AMAZINGLY he came away really nicely from the park tonight, what made it all the more remarkable was that he had made a friend while we were there and STILL managed to come away with NO fuss at all- I'm still reeling from it!
I only told dd quietly, we're going in 2 mins with no ref to ds, then when it was time to go I said, 'I'm going now' and handed him his scooter. He just said 'goodbye' to new friend and off we went. Normally I would have given him a couple of warnings that it was nearly time to go, then said 'time to come away now, lets go home'. So maybe that was less direct and easier for him? Who knows!
I ordered The Red Beast from Amazon today (alongside pre-ordering my copy of Understanding PDA) thought ds would enjoy the idea of the 'Beast'.
In the past we have tried lots of other books on anger, the only one he liked was Angry Arthur though, and it's a bit of a pointless story tbh as all that happens is that Arthur can't remember why he was angry in the first place- suppose at least there is empathy there even if not really helping child to actually deal with it!
Foot massage has gone down pretty well too- using a bit of chamomile in it hoping will help with relaxation.
As you say, Lenin, not sure how all the NHS and education bits articulate, not sure GP was too clear either, said he could refer to ed psych but through school would be quicker and CAMHS would ask for ed psych report anyway.
According to what I have read they will use Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communication Disorders (DISCO) to diagnose asd and PDA, so anyone who has had the relevant training in disco can diagnose it.
All fingers crossed for meeting tomorrow, just making my notes now.