Mild Spectrum Autism????

[daineal]

Update

Hi,

Thought I'd let you know how we're getting on this week. This is our 3rd day at the CDU unit & although I'm sure the staff assessing D know what they're doing I can't help feeling that it's all a bit pointless. My main issues with D are not in a controlled environment where he's getting almost 1 to 1 attention. They're with his behaviour out there in the normal world where we can't control the environment around him & he's expected to behave in a manner that most people would expect. Like when we go to Tesco's, he runs up & down the aisles shouting & getting very excited. Or when he's playing with his sister & he gets too boisterous & hits her with a beach shovel. Or when we go to the park he runs around constantly not playing with anything for more than 2 seconds but also trying to get out of the park & run off.
I have told the lovely ladies who are assessing him what life is like for us as a family but I really don't think they get what I'm saying.
But tomorrow is another day I suppose & we'll take it from there again.

[trebellangeminired]

Only just come across your thread. I want to say something to comfort but I can't find the right words. You have already received alot of good advice and links, the only one I would add to this is the Parent Partnership, a little known support service for parents of children who are going through what you are. You will need your bloody minded hat as has already been said and don't assume that all schools have the best interests of your child at heart. There is alot of nest feathering going on. Schools are judged by results and heads are paid by the number of bums on seats. Until recently, special needs funding was allocated to the individual child, now it's allocated to the school. The head controls the deployment of the funds and they are not ringfenced. So if they decide to build another classroom to get more bums on seats to increase their salary and therefore their pension... Not all schools are like this and not all heads are so ruthless, but it's worth knowing. Also, get hold of the figure for special needs funding for your school from your local authority then compare it to what is allocated in the governers report. Just know that there are alot of parents in your position who will be only to happy to share their experiences and knowledge with you, it's alot more common than you think. If I think of anything else that might help I'll post. Good luck.

[Polly Fouracre]

It wouldn't hurt to take him to someone who can do Cranial Osteopathy on children. One of my grandsons was diagnosed as being A.S.D. at two years old.His mother was often at her wit's end.
He had a difficult birth,forceps etc. and was dreadfully bruised and swollen around the head at birth. So much so that it was a torture to him to be picked up.
He screamed non-stop for the first six months then was a "monster" thereafter,refusing cuddles and comfort and even at a year old being expelled from nursery.
When he was two my daughter took him to someone experienced in Pediatric Cranial Osteopathy and after just eight weekly sessions he was a different child. Calm and placd and loving.the Osteopath said that had he been taken to her shortly after birth one session would have sufficed.
This may not be the way forward for you but would certainly be worth looking into. Good luck, Polly.

[lynda66]

he sounds just like my son did when he was very young, at 6 months he stopped sleeping, then bit by bit he became unbearable, and spent most of the day banging his head against things and screaming, tantrums over something like a broken biscuit or not being able to get a piece in a jigsaw ........ he screamed at home, he screamed when we went out, i felt like a failure, yet he could count and do things that surprised most people including his doctor,very early. He was also diagnosed at 20 months as having abdominal migraine

my doctor was useless, but my health visitor suggested removing everything from his diet, (except potatoes and pasta for a week) then introducing new foods one at a time, to see if there was anything contributing from his diet (he was 18 months old at this time) within 3 days it was like having a different child, he could sit and do something for 5 mins without getting frustrated and throwing it across the room.

anyway, one by one we introduced new foods, most things he was ok with, but one of the worst things was fresh oranges, grapes, and beetroot. along with the usual fizzy pop, sweets, and various additives in different processed foods.

we therefore went on to home made bread, biscuits, cakes, veg, meat, free range eggs, etc etc and absolutely NO processed foods at all and no sweets .......and only water or milk to drink, and yes he was still lively and still lost his temper beyond all reason from time to time, but there was no more head banging, and as he got more used to the diet, if he had something new, he would say my head feels poopy again

i would say for all children additives are a complete no no after having him, and i'm not saying additives cause all these problems, but if you think back 50 years ago, there were hardly any hyperactive/autistic etc children .... now it seems every other child is labelled with something ......... just my thoughts on the matter and bear in mind that some of the worst things to affect him were fruits

my son is now 18 and has just finished his A levels, he got the highest number of GCSE passes (all A and A*) in his school he took 2 more than the others. and has taken chemistry physics maths and further maths A levels .....and is off to university in September ..... i know the diet helped him and i would do exactly the same if i had another child who didn't display any weird behaviour

Good luck

Lynda xx

[squashysu]

hi

i just want to put your mind at rest and say that these people will listen to you and also assess the situations you have when in different environments, my son is hugh functioning autism/aspergers and showed a lot of the behaviours your son does at 3. I couldnt take him anywhere, literally, it has been hard especially with him having a twin sister who isnt ASD.

Dont forget you can ask them anything and they should be there to offer you support as well, i hope the rest of the week goes ok, it took 2 years to diagnose my son as he didnt go for a week he went every 6 months for an hour at a time, but they listened to me and school and even though i was shocked and worried the day i received the diagnosis, things have improved now that i can understand and help my boy.

Thinking of you x SS x

[daineal]

Hi,

Haven't been on for a long time but thought I'd let you know whats happening in our struggle.
We've finally had a diagnosis for D, he's got Aspergers Syndrome/High Functioning Autism. So we weren't going mad after all & he really does need extra help coping with everyday life.
The consultant wanted to remove us from her list after our visit to the CDU unit as they didn't see any problems with D. The week we went there were children with very obvious problems like no speech etc & as our D is very verbal when he wants to be they didn't see him how we see him. Obviously I didn't allow the consultant to remove us from the list & we agreed to see each other again after a year. In the meantime we were still seeing the OT as D has problems sleeping etc. The OT are fantastic & over time have seen D how we see him. They've written reports to D's consultant saying what they've seen etc & she then had us back in clinic to see where we go now.
She asked me to tell her what life is like for us as a family with D & how he is in his everyday life. I told it straight as I've always done & she booked D in for an ADOS assessment. This is where they film your child completing various activities etc & then analyse the results from the film. Anyway, was called back in for the results & she agreed that D is Autistic after all & has Aspergers. She apologised for not having diagnosed him over a year ago too which was nice to hear, even if it was a bit late for me. I really thought that maybe I was going mad but am relieved to know that I'm not after all.
Well now we play the waiting game again, as we've been referred to all the various people who can help D but I'm used to waiting & will refuse to give up on my child. Can see problems when school get the report but I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle.

[Alison]

Most children with ASD achieve just as well (and some even better in some subjects) than so-called 'normal' children.

In the average engineering office there is a far greater ratio of ASD people than in normal life, apparently its something to do with the fact that there is a lot of logic in the work. Ideally I want a real mix of minds in my team and the thought of having a group of identikits who all look at things in the same way isn't good. People's differences are what make them and we all need a bit of extra help in some areas now and again, there's nothing that matter with that

[selfraising]

Good for you for persisting! I work in a special school and we have many autistic students at both ends of the spectrum, they are a delight. Any change of routine always causes stress so aim to avoid this and where unavoidable prepare him for it in advance. Autistic children are often visual learners, so visual prompts on a chart i.e. pictures rather than lots of words work well to explain a situation. Equally use concise sentences when talking to him, long explanations will confuse. We have a computer programme called communicate in print which does exactly that. I wish you good luck and there are people out there who will help and support you, just be persistant.