to get irritated that the child upstairs continuously GROWLS

[UnderneathTheStream]

Quite loudly. Most of the time.
They also appear to have hard flooring so when he is pretending to be a lion or whatever I also know when he is chasing something.

I wouldn?t mind but it never seems to stop and the poor child never seems to go outside to play. We have a shared garden that we rarely use that he could go be lions in.

Not being a parent (yet) ? is this normal for a 7 or 8 year old?

still

yes the 'God I couldn't cope with x' has often left me wondering what exactly they would do then.
I always assume it is a euphemism for 'thank fuck it is you not me'

Underneath

don't try too hard. A smile will be fine.
Otherwise you may frighten the child or, if he doesn't actually have any SN , they will just keep trying to avoid crazy grinning woman downstairs....

I had a neighbour complain about my son's noises, as it was disturbing her late night making of [ugly] mosaic jewellery ( non-working wife of rich man finds hobby). Her house is not even attached to mine. It fair broke my heart, as I make strenuous efforts to stop him making noises but do allow him freedom to make his noises in the privacy of his own bedroom, just before bed. This was a woman who had purported to be a friend, and who knew very well how hard I work to make my son behave well. I just love it when people smile at me, or say what a lovely boy he is - as even if I know and they know that he's "different", just for one small moment I can be a "normal" mum. You sound like you could actually help them with a smile!

pag - I love ya

You always make me laugh

Pagwatch ? that?s what I am afraid of ? that the reason he doesn?t speak to me is not to speak to the mad woman downstairs!
I wouldn?t complain ? was just thinking of asking to meet the lion ? or bring it a toy!

welcome to my world!

Would it be awful to say that having an autistic child is a real fear of mine? I?ve often thought of seeing if I could volunteer to help out with families who need a break, but then I barely cope with my own life!

It shouldn't be a fear but I understand. I couldn't love him more, he has made my life so much more than it was - both my children have x

Oh thank God you said you have been there 2 years and the child is 6/7.
I almost thought you were my downstairs neighbour responding to my loud music thread!

(My DS is 3 and growls pretty much all day, although he is pretending to be a dinosaur not a lion, does that make any difference?)

Nah - it wouldn't be awful! I didn't really know what autism was before having DS2, sure I knew about the MMR (ironically my one with autism didn't have MMR and my other one without did!)...BUT as hard as it is with him, he, (and God it sounds like some pathetic soppy cliche but actually there is a real truth to it) gives my entire family a MASSIVELY enriched perspective on life and the pleasures and pains of life.If that makes sense.

Yes it makes sense and is soppily wonderful.

And dinosaurs are infinitely superior to lions!

Underneath

then smile. They will shake their heads and say 'ah well, it could be worse - we could have a child who grows to be a grinning fool'

I suspect that lots of people fear having a child with any kind of issues. But TBH I had to examine what my angst/fear/distress was when DS2 developed ASD. And actually a lot of it was to do with me rather than him.
He is a really quite gorgeous chap with a great heart and a huge charm about him.
He makes me see the world differently and singled handedly stopped me from being the most awful bore and terrible poster girl for mindless affluence.

Don't be fearful. Don't forget ASD is often initially invisible and there is a joy to be had in that. You have a child, you meet them, you get their smiles and their fingers wrapped around yours. You are bewitched and only then do you realise that they are not average.#
As hard as it is to begin with, after a while average starts to look really quite dull . I wouldn't swop my boy

Yo Stille

thanks Pag - same back to you

Aaawwww you guys are great

'Special kids, special people' (lols BIG TIME cos I HATE that phrase)!!!!

Cheers Underneath - I think pag is fab