help with friends ds who has possible autism.

[misdee]

my friends ds(see thread entitled friends ds may be deaf) is being assessed for autism/aspergers soon.

I am trying to help her with practical stuff (DLA forms, council, HV etc) which i am good at. but want to know how else to help her. what support do mums need? she is a single mum, and atm lives a fair distance away as neither of us drive.

If there is a local NAS branch she might find that useful. Maybe an SN playgroup (alhtough can't remember age of child) to mix with mums of children with various disabilities. NAS also runs parent-to-parent helpline, befriending scheme (for the child, usually long waiting list), perhaps find out if there is any support at local CDC where they sometimes run group sessions to help parents learn how to manage behaviour, teach skills etc. Can she join Mumsnet?

she doesnt have a pc. i would suggest it to her tho. her ds is now 2.5yrs old. there is a special needs playgroup near me, but think it may be too far/awkward for her to get to. I really think she needs to be in this town as there is more going on here than where we used to live.

What is a CDC davros? (It's prob obvious and I'm being thick) Just interested.

Misdee - have no experience of ASD but as a mum of child with SN I would say the most important thing is talking to other parents in a similar situation. Either in person, on telephone or on-line.

I believe Scope also run a 'befriending scheme that is not just for children with CP, but generally SN. I'll try and post a link. No idea if there is a long wait.

CDC - Child Development Centre

link here

though might be a bit scary for her to consider her child as 'disabled' at the moment... they do say they cater for children with any kind of disability or SN.

thanks eulalia - of course! knew it would be obvious - didn't immediately come to me as we don't have one near us .

I would definitely recommend getting in touch with portage. It's been really useful for us in helping with ds1 and it looks as though we may be getting the same portage worker for ds2.