have great autism radar now and just cant help myself..it's the same with my nursing skills...I constantly am diagnosing one thing or another. It is great you are so knowlegable and can keep an eye out and be able to give your neighbor some info or some hints towards looking into finding answers if it really is looking like aspergers. Best of luck to you on that one:)
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