Does my son have autism? Cannot speak clrearly

Has he had a good hearing screening? Also a good check up for fluid in the ears?

No, nothing was done. Since he didn't speak well even after his second birthday, we asked his physician. She recommended to go to the behavior specialist. We got an appointment after 4 months. The specialist watched him and in front of her, I called him 3-4 times but he didn't turn towards us. He kept on playing with the toys in her office. Those toys were new to him. Then she said she suspected he had ASD and recommended speech and occupational therapy. After 4 months of speech and 1 month of occupational therapy, we revisited her. This time, she said she was confident he has autism.
He cannot speak well but he speaks frequently with us bu we don't understand.
By the way, he has sharp ear I can tell because whenever we open door even very carefully, he can hear it and want to go out to play.
Nobody suggested us to do what you asked. He can turn on computer himself enter 3 letter pswd and play games all by himself.
Also, the specialist was saying at age 4, he was supposed know A,B,Cs. This is disorder. I was thinking he was smart.

I think I would get an appointment with a competent audioligist and just do it for the peace of mind. Get the hearing check. You have to keep in mind that sound isn't just 1 tone but an entire spectrum of tones and vibrations. I'm not saying he's not autistic but I think I would at least have him checked to be sure.

Thank you. I will talk to his pediatrician about it.

But one thing hurts me that he shows completely different behavior at the specialist doctor's office than he shows at home. At home, he shows interests in us including our 10 years old daughter. He plays with us. But in the doctor's office he is ignorant. In parks, he plays with other kids as well. But, the specialist tells us that he is using us as tools. He is not relating to us.
Are autism and autism disorder spectrum (ASD) same? Will my son never be a normal?

I have an autistic son who is now 39 years old. When he was small, he had a lot of ear infections and could not hear well because fluid had built up. I took him to an audiologist who said what my son heard was like what a swimmer would hear underwater if someone talked --- bubbling noises but no clear words. My son was given medication to dry up the fluid, and his hearing (and speech) improved greatly. My son also has an inherited problem with ear wax buildup (another hearing problem), so must have his ears professionally cleaned at least twice a year. This, of course, had nothing to do with his autism.

One of the marks of autism can be speech difficulties. This is especially true of hyperlexia, the type of autism my son has (early decoding of the alphabet and of reading). Interestingly enough, my son's hearing and speech difficulties were caused by his ear problems, not by hyperlexia.

I am not so sure it is a good idea to label such a young child as yours as autistic unless signs are strong. Did the doctor mention any other reasons he thinks your child has Asperger's? (My husband has Asperger's, so I know about that diagnosis too.)

Here are two links that note symptoms of hyperlexia and Asperger's:

Hyperlexia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(The American Hyperlexia Association site seems to be temporarily down.)

What are the diagnostic criteria of Asperger's Disorder?

Feel free to ask me questions.

Onething you might do is video some of the experiences you have with your son. Don't force it on him just keep it on the lowdown and then they can be reviewed. Children are so different at that age the bell curve is very tall. As far as will he be normal? I have no clue because to me normal has a different meaning then for you. Again its about the bell curve. Don't reject what the professionals are saying. Just flow with it and be a responsible parent. Try to consider your options and flow with the concept. It may be that he just takes extra effort and its your job as parents to fill that gap. Accept what your being told and study up. Things could turn around in a heartbeat.

Autism is the entire disorder, the "spectrum" as it is called. Inside that huge spectrum sit a number of types of autism. Hyperlexia is one kind. Asperger's is another kind.

Those two (Asperger's and hyperlexia) are similar, but have many differences too. Every autistic person I have ever known was very smart. The problem can be that they are not socially outgoing, don't like to be in groups in the classroom, don't want to ask questions of the teacher or other students, etc.

By the way, ASD means Asperger's Spectrum Disorder. People with this are called Aspies for short.

As for wondering about your son ever being normal -- what is normal? I cannot begin to tell you what joy my autistic son has brought to me all these years. He sees the world from a slightly different perspective, he remembers everything he reads (so he helps me with hard crossword puzzles and would probably win lots of money on a quiz show), and he is very particular about keeping his room (and our house) clean and his books in order (and he works in a public library for his real job).

Thank you a lot. I don't know why my son's behavior specialist feels herself proud when she says my son has autism. I don't like her attitude. My son speaks a lot but doesn't speak clearly those words. At the specialist office, when he was busy playing with the toys, we called him 3-4 times but he didn't respond. Also, he was pulling us to help him play. By watching these 2 things, the specialist doctor tagged him with autism saying that he was using us as tools not as human being. That's all.
He play with us and our 10 years and he enjoys it. He talks a lot but unclearly.

Thank you for your advice. Though I am not satisfied with her way of treatment, I am following her advice completely. I just want to do something extra.
The one reason for my suspect is that this is the place where doctors order unnecessary things. You might have seen this a week ago on CNN about a week ago about this place in Texas health-care. This place spends twice as much as that of whole US.