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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

Asperger's Syndrome

40 replies

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 15:45

My ds is 5 and after many many problems at school we went to see a child behavioral pychologist as advised this morning where after a very long discussion she said she and other people that have asessed our ds over the last few months feel that it is more than likely he will be diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome i dont know much about this other than its a form of autism - how bad is it? - how do i help him? i feel really sad for him, i dont know what im supposed to do from here

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marne · 05/10/2005 16:08

I dont realy know much about Aspergers, i have seen a tv program about it, i think it efects children differently. Have you looked on google? just bumping you up, im sure some one will be able to help you. Good luck.

Blossomhowl · 05/10/2005 16:10

Here are a couple of good links here and here

Should give you a basic insight into AS.

HTH

Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 16:11

Thanks marne, im trying to find some info via google now - not getting much in the way of helpful stuff though xx

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Socci · 05/10/2005 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 16:13

Thanks Blossomhowl!!

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Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 16:15

Hiya Socci, im feeling really shocked about whats happened today, how do you cope? i really have no idea what to expect

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Tiggiwinkle · 05/10/2005 16:19

Helenemjay, I posted a reply to you earlier and it has disappeared!
My DS was dx with AS this year-he is 6. I just read everything I could lay my hands on when it was first mentioned as a possibility. Tony Attwoods book: Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals is very good and you can get it from Amazon.

amynnixmum · 05/10/2005 16:19

Hi HelenEmjay

We are in the same boat. Paed told us on Monday that he thinks my ds(also 5) has AS. He recommended a book by Tony Attwood 'Aspergers Syndrome: A guide for parents and professionals'. I've not read it yet as i had to order it from the bookshop. Anyone know if its any good?

Tiggiwinkle · 05/10/2005 16:20

Snap amynnixmum! It is an excellent book.

amynnixmum · 05/10/2005 16:22

xposted.

Glad its good.

I know what you mean about feeling shocked. I had read up on both AS and ADHD so it was not a total surprise as I had my suspicians. It doesn't stop the shock of hearing it from a professional though

Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 16:32

Thats it amynnixmum - i have heard of it a little before when my mums friend thought her little boy had it, but it never occured to me that my ds would have it as i knew so little about it! and then when a professional says your son has it it is so scary! I will look for that book though, i need to get my head around it all - its the only thing that will make me feel a bit better

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amynnixmum · 05/10/2005 16:35

It is scary isn't it. I do know quite a lot about it now and my mum is a SENCO so she knows loads and has lots of info at school that I can use. I still feel a bit overwhelmed though.

If you want to talk CAT me and we can go through it together.

SqueakyCat · 05/10/2005 16:50

My little boy is not quite 3 and I'm just at the start of the assessment process, that will almost certainly lead to an Aspergers / ASD dx.

I felt fine last week
then really depressed
then very up and down.

I tell myself that he is the same boy as he was last fortnight, with the same strengths, weaknesses and character. He hasn't changed at all. Just people are beginning to put a name to his bundle of problems, and that process will help me get some help to improve on his weaknesses.

2 weeks ago I thought he was 'normal', just a bit of a handful. By this week he has a 1-1 worked at pre-school and more referals than I can keep track of. Bit of a shock how quickly things moved for him.

Nice to write all that down.

amynnixmum · 05/10/2005 16:58

Hi Squeakycat

That's how I felt when ds started school last year. Like you we had always found him a bit of a handful but never considered that there was anything 'wrong'. It all came as a complete shock and he had referrals all over the place.

When it all kicked off at school ADHD and AS were mentioned to me but i was sure he didn't have either. I have read up on them since and over the last few months have realised that I was wrong.

Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 16:58

It is nice to write it down and get it off your chest isnt it SqueakyCat, i feel better that i came on here and there are all you lovely ladies, i know it sounds silly and maybe a bit selfish but this morning when we left the Dr's i felt like we were the only people with this problem - i knew we werent, but i felt like my ds had been 'labelled' and that we didnt come out the same family that went in - does that make any sense or am i cracking up? Sorry i dont mean to be a dummy but i dont know how to cat???

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amynnixmum · 05/10/2005 17:00

At the top of the screen under Useful Stuff it says Contact Another Talker. Click on that and it tells you what to do.

Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 17:12

Ok i think i did it ok

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Original poster

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 17:16

What are the chances then of siblings having it too? I also have another ds who is 2.5 and a dd who is 3 weeks old, im scared they are all going to have problems now! is it possible, does it work like that???

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SqueakyCat · 05/10/2005 17:28

You people with children dxed at school: how did they manage at playschool / nursery? My DS is uncontrollable in preschool without 1-1: I can't imagine getting through to school without it having been brought up?

Helen - I 'knew' I was struggling with DS1 before he was 2, and had suspicions from when he was about 3 months.

amynnixmum · 05/10/2005 17:34

I think in our situation it was a combination of the preschool being fantastic and the school being completely crap. Ds simply couldn't cope with the change. Mind you I think he would have struggled in any school, but his first school definately made things much worse

HelenEmjay · 05/10/2005 17:47

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

hocuspocusdiplodocus · 05/10/2005 18:01

Hi HelenEmjay, my DS1 is six and has a diagnosis of high-functioning autism (which many people regard as being very similar if not the same as Asperger's).

As you can see you are so not the only people dealing with this! I discovered this board at about the same time as my DS got his diagnosis and it has been an invaluable source of support.

It is worrying about siblings. I've been very lucky in that it was clear to me very early on that DS2 was not on the autistic spectrum (not that DS1 had a formal diagnosis at that time, he was only two then, but I still pretty much knew). My DS3 is fourteen months old and I am pretty sure he is not on the spectrum either, as he points, chatters, copies, claps his hands, plays properly with toys and all that stuff that my DS1 didn't do. So whilst there is certainly a higher incidence of ASD amongst siblings, it is certainly not the case that it is inevitable, or even probable, that siblings will also have it.

coppertop · 05/10/2005 18:20

Hi HelenEmjay.

I have 2 boys with high-functioning autism. Ds1 is now 5 and is doing well at school. He's a completely different boy to how he was even a year ago. He changes so quickly that it can be hard to keep up with him sometimes. Ds2 is 2.8yrs and also thought to have HFA. With ds2 we knew from early on that he had some traits but not even to make us too concerned IYSWIM. By the time he was about 14 months old we were fairly sure he was somewhere on the autistic spectrum and this was confirmed when he was given a provisional dx at about 22 months old. He too is doing well and goes to the same mainstream pre-school that his brother used to go to.

You will find a lot of help and support on here so please let us know if there's anything at all that any of us can do to help. It's a great place to come to when it all seems to be getting too much. xx

macwoozy · 05/10/2005 18:26

Hi HelenEmjay, my ds also recieved a diagnosis of High Functioning Autism when he was 3, and as HocusPocus said many consider it the same as Aspergers.

I'll echo what many have said about Tony Attwood's book and recommend that you take a look, I managed to get mine from Amazon. I found the more I understood about why my ds behaved as he did, the better I could deal with it, and help him overcome some of his difficulties.

jenk1 · 05/10/2005 18:35

hello helenemjay, my ds has AS/ASD and is 8 years old, i too have Asperger Syndrome although i was only diagnosed this year and i am in my 30,s.

please feel free to ask as many questions as you want, MN is a great source of information.

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