Hello I was wondering if anyone can help and or just advice me
I have a nearly two year old son with suspected autism and epilepsy I will outline all his needs below and what is happening. I have been advised to apply for DLA I was just wondering if anyone else has been successful for his age group and or other help I can get also ( below list is what was initially sent to doctor so please mind the way it is written :
any help is appreciated
· Suffers absent seizures – these happen every day ( he has been admitted into hospital for some episodes ) – these seizures come out of nowhere- [child's name redacted] can be stood playing and the next minute he is falling forward/backward and hitting the floor – due to these I can not let him out of my sight so he doesn’t hurt himself.
[child] has also been referred for suspected epilepsy ( which is in hospital notes)
[child] has been referred for other things ( GP notes ) please outline the details as I don’t have the details.
Suspected autism however can not be tested until he is 3 years of age so we have now started the motion to help with managing some symptoms
Health visitors are also involved and are doing some referrals including - early years multi agency triage panel - communication pathway - portage : kids sleeping
· Sensory differences related to food and textures. [child] refuses to feed himself and also will only eat certain foods ( ready meals) however most days he refuses to eat at all. Due to this I have to feed [child] all his meals and buy the ready meals he will eat. For the most of days he doesn’t eat I have had to buy nourishment drink powders so he still gets his vitamins.
· Due to [child's] ( condition) he has behavioural problems aggression, self-injury (like headbanging), meltdowns, stimming (repetitive movements), tantrums, demand avoidance, anxiety, and sleep difficulties. These behaviours can start from sensory overload, or where he gets stressed because he can not communicate what he wants and vary in severity. Due to this he struggles in public and can not be around others or in large crowds. I have to physically keep hold of him most of the time so he doesn’t hurt himself or me. It can take up to 30 minutes for [child] to come out of one of these episodes and they can happen 4-5 times daily.
· [child] struggles with sleep – he wakes hourly which ultimately means I am constantly shattered.
· [child] can only say two words – which he doesn’t use often he tends to pull and push instead if he wants something.
· [child] walks everywhere on his tiptoes
· [child] can not keep eye contact and or avoids it and gets angry when someone does keep eye contact.
· [child] doesn’t understand danger and or risk, such as running off, lack of social awareness, or being over- or under-sensitive to his environment . I need help with managing the fact he doesn’t understand risk as I have to constantly keep hold of him as he runs into roads, jumps and climbs on things and hurts himself only to go do it again. I am fully aware that his age is also very curious etc however this is also something that should be in his hospital notes that the paediatrician noticed.
I as his mother and full time care giver need help in managing all the above symptoms
I need help with managing his foods
Sleep management
Behavioural issues
And all the above. As it stands I am over stimulated due to the lack of sleep and the lack of understanding of his conditions