Re: adhd/autism

[Bookworm]

Have moved your post to its own thread, it will make things easier to follow so your story and Lindsay's don't get tangled up.

 

The autistic spectrum is so called because it has so many variations that a lot of conditions come under it.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit Hyperective Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's Syndrome, autism, and other associated disorders like OCD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, all combine to make it sometimes really difficult to get the right label. Not two ASD kids are the same, so it can be difficult to get a handle on it. Some will have learning difficulties, some not, some will be verbal, some not, etc...

 

From the little you have said about your child, I'd be tempted to say Asperger's, so maybe you want to read up on that and see if it ticks the right boxes? (Remember though my opinion is just that, I am not a diagnostician or a trained specialist of any kind!!!)

 

ASPERGER's DISORDER (DSM IV Diagnostic Criteria)

 

is the clinical categorisation for AS.

 

If not, start googling autistic spectrum disorder, and just click on links and read, it's amazing how quickly you'll get an idea for yourself of what is the issue. I remember clicking on a link where this woman was describing how this AS guy at work would go into one if someone took "his" chair, although noone could know by what criteria this was supposed to be his chair, and thinking: "OMG, T. does that at school", and that was one of the first things that set me thinking on the lines of Asperger's, of which I had never heard of before. Then when I finally came across the DSM-IV definition (the link I have given you), it all fell into place just like that. I had been looking at it all this time, only I didn't know what it was I had been looking at.

[Bookworm]

I'll second that. PE used to be a meltdown trigger for T., and now, he goes swimming, and has started doing PE again. However, a few months ago, he started refusing to go again, and we narrowed it down that he didn't like being in shorts, so I tried getting him to take tracksuit trousers instead, and that worked.

[Bookworm]

Listen, in a lot of ways, he's just like the rest of us, has his off days an' all. For all you know, in a couple of days, he's going to come down with that bug that has been doing the rounds, and you're going to think: "Ahhhh!!!"

 

Also remember that any changes to routine is likely to bother him, or it could be the change in the weather... Hundreds of things you won't even have thought of, different fabric softener, Halloween decorations in the shops, who knows?

 

Sometimes, it is simply a case of "sh!t happens", you learn to shrug it off and hope next time will be better. It's not always going to go right. Even though T. is now in the best school possible for him, he still has off days, it helps reminding me how far he has gone on and how I can never take his good behaviour for granted, and must always remember that no matter how well behaved he is now, he is always different.

[Bookworm]

And then some. ;-)

[Bookworm]

It's so good when things happen that way, isn't it? I'm really glad to hear he is doing well, let us know what the mental health person says.

[Bookworm]

 

I hope you don't say thing like that in front of your lad, you'll scare the hell out of him!

[Bookworm]

SO glad you got there. A lot of people don't want their child "labelled", I found it invaluable for me, my child and to get him the help he needed.

 

Have you thought on how you want to proceed from there? Don't forget to apply for DLA and Carer's Allowance if you haven't yet. Find out if there is an AS support group in your area, NAS might be able to help.

 

Any questions, any guidance, or if you want some pointers on reading matters, just holler.

[Bookworm]

you dont want to hear that "label" no one does

Couldn't disagree more. I did. It allowed me to go back to the school and tell them that no, it wasn't me being an over-protective/bad parent, it wasn't Tristan being "naughty" or "choosing" to misbehave, no, sending him to a PRU wasn't going to help, no, he couldn't function in a mainstream school, yes, they were discriminating against him, oh, and yes, I was RIGHT all along, etc, etc...

 

The label opened every door that until then was closed because I was being dismissed out of hand. The problem with my child was already there. The label was necessary to get him the help.