Hello. My beautiful boy recently turned three. Yesterday his nursery (UK) called us in for a meeting to express concerns over some of his behaviour. He recently changed class, moving up to a bigger group with more children, and is struggling.
He doesn't cope well with transitions, doesn't want to move between activities. Equally, he is not really initiating any play with his fellow children. He likes to hang out with the adults, and will often lock onto one adult as his 'person' for the day. They also say he does some sensory seeking (lying on the floor) and stimming (finger movements).
Truthfully, we were a bit shocked. This was not really on our radar. At home and with us, the little lad is chatty, articulate, funny, laughs and smiles and plays and hugs. He is our first and only child and as such we hadn't really noticed anything other than that he's quite a sensitive soul. He walked at 9 months, and his speech is quite advanced for his age. Eye contact is no issue.
But - he does have very deep and passionate interests/obsessions. He does like to line up his toys. He is much more interested in adults than children, and can often decline interaction - "I don't like you", "I don't want to play with you". He has a superb memory and learns books/songs very quickly.
The nursery have suggested getting someone in to assess his special educational needs. Although they are no able to diagnose him, they heavily implied they believe he has ASD. They also gave us a printout about what it can be like to parent a "disabled" child - which was a bit of a sledgehammer on the same day they raised concerns!
I'd be interested in how other parents would handle this situation - is it right to get him assessed? Is he in the right environment to thrive?
And secondly, what does his future look like? I am naturally a worrier and am immediately asking myself: will he have friends, will he fall in love, will he be ok in school? In the space of 24 hours I've gone from total bliss with my boy to constant worries and sadness. Your perspectives are welcome as I look to recallibrate and pull myself together/