I've long wondered why my household seems so much more chaotic and difficult than those of my friends. I've suspected DH has autistic spectrum issues in his family and now it has been confirmed his mum has been diagnosed with severe dyspraxia and had a high aspergers score.
I believe at least two of my four children may also have spectrum issues and I'm very keen now to find out if this is the case and if so what can be done for them.
I took my 11 year old DS to the doctor a few months ago to talk about his clumsiness and shaky hands but was sent away feeling silly.
He's always had trouble with things like shoe laces, telling the time and taking part in any sports. He's clumsy and also confuses letters like b and d. He often talks non stop and doesn't seem to notice that the person he's talking to is bored, disinterested or even irritated. (His dad is the same!!) When he walks along beside you he often drifts into your walking space.
Meanwhile he's got a brilliant engineering mind and makes incredible models including cantilever type balance things. He's good at things like origame and knitting and can become quite obssesive about them.
My 8 year old, meanwhile, has just done the DORE Aspergers test online and got 26 which is 'borderline aspergers'.
What now?