What help do you give your child with Aspergers?

[Blossomhill]

My dd(6 1/2) is currently being assessed for AS and she obviously has something along those lines.

I am really interested in any therapies or help you have given your child. Now I really do know what I am dealing with I just want to try and get on with life and give dd all the help she needs (which I always have done).

I was told that my son would benefit from a therepist who would help him with his co-ordination,balance, foreward thinking and who would help with his listening skills. She was very nice but unfortunatly he wouldn't take a blind bit of notice of her and just played up. I had to stop the sessions as they were expensive, but I often wonder if I should have continued.
I was also offered the use of a child psycholochist (sp)who was part of the children mental health services at the hospital. I thought it would be a waste of time, but it was the best thing I've done for him to be honest. She sees me and DH if we want to discuss anything re our son and AS and gives great advice ,she also sees my son and helps him out with anything he's worried about and the best thing about her is that she has no qualms in going into school and giving the teachers either advice or a b***
if they need it. She is a great support to us.
How was the concert by the way

we are going down the same road as you bloss, i have been reading a book called martian in the playground which has lots of quotes from adults with as about their school days, it has really helped me tune into the way ds is thinking. it has also made me realise a lot of the things i thought were just quirky are actually part of AS and i have been able to write these down for the lea as evidence to hopefully get a statement.

i go through what he will be doing that day and have bought him a watch which he takes to school to help him keep track of time.

i have also altered my language lots as i now realise he wasnt just being awkward a lot of the time, he is taking what i say literally so has problems if you dont state what you want him to do explicitly (i cant ask him if he would like to do something when i actually mean do it because he often just says no).

exercise is supposed to help, so if you can take her for a run in the morning that may help.

it is also important they have somewhere quiet to go whenever they need to as they can get frustrated when overstimulated. he has been given a chair in the corner of his classroom so he can get away from other kids, this hs been a bit hit and miss as he doesnt always realise in time that he is about to flip

dont use negative reinforcement, if ds feels he has failed even slightly he will give up completely

have you rung the national autistic society? they can send you out a pack of info on AS in kids which looks quite useful (i havent got round to reading that yet)

most of that is really obvious but thought i would post incase any of it helps

Hi BH. I've said it many times before but I can't praise my son's cranial osteopath highly enough. It's not that he's 'cured' his symptoms but IMO he's given us windows of opportunity in which J is more responsive to our attempts to guide him, he's calmer and less angry. It's given us the chance to educate and explain to J and the past couple of months have been a pleasure to be with him.

Cranial osteo isn't cheap - ours was around 34 pounds for initial one-hour case history session then 28 pounds for subsequent half-hour therapy sessions - but it's only every four to six weeks and if he benefits from it I'm happy to pay.