Aspergers/ASD support thread

shazrobo

my son's occupational therapist gave them some lengths of chewy tube, mine eat the collars of t-shirts, zips, and buttons

atwitsend_2

wonder if anyone has any experience on this....
my son (who is 7 has adhd and autism, diagnosed 2008) his sister is 5 and shows so many signs of too being autistic. I mentioned it to the teacher who said that she was just 'copying' her big brother, taught behaviour she reckons, but I personally would like to get her checked to put my mind at ease as personally I fell its not learnt behaviour, is there any way to get a referral to the same place as the centre where my son was diagnosed ? it was the school that sorted it before.

shazrobo

hi witsend, one of my twins had diagnosis at age 6, the other i was told had learned his brother's behaviour. took us til the 2nd twin was 11 years before he got his diagnosis. hope you get one sooner than we did. have you asked your gp for a referral?

atwitsend_2

shazrobo wrote: »

hi witsend, one of my twins had diagnosis at age 6, the other i was told had learned his brother's behaviour. took us til the 2nd twin was 11 years before he got his diagnosis. hope you get one sooner than we did. have you asked your gp for a referral?

No I haven't seen my GP...worth a shot I guess, last time I went to see my doctor about my son, after his diagnosis, he told me he was a GP and had no idea about autism whatsoever, said he couldnt even tell me what it is :rolleyes: I have a baby due in a couple of weeks so may finally see a health visitor, hoping they maybe able to help.
Thank you

blue_monkey_2

witsend, my HV was useless as she was used to dealing with babies - and they do not usually show signs of Autism. Mine did not even know what Aspergers was!! I would recommend going to your GP and getting a referral from them.

Indie_Kid

atwitsend wrote: »

No I haven't seen my GP...worth a shot I guess, last time I went to see my doctor about my son, after his diagnosis, he told me he was a GP and had no idea about autism whatsoever, said he couldnt even tell me what it is :rolleyes:

Can he not direct you to someone who can? I mean, isn't that what most GPs do?

We went through enough when he was young knowing there was something wrong, without people thinking we are imagining it or making it up, or just being inadequate parents. Had enough of that!

The relief when we found out about AS was unbelievable.

My parents experienced the same thing. Somehow, I & my sister turned out ok.

A lot of adults can have it and the ones i know with it appear normal and often are very intelligent .

I know a few adults (friend & brother) who this is true for. It's only when they start talking, it's pretty obvious. (they don't shut up - a 5 minute conversation turns into a half hour debate)

He ticks so many of the boxes (So do I, actually).

I think most people do, don't they? I know I do.

This is probably partly my fault, but:
Do some autistic people who are intelligent and can talk, tend to have problems understanding some really simple things? I remember one time saying to my friend like "we" (or "us") which he took the wrong way thought I meant something else.

And how when that happens, how do I stop feeling as though I'm banging my head against a brick wall? The fact that I can't explain myself very well (according to the education psychiatrist I saw in September 2008 it's because I don't read enough - my dad has the same problem and we both have head injuries) doesn't help at all.

blue_monkey_2

Js_Other_Half wrote: »

Give him something else to chew?
http://www.fledglings.org.uk/pdf/09-10.pdf#zoom=100

(page 20 - chewy tubes)

I do not think the chewy tubes will work as he will have to hold it and he is always bouncing off things to have it in his hands. He usually sucks marbles.... metal ones (yes, I know!! :eek:) so I need to do something. I've been looking for some Chewlrey but there are 2 places selling it in the UK. One is out of stock, the other wants almost £25 with postage..... they are £6 plus shipping to buy from the US. :mad:

blue_monkey_2

Wits end, call your doctors surgery and ask for a referral to the child development clinic for your daughter, this is all you need to do. Many GP's have no knowledge because children are not assessed by them but by specialist peadiatricians (I used the world specialist lightly mind!). However, it is the GP that has to refer you.

Mandles

atwitsend wrote: »

wonder if anyone has any experience on this....
my son (who is 7 has adhd and autism, diagnosed 2008) his sister is 5 and shows so many signs of too being autistic. I mentioned it to the teacher who said that she was just 'copying' her big brother, taught behaviour she reckons, but I personally would like to get her checked to put my mind at ease as personally I fell its not learnt behaviour, is there any way to get a referral to the same place as the centre where my son was diagnosed ? it was the school that sorted it before.

I am unsure but can you not get referred if you go to your dr and ask? I could imagine that she may copy her brother a bit but there are too many things to copy usually and often they are just instinct. I have one "normal" child who has never copied the others who have it.

Maybe your dd has it milder? From what i have learn't and heard i would always say to stick to your mothers instincts no matter what others say. An example is that my child had everyting set up before he went to school (help wise and funding etc) but we have just discovered another child equal to my DS has gone to the same school with nothing in place and the reason is because his playgroup did not like to do all that referring etc and it sounds like the mother did try. They were unsure how to go about it and it sounds like too much hard work for them in my opinion!

Stick to your guns and get it done yourself. My first health visitor was rubbish (but nice) and the second one was amazing so have a go and if no joy there go straight to your dr. Don't give up.;)

Savvy_Sue

sh1305 wrote: »

This is probably partly my fault, but:
Do some autistic people who are intelligent and can talk, tend to have problems understanding some really simple things? I remember one time saying to my friend like "we" (or "us") which he took the wrong way thought I meant something else.

Yes.

sh1305 wrote: »

And how when that happens, how do I stop feeling as though I'm banging my head against a brick wall? The fact that I can't explain myself very well (according to the education psychiatrist I saw in September 2008 it's because I don't read enough - my dad has the same problem and we both have head injuries) doesn't help at all.

I'm not sure you can ...

We share the house with a chap with undiagnosed AS, as in when I told him they thought DS1 had Aspergers he asked what that was, and when I explained he said "Oh, I'm one of those!" and immediately I agreed that he was!

Sometimes we just can't communicate even very simple things. Actually it's usually very simple things. It's obvious to me what I'm trying to say, and it's obvious to him that I mean something completely different.