Aspergers/ASD support thread

mummyroysof3

i hope nobody minds me reading and joining in with this thread. my son has fragile x syndrome which has similar traits to the autism spectrum.

xxlouisexx56

sulkisu wrote: »

Can anyone help with this please? My son is 25 months old and not talking as much as he should be. He has about 35 words now and not putting two words together, so has been referred for speech therapy. I asked for him to be tested for autism, as it's the first thing that comes up whenever I Google search speech delays. However, apart from a few occasional stimming behaviours - walks on his toes and flaps his hand when excited - the only other sign of Autism is that he doesn't point to things.

He plays well with other children, makes eye contact, eats a wide range of foods, doesn't line up toys obsessively, sleeps well and doesn't need to stick to a particular routine. Although he doesn't point at things, he will takes me by the hand and leads me to things or he brings them to me. If we look at a book, he doesn't point to pictures. Every book says that this is a red flag for Autism. My doctor doesn't think that he is, although she has agreed to him being tested.

I can't find anything which explains the significance of not pointing - is it a physical problem which suggests autism or is it more complicated than that.

My dd1 at that age had no words so I think your son is doing fantastically. My dd1 has autism and didn't speak at all until she was 3.5

Dd2 is currently 23 months and says about 20 words and I have no concerns over her being autistic at all

raq

ds1 lined up his cars , now nearly 9 and all good. never a problem

ds2 who is 6 and does line up his cars and has mild autism.( diagnosed july 11 ) It was his speech that was noticed at the very start

Doing amazing and got great support from all professionals

ThriftyShelly

Really glad to see this thread on here, have had a difficult day as my son aged 9 who is currently undergoing diagnosis for possible Aspergers has been asking me "why am I different to my friends?" and also asking why he doesn't get asked to sleepovers etc. He is of above average intelligence and a sensitive caring boy. he has a few friends at school but does not socilalise much out of school. He gets very upset easily about following rules, playing games etc. He doesn't have the motor skills for football, basketball etc and as he gets older he is noticing that he is quite different from his friends. He does a lot of hand-flapping and jumping up and down etc and can talk for hours about Pokemon which none of his friends are interested in! We have tried cubs and other classes but he has not made any new friends and after a few weeks has asked to stop going, which we did.
I told him today about Aspergers and he seemed relieved, he said he had been asking his friends if they had the same feelings as him and that he knew he is different to other kids. He has said he would like to meet other children who will understand him and have common interests with but I am struggling to find groups for children in Cheshire with Aspergers, have only found support groups for parents, can anyone help please?

mummyroysof3

ThriftyShelly wrote: »

Really glad to see this thread on here, have had a difficult day as my son aged 9 who is currently undergoing diagnosis for possible Aspergers has been asking me "why am I different to my friends?" and also asking why he doesn't get asked to sleepovers etc. He is of above average intelligence and a sensitive caring boy. he has a few friends at school but does not socilalise much out of school. He gets very upset easily about following rules, playing games etc. He doesn't have the motor skills for football, basketball etc and as he gets older he is noticing that he is quite different from his friends. He does a lot of hand-flapping and jumping up and down etc and can talk for hours about Pokemon which none of his friends are interested in! We have tried cubs and other classes but he has not made any new friends and after a few weeks has asked to stop going, which we did.
I told him today about Aspergers and he seemed relieved, he said he had been asking his friends if they had the same feelings as him and that he knew he is different to other kids. He has said he would like to meet other children who will understand him and have common interests with but I am struggling to find groups for children in Cheshire with Aspergers, have only found support groups for parents, can anyone help please?

Can you go to the parent groups.....you may find some parents in same situation you can meet up with along with their children x

ThriftyShelly

Hi, will do that, think it will help to talk to other parents in the same position, as much as I love him it is very difficult sometimes, especially when he wants to talk about pokemon non-stop for about 90 mins!
Thanks for your advice

Savvy_Sue

ThriftyShelly, go find 'The Blue Bottle Mystery' in your local library or on Amazon, and any other books by the same author, I think you'll find your son will really relate to them!

Robisere

My Grandson is 19 now, dad went missing when he was very young and I have always been his male role model. He was a real pain when young, diagnosed in primary school and his single parent mum also has a 7 year old daughter, who fortunately shows no symptoms.

Gson was a problem until he found computers, I built his first and all successive ones were built between us. Starting at a very understanding Technical college, he received 1 to 1 help and just blossomed. I always suspected that he was highly intelligent, but a MENSA test gave genius level results. The difference with Aspergers sufferers, is that the intelligence makes them extremely focussed at problem-solving, but it also gives them (or at least, my GS and others I have met/heard about) tunnel vision, in that this one problem must be solved, with total concentration. He passed so many qualifications at college, until the IT tutor began to concentrate on him. The tutor had been in the industry and recognised something in him. He got him through stuff that he should have gone through University to learn. However, we were so worried about his employment prospects, living as we do in rural Lincolnshire.

But he managed to find a position as a Network Engineer and has not looked back. The small but highly-developed company which took him on, gave him 6 weeks to make it, but gave him a permanent post in two. His confidence has blossomed, I am amazed at the change, he seems to have gone from a withdrawn teen, younger than his years, to a grown adult. The owner and head of the company told me that the only problem they have is getting him to STOP work.

So I have to say in encouragement to all other parents/relatives involved with Aspergers children - yes it is hard when they are young, but there is light at the end, if you can just find that one thing that turns on their interest. And we really had severe problems when he was young. I found the route to his trust a long time ago, I don't know if it works for all, but if the one child has one person who can say "Whatever you tell me, I will keep secret if it does not have to be given to your mum/dad, but I will do my best to help with the problem." I stuck to that and he knows that he can talk to me about anything. I have worked hard to get that trust and he knows I will never let him down.

ThriftyShelly

Thanks Savvy Sue, will get the book, he loves reading.
Thanks too to Robisere, you sound like a wonderful Grandma and you are right to be proud of your grandson, he sounds amazing.
My son wants to be a nuclear scientist so your story really gives me hope.

ivfmummy

I've only just found this thread, can I join please? My DS has autism he is 6 years old and was diagnosed at 3. He is fabulous.

Don't forget 2nd April is world Autism Day. Look forward to getting to know you.

xx