Is there such a thing as slightly autistic?

Question

I have a 13 year old nephew that spends all of his free time on the computer, watching TV, and playing video games. He does very well in school but his social skills are almost non-existent. He has no friends that he spends time with outside of school. He has zero manners and constantly demands his way. If something goes wrong he goes ballistic and you can't understand what he says. This happens over the slightest thing. His parents are intelligent, upper middle class people. But you can't tell them anything. This kid is just very difficult to like a lot of the time. I hate to say that but it's the truth. I wish there was something I could do. By the way, he has a younger sister who is not anything like this. They both are said to have food allergies, ie: gluten, milk...etc..

Answer 1

or he could just be a spoiled, overly indulged child with some emotional issues.

Answer 2

You mentioned that you "can't tell his parents anything."  I hope they at least recognize that there is a problem, autism or not.  It's hard to determine what this could be, given the fact that we don't live in the house with him.  He could either be horribly spoiled or have a problem that needs correction.   Either way, I'd say that a doctor's appointment is critical.  You won't get any concrete answers from armchair physicians.  

Good for you for being such a caring, concerned uncle.

Answer 3

Yes there is such a thing as being slightly autistic...in fact there are a few of those things.  It could be called PDD or Asperger's.  They are both in the Autism family.  Asperger's children are usually high functioning and actually very bright.

Check out this website: http://www.aspergers.com/

Answer 4

yes there is.  

and fyi to that person who said that autistic chldren cann't smile or find things funny i want to know where you get your information from.  i work with two autistic children and one of them has severe autism.  they both laugh and smile all the time.  they liked to be tickled and they love watching funny cartoons.  so yes they do smile and they do laugh.

Answer 5

There is an entire spectrum of Autism disorders.  There are mild cases and severe impairments.  Your nephew may be autistic or he may just be ill mannered and spoiled.  If the parents are not doing anything with his behavior it may just be a behavioral issue and not Autism.  

One of the best sites I've seen for Autism is

http://www.autismspeaks.org

A friend of mine has a daughter going through testing for Autism now.

Answer 6

It sounds like he has an autism spectrum disorder. He needs to be taken to a psychiatrist to be tested. My son has Aspergers which is a really high funtioning form of autism. He has the same characteristics that you described and it is unlikely for the parents to have more than one kid with this syndrome. People who have Aspergers or high funtioning autism are very intelligent and are more self aware. They like time by theirselves and can have forms of o.c.d

Answer 7

Yes, there are mild cases of autism.

Answer 8

Asperger's syndrome is a form of autism.  He could have that-especially with the food allergies-kids with Aspergers usually have those types of allergies.

Answer 9

As all of the above posters have said, yes, there are many different levels of autism.

However, from what you described, it doesn't really sound like your nephew has an autism spectrum disorder--he just sounds like a spoiled brat. So he spends all his free time in front of a screen, rather than with friends: so do many kids. He can't stand to not get his way? Sounds like most adolescents. No social skills? That's probably because his parents let him spend so much time playing video games.

Don't get me wrong, autism is still a possible explanation for his behavior; it's just that the things you described can apply to a lot of kids, without or without social differences. I think you should encourage his parents to seek an opinion from a professional--a psychologist will be able to tell them whether or not he has an autism spectrum disorder. If they refuse, then that's that. The world will come crashing down on the kid at some point, and there's nothing you can do about that if his parents are too blind to realize that he might have a problem.

Answer 10

yes you can, but autistic children cant smile or find things funny does he have these symptoms, other wise he may have ahad or a allergy

Answer 11

Yes, most professionals identify "autism spectrum disorders" now as a wide range of symptoms. As another poster mentioned, Aspergers's Syndrome is a milder form of of this disorder in which an individual can function more normally but often has difficulty with social skills. Here is a good link to start your research on from the National Institutes of Health: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/asper...

With HELP, your nephew could lead a fairly normal life, but the sooner the intervention begins, the better off he will be.

Answer 12

There is such a thing - Autism is a spectrum disorder.  Think about how you can have mild nearsightedness, and only need glasses sometimes (this, if anything, is your nephew) and then there are people who are legally blind (think worse than Rain Man).  However, at 13, if he is undiagnosed, he probably will stay that way unless someone brings it up specifically.  If you want to help, call his pediatrician, explain who you are and the symptoms you see, and ask them to keep an eye out for it.