Autism question

[Deleted User]

My understanding is that when children are young, they give you a diagnosis of 'autism' to cover the whole spectrum, but as they get older they are reassessed to determine exactly where they are on the spectrum and if they have any associated conditions like OCD etc.

verysillyguy06

tiannaleigh wrote: »

my daughter is 3yrs 8months
Thanks for all your comments as I was especially worried about social worker as I thought for some reason people was thinking I cant cope.
glad to see others have been on this course to ,as I felt i was being singled out .
I havent really looked at any websites or support,I thought I was doing ok but I suppose if I can learn ways to understand her better,its worth looking into

Dont worry...I am on of those social workers who comes out in that situation...just a first contact to see if we can help...dont hold your breath as your child is very young and her needs may yet not be very different to other children of similar and you are saying that you are doing well age...however...you could receive good information on local services and the early bird course is excellent as most parents of my cases have told me...good luck !

You may not yet qualify for DLA due to the child being young but it is worth a shot...also in some counties it is the heath visitor or other services who help with filling out the forms...would you consider nurseries with specialist knowledge? there may be some in your area....good luck with your daughter

tiannaleigh

Van1971 wrote: »

My understanding is that when children are young, they give you a diagnosis of 'autism' to cover the whole spectrum, but as they get older they are reassessed to determine exactly where they are on the spectrum and if they have any associated conditions like OCD etc.

Thanks for this information,I was not aware of this at all.I thought this was her diagnosis for life.it does make sense though,because the team that assesed her all said that they couldnt get her to cooperate ,so they could not tell what she didnt understand or what she just wasnt bothered about

munchings-n-crunchings

Hello Tiannaleigh,

The diagnosis of autism will be for life, but they may give you another 'label' of exactly what form the autism takes.

I often say my children are autistic, rather than they have Asperger's, as more people are familiar with the term autism.

My daughter who is now 13, and diagnosed when she was 8, is quite happy about all the different labels used, but understands they are just labels, and underneath the labels it's just her. She is quite happy about her diagnosis, and says it's part of who she is, and she wouldn't be the same without it.

Try not to see it as a bleak negative.
My daughter is in the 2nd set out of 5 sets at school, so can hold her own. She's recently signed with an acting agency, and performs at drama competitions each year normally winning at least once.
I just don't want her to be beaten by it, and the minute she gives in, it's won.
Give your daughter all the opportunities and experiences that you can. The more you do, the more you'll find the things that work. We've done swimming, horse riding, brownies, fencing, trampolining, kick boxing, drama, cheerleading and dancing.

My son is totally different, but he is at college, on his second year training to be a plasterer, and has just had his first driving lesson, so he is going in the right direction.

Once piece of really good advice.
Invest in a trampoline, maybe not for now, but later. It helps get out all the anxiety and energy, and it's a good form of therapy too, as it helps exercise lots of muscle groups.

If it is Asperger's, I would recommend a book by Tony Attwood. Asperger's Syndrome A Guide for Parents and Professionals.
You should be able to get it from the library.

If you have any questions, you can always pm me,

Regards

Munchie

tiannaleigh

Hi Munchie,THANK YOU for your last post, .it gives me alot of hope to see that your children are doing so well and are so happy.
getting a trampoline is a good idea to,one of her main problems is she has so much energy,and she loved going on them on holiday,so i think ill get one with am enclosure for easter

rev229

Hi I have a daughter with Autism but she also had epilepsy and severe learning difficulties she is now 10. I waould advice you to take all the help you are offered and not wait until things become desperate. We were desperate for some help and really struggled to have social services involved. When they are younger it is sometimes easier to cope with their 'odd behaviour' when they get older it is much more difficult. You should apply for DLA, we had it for DD before she was diagnoised, she was 3 at the time. A good website to link up to is Special kids in the uk. They have a forum and everyone has kids with all sorts of special needs and therefore have lots of answers to questions you might have however small. It is also good to read how other people cope.

di3004

Hi there

I have a son he is 14 now and was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome just a few years ago, he also suffers with high levels of anxiety.

I was wondering if the pyschologists your son was under would direct you in the right places.
My son has a key worker under social services, they are there to help for your child's needs and to make sure your child is having everything they should be receiving.

We have Disability allowance for my son and now applying for family fund, had the forms for a while but not got round to sending them off yet, you can apply for things for your son like a computer, trampoline etc, I have been told on the first application you may even receive more items.
Here is the website for these to check them out here:
http://www.familyfund.org.uk/

I find Mencap very helpful as well, check them out here:
http://www.mencap.co.uk/


I see the other helpful posters here have already posted useful information.

But there is help there for you/your child and if your require any Autism websites, please just let us know as I am a member of many as well.

All the best.;)

cheap_charlie

verysillyguy06 wrote: »

You may not yet qualify for DLA due to the child being young but it is worth a shot...also in some counties it is the heath visitor or other services who help with filling out the forms...would you consider nurseries with specialist knowledge? there may be some in your area....good luck with your daughter

That's not strictly true - its only the mobility component of DLA that is affected by age.

My daughter was diagnosed just after her third birthday and I was successful in claiming the care compenent not long after.

The mobility component can only be claimed by children over the age of 3 if they are eligible for the higher mobility component, or over 5 for the lower mobility component.

My daughter received the lower mobility component on appeal when I claimed after her fifth birthday.

alfiemama

My ds is 4.5 and is currently in the process of being assessed for some kind of ASD.

The DLA is given not on the diagnosis but on whether you can prove your child needs more help than a NT child of that age. I applied and we got middle care for ds and can apply for mobility when he is 5. The form is a nightmare, but a nice glass of wine helps.:beer:

kazzah

my son is 18 and has ASD and Tourettes syndrome- only officially diagnosed at the age of 8 - but in face he has been inr eceipt of DLA at the higher rate since the age of 2 years ( you can claim for children with a disability from the age of 3 months) and mobility at the low rate since he was 5 years - and that was before he was officially diagnosed.
I had an early bird course when he was 8 and diagnosed and it was great - they were very helpful in advising parents how to calim DLA etc (altho I had already got that far by myself and my sons physio)
do go ahead and claim