My 4 year old with autism- sharing experiences

[lizzylou1]

Hi everyone
Just posting to see if any other parents share my experiences with a 4 year old with autism.

My daughter is 4 years old and has a diagnosis of ASD. She attends nursery 4 days a week and will be starting school next September.

She has a lot of anxiety around toilet training and is still in nappies. On a daily basis she refuses to be change and wouldn't mind at all just sitting in her mess. She will scream and kick while changing her , so this can be a time consuming task. We have tried toilet training of the years on and off but she gets very anxious and upset by this we have to stop. She went through a phase before lockdown wanting to be in underwear but would go for half a day holding it in. She has trouble getting across how she's feeling and often talks a lot out of contents.

On the other hand she is very bright and can read at levels beyond her age. She has excellent memory and loves anything to do with numbers and shapes.

She has just recently been granted an EHCP and awaiting to hear if we are going to get our first choice.

Thanks for reading , i would love to hear from parents of children who are on the spectrum and hour experiences. Xx

My autistic child is now 25 and he was nothing like your daughter, although he does have a good memory.

But as the LA have just issued an EHCP just wanted to make sure you are aware of this checklist:

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-to-do-when-you-receive-your-draft-ehc-plan
www.ipsea.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=afd8d11f-5f75-44e0-8f90-e2e7385e55f0

There shouldn't be any vague or woolly wording -eg “access to”, “would benefit from”, “a high level of support”, “regular” "opportunities for", as this makes the plan very difficult, if not impossible to enforce.

And the communication problems, the anxiety and toileting issues should all be included in there, with appropriate and specific provision.

The reluctance to let go of nappies could be something to do with sensory issues - was an OT assessment carried out?