Proud Mum Moment from Amberlight

[amberlight]

Hello all. Tis me.

A good few of you may remember me (autistic, dyspraxic, breast cancer etc) and FineLad, our DS who has dyspraxia, dyslexia, ASC, short term memory processing problems. The one whose secondary school told us that he would never amount to anything, given he can't write things down properly and can't hold an instruction in his brain for more than a couple of seconds.

Well, after being made prefect of his school and leaving with a bundle of GCSEs and A levels, and being awarded a place at Uni to study Psychology and Counselling (course with no exams and tons of help), and playing national rugby, he's just been offered a part in a major production at Edinburgh Festival this summer!!!
How overjoyed can any mum be at how determined their DS is to overcome every single obstacle in his life!

Never ever give up.

You have every right to be proud,fantastic achievement Finelad-congratulations.x

Great acheivement(s).

A huge "well done" to your ds. He does indeed sound like a Fine Lad. :)

Gloat away - his success is truly amazing.
Finelad - we salute you - and your DM for her support

Wow!

Thank you for sharing that, - all of it! And well done to you too!

A massive 'well done' to you DS.... you must be so proud and have every right to be :D

Well done Amberlight's son and your mum you deserve it. Gloat away from another breast cancer surviver. All of us rule the world x

on this site I meant to add.

Oh WOW Amber! Just come on here today and first post I have read has put a big cheesy grin on my face

That is brilliant what a post and what a list of achievments! Well done FineLad you have definately done yourself and your mum proud :) x

Fantastic. Big, big congratulations to FineLad.

Don't forget to apply for Disabled Students Allowance for HE. It's easy to obtain and provides a very high level of support.

Great news.

Well done FineLad!!! And many congrats Amberlight - you are such an inspiration to all if us, God bless xx

That's so fabulous. Well done to both of you

That's wonderful. I love these good news posts . Well done to you and FineLad.

Well done, it is immensely uplifting to hear what is possible.

Fantastic! Well done Finelad :)

Wow!!

Well done finelad, amberlight and family, glad you didnt allow him to be written off by the so called proffs at secondary.

Fantastic news! Well doe, thanks for sharing!

oh wow! that's fantastic

Amberlight that is fantastic news, well done to him x

Lovely to hear that Amberlight.

DS2 has just started the DX process (for AS or whatever they will be calling it by then!) and also has dyslexia. He eventually learned to read and is now proficient but he is way behind in spelling and struggles to write at length or a reasonable speed.

Do you mind me asking if there were any programmes or techniques your DS tried at school or home that helped (DS2 is going up to high school after the summer).

Having removed him from the school of naysayers, we put him in a school that let him find his own ways round stuff. He was allowed technology to help him, and it had smaller quiet classrooms where he could think and learn rather than survive and get exhausted.

He was given standard dyslexia training and did all the sport imaginable to help with his co-ordination (but it helps that he loved the sports he chose).

For autism stuff, it helps that I'm a national adviser on it, and on the spectrum myself, so I was able to provide the environment he needed at home and the advice he needed to understand people better. Sort of shortcutting across the decades, if you see what I mean. It's been hard work by him and me, but we got there.

With any transfer between schools, plan like mad, rehearse it like mad, get photos and floorplans of the buildings, test them out for echoiness and flickering lighting hazards, and make sure all staff know the difficulties and talents of that particular fine pupil. Visit lots of times before so we can see what it's like when it's busy, and where's quieter. So many teachers have a half day training session on disability in their entire career - so check who knows what and don't take 'oh yeah I know all about it' for an answer. What do they know? When did they learn it? Nearly all correct autism info is new this year. The older stuff was rubbish/mistakes.

Lots of very good advice Amberlight.

We made at least a dozen visits to DS's Uni in the year leading up to him starting there to familiarise him.

You also made a really good point about home life and getting the conditions at home right.

I run a 5* hotel for DS where he's not expected to do anything at all. That leaves him free to study - which is harder for him than most students due to OCD which affects his reading speed. At least by freeing him from chores he has more time for himself.

He has a lifetime ahead in which he can learn how to iron, laundry, hoover etc.

What fantastic news! Wonderful to hear such great news :)

Fantastic! He is an inspiration - and so are you x