Hello

[OTWBsmum]

Hi, I'm new so thought I'd introduce myself.. My DS will turn 7 at the end of the month, he was diagnosed with ASD/HFA at 3.5 and statemented at 5. DH and I had his AR (at which his teacher disgraced herself, but that's another story!) this week. I know the AR is about looking dispassionately at his needs and all the things he can't do yet to ensure he gets the right support... BUT it's sooooo hard when you just want to shout about all the amazing things he CAN do... Like tell you the best route between any 2 Tube stations or whisper that he loves you more than the whole world, or dance around the kitchen with you to Daft Punk...

Hi, you were up early or was it late !!

Welcome to the board, my Dd3 has Asd she is 10 in mainstream and doing well most of the time.

I seem to have the opposite problem to you her teacher isnt very good at recognising when she is struggling and consequently we have had a few issues.

Maybe you could encourage your ds to share some of the things he is good at through show and tell, if they do that at his school.

Good luck and keep coming on here for support and just to chat, it is a great place

Hi, my DS is 4 but does not have a dx yet. Your ds sounds great! The people on this board are really supportive and helpful. Coming here has made a big diffence to me. Best wishes x

My DS2 was DXed at 3.5 with ASD and statemented at 5. He's 13 now. Welcome to MNSN, I'm sure you'll find it useful.

Thanks guys :)

Hi and welcome :) I have a DS who is coming up to 8. He was dx at 6 although statemented before that but took a school move to get statement adhered to which has been running smoothly and he is doing well.

Hope you find this corner of MN useful :)

Hi. Flyingboy was diagnosed aged 3 and is now a big lumox of 18. I used to feel just like you at ARs. They have got better but it used to be a litany of moaning. The worst one was in year 3 when he'd gone bonkers on a school trip and screamed the bus down, caused by his TA. That's all I heard about. After that I used to give him strict instructions to be good before the AR. They filled me with dread. I had the last one in November. End of an era.

Hi OTWBsmum and welcome not quite in the same circs as you (dd2 8yo under 'assessment' ie waiting, waiting, waiting, struggling) it is hard to deal with all the emphasis on the difficulties. I feel like a woman on the edge (I probably am!) and coming to the end of my tether with it. Your ds sounds a delight. His strengths of course should be celebrated! Perhaps some extra dance sessions will shake off the negativity. This place is fabulous. I would have gone over the edge by now without it (instead I am only teetering haha!!!!).

It's hard isn't it. I find the biggest challenge talking to specialists is that I struggle to tell what's normal for an nt family, we're all on the spectrum so our normal is probably miles from nt normal. When they ask me 'does he do x' I think 'well yes, but so do the rest of us.... Don't other people?'

At his last CAMHS assessment they asked me 'does he clap spontaneously' ... I answered 'no, why would he?'. Turns out people routinely applaud their children's achievements, that was news to me, I've never clapped at them, nor felt any inclination to do so, so of course he doesn't either. The CAMHS people all looked at me in bewilderment and asked 'but what do you do if he does something well?'. I hug him of course! I still can't figure out if I was the odd one in that situation or if they were!

Hello and welcome, I am not a newbie but a fairly infrequent poster. My ds has a dx of ASD, he is my lovely 9 yr old boy, but I struggle with the fairly heartbreaking reports, and dealing with the professionals. We moved school 7 months ago, due to a house move and the transition has been hard and getting support has been harder!

This board is fantastic, support and advice here has saved my sanity many times - just reading other posts about life in the sn world as a lurker is great too.