Can we talk about MNSN, and the community/support/chat etc?

[silverfrog]

This thread may not be a good idea. I am severely sleep deprived (ds has decided yet again that sleep is for the weak, and I have had about 4 hours sleep since Sunday), and had the morning from hell getting dd2 off on a school trip - change of routine, needed ot wear tracksuit not uniform, different drop off/pick up - you all know the score. If you all think it is a bad idea, please feel free to report and have it deleted.

Anyway.

Can we have a thread where we try to sort out some of the perceived isues with MNSN?

I keep seeing, on the main boards, posts saying that MNSN is not suportive. That some faces don't fit. That it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Fine. I get that not everybody is the same, and may not want the same things form this board as me, or other posters. But it isn't really said here, and so we don't reallt get right of reply.

It's a bit like talking about us behind our backs.

I know there have ben disagreements and differences over the years. I have been part of some of them, but on the whole I thought we muddled through quite well - expcially given that we are all under a reasonable amount of stress most of the time, and that we all face fairly different challenges on a daily basis.

So - what do people want form MNSN? Is there anything we (as a community) can do to welcome people who feel left out? Anythign we can do to help posters who lurk rather than post?

I am rather hoping htis might be a moving forward discussion, rather than a re-hash of any he said/she said grievances. BUt as I said earlier, maybe this is entirely misguided. Sorry if it is.

DS without ritalin is a stressed out anxious boy who hates the world, thinks he is stupid and wants to go to heaven because it sounds nicer :( In turn his mood is nothing but tears and anger and anyone and every thing.

DS with ritalin has started to learn to read, write, spell sits in class with peers has friends and the AS side of him comes out which we can then help him work out strategies for. AND he is happy!

Poison or not I am glad I gave it to him :)

must add that I was in turmoil over it and had a real battle on taking a tablet out and then binning it before I drummed up the courage to give it to him but the pros far outweigh the cons and if it means he builds a happy life because of it and learns life skills to cope its worth its weight in gold x

Hothead did I read your DS is 6? mine is 7 now and between 6 and 7 it has been a bit like he was developing or maturing to the next stage iyswim. The battle with his self esteem was horrendous and to get him to comply with doing anything that was out of the normal comfort zone was a nightmare so I sympathise greatly with you x

yes its hard for them and others. Immediate consequence did not work for DS as he really did not see what he had done wrong for anything. He wouldnt hit out initially and didnt go round looking to do it, but due to the sensory side and overload if he felt cornered or too many teachers repeating things to him then he would hurt someone by mowing them down in his path to run away to hide. Bit like red mist and survival instinct mixed in.

Also if he was really unhappy at doing something and say refusing to come in or do his work then he would gratefully take the immediate consequence and openly say thank you lol as if the teacher had just saved him :)

Rewards go the same way sometimes too he would openly say he would rather lose his sticker than go back in the noisy classroom and there was no way he would say sorry to anyone because he would not understand that he had done wrong in the first place.

please do Maryz!

DS has a glare that quite frankly burns a hole in the back of anyones head yet he hates eye contact but a new person coming into a room automatically gets this "glare"

Teacher are liars according to him. He was told in free time once that that time was his choice of game to play with the teacher. 3 days later the teacher said she wanted to choose. he said no and refused to play it because she had then lied to him as he did his work but cant choose the game! hell up ensued with the teacher spitting her dummy out and telling him that she wont play his game the next day and they wont have together free time. DS shouted back if she hadnt lied in the first place then he wouldnt be in trouble. YESSSS I got a phone call to go get him....

ah! yes that does explain it well thanks.

Funnily enough I got a video of DS first birthday. The only one where we had a house full of people. He was stony faced as can be and he had this "eyebrow stare" then but on the video you can see he is concentrating hard under the brows at not looking at anything but the mouth of the person talking.

I would be very grateful if you would start a thread for this so I could use you learn from your sons experiences

on a serious note it would be really good to understand from your sons perspective/outlook on things when he was young :)

That actually does make sense to me.