Advice for grandmother who see's Asperger but parents don't?

[Guest guest]

Hi all -

I met a lady who works with horseback riding therapy

for children with disabilities who stated that she

believes her 7 yr old grandson has Asperger, and that

she has given information to his parents and urged

them to seek assistance for him, but they are " in

denial " , stating he is just super smart and is

sociable. She observed from infancy that his startle

reflexes were too strong (we've most all seen that

one, haven't we?) and that if you give him, for

instance, a toy car, he will open and close doors

repetitively rather than play the way a typical child

would. He is also having problems at school with

attention. She worries (probably a lot to be in a

'helpless' position) that they are missing an

important period that therapy could help, so I wanted

to ask for anyone's input on how they would approach

such an issue with their children.

I did not get any type of medical history on the

child, but would trust the grandmother's educated

observance, so I plan to give her info and would

also include any comments you all may have on the

topic if she is interested. I don't think she needs

much confirmation that " Asperger " children can still

be social. Don't social problems often show up later

in age?

I think that a child with " Aspergers " who is

functioning well enough to escape attention from

professionals would probably be detected as they get a

bit older. I wonder, though, if there is any good

info someone could point me to that refers to the

stages of play development, perhaps so that she could

show the parents periods that the child may have

missed so that the parents could be more aware of

those aspects of development, along with sensory

dysfunction... couldn't a child get therapy for these

issues without any 'formal diagnosis'? (We all know

how 'valuable' those are anyway.)

Thanks in advance... I think any person interested in

and involved with special needs children should have

any information at their disposal to help those kids.

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