Aspergers

[Tacey]

a very tentative thread here! I'm starting to question whether the behaviour Alice displays may suggest Aspergers. She's a bright little thing in many areas, but social situations are a big issue for her, as are loud noises and the unexpected. I'm wondering if it's worth going down the assessment route, or if we should carry on as we are. She's happy for the most part. I'll admit, I'm struggling, as she's quite hard work, and she rarely shows any sort of affection to me. We're home educating, so I don't have to worry about her 'fitting in' with a class.

Do you think assessment and potentially getting a 'label' is a help or a hindrance?

 

[leelee]

Hi Tacey,

I work in this area. It might be no harm to speak to your GP and pursue an assessment if that's what you want. Parents I have worked with in the past have preferred a daignosis as it helps them to know what they are dealing with, and also explains a lot of behaviours.

What are you leaning towards?

 

[sun]

An assessment and diagnosis is especially helpful for getting into programs and therapies, qualifying for extra aid at school, etc - so I personally think it is a good idea. Especially for kiddos who need more support. But on the other hand it does happen where an early diagnosis will change as the child gets older, so an early label isn't necessarily the future and may not help much. So really it's up to you whether you feel like it is worth it in your situation.

A great help to us was getting into SN parental classes though - I took a course on encouraging speech in toddlers (qualified as my son has a speech delay), one on dealing with behaviour and another on fulfilling dietary needs. These were a huge help to me - probably more than anything else. So if that kind of thing is available in your area, then it might be worth the assessment road to take advantage of something like that. The behaviour class really gave me some good tools for our daily life. xx

 

[Tacey]

Thank you! The pros that I can see are for me to learn tools that will help her, especially regarding social skills. I also feel thoroughly exhausted, and somehow, having a diagnosis might give me comfort! That's a pretty selfish reason though. My reasons against it are that she's only 3, and I don't want a label following her throughout life if it could be a hindrance to her. In time, she may be happy to identify as Aspie, but I'm not sure I want to make that choice for her. Blimey, I'm leaping ahead here!

I feel that at the moment, she's happy and I'm not, so getting an assessment would be for my benefit. I'm not sure that's a good enough reason.

 

[sun]

I think it is absolutely a good enough reason! I got lots of help and support that made me more confident and more effective as a parent - and this made my days easier and me happier. So my son totally benefitted as a result. xx

 

[leelee]

I think it is absolutely a good enough reason! I got lots of help and support that made me more confident and more effective as a parent - and this made my days easier and me happier. So my son totally benefitted as a result. xx

I agree with Sun.

It sounds that 'if' Alice has Aspergers she would be high functioning anyway, so a diagnosis would only have to impact on your lives if you felt it needed to. You could decide what you want to do with that info. Hope that makes sense

 

[mummy2o]

I got diagnosed with aspergers last year at 26. I think if I was diagnosed earlier then my life could of been very different. Growing up I didn't really fit in any where and thought there was something wrong with me and tried various things to lash out as a teenager. I guess if I knew what I know now my parents could have supported me differently and school (although it was rare when I was growing up to get one) I could of probably learned how to make friends more easily and more focus would be going on in my special interest which at school was Maths and Music.