HFA parents

[Teaandcake3]

Hi! My first post! My little boy (5) may have dyspraxia and or asd. I just wanted to hear from some others who are in similar situations. I am still in shock and denial at times. I really didn't suspect it at all. At home he is happy curious and full of fun. His speech is fine but he doesn't always give eye contact. At school he leaves his seat a lot and has his own agenda at times. However he loves school and has made friends there. I have been told if it's asd it will become obvious in the next few years and this has me worried sick- can anyone here share their own experiences?

Well,

My son hates school,
gives very little eye contact,
speech not brilliant,
very violent,
Takes things very literally,
Takes things the wrong way a heck of a lot,
Has friends but cant maintain friendships,
And the list goes on.

My son has hfa is in reception too. He Is a very well behaved boy and doing excellently both socially and academically so far! I do sometimes worry if as he gets older things may change but he has come along so so much since last year I can't emphasise enough! Hopefully with the right extra help and also understanding and help from us as parents things will improve for them! Having a diagnosis is a good thing as parents you also start to understand your child more and where they are coming from rather than not knowing. I was quite upset at first but I have learnt to live with it and thought to myself getting depressed won't undiagnose him so i just got on with things and started to understand him more, good luck

Hello teandcake!

My DS is 7 and was diagnosed with ASD when he was 5. He had a horrible year at school in Reception but things are much better now - although he'd still rather not have to go there. Although it's true that the differences between him and other children in his class have become more noticeable in some ways, he's also a lot happier than he was a couple of years ago - I think because both I and the school have got better at finding ways to help him.

I was lucky that I suspected ADS for ages before DS was diagnosed so it was a relief rather than a shock. Is your DS being assessed for dypraxia & ASD? Or have you been told to wait & see? Even without a diagnosis, you can still find ways to help with the particular things your DS has difficulties with - and I've found the SN boards here to be a total lifesaver.

Ds diagnosed with HFA. Some days I wonder if he even has it, but then on others it hits me like a tonne of bricks. He has been very happy in reception due to the small class size but he still gets overloaded which causes him to get hyper. His teacher is pretty useless. We have started retained reflex therapy, whoch I found out about on the sn board.
Overall, it's been an isolating experience.

Hi my dd is 7 and currently going through the dx process for asd (Aspergers) her speech has always been way ahead of her age and she can argue like a lawyer! We did not suspect anything until she started school and within the first term she was having meltdowns all the time, became very aggressive, hiding under tables at school, arguing with teachers and head teacher etc. That year and y1 were a nightmare as school insisted she was naughty and it was behaviour and I was sure it wasn't because of the massive change in her. Then it clicked in my head and I mentioned to school and then to gp about asd and since implementing autism strategies it has been better but still really hard work for us all including her. She struggles a lot and her autistic traits have become more apparant with age and with coping with everything. It is difficult when waiting for confirmation from professionals but in the meantime I try to use these boards some Facebook groups and read around the subject to try and find ways to help her... X