My Kid is a Damn Nutter

[Juniper]

Asperger's.

It just waves out at me like a flag.

Sounds like he's a happy kid, though -- a lot of Aspie kids are miserable and belligerent. Of course it's a continuum and comes in many varieties, but I definitely would suspect some kind of autism.

Yes, 2 year olds can be a pain, and weird, but neither of mine ever behaved remotely like that. They were difficult in different ways.

However, if he is diagnosed with Aspergers, it doesn't have to mean a lifetime of labels and IEP's. At two, he's the perfect age for learning therapy. A friend of mine has a daughter who, at four, was diagnosed with SEVERE autism. They worked with her intensively and today she is functioning very near to normal, very smart, just a little "off" when it comes to things like accepting changes and understanding social cues.

Ali, it's interesting that you say you suspect hubby is an Aspie. I've thought the same thing about myself. I can be incredibly naive and oblivious, when I really should know better. I had some strange habits as a young child too; in fact the "crayons" thing jumped out at me because it reminded me of myself. I had blocks like Legos and I remember clearly that before I built anything I had to sort them out and stack them Just So. If I ran out time, sometimes that was all I did, sort them out.

Of course, there are many other names for eccentric behavior. ADHD. ADD. PDD. OCD. And when you get down to it, so what, is there ever a "normal" anyway? A lot of "not quite normal" people have just learned ways to cope. Because most of the people in the autism - > ADD spectrum are incredibly bright people that just haven't quite figured out how to manage their blessings, to fit in with the dumbed-down rest of the world.