Just had first appointment with the paediatrician

[waitingforgodot]

She reckons its ASD and says its too early to tell how severe. DS is 3.2 . This is the first time a health professional has confirmed our fears. I am really upset and cant stop crying which is daft.
I dont know much about ASD-can anyone give me any good articles to read to help?

StarlightMcKenzie,
how do you mean? Who should I be seeking a second opinion from?

I get you now.
That makes sense. You can't rely on anyone saying they will do something and actually doing it?

Sounds intriguing. Why would they lie? Laziness? Incompetent?

It's very easy sometimes to get the impression that people are guarding their budgets rather than assessing your needs... Laziness and incompetence they just do for the kicks

FFS - we've not been doing this very long at all, either of us Starlight and we're already seasoned, cynical, old hacks.

@starlight - We're good thanks - busy - not quite as efficient as you by the sounds of things! We're trying to cram our eldests last couple of weeks before he disappears to big school, trips here, there and everywhere. DS is making some pretty good progress - nothing huge, but all the little things really do feel significant. We're eyeing September when we'll get more time to spend with DS quite enthusiastically.

WFG - sorry for gossiping in your thread...!

Gossip away!!

godot - i met with a nice man from CONtact a Family who spends 2 days a week at the local CHildrens centre helping people fill in their DLA forms and other govt forms. He say with me for over an hour filling it in and was HUGELY helpful

you can speak with them o the phone. they are terrific advocates

brilliant! I have the number here as the paediatrician suggested I give them a call. Its on my to do list. How are things with you today mum2fredandpudding?

def call contact a family. they are great. yesterday they called me to tell me of another family in my area doing ABA and that they are keen to make contact with us and share progress stories etc, if we want it. WHich is exactly the sort of thing i want!

today we are still all over hte shop. DS1 is better now (the virus has passed and luckily no-one else got it) but we drove back into London on SUnday morning with the knowledge that we were moving into our new place... only to call the agents on hte way nad be told then that it would not be ready till wednesday!! cue panic attack! So been screwed around a bit nad as unable to get onto current landlords (in effort to beg for an additional few days which tehy would not give us last week) and as a result got to 5pm yesterday with no place to feed our children or lay our heads! THe upshot is that we are now illegally squatting (mwa ha ha) for 3 days in our old house, which is so nerveracking but bugger it - we have been screwed around so much Ive stopped caring about doing hte right thing right now. Hardest to deal with all this uncertainty is that we are unable to get DS1s ABA therapy happening as we would like it. ARGH. THat being said the therapy we are managing to fit in seems to be working well, DS1 is thoroughly enjoying hte attention.

ANyway - v limited internet access, but should hopefully be more sorted by the end of hte week and properly back online within 2 weeks.

How are things progressing with you. ASD is such a hard thing to get to grips with initially. THe concept is so ambiguous in many ways. I found the books by Greenspan to be very helpful in getting my mind straight and getting ideas on how to interact productively on a day-to-day basis there. Its quite heavy going but if you cna trudge through it (and with a nickname like godot, im sure you will be able to) it is very worthwhile nad a fav of the MN SN people.

must go.

I think you probably need to cry and take time for it to sink in tbh.
Try not to worry about how severe when my daughter was diagnosed they said moderate to severe after hours of intervention she is definitely HF and her difficulties are unnoticeable to all but a very well trained eye.
When you have had time for it to sink in I can definitely recommend ABA as an intervention approach. Take care

Hi, this is a message for mum2fredandpudding.. I noticed a while ago that you were looking for ABA tutors, I see from this post that you have now set up the home programme? I was wondering, am i too late? Are you still looking for tutors? I've just left my post at the rainbow school for children with autism in earlsfield, where i worked for one academic year as an ABA tutor. I left to start my masters (in art psychotherapy at goldsmiths college) and have Mondays free to work- i was hoping to continue working with children using the ABA training i have had. Anyway, I hope that you are well and also everyone else in the forum! You all seem so determined and relentless in your persuit to provide and care for your children, I wish you all the best and if any one has any questions about my experience with ABA I'd be happy to chat

p.s I just wanted to add that I am sorry to message an unrelated post into this thread, but i've been trying without success to post a message directly and it wont let me! so i had to just try posting here.. sorry!

Sending you virtual hugs.
Crying is normal and part of the acceptance process.
It will get better, give yourself a little time.
My DS had a verbal dx of asd back in april, and to be totally honest it took me just over 2 months to get my head round it properly.
It just isn't easy to hear it , and reading it is worse. But time is a great healer, you will be fine
I found the National Autistic Society website brilliant for info.
Good luck to you and your little boy.

mum2fredandpudding
you poor thing. Hope you are not too stressed.
Thanks for the virtual hug mysonben.
A quick update-we have been attending one to one therapy for DS with a holistic therapist who is doing lots of sensory stuff with him. After just one session, he let DH play with him and the Thomas engine (that's a first) and he also took an interest in a girl in a pram and said "hello" to her twice. Again, this is a new thing as he would normally ignore all other kids except his friends.
Am feeling really positive this week. Going to call up about Early Bird this week when I get a chance. Sending you all positive vibes and hugs x

apologies in advance for hijack!

amoobaa - you sound suspiciously like one of our tutors we have! She has just left treehouse to start the exact same masters at goldsmiths (which is the next suburb over from us)... ?? Bizarre coincidence??!!!!? Unless you are her...hmm... (although I suspect you would pick up on my none-to-subtle nickname and the housing dilemmas I posted above).

unfort we actually have too many tutors at the moment and will be cutting back in hte next couple of weeks, but I would be keen to get your CV as these things can rapidly change and the tutor we are most impressed with is your double - so, im slightly hesitant to put my email on here seeing as it is a bit revealing, but unsure how to tell you how ot email me direct through mumsnet. i think you can do it by going to my profile? let me know how you get on.

Otherwise - ABC Therapists, Gumtree and ABA Yahoo Group are great places to advertise/look for work.

godot - glad to hear things are coming along. No matter what shape it comes in I think that attention and awareness can only have a positive impact on our dcs and it is wonderful to hear that he is taking steps forward. I practically cry over these little things. Today DS said 'Help' appropriately nad repeatedly at the prompting of his ABA tutor. We were beside ourselves happy. Such little things are so enormous in our world now. Saying hello to stranger is absolutely wonderful. GLad you are feeling positive. On hte whole h=you will go from strength to strength in digesting the dx nad planning for the future.

oh. you have to pay to be able to send me an email direct. Oh well bugger it. i can be contacted at heatheranders @ hotmail dot com

Hi again, I have emailed you