Help with Daughter awaiting diagnosis of autism

debtfreenewbie

You have time to worry about what ifs.There is no proffessional support out there once you get a diagnosis but there is support from other parents.
My ds is nealy 11 and I was told he would never talk,understand much and be able to socialise. He never !!!!!! up, understands way too much and has several girlfriends. He has to have quite a bit of support at school but thats because most of the time he just doesnt want to do the task.....
It takes ages to understand any condition,my ds has adhd too so its a double whammy,but there are things you can do to ease the situations.
Can I ask what the issues are to make them think its autism?

jeanniebeanie_2

I work with pre-school special needs in an integrated setting (playgroup). We are a charity although we take referrals from healthcare professionals who visit the children 'on site' rather than have parents constantly trailing to appointments. We have an open door policy for parents who gain much from just being able to chat with others in a similar position and when the parents grow in confidence they will usually happily take a break from their offspring for the morning.

Of course not every area has a setting like ours and in fact we are under threat at the moment ( we have to vacate our primary care trust premises) but you could do worse than ask if e is something like us near you.

dizzyblonde82

I am currently going through the diagnosis stage with my 5 year old son, he started having behavioural problems at nursery but they put it down to him getting bored easily and thought it was a phase he would grow out of. He started school in September and things got worse and worse with his behaviour, he was hitting, kicking, spitting etc and we have had to collect him from school on a few occasions.

I have done a lot of reading about aspergers/ASD and know that we have a long battle ahead of us to get him a diagnosis, we have seen a paediatrician who has told us that more observations/tests are needed but it is very likely that our son will be diagnosed as having ASD and also ADHD.

Our son has never had a problem with talking, in fact it is very hard to get him to be quiet - however he doesn't communicate well and he just goes on and on about things that interest him and he doesn't seem to understand that not everyone shares his interests.

Are there any local groups or charities that could offer some support? The area I live in has an organisation called homestart and they work with families to support the parents and to give them someone to talk to - I have just started having a volunteer vist weekly and it is good to talk to someone who is not directly involved.

I can also appreciate how difficult it must be for you not having the support of your husband - I am experiencing difficulties with family members as they don't see how extreme my son's behaviour can be so they think I am over-reacting and that there is nothing wrong with my son.

I hope that you get the help your daughter needs and that she starts talking

SingleSue

My youngest son (complex autistic) was non verbal for a very long time but now at age 12, can talk the hind leg off a donkey (as long as it is about Star Wars that is). He was also in nappies until approx age 9/10 (night time mainly from approx age 7) and didn't go full time at school until year 6.

He is now at High School, a normal high school, he has a very high level of support but is doing ok...not briliantly due to not coping amazingly well but better than all the specialists ever predicted. I now have quite good hopes that he will be able to live independently when he is older...he can go into a shop and approach the counter on his own, he can manage his own money (he is a maths savant and will calculate totals and change before a till can) and can pretty much deal with his own personal care. He also trusts no-one, will not talk to strangers..in fact, he pretty much doesn't like people, so the risk of someone taking advantage of him are pretty low.

He has dreams of attending university and he is certainly bright enough....as long as he doesn't go into shutdown.

My middle son has Aspergers, he could talk from an early age but was still in nappies at age 6/ nighttime age 8 or 9, he does have problems with his toileting even now (age 14) and frequently needs a change of clothes/bedding during the day/night.

He was permanently excluded from his primary school as unteachable and spent almost two years out of mainstream education, firstly having private tutors and then going to a pupil referral unit, re-entering mainstream in year 6. He is now in year 9 at High School, rarely calls upon his TA for help, is classed as a complete gentleman and a gentle giant by the staff and is working with the able, gifted and talented children (his maths level was 7c at the start of the school year) and is musically gifted.

He can still get violent and aggressive, has extremely poor memory and needs things written down as his verbal understanding is at learning disabiilty level (performance IQ very high).

Unfortunately, even though he is supposedly the higher functioning one out of the two, he is the one I worry about the most. He is not able to cope with his personal care independently, he is extremely naive and trusts everyone....thus easily led. He has no clue when people are trying to make fun of him by getting him to do things as he thinks they are trying to be his friend and if he starts out to go somewhere, he forgets where he is going within a minute or so....he has no sense of danger.

So the road is long but the rewards (when they come) are massive....we were always told that both of them would need to be out of mainstream education (they wanted middle son to go to a residential school) but both of them are in a mainstream high school...with middle son doing very very well indeed.

andrealm

starnight wrote: »

I've also found great support from the people on the ASD thread here, link below.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/604164

Even is she is diagnosed with autism, a speech delay before the age of 3 doesn't mean she will never talk, yes she may experience difficulties in her life, but if she does have autism, an early diagnosis will help.

My dd was diagnosed with Aspergers in November, it wasn't a big surprise as an earlier assessment suggested that it was likely.

Have you looked at the NAS website? Google NAS, there is a lot of info on it.