Insight to OCD, ADHD, Asphergers and autism plse.

[Shinning_Star]

Hi,

This sounds daft but I never te thought about posting in here before, I'm not sure how active these pages are either, but any kind of insight would be gratefuly received.

My son has a number of issues right now, and we have an educational psychologist comng in whenever they get round to it... to see what if and how to deal with any issues he may have.

He's five his biggest issue is concentration, but there are a few others. I personally think that it may be OCD as this does run in the family particulalrly in the males.

So I guess really I just wnated ot hear from people who's children have been diagnosed with any of the above and how we start to deal with it.

Thanks

 

[pinkycat]

Not sure if this any use to u but my DD will b 5 in may and she has ASD and a bit of OCD (not officially diagnosed yet but told its a sure thing)
Her main issues r concentration,
memory- really struggling with her phonics and basic colours as she doesnt retain information,
routines -she cant cope with any change in routine
clothes r a major issue - i put them on DD2 so they arent new (she wont accept new things)
She has a thing 4 tapping (sp) things at the mo. she taps everything and has 2 tap my head 4 times wen we say goodnight or wen she goes 2 school.
hope that helped a bit
chrissie x

 

[page3modella]

Well my brother has adhd and aspergers, all I can say is that with aspergers, they won't be able to guess what someone's thinking or feeling from their expression or tone of voice, they'll have to have it spelled out for them. And with adhd it's basically being a bit louder than normal and not really behaving very well, my brother needs a lot of rules and attention otherwise he goes a bit ballistic

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Well my brother has adhd and aspergers, all I can say is that with aspergers, they won't be able to guess what someone's thinking or feeling from their expression or tone of voice, they'll have to have it spelled out for them. And with adhd it's basically being a bit louder than normal and not really behaving very well, my brother needs a lot of rules and attention otherwise he goes a bit ballistic

Yes my son is the same. He has a morning routine chart and he needs to know his bounderies. If he is placed into a situation of which he doesnt know his boundaries then he will be very tense and rigid and not concentrate he will just flap his arms.

My son was diagnosed at 3 and he is now 5yrs 6mths. He goes to mainstream and I can honestly say that only about 6 other parents know my son has ASD and I dont honestly think they would guess. His ASD is no longer obvious now he is older. He is not aggressive and has lots of friends. His main issues are he is sound sensitive (toilets flushing, hair dryers, hand dryers, car horns, clapping etc) and he is also hyperlexic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperlexia
He does not have any major behaviour issues but can get very frustrated with his emotions sometimes.
Luckily my son was diagnosed before school so everything was in place for him when he started. He doesnt have a support helper all the time anymore as he was doing so well he has 10 mins aside of the normal morning break to run around outside and 10extra mins in the afternoon to let off steam.

His teacher has also started him in a friendship group, every term they place him with 3 children he is not close friends with and they do games etc 3 times a week.

He responds well to visual techniques, He has the school day routine clearly on the wall and we have the same chart at home for our morning and evening routine. As long as he knows whats going to happen he will be fine.

Any questions just PM me x

 

[ladykara]

hey honey, my son is 11 now and have been told he has OCD ADHD ODD and aspergers, all very slight but enough for it to cause problems with his schools. I find with all of the problems a good routine is a must... My son needs to be explained about anything which he isnt used to..The major problems he had when he was 5 was understanding about social manners, sharing, taking turns etc...this is a area the school should be helping with.At home i found star charts and always have to do what i promised to do worked well.

the other side is how i personally cope with his problems which a lot of parents who find out their child has special needs dont get a lot of help with , I have a lot of understanding friends and family, I get time to be myself, if you dont get this "me" time then sticking to rules of bringing up a child with special needs is a lot harder, this is why its been 11 years until i decided to have another. xx

 

[Worrisome]

Hi everyone, Im the same, post on all the other boards but never thought about here. I suppose you just learn to deal with it in your own way. My son is nearly 6 and has been going through the dx process for asd, he is also dyspraxic and has hypermobility.
As he was my first, I just thought he was a hard baby, he wouldnt eat properly or sleep and never hit the milestones in time, we thought he was quirky due to hand flapping even nursery didnt pick it up, yet first day of school he was under observation for AS however weve been told its more likely to be asd due to lang issues and that he was the worst case of undiagnosed for 10 years, yet you wouldnt think to look at him, only when you spend time with him, do you realise about the obsessions and rituals.
But I wouldnt change him for the world.

 

[Snugggs]

:wave: Ladies,

My DS who is nearly 5, is also diagnosed on the spectrum. I has ASD, Learning disabilities, Sensory Perseption Disorder and 70% permanent Deafness.... a real "aray" of obsticles .

I knew there was something "not quite right" by the time he turned 18months. Just going back a little bit on the story, Josh was born 10 weeks early at 2lb 12oz , this being the main cause to the diagnosis as apposed to it being genetic. Me and DH have done the Eary Bird course (highly recommended) and the Tripe P course.

Without going on too much this late at night, i guess the best thing me and DH learned was to keep ourselves one step ahead of what ever our DS was thinking or about to do. We felt that would be impossible to do, but we cushioned ourselves with as much information and tactics as possible and soon enough it became pretty natural.

Our main problem at the minute is DS is VERY hyperactive and violent. As he's getting bigger he's getting strong. We have just applied for a Statutary Assessment and hopefully will be able to school hoim in a special setting (he is currently in mainstream).

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I agree with the above, I always have to be one step ahead of him so to speak.

Also, I read before that parents need to make time for themselfs even if it is a 5min cup of tea a day. Make sure you look after yourself x

 

[Snugggs]

Also, I read before that parents need to make time for themselfs even if it is a 5min cup of tea a day. Make sure you look after yourself x

I agree also.

I work full time, have DH and DS to look after, so, although it's hard to find the time, i pledged to give my self 1hour a week "me time". I used this time to learn to play golf (dont laugh ). It wasn't actually about learning to play golf, but to get out and meet people and smell the fresh air!.

I was in a bit of a rut! i had hardly any friends as for the last 5 years i have dedicated myself to DS, and slowly my friends circle broke away and now i hardly ever see them. So for me the golf thing was a good move.

I so agree with EmzyMathRuby, you really do need to luck after yourself and never ever feel guilty for putting your own needs first for 5 minutes! You are allowed to!!!

 

[ladykara]

I noticed as my son was growing up that having friends to come over and play wasnt as easy.. In fact i used to dread anyone asking me if he could go over and play and i would make sure they were always at our house. My son found it hard to make friends and didnt always understand what friends were, he thought anyone he spoke to was a friend. Did anyone else have problems like this?

 

[pinkycat]

I noticed as my son was growing up that having friends to come over and play wasnt as easy.. In fact i used to dread anyone asking me if he could go over and play and i would make sure they were always at our house. My son found it hard to make friends and didnt always understand what friends were, he thought anyone he spoke to was a friend. Did anyone else have problems like this?

My LO is just like this, she met a little girl on hols in August for literally 2 mins as she was paddling in the sea. This little girl told Ellie that she was 6 and her name is Emma and off she went. Ellie still talks about her *friend* 6 mths later.

Having friends over 4 tea is also a nightmare cos its a change to her routine, although not as bad as going to others for tea as she thinks i have *given her* to the other childs family *to keep*

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I noticed as my son was growing up that having friends to come over and play wasnt as easy.. In fact i used to dread anyone asking me if he could go over and play and i would make sure they were always at our house. My son found it hard to make friends and didnt always understand what friends were, he thought anyone he spoke to was a friend. Did anyone else have problems like this?

I am having this exact problem at the moment.I dread my son going anywhere else for tea (because he is so fussy) So I invite them here but its not always possible. Its hard.

 

[Nic1107]

Hi hun. For me, one of the hardest things about ASD is that not a lot of people understand that sensory processing disorders (hypersensitivity to light, sound, etc.) is very real and we can't just "tune it out"! My mom- who is in all ways a wonderful mom- is forever telling me to just ignore things that are bothering me, like the sound of the dog drinking water which drives me nuts. Some things may seem crazy or so insignificant that other people wouldn't even notice, but being taken seriously means a lot to people on the spectrum.

If there are times when your child is having a really bad day, seems on edge, is misbehaving a lot or not paying attention, something may be bothering his senses and he may not even be able to pinpoint what it is. That is the time to make sure his clothes are comfortable (even if he has to bring his favourite comfortable pajamas or something to change into when out of the house), see if there are any repetitive noises, loud noises or buzzing sounds that may be bothering him, or anything else that tends to overstimulate him. Noise-cancelling headphones are a blessing.

As for social issues, I can't offer much advice as I've never quite got the hang of it either (I get flamed a lot here for wording things badly- go figure!). But I do have friends, and they accept me for my quirks. This forum: https://wrongplanet.net is an excellent resource, it is run and populated almost completely by people who themselves are on the spectrum and they can offer loads more insight.

 

[Shinning_Star]

THe above I have to say really seems to ring a bell with my son, we're still waiting on a diagnosis as to what if anything he could have but sunds definately affect him and always have, I never thought a background noise or just something uncomfortable might affect him so much but it sounds very familiar, could be why he hates his hair cut so much, as it's the itchiness that seems to 'scare' him, and he goes crazy with slightly ithcy things. s this kinda the same thing?

 

[Nic1107]

THe above I have to say really seems to ring a bell with my son, we're still waiting on a diagnosis as to what if anything he could have but sunds definately affect him and always have, I never thought a background noise or just something uncomfortable might affect him so much but it sounds very familiar, could be why he hates his hair cut so much, as it's the itchiness that seems to 'scare' him, and he goes crazy with slightly ithcy things. s this kinda the same thing?

Yup. Tactile sensations can be very extreme for kids anywhere on the spectrum, from ADD to full-blown autism.

 

[morri]

By the way a website I value a lot is also this one, it might not be as important today but it is very useful on later on especially.

https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~alistair/survival/

It is a private user website, about an aspie who wrote a survival guide for other aspies. it is from 1997 so it is not including any social networks etc advice but yu can go figure from all the other advice.

another personal website is this one :
https://www.angelfire.com/amiga/aut/links.html the next being the new blog of the person.
https://kaspieman.blogspot.com/

and another good board I thinkmk although it may read alienating sometimes is this one.
https://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/index.php

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Hi hun. For me, one of the hardest things about ASD is that not a lot of people understand that sensory processing disorders (hypersensitivity to light, sound, etc.) is very real and we can't just "tune it out"! My mom- who is in all ways a wonderful mom- is forever telling me to just ignore things that are bothering me, like the sound of the dog drinking water which drives me nuts. Some things may seem crazy or so insignificant that other people wouldn't even notice, but being taken seriously means a lot to people on the spectrum.

If there are times when your child is having a really bad day, seems on edge, is misbehaving a lot or not paying attention, something may be bothering his senses and he may not even be able to pinpoint what it is. That is the time to make sure his clothes are comfortable (even if he has to bring his favourite comfortable pajamas or something to change into when out of the house), see if there are any repetitive noises, loud noises or buzzing sounds that may be bothering him, or anything else that tends to overstimulate him. Noise-cancelling headphones are a blessing.

As for social issues, I can't offer much advice as I've never quite got the hang of it either (I get flamed a lot here for wording things badly- go figure!). But I do have friends, and they accept me for my quirks. This forum: https://wrongplanet.net is an excellent resource, it is run and populated almost completely by people who themselves are on the spectrum and they can offer loads more insight.

Thanks so much for this! My son changes into his pyjamas as SOON as he gets thru the door, He hates clothes but he now understands he has to wear them out but can wear pjs when in house. x

 

[Nic1107]

Thanks so much for this! My son changes into his pyjamas as SOON as he gets thru the door, He hates clothes but he now understands he has to wear them out but can wear pjs when in house. x

So do I.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Its a buzz lightyear fleece thing, we had to buy 2 as he wants it on every day and it gets filthy lol. x