Advice on Aspergers please.

[bonkerz]

Not exactly sure where to start here really. Have posted on a few occassions about my DS who is 7 in July and about his behaviour in school.
For the last 2 years we have been having trouble with DS displaying inappropriate behaviour at school. He gets very angry and has huge tantrums which can sometimes turn violent and aggressive. School have excluded him twice and have said they are finding it increasingly difficult to cope within school.
At home he can be argumentative but we dont see the aggression that school talks about.
We have been working with family steps for the past 4 weeks to come up with different techniques to try and control his behaviour but school seem to be struggling with implementing the techniques.
I have now been asked by the school to go to the GP to get a referral to Mental Health and to get DS assessed for Aspergers and Autism. I have looked at symptoms for aspergers and must admit that DS does display some signs ie unable to operate in social situations, Unable to recognise other peoples feelings etc. He is above average intelligence and the school are not able to challenge him educationally due to lack of staffing apparently.
I suppose im really after some support from other parents who are going through or have gone through the process for diagnosis of aspergers or autism. Im really scared of the words mental health and how this label will reflect me as a parent. Is my son mad? am i a terrible mother?

Firstly Hi Jelly brain, im new on this board, iv been reading this post,
My son has recently been diagnosed with Aspergers, he is 9 now,,, from birth he has glue ear,, he has had 3 grommet ops and is now w8in 4 the 4th one, he has always been labled with the Speech & language disorder,,,, iv known since he was 3 there was more to it,, despite seein diff docs around leeds, they all blamed the hearing for his inappropriate behaviour!!! Grrrrr the bloody system stinks!!!
Now they are excusing the original diagnosis the S & L disorder,, cos they say its easier to diagnose Aspergers when they are this age?????
I cant understand why the profesionals havent noticed before!
Ive been telling them for years

Friends son having problems at school with poor listening skills/concentration/ attainment/finds making friends difficult/being picked on etc./gets quite cross at small things.
Anyone found any thing helpful? I have been looking up DORE/learning breakthrough/ belgau balance board on internet. WAste of moeny or helpful anyone. Thanks

Hi, obviously I don't know if your friends ds has AS or not. If she suspects this then I would suggest she asks her GP for a referral to a developmental paediatrician for a proper assessment.

A lot of what you say sounds very similar to my ds (7) who has been diagnosed with AS and ADD. He is now getting extra support at school which is really helping. The main thing to remember is that there is no magic wand it is a question of trying out different approaches to see what works.

I would be wary of scrouring the internet looking for magic fixes - although I know some of things you mention have helped people. I think your friend really needs to speak seriously with the SENCo at the school explaining her son's problems and urging them to take more action to help. My ds has three social skills sessions each week (20 mins each) and also some help from the class room assistant during a few lessons. The classroom teacher is also aware of his difficulties and has been putting various strategies into place. Some of these are very simply like giving him instructions on a one to one basis rather than assuming he will get things if the teacher tells the whole class.

caroline 3 thank you