Sorry - more of a rant than anything. I'm just getting so fed up reading about other people's children with a diagnosis of Asperger's that seem to be light years ahead of DSS in terms of behaviour and getting on with life. I read about Asperger's children who might struggle socially, but who behave themselves in school, follow instructions and generally seem 'quirky' rather than radically different from other children.
Although DSS is formally diagnosed with Asperger's, there is absolutely no sense that this is a better diagnosis for him to have than classic autism. Yes - he's verbal and can read excellently and is knowledgeable in certain areas. But for the most part, all of this is irrelevant given his massive behavioural problems and the difficulties of everyday life. Why is it that I don't read about Asperger's children as soiling themselves and not caring, licking or biting other children, manically laughing or repeating nonsense words endlessly?
I am just so fed up. The statementing process is ticking along, the ABA programme is started at home. But I feel such jealousy when I go out and about and see these lovely, NT 8 year old boys, chatting, laughing, watching a play, going to the cinema, playing football, being with friends. We have none of this with DSS and I doubt we ever will.
I just don't understand why DSS is how he is. Why it is, that if he's drawing or reading a non-fiction book on something he likes, he can have a fairly normal conversation. He can talk about his autism with us. So how can he behave in a controlled way at these times, yet behave so atrociously at other times?
I read about Asperger's children who second-guess all social situations, try and fit in, try and understand the social rules etc. DSS does nothing like this - he doesn't seem to care about fitting in or having friends. He doesn't care if he's constantly in trouble at school and I just don't understand why.