Son being diagnosed with asd

[Gottalovecosta]

My son is 5 years old, long story short, I've always known something wasn't 'right' - I've voiced this to HV's a lot over the years, but been told he is just a boy/was premature/normal toddler behaviour etc.
His school have picked up on his behavioural problems and believe he has HF autism/aspergers. He struggles with eye contact, has obsessions, likes his own company, freaks out when music is playing, gets upset and has meltdowns when too many people are around, I could go on all night.
We've had a behaviourist, ed psych, and OT all in agreement and written reports for the ASD team, he has an appt in the new year with them, hopefully for diagnosis. He has 1:1 at school and is taught in the library currently, as he cannot cope in a classroom with 29 other children, and comes home to me after lunch.
I am just looking for book/website reading recommendations, I'd like to read up on the subject and educate myself as much as possible,
Many thanks x

Hi, Gotta. The NAS website is a good place to start. www.autism.org.uk As for reading, NAS has a good list. I found 'George and Sam' a good personal account from a mother's perspective. I'm sure others will have some good recommendations.

I'm glad you've got people taking you seriously at last, it must have been very frustrating.

Reading that back, I think I may have overused the word, 'good!'

Hi there, I've found a web site called Positive about Autism. They have back catalogues of news letters that are very informative. I've also read books by Temple Grandin who you probably know is an american woman who has Aspergers. She describes hearing the school bell and it sounding like a dentist drill because she was so sensitive to sound. She has designed cattle handling systems in America and is speaks on ASD. I found it really hard to battle against the professionals saying nothing is wrong when I knew there really was. I hope that the ASD team are helpful.

I liked "freaks geeks And asbergers syndrome" personally.

Gottalovecosta

International Research is beginning to unpick the multiple underlying causes of Autism ASD, so hopefully a diagnosis will be moving away from the behavioural traits to more genetic and neurological testing.
They have established links with ADHD, relating to attention and impulsiveness, and issues related to auditory and visual processing underlying the communication problems.
you may find this research paper of some interest.
Co-occurrence of linguistic and behavioural difficulties in early childhood: a developmental psychopathology perspective

Hi, my five year old son is in the process of being diagnosed too. I had always assumed his odd behaviour (and mine) was down to ADHD. Now it appears we are both likely to have asd.

Do you have any family history of autism? I'm pretty sure most of my family are on the spectrum.