<p>PCP I think means Primary Care Physician.</p>
<p>Since Asperger’s is in your family, that’s certainly a possibility, but like most things it’s not all or nothing. Given that he seems to act like a normal kid with his friends, I doubt he’s very far on the spectrum if at all. My older son had many Asperger-like traits, but he could socialized when reminded to, and as a child was actually quite social. The kids I knew with Asperger’s were much more clearly not normal from a very young age. My son is more anti-social than average, more introverted than average, and he’s not too fond of talking to his relatives, but if you surround him with computer nerds he’s happy as a clam.</p>
<p>I used to have a neat, short blurb explaining why “Aspergers” as a diagnosis was being revisited. It was, iirc, that the criteria were not distinct enough from autism and some of the dividing line between the two was blurred- and perhaps should not be. The best resource is to google the current criteria (DSM-IV) and the proposed roll into autism, in the DSM-V, in 2013. I’m not a mental health pro. I do know how hard it is to figure if our kids are “normal.”</p>
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I don’t think there is anything wrong with him. It is more of a case that he is not interested in speaking with his parents for whatever reason. </p>
<p>There was a period when D2 had nothing to say to us. I was kind of worried because her older sister was so talkative, then I noticed that she was always laughing and giggling when her friends were around. After D1 left for college, D2 became more vocal around us. I think she felt her older sister was judging her also.</p>
<p>My nephew who is 21 now was always very quiet around adults (had nothing to say to me) when he was younger. Now he is more mature and confident, he is more talkative in front of us. I quite enjoy talking to him now.</p>
<p>He could be fine- or he could be putting on a good front for his friends- hard to tell unless you really know him.</p>
<p>No, we don’t know him.</p>
<p>I am the parent who found explainations (including the one about nothing being wrong with being an introvert - and there isn’t, but that wasn’t the issue) when my gut was telling me something was wrong. Tell your nephew’s parents that if they suspect something, check it out. He turns 18 and they lose a lot of power to step in. </p>
<p>Yep, PCP - primary care provider.</p>
<p>This is the rationale for the revision of Autism spectrum disorders</p>
<p>[Proposed</a> Revision | APA DSM-5](<a href=“http://www.dsm5.org/proposedrevision/pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=94]Proposed”>http://www.dsm5.org/proposedrevision/pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=94)</p>
<p>My oldest son sounds very similar to mathmom’s. He simply was not interested in being very social in high school, and he would rather spend his time reading or playing dreaded video games than go out to parties. He could be social, and when thrown into the right circumstances could be somewhat animated, but generally was, and still is, fairly “flat” when engaging with adults on general topics. But, he could engage on a wide variety of topics (apparently a sign that a person does not have asp.), and had quite a sense of humor. Quite frankly, I could never tell if he wasn’t social because he wasn’t invited out, or if he simply wasn’t interested, until I observed a couple of things first hand which convinced me he was generally making the choices. I do get the sense from him that he is going to try to be a little more social in college… Just dropped him off last week.
As an aside, when I was considering having him tested, one very good Dr. asked me what a diagnosis would do for a child ready to go to college. He did very well taking all AP classes in HS, most kids would learn better in small classes, he was definitely a STEM kid so he likely belonged at a research university, etc. His advice was to save the money and offer it to him if he decided at some point that he needed help.</p>
<p>I’m a psychologist and have Aspergers in my family. If this young man is doing well in school and has some friends, I’m not sure why intervention is needed, especially since he doesn’t seem to want it.</p>
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<p>That’s all well and good unless he hits a wall in a year or two when life is drastically different and he has to make brand new friends and manage his life without much if any help from his parents. That is not the time to find out there is a problem, especially not if there are worrying signs beforehand. I would know, that’s what I did.</p>
<p>The worrying signs are what exactly? He doesn’t love to chat with grown-ups?</p>
<p>I think the worrisome part in the OP was that he doesn’t seem to find any joy in life.</p>
<p>Kind of sounds like a typical kid to me. I’m painfully shy and hate talking to relatives. I’ll talk to my parents now, but there was a time I wouldn’t. I have very extroverted parents and they couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to party and stuff. Just not my thing. </p>
<p>From what you’ve posted here, he sounds fine. For personal reasons, I don’t like jumping to strap a label on someone just because he’s a little different.</p>
<p>Sounds typical to me. I was moody and quiet as a teenager, and I didn’t have Aspergers. Just because someone is a little bit different doesn’t mean they need medication.</p>
<p>I’d say it could be important to find the right college for this student. There are lots of places where he would fit right in. Some small LAC that is more geeky than Greeky perhaps.</p>
<p>Parents, go with your gut. Only you know your son. Some people are just serious, and some depressed. If he isn’t angry, frustrated, isolated, maybe it’s just him…for now? If you are losing sleep, talk to a professional, either at his school or healthcare provider.</p>
<p>This describes my 21 yr old son. He is shy and an introvert. The reason I don’t worry is a) he’s a top student b) has lots of friends and is always laughing and smiling when he’s with them c) when he was home during the summer, when I went in his room to nudge him to get up for class, he always woke up smiling. It *is * hard to get him to talk at times. I find he’s willing to share more when I make an attempt to learn about things he is interested in and then talk to him about those things. His current interest is health and being gluten-free, so I spend a lot of time reading up on it. </p>
<p>Personally, I just think he’s a quiet type of person. I am very much like this. It has nothing to do with being depressed. It’s simply a personality trait. I do well socially, have been offered a job almost every time I have interviewed, have lots of friends, work well with others…it’s just that I don’t feel the need to share every thought nor aspect of my day with others. If it’s important to me or interesting, I will bring it up, otherwise I don’t see a need to talk. I know tat sometimes my shyness comes off as being aloof, so I work hard to be as friendly as possible but it took me years to undersand that and then develop those skills.</p>
<p>The OP says the parents are worried and suggested counseling for their son. They are concerned because they obviously don’t think the behavior is “normal”. It doesn’t sound like it is just a case of shy, introverted teen.</p>
<p>I agree with ScorpioRising–if the son refuses counseling, the parents can consult with a professional themselves. There are really broad ranges of “normal”, but parents who are concerned ought to seek assistance. There are also parents who put their kids on growth hormones because they aren’t getting “tall enough” and I also know of parents who had their son forced into mental health treatment because he wanted to work in construction instead of going to college, so sometimes parents can go overboard, but if these parents are worried, why not seek help? We certainly can’t diagnose or treat from the Parent Cafe.</p>