Friday night thread!

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Thought the rule was that the Fri night thread starts when the first glass of wine is drunk......

Ds (5) went off to school on his second day, the first time using LA transport. To say I am shaky is the understatement of the century. To make matters worse, the usual escort (who we met yesterday at pick up in my attempt to arrange some sort of transition plan) was off sick this morning and the driver has a hospital appointment this afternoon so it will be a different driver and car.

Have a few new pieces of marble run for him when he gets home and we'll have omelette as he cracks eggs as a de-stress activity

'Night not and thanks for the wine - I'm having a glass after a week of abstinence (rare for me!), after a rubbish start to the new year, and it is going down vairy nicely

Ellen please do tell more about 'squishies', sounds, erm, intriguing

Agnes your scenario sounds like a dream - how fantastic. We've had a dreadful start to the school year here. After 18 months of stress, statement, appeal, school being arseholes fighting against ABA etc, thought we'd kind of eventually got there. Then ds kicks off this morning going in to class - probably just cos yesterday was a novelty and he was excited but today reality hits him that he's actually back at school for good and it means work. Big flap from TA, class teacher, then some random other teacher gets involved who doesn't know him from adam and instructs TA (who is ABA trained now and great, but can't argue against teacher) to take him into the playground for an hour to "calm him down". So, lesson learnt for ds in one fell swoop: kick off and you get to avoid going into the classroom. Well done school.

And breathe.

Star how is ds liking his new school?

Rofl sign

sign that is brilliant - if slightly freaky

Ah, he doesn't like it, but he's happy there. What I mean is they make him work and behave and learn things he doesn't want to, and put his own socks on etc etc. even though he could feign inability or just be so slow that any adult would usually just give into him and do I for him.

Yuck bialy. How you gonna deal with that one?

Even the shittiest of ASD schools that I visited knew to be careful about time-out!

Hi bialy, great intervention from the teacher!

Squishies are folded ketchup sachets, placed under the studs on the bottom of toilet seats in public loos, designed to 'squish' when unsuspecting gentlemen sit down on them. Straight from Captain Underpants and taken very literally by my DS and his friend when they were 8 or 9. I was just impressed by him joining in something (anything) with a friend.

Lol at "put his own socks on". Now he's been rumbled that he can actually do this stuff

Sign, sounds like echolalia to me. Where could he have heard that phrase? You been reading Just William to him?

ellen that is brilliant! Surely there's a nationwide craze in the making there!

Yes the school really handled it well didn't they. This random teacher (think she's head of maths but I'd never heard of her before today) actually phoned up DP (who'd done the drop-off this morning) with ds there, to reassure him that ds was ok. Said to DP "it's just his way of showing us his feelings". Yes of course it bloody is, and you've fallen for it, you fools! Put ds on the phone to reassure DP he was ok, and ds said "I'm just tired and want to rest"

They're kind of well meaning but seriously havne't got a clue. I saw the senco/deputy head in playground at pick-up and discussed it with her, and the TA, and we all agreed what to do in the future, and about reinforcing the times when he goes in willingly, so hopefully was just a one-off.

Think I just hate the going back to school thing anyway, we've had such a great summer, and going back into the world of nt playdates and cupcakes just reminds me of how different our life is and how it sucks, iykwim.

Hello all, hope you don't mind me joining in. I've been mainly lurking on here for about a year, posting occasionally. I thought I'd be brave tonight and introduce myself. I have two lovely children; DS 5 (NT) and DD 3, who has started assessment for ASD a few weeks ago.
I just wanted to say thank you to you all - I have learned so much from reading posts here. When DD's difficulties were initially picked up, everyone around me kept telling me that there was nothing wrong and that she would catch up in her own time. Much as I wanted to believe that, I knew that DD was different. Reading this board helped me so much in trying to get my head round a situation I never expected to be in, and gave me the courage to ignore family and friends, well-meaning though they were.
Hope you all have a good week next week - I'm going to have a wee gin & tonic - DD having her haircut for the first time tomorrow. Might need a G&T for breakfast as well..

hi march, have a big one of these , you'll need it for tomorrow!

Have you got a nintendo DS, ipad, iphone or other consoley thing? You could use it as a distraction for the hair cut. I also find that going with DP when DS needs his hair cut and DH getting his done at the same time helps a lot too.

Hi Panda, yes we got her an iPad two weeks ago & she loves it - but I wouldn't have thought to bring it with me, so thank you for a great idea!
I had already told DH he was coming too - strength in numbers hopefully....

Hi marchduck. Mmm, a hairy iPad, nice!

Hi Ellen, good point - I might download AngryBirds onto DH's work mobile and bring that with us instead!

Hello marchduck

Good luck for the haircut tomorrow. I don't think we ventured to an actual barbers for ds (HFA, 5yo) till he was nearly 4yo. Poor thing had to put up with my efforts till then. But he was absolutely fine - sat still as a statue and eyes shut the whole time Taking the ipad is a great idea. Also promising a lollipop afterwards works for ds.

Hope you don't mind another one. Mostly I lurk here

I have a 16 year old DD with a mild learning disability, PTSD, attachment issues and possible foetal alcohol effects (but never actually dx'ed)

I also have an adult DD and a mostly NT 7 year old DS

I've been enjoying the peace and quiet since they started back at school and college (I counted down the days). I've been talking daily to college and DD seems to be settling in a but better than I expected. She's very unorganised and ignoring my checklists and reminders to take x, hand in y and bring z home. She's doing a couple of vocational courses, and says she's enjoying it so far. However she doesn't appear to be making any friends, or talking much at all. I expected this but it's hard

She's been difficult at home lately...think I'll be needing the and to face the weekend

(on the plus side DS is enjoying Y3, very happy, and likes his new teacher) :)

Thank you Bialy, great to hear that your DS's hair cut went well. Lollipops are a great favourite of DD's too - but think I might have to give it to her at the start!
Hi Lilka - hope it goes well for your DD & DS next week

Hello and welcome march and Lilka.

I decamped for a while but have come back as dh is boring me with online videos of Agile/Scrum management lectures.

I take ds to the local ladies hairdressers because they don't use clippers. If he hears clippers he gets really distressed and agitated, but he sits beautifully for the nice ladies who gush over how lovely his hair is and then give him a mint at the end. We used to have terrible problems right up until he was about 8, until we worked out it wasn't the haircut (despite being very headshy and head/scalp sensitive) it was a combination of the clippers and the fact that they always had the television on in there. At the time he would only watch CBeebies and was terrified of what might come onto the screen on other channels.

If the Friday night thread started on Friday morning, can I extend it to Saturday afternoon?

Hi to all the new people and welcome.

Sorry for all those having beginning of the year struggles.

Moose that must be so frustrating when you think it is sorted.
Lougle sounds like a logistical nightmare.
zzzzz I hope your DS settles into the new regime soon.

Beginning of term has been OK here. DS has coped well in spite of the head of his unit not being there for this half term and admin managing to get his timetable wrong twice. He told his new tutor that he was one of the more responsible members of the tutor group!
However the results of the GCSE papers he took last term have been pretty disasterous. His dyslexic problems really showed in English and in Geography because he had to do a fair bit of writing. He has been reluctant to use a scribe so I hope these results will convince him that he needs to. We are also going to start with a dyslexia tutor (someone who used to teach at his school) so I hope that will help.

Hope the hair cut went well Marchduck. I still have to cut DS's hair though he is 15. He is alright about the sensory stuff now, but has developed OCD which means he worries about hygiene at the hairdressers now.

Hi NoHaudin

Glad ds's has coped ok with the start of the new school year. Sorry to hear the GCSE paper results weren't good. As you said, hopefully it will help him to accept more support.

Ds1 is wildly veering through just about every emotion and back this weekend. Really struggling with the combination of excitement and anxiety relating to the trip.

We've had a major to do about an insect he found in the garden and had convinced himself was a parasite. (Apparently it leaped at him. ) He got himself in a terrible state, even though it didn't go anywhere near him and has now vowed never to go in that part of the garden again. Unfortunately ds2 then went up there and now ds1 says he's contaminated and won't go within 10 feet of him - bit of a problem when they share a bedroom. This has all come out of him reading the Horrible Geography - The Blooming Rainforests book.

Oh no Moose know all about those second hand contamination fears.
I hope his trip goes well. How's the gastritis today?

Well, the boys are actually both reading in their bedroom at the moment, so we have made progress in so far as they are only about 6ft apart. I'm just hoping he copes ok with his residential, given that it's all outdoorsy stuff with two hikes. He has a morbid fear of ticks at the moment, so not sure hiking is the ideal pursuit for him. It's such a shame, as until recently he was really interested in insects and actually got into a few rucks at school defending them from other pupils. Now he just seems to be developing more and more fears of them by the day. He has never even been scared of bees or wasps up until now.

Hoping it's all tied in with his anxiety over going away and will settle down as his anxiety levels reduce.

In general the gastritis is much improved, thank you. I survived the soup last night, but tonight it seems I have gone a salad too far!

Thinking about it, there's probably a lot of indigestable cellulose in salady stuff. Not sure what to try next to be honest. Was wondering about a very basic risotto.

Dh has gone out with his mates this evening and I am in a huff because I usually have a nice chocolatey treat when he does that. Nicest thing I could muster for myself as a treat tonight would be porridge made with water and a little bit of honey. Harrumph!

Hi all, just wanted to update that DD's haircut went really well. Once we managed to coax her into the chair, she was fine. DH and I stood on either side of her whilst she looked at her iPad with a lollipop jammed in her mouth - we really took down the tone of the salon big time... Her hair is lovely and the stylist, who was very young, was brilliant with her.
A big thank to you all for the great tips and experiences. Hope everyone has a good Saturday night.

Great news march. Glad it went well.

Thanks Moose - hope you have enjoyed your porridge! Sending you virtual chocolate