I am seriously concerned about my son's safety and the safety of people around him.  He is living in his own universe and does not seem to be aware of other people.

His level of empathy is low, and his ability to understand how to go through life is low.

Examples: 

Walks into traffic.

Will veer off when we are walking down the street and when I look back, he'll be gone (I'll find him climbing a tree or jumping off rocks).

He will run into people in stores because he is not looking forward.

He does always not shut the car door behind him when he gets out of the car.

He does not always shut the bathroom door.

The teacher descibes him as having anti-tunnel vision.  He has a tunnel in front of him, and he can see everything except what is down the tunnel, which is where he is headed.

I don't know what to do anymore.  He walked in front of 4 cars today.  He's going to be killed if we don't do something.

I am also not willing to have his ADHD control our lives.  He will not determine every activity we do, how fast we do it, etc.  Our daughter has started to simply follow his lead because he is simply unwilling to compromise.

He appears, at times, to be completely unaware of life outside of himself.

Now, I know I have a painted a picture of a really rough, possibly autistic child, but he isn't.  He actually a very kind, gentle, and well-behaved boy.  That's why it completely catches me off guard when he does some of the things he does.  He's also profoundly gifted, and some people have suggested that it's his giftedness that is causing his distractability.  I don't really care what is causing it, but I need help.

Oh, and he's 9 years old.

Any ideas for me? 

Is he on meds to help with this impulsive behavior? Does he do it for attention?

Do you think it could be part of his innattentive adhd? I also think it sounds like what kids do, like climbing trees and jumping or not shutting the door but waiting for the parent to shut it for them. But I do know that when his safety is an issue you need to step in and do something. Is he aware after it happens what COULD have happened? any response? I know my adhder would be scarred. Mine is hyper and impulsive.

You know as I was reading your post, I was starting to wonder about aspbergers, high level functioning autism, but you said he is not.

Could you have him reevaluated for this? Just a thought. I find that as our kids get older, and were diagnosed when they were young, that it might be a good idea to go back and reevaluate. Just a thought!!

Keep us posted!!