The best Mother's Day ever

[streakybacon]

Sorry, this is a boast post, but I need to tell peopel who'll understand just how chuffed I am with ds this morning .

Over a year ago we started doing independence training - he is now 12, with Asperger's. We started with familiarising him with the Metrocentre layout then letting him go off on his own to do shopping, as well as walking to his karate training by himself and things like that. By October he had progressed to being able to get two buses alone to the Metrocentre, do some shopping and get home,and at Christmas he made the journey with a friend to go to the cinema. All great stuff.

Last week he made his first solo trip into Newcastle, involving a bus to the station then a Metro into town. He had a good wander around, including streets he wasn't familiar with, complicated road crossings, went to a bookshop he didn't know to spend a gift voucher, and chatted to the sales assistant . He went shopping again on Wednesday for Mother's Day gifts and cards for me and Grandma, which he chose himself without any help from dh.

This morning he's given me my goodies and I'm blown away by what he's done. I thought I'd get a box of chocolates or something equally easy and predictable, but he'd gone to one shop to buy me four bars of Green and Blacks chocolate, then noticed the new Elbow cd on display in the doorway of HMV and spontaneously went in to buy it.

I'm absolutely blown away that he's achieved so much in such a short time. That's the REAL Mother's Day present and it's the best one I've ever had .

Hope you're all having a lovely day too.

Ah that is brilliant!
Eat chocolate all day and listen to some tunes!

Yep totally gives me hope too so boast away streakybacon!

It's wonderful to hear good news! Gives me hope too ..............

wonderful news

That's a fantastic MD present, enjoy your day SB :o

That's fantastic. DS2 is 11 but I can't quite imagine him doing anything like that for a few years. And to have been thoughtful enough to get you a CD! I'm blown away.

That is really brilliant! It gives me a lot of hope - My DS is 5 with ASD

Fantastic. You should be very proud of your son.

Yes, you should be very proud, brilliant news and have a lovely day! x

That's lovely , it gives me hope too

Ah, I knew you'd all understand how fab it is, so thanks for that .

It's been bloody hard work getting him this far but so worth it. He doesn't even flicker now about getting the bus on his own. It's a huge step forward in his independence, but not something I can share with the same gusto with parents of NT boys who are all gadding about all over the place in packs. It makes it all the more special that he's doing all this on his own, without someone to rely on alongside him. Thanks for understanding.

There was another massive leap this week too. My sister died at Christmas and for a brief moment I thought I saw her in Marks and Spencer . Ds recognised that I was upset and when I explained, he actually held my hand IN PUBLIC and got me to sit down till he was sure I was OK. Bless his little heart, I'm so proud of him .

So glad ds's success is giving you all confidence in your own children's futures. Keep at it, people, they've got more in them than we sometimes give them credit for.

It's important to share this stuff - nice for you and for our sanity.

We hear so much about what our kids cannot do.

Hope you have a lovely Mothers Day- and everyone else out there does too

streakybacon you have done so well with him.

im so tearful reading that as i lost my mother not long ago and my Ds asd,ebd possible adhd , its so wonderful hes progressed to such an independant state but i fear my ds will not fair so well out there hes still very imature at 10, hes 11 in a couple of weeks and still seems like a 6/7 yo so does will he improve much more? but thats so fantastic to hear three cheers for our lovely Dcs and well done to your lovely son , HAPPY MOTHERS DAY everyone

smileANDwave2000 - Tbh I'd have said much the same when my ds was ten, too. He was very immature and silly and obsessive but he's come a very long way in two years, for lots of reasons.

He's now medicated for his ADHD symptoms - you don't say whether your son has medication but it's been an incredible help for ds. I know a lot of people don't like going the drug route but when it works (and it very often does) it can be the catalyst to change that we all need.

I also took him out of school to home educate two years ago. Again, not everyone's ideal answer but we really didn't have a choice by then as the two schools we'd tried both proved harmful to him and we knew there was no other way. Just being in a nurturing, non-stressful but still challenging environment has been a huge factor in his progress. I honestly wish he could have had the support he needed in schools, and I know there are good schools out there, but I guess we were just unlucky.

Never say never. Our children are capable of all sorts of successes if only they have what they need to develop. We were lucky to find what ds needed before it was too late and now we're starting to reap the rewards.

Good luck to everyone who was where we were not so long ago.

Thats great streaky.
I was just thinking last night. Two years ago DS had just regressed and lost all his speech and I spent Mothers Day and everyday in tears. He looked right through me, stopped calling me mummy for months and just used me to get him things. Now after 6 months intensive ABA work on his social interest he jumps on me like an excited puppy and says "Squeeze me Mummy". We've still got a long way to go and independence still feels a very distant dream, but feel we're on the right track now.
Happy Mothers Day everyone.

Wow streaky, he is amazing and so are you for being brave enough to allow him that independence.

How lovely that he can be so thoughtful. It gives me hope for Dd3 who is 8 and not even close to crossing a road or showing empathy.

Happy mothers day!!