This may be a bit long, but I just don't know what to think anymore. Sorry in advance - don't read if you don't have the time.
I've done an online assessment for autism and it scored my 8 yr old as mild PDD. I have asked the ped. for an ADD assessment at the end of last school year, but didn't ever give it to his teacher for completion.
I have wondered about this before, but have always said he was just immature for his age until my mom mentioned autism the other day.
He does well in school in 3rd grade this year, but does not have normal social interaction - I'm afraid the other boys think he's weird. I even had a 6 yr old girl tell me that he's weird this weekend at the pool.
He gets real happy or anxious and he kinda flaps his hands and sometimes does this "dance" with kicking his heels out jumping from one foot to the other. I always said that helped him to release his extra energy. He doesn't do it a whole lot - maybe once or twice every couple of months.
He has been in speech therapy since he was 3 - thought to be caused by ear troubles as a child - although his hearing is perfect and he only needed the one set of ear tubes. He has some mouth issues though - he got his 2 front teeth knocked out by a GI doc doing a endoscopy at the age of 2 and we had to put in a prostetic arch with 2 fake front teeth. I was afraid this would affect his speech more. So then he has that until he went in kindergarten (at age 5.5). That comes out - figured another adjustment to his speech. Has a diving board accident that year - ripping out several more baby teeth and gum - oral surgery. Then the teeth came in through a hole in the gum versus the normal way, so he had early braces (9 months) that were just removed the end of this last school year. He still has a permanent retainer in behind his top teeth now. And then was hit with a baseball bat this June and had to have stitches throughout his lips. Yes - he might be a slight klutz. But he still has trouble with several sounds and is having trouble spelling and reading now - at his age level. The speech therapist says its his conversational speech that is delayed right now.
He really has no muscle tone whatsoever even though he does karate and gymnastics. He has joint pain and has been seeing a rheumy for possible JRA since age 2 as well. His ana is positive starting last year - had not been before. And he NEVER complains about anything either - painwise. He just limps along.
Just since kindergarten, he has started having some outbursts of anger. Usually if a GameCube is not going his way. Or when playing with other kids and he keeps losing (or they change the rules on him). Some of the kids I'm afraid don't want to play with him cause of his immature ways.
He has always been in his own little world if watching TV or playing GameCube. Even with his legos and stuff - he just doesn't hear me or his dad calling him until we have to scream his name just to get his attention.
Oh yeah - we also had an MRI done last year for his vomiting migraines and it was normal - neuro doc said it was just migraines - he's had those since he was 4. But he did notice the lack of muscle tone. And he doesn't like to be touched too much - no hugs or kisses for anyone.
Am I obsessing over all the little things too much? Is there anything they can do for mild PDD? Should I do a further assessment and by whom? I just don't want him to grow up feeling left out all the time and not being chosen for activities and birthday parties and such (I know you have to understand that part). Luckily I don't think he even realizes this at all.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/information.

It sounds like he has mild PDD. The jumping with the dance is a sensory issue and so is the anger probably. If he's not able to organize his thoughts he is reacting with the rage. You should have him evaluated by a developmental pediatrician.

My son is almost three and is HFA. He does well and but has some sensory issues similar to how you describe your son. Occupational Therapy helps with sensory problems. If he has PDD he maybe would benefit from an intergrated classroom which provides more individualized attention and a teacher that is familiar with the needs of a child with PDD. Also he wouldn't stand out as "weird" since he would be around other kids in a similar situation. I worry so about the future and how cruel other kids can be. I hear this stuff usually starts around the third grade.

I have read alot about PDD and learned alot through my sons therapist. If I can answer anything please don't hesitate.

He sounds great so I wouldn't worry too much. Just look in to it and get some OT help for the sensory piece and then go with the Developmental pediatricians recommendations. Good Luck

Thanks so much for responding jeffreysmom.
How do you go about finding a developmental pediatrician?
My son had received OT and PT for the last 3 years. OT in the classroom was to help his lowered writing and cutting skills thought to be from JRA - he currently uses a slant board. But his OT and PT stated that even though his skills are lower than the average child his age (testing at about 72 months - 6 yr) - he was considered normal and was dropped from the services. His current class has a down syndrome child in it - so I know this teacher is the perfect one for him this year. But I am afraid about the other boys being mean to him.
Is there a place I can look to find one of the developmental peds?
THANKS again for your help.
from a jeffreys wife

You would need to talk to his regular pediatrician and TELL them that you want him seen by a Developmental Pediatrician. The doctor would then refer you to probably a major hospital that handles childrens issues and then assign a Specialist. A full evaluation will be done which will in the end show his areas of strengths and weaknesses and diagnose what they see the problem to be.

Another thing that jumped out at me about your post was that your son has a possible coordination problem. My son was dx with PDD/NOS and Developmental Coordination disorder. Your son sounds to me like he may have a similar dx based on what you have posted. Alot of kids on the spectrum have low muscle tone which causes coordination problems sometimes.

One of the benefits of getting him evaluated is that if he actually is on the spectrum he will get speech and OT therapy without question if his DP says he needs it. Then it will just be a question as to how much he will get.

I would also consider talking to the school psychologist because sometimes it can take a while to get an appointment with the Specialist. When talking with your childs Pediatrician be sure to say you want the referral for a Developmental Pediatrician for a full evaluation otherwise they may send you to a Neurologist which in my experience was a waste of time since there was no evaluation done and I ended up having to start from scratch.

Good Luck and keep the questions coming if I can I will .