Aspergers/ASD support thread

Bumpmakesfour

We were referred by GP backed by the school.We got a call from one of the psychs who took down tons of details then got a letter saying DS was considered to be in a safe,nurturing environment and they were only taking on children "in crisis".
So now school have done a CAF referral to the emotional wellbeing team at CHUMS.

elsien

Does anyone have any suggestions to help a non-verbal adult with autism who has started ripping their clothes?

It probably started as a means of communication but now appears to have morphed into a habit/ritual. Mostly we don't see him do it, he comes in from the garden and they're ripped to shreds. And when he's going through a pair of trousers a day it's getting very expensive - he used to wear joggers but they were too easy to rip so we changed to jeans to make it harder for him. Worked for a bit, but now whatever he has on is getting shredded. It's also pants and socks as well, but they're a lot cheaper so not such a problem (and it's not that he doesn't want to wear them, he has the choice.)
A referral's been made to the behavioural team, but that's not a quick process so any ideas anyone might have in the meantime - we're totally stuck on suggestions at the moment.

munchings-n-crunchings

In my area CAMHS used to be self referral, but the changed to consultant referral.

My daughter had 2 spells with them, on an issue by issue case, and discharge after a set number of sessions. Even though the paediatric consultant requested additional sessions, they have now refused.

Regards
Munchie

Bitsy_Beans

Could it be they have discovered something sensory for pleasure? Do they look like they enjoy the feel of the ripping or shredding? I am by no means an expert but could you try a substitution say like paper or cardboard and see if that can take the focus from their clothing?

Flyboy152

munchings-n-crunchings wrote: »

In my area CAMHS used to be self referral, but the changed to consultant referral.

My daughter had 2 spells with them, on an issue by issue case, and discharge after a set number of sessions. Even though the paediatric consultant requested additional sessions, they have now refused.

Regards
Munchie

I think it's all down to lack of funding and is set to get worse.

blue_monkey_2

Flyboy152 wrote: »

I think it's all down to lack of funding and is set to get worse.

We have been referred loads of times over the last 5 years and each time it was a different excuse - too young, (When old enough) too young, the age has been raised, not worthy enough cause, is not in enough need, not enough funding, yadda, yadda, yadda. Now they do not even bother responding to the referrals. We have been referred 3 times in 2 years alone by the Paediatrician and we never even heard a thing about any of those.

They say lack of funding but the service we have received over the last 5 years there has never been enough funding.

Get worse? Not sure how because the service is already on it's knees and it has been for a long, long time - even our paediatrician told me I did not get an appointment because I did not call her 'enough' to ask for one. Apparently if you call 6-7 times then you are more likely to be seem. Despite my son was supposed to be having 6 months referrals he was not seen at all in 15 months until I went private and called the PCT to tell them why I had gone private.

I have even been told they are not diagnosing any children at the moment because they are 'too busy'. 6 months ago we was referred to the Communication Disorder Clinic - still waiting for an appointment. This might be the same one we was referred to 4 years ago and never got an appointment for either. Seriously, HTH can they decide to do that??

Flyboy152

Try getting the referral made in April, when the new budget is set.

concerned43

My GP stepped in after the school refused to believe anything was wrong with DS. We were at the GPs as DS was having chest pains and he wrote a letter insisting that the school physcologist refer to CAMHS - we had to wait 4 months to be seen.

koalamummy

Hi I am looking for a bit of advice or some suggestions to at least point me in the right direction. Please do not be offended or upset by anything that I type as it is certainly not meant that way.

I have shamefully negligible knowledge regarding Aspergers but need to sort that out quickly!

My oldest child has been close friends for the last year with another child. I thought it a bit unusual at the time that this child never came round to our house or invited my child to their house to play but assumed that the parents were just protective and would relax in due course. This has happened and the youngsters have spent time at each others homes over the last 6 weeks. All has went well from what I can tell and everybody is happy...I hope! I got a bit of a shock today though when the childs parents came to collect them and refered to them having Aspergers. I know nothing about this condition really but am at the moment feeling like worst parent of the year because I in no way picked up on the fact that our guest may have additional support needs that I failed to meet

I would really appreciate some advice on what I need to be aware of and appropriate ways to deal with things as I do not want to let everybody down further.

[Deleted User]

The thing is, aspergers is very difficult to give a symptom list for because it while there is a symptom list, the extent to which each child has a particular symptom varies so how it affects a child is very individual. Your visitor obviously coped very well with being in your house which is down to you, your son and him. The very best thing you can do is talk to the boy's parents, saying that you want to make sure their son feels comfortable in your house and does he have any likes and dislikes. Make sure you have their phone number if you do need some advice when he visits. But that's just the kind of thing you'd do with any child.

I would advise not letting the children play in your son's bedroom so you can keep an eye on them, but remember he's not an alien from outer space.., he's just a boy.., he just might find some things more stressful than u'd expect. But his parents will point you in the right direction. Thank you for being so concerned.