i agree reggio. thanks for your input. I do have experience with severe autism in my husbands family and I see a lot of similarities in my nephew, I am doing my required yearly training on a autism class, I think that will help me to understand it a little better as well. was just wondering if anyone had anything a little deeper. and I do agree, I feel mixed regarding all the "labels" that can be put on kids now a days, seems there are so many..my son has ADHD tendancies and quirks...the only thing I do with that knowledge is better handle him and his difficult personality, I don't give him meds, we don't even talk to him about ADHD, I just read the books and use what I find useful and disregard the rest. The best thing about coming to a conclusion on certain behaviors is, you then can reach a point of dealing with the issue, once I found the ADHD I found the tools to better work on the issues. My concerns are, IF my nephew has autism tendancies, perhaps we can/I can try proven practices to help him cope with the issues he has. thanks for your input!