Aspergers Syndrome - Updated 10/11/09 -

[baby.love]

Have sent you a message hun xx

But yep alot of those things are the same with Ethan, and like you said ADHD didnt seem to fit right, where as AS really does. Lets hope we get our boys diagnosed soon hun.. Ethan is such hard work sometimes but he is so worth it

 

[mer01]

Have sent you a message hun xx

But yep alot of those things are the same with Ethan, and like you said ADHD didnt seem to fit right, where as AS really does. Lets hope we get our boys diagnosed soon hun.. Ethan is such hard work sometimes but he is so worth it

i hear you with the hard work thing

 

[baby.love]

When Ethan has a good day he is a fantastic kid, but when he has a "naughty" day my goodness he really is bad... He is getting worse with food and will only eat certain things which i have read is normal. He also has this thing where when excited he flaps his hands and opens his mouth wide - this is apparently a very common sign of AS! almost like a tick! I have my HV back out in 4 weeks and we are then being referred to the paediatrician to see if we can start the ball rolling towards a diagnosis.

I know its hard work hun, but it makes our boys unique and who they are..

 

[mer01]

When Ethan has a good day he is a fantastic kid, but when he has a "naughty" day my goodness he really is bad... He is getting worse with food and will only eat certain things which i have read is normal. He also has this thing where when excited he flaps his hands and opens his mouth wide - this is apparently a very common sign of AS! almost like a tick! I have my HV back out in 4 weeks and we are then being referred to the paediatrician to see if we can start the ball rolling towards a diagnosis.

I know its hard work hun, but it makes our boys unique and who they are..

i agree hun they are very unique, liams the same when hes excited he runs around making this horrible noise and whatever you do you cant stop it
also he rolls his head when he runs?? which is weird as he usually runs into a door or something
as for the 'naughty' my son is known as the naughtiest kid in school, he has a terrible reputation. But what people dont realise is that he cant communicate like everyone else hes just different.
i swear the mums at school think im a terrible mother
i know he has days when hes so out of control that i break down and cry, its so exhausting and most of the time you feel like you are talking to yourself because of that 'vacant look'. but his good days make him more than worth it xxx

 

[baby.love]

well hun any support or advice you need i am here for you,

I wish people would think before classing kids as just "naughty" Ethan doesnt mean it but he is the way he is, his new thing is gritting his teeth and pushing his head into you when he gets frustrated its not nice but it seems he cant show frustration in "normal" ways.

I have been told its a long process getting AS diagnosed but its what we as mums have to do isnt it! Luckily my HV is great and seems to be 100% behind us on the AS. xx

 

[mer01]

here's to the long haul cheers lol

 

[baby.love]

Cheers hun think we might need the odd glass here or there

 

[Mrs G]

Hi

I just thought I would add to this from a teacher's perspective. I have taught quite a few children with AS and in my opinion as long as the teacher/ta knows your child's individual 'traits' and the signals to look for, he will have no problems in mainstream school. It is only when AS behaviour is misunderstood for bad behaviour that problems arise. In my experience this generally through ignorance, even though I don't like to criticise my fellow teachers...

Good luck

 

[JASMAK]

I didn't know Asperger's was diagnosed so young? Was there a language delay? If so, then Asperger's would be immediately dismissed. My daughter has PDD-NOS (ASD). You are right...your child will always be your child...no matter what the label.

 

[baby.love]

JASMAK my son does have a language delay, although his speech is improving all the time he is still "behind" other children his age. Hopefully whatever it is he has can be diagnosed, only so he gets the right help with his education etc I love his little traits and wouldnt have him any other way as he is generally such a happy & gorgeous little fella

Seeing as i started this thread about him i thought i would share a pic of him..

So ladies here is my little man Ethan

 

[baby.love]

Just wanted to update this thread as we had a visit from Ethan's HV today

Well 1st off we have a new HV! but she is lovely and very supportive from what i can see, she adored Ethan and he really warmed to her...

She said the work we are doing with him as parents is fantastic and she really praised us, it felt good to know that we are helping him and not making things worse as sometimes i feel like i am up against a brick wall...

I mentioned AS & PDD-NOS to her and she was brilliant, she said she hasnt heard of PDD-NOS so she is going to look into it more before our next meeting which is in 2 weeks. At our next meeting we are taking the step to make the referal to the paediatrician so it showed me she really listened and is doing whatever it takes to get Ethan the right help and if there is one a diagnosis.

So all in all it has been a positive step and i am really happy with the way things are going.

I just wanted to say a massive thanks to JASMAK for suggesting PDD-NOS

I will update again after the next appointment Thanks if you managed to read this x

 

[smartiepants]

Glad to hear you're getting somewhere with help for him. I'm sure my Mum would sympathise with the 'naughty' label as she was always being pulled aside and told what I'd been doing wrong this time. I think she got very frustrated but it wasn't really that well known back then, I didn't get diagnosed until I was a teenager but it certainly answered a lot of questions!

I think my main problem when I was a child was that I didn't seem to care when I got told off because I couldn't understand when people were angry, as such it came across as if I was constantly pushing boundaries.

Thankfully Ethan's diagnosis will help people understand and hopefully he won't go through life being labelled as naughty.

Good luck with everything

 

[angela43]

thank you for sharing.

my dad has Asperger's -- wasn't diagnosed until well into adult hood. I believe he had a hard time while a child, as his mom/dad just thought he was a difficult kid. So much has improved with what we now know. He is a great dad, works full time, still married to my mom. Growing up, I just thought his "quirks" were normal! some of the traits he has are really special, and he certainly made me who I am. There certainly are some things that have been more difficult for him socially, but all in all, he has a great life.

 

[baby.love]

Updated 1st post

 

[oldermummy]

Hi Baby love, I have only just seen your thread and I have been going through the same journey with my little boy.
He is 2.5 now and my sis in law spoke to me a few months ago as she was concerned about his lack of speech. A few months down the line and we have been told by the speech therapist that he has a language disorder rather than a delay which would indicate a ASD of some nature. He has been seen by the paed twice now and they are going to look at a multi agency meeting to see if they can come to an agreement on diagnosis as a paed cannot make a diagnosis without input from other professionals.
Looking back now there were warning signs from birth with my little one, he was an exceptionally good baby and rarely cried. Then he started with spinning objects (which he still does to a lesser degree now) he does the hand flapping and has a few other quirks.
I would like to ask you about any other input that you have been given, my little one is now seen fortnightly by a lady from the local Portage team, she has been invaluable in her help with him as well as giving me ideas how to bring him along. I had never heard of Portage before but they are there to help pre school children with special needs learn through play. The lady who sees him will see him right up until he goes to school and then will help him with the transistion into school. I would really advise you ask your health visitor to look into this service for you as it has proven invaluable to us.
I hope you get all the support that you need and if you don't feel you are then fight for it as I know from experience with my step son that the help that is out there is not always offered and you have to fight for it. Good luck .

 

[Hayley90]

Hi, my fiance had/has aspergers...he is 21 this year, and seems to be fine, although if you know him & you know aspergers...the signs are definately there.

He also had severe ADHD which meant he was on medication from the age of six to the age of 16 - he hated it, they limited his ability to form his personality - he was "zoned out" all the time (his words!)

His parents definately had trouble "controlling" his behaviour, as so many doctors got his diagnosis wrong several times. at one point he was severely dyslexic, which meant they put him in a school for special needs children, who were well below his intelectual capacity - which made him even worse, as he got the treatment of a 3 year old, when he was 8. ( i dont mean to be mean about the school, it was the doctors fault. )

It seems your lucky that your docs understand the problem early, as you will have all the options open to you from the beginning & will be able to see when new things develop.

As it happens, liam (my OH) did very well in the army (self discipline and organisation are his "thing" ) and he successfully returned from afghanistan this march as an infantry soldier

Youre very very lucky to have decent doctors...keep at it, and soon everything will become apparent. I need to wait & see if my Little one will have it or not...only time will tell!

 

[Hayley90]

also, (and this may seem very very silly) but read "The curious incident of the dog in the night time" - its a book written from the perspective of a boy with Aspergers - it is fantastically written, and my parents in law were referred to the book to get an "insight" into liams mind...and it was right. he read the book himself and agreed. he said it was amazing to have something so simply describe what he felt like sometimes.

it isnt a factual book - just a little boy making a diary - but it is brilliant for seeing in to their minds, which helps sometimes