very overweight child with aspergus.......help

[whtsmum]

My ds is 8yrs, diagnosed April this year with Aspergus, then in Aug with Dyspraxia. He has always been overweight, has had 3 blood tests for under active thyroid, is under a consultant (who says 'just face it, he is a big lad'). Has seen a dietition who has stated it is not down to what he eats. She told me to go back to the doctor. Just been back to the doctor who basically said 'You are a very strong willed person, but do you not think we have done enough already for your son'! Quite honestly I told him that all the doctors have done for us is to let us down.
Doctors have misdiagnosed flat footed - actually hypermobility.
Naughty boy/typical 2nd child symptoms - actually Aspergus.
Very lazy/clumsy - actually Dyspraxia.
I have had to fight like mad for consultants appointments, but have managed to get all 3 above diagnosed in the last 6 months.
Now its back to the weight issue, not prada willy syndrome, not under active thyroid, not down to what he eats, so help me someone if you have any ideas, please.
Next consultant appointment coming up, would like any suggestions on what to do next, open to any advise. (Although no advise on food intake, really do not need that, thank you.)

Have you asked for micro-array genetic testing? DD1 has a small piece of a chromosome missing and one of the things that seems to be common to many others with the same deletion is obesity. Whilst DD does not have a weight issue, she certainly has ASD and dyspraxia related to her genetic issue.

No advise but well done getting his dx's! Don't give up pushing. Your doing the right thing.

Wow, you could be describing my dd 14!

No one has ever listened and she has at the age of 13 been diagnosed with lots of difficulties including Aspergers, hypermobility and dyspraxia.

She did have genetic testing for prader Willi as her development very closely matched but it was negative.

Unfortunately due to the stress and stopping smoking I have gained weight over the years and I think they assume that because I'm big I must feed my daughter junk.

I'll watch this thread with interest.

Also watching.

My lad doesn't seem to have the natural ability to know he's full - probably cos I had to virtually force feed him as a baby/toddler after he was diagnosed failure to thrive.

He's not obese yet, but is deffo the unflattering side of chunky & like you his poor co-ordination makes many traditional outlets like footy a non-starter.

Due to various factors over the last year I've not been able to ensure he gets a good couple of hours exercise a day. Provided there are no major health issues then calorific intake minus exercise should sort out most children's weight imho. He's also been pretty upset so has resorted to comfort eating more often than I'd prefer. .

DS used to get lots of excercise via zooming around the local parks rather than via formal exercise but his emotional state esp in the last 6 months hasn't made that easy to achieve. It's only been the last 2 weeks or so we've been able to resume an hours zooming round the local beaches each day/long country walks etc. I'm hoping given time that this'll resolve his weight without having to resort to "dietary advice".

Some people are just chunkier than others naturally though, my Mum and sis both have much wider rib cages than I do and would never be able to achieve a size 10 without requiring hospitalization no matter how much they dieted. I've always wanted a J-Lo bum, but it'll never happen cos that's not my natural shape.

There has been an awful leap in serious eating disorders amongst very young children in recent years and it's my belief that our ASD kids may be a little more vulnerable than others to acquiring one of these if weight & eating are allowed to become an ASD style obsession.

For this reason I'm quite careful not to let others criticise DS for his size, and to go for the informal exercise method (cos he hates team sports etc!) to try and get his weight back under control without making him feel self-conscious. Gardening, dog walking, park/beach/woods trips, dancing round the living room like a loon, wii sports etc can all achieve this I think. It doesn't have to be a formal sports class.