Introduce Yourself
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Hi - I'm Karrie. I am the mother of a 13 yo aspie son. He was diagnosed at age 8 by a developmental pediatrician and a neurologist. He is currently attending public school, though with little success. We are dealing with alot of stimming and meltdowns right now. We just moved to PA to obtain Autism services that were not available to us back home.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rose Jansen on -
Hi, I am Rose. Mother of a 16 yo aspie son. He has always homeschooled but his older brothers went to school for a few years. My son has never been officially diagnosed. We have always accepted him as he is but many of his "issues" began to become a problem for him a couple of years ago and we just recently realized that his behaviors were those of children with Aspergers. Though I am not one to normally like to label, once we realized what was going on we, including my son, were relieved to have a point to start from to find some solutions.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Wells on -
I know what you mean. We haven't officially had our son diagnosed. We always knew he was different but were afraid of labels so we didn't really do anything about it. About a year ago we discovered Aspergers and all his behavior finally made since. After we started talking about it his behavior started to improve. It was a huge weight lifted off all of us when we finally started talking about the problem we had all been ignoring. I still don't know if we are going to have him diagnosed. I don't know if there would really be any benefits to having him diagnosed since we homeschool and all so we are still trying to decide.
Nicole
Rose Jansen said:Hi, I am Rose. Mother of a 16 yo aspie son. He has always homeschooled but his older brothers went to school for a few years. My son has never been officially diagnosed. We have always accepted him as he is but many of his "issues" began to become a problem for him a couple of years ago and we just recently realized that his behaviors were those of children with Aspergers. Though I am not one to normally like to label, once we realized what was going on we, including my son, were relieved to have a point to start from to find some solutions.
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Permalink Reply by Toni on -
Thanks for starting this group. My wonderful nine and three quarters year old was diagnosed just before she started Kindergarten. We got her started on meds right away but it took until first grade for her to level off. She has been mainstreamed all through which is how our district handles most unless it is absolutely necessary for them otherwise. She started out having a worker with her most of the time & by the middle of first only when needed but had a morning check in with the school psychologist. She did that all through second grade but last year at the beginning of third she asked if she could stop that too. She did well without it. She didn't feel as marginalized & it helped her self esteem too.
She has the occasional meltdown but honestly I'm starting to wonder if her teetering on the verge of puberty isn't also a factor.
She's faced quite a bit of stress over the past three years but has continued to improve. She's doing well academically this year & in many ways things are clicking. There has been some problems @ school but I would say probably about three of four incidences since the beginning of the year which is better.
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Permalink Reply by Cam Mills on -
Hi I'm Cam (NCFriend on Twitter)
My son, James is 6 and diagnosed with PDD NOS. I kept insisting to his Ped, something was different, at his well baby check up at 2 and 3 years old. Finally at 4 I insisted on a referral to a pediatric neuro-psychologist, and finally found out I wasn't crazy or incapable of parenting. With the diagnosis, we received special services for James with occupational and speech therapists at a Special Ed Preschool, while he was attending a private preschool at Primrose. Last fall he entered public school, and our school system has been really attentive with the services. He was 'promoted' out of speech services and receives occupational/ (social interaction) class twice a week. Just before he turned six in November, we tried some ADHD meds with him, with good results, however the Daytrana patch ripped his skin off (tape sensitivities!), the liquid methalyn x3 a day seemed to have him going up and down and up and down three times during the day (burning the meds off before the next dose) and now the Concerta 18mg seems to bring him back to where he was before with mood swings, extreme sensitivity to conflict, being oppositional, unable to stay seated and do his work, etc. That's where we are now.
Just got his report card last week, and he is of course excelling in everything (except behaving!) His reading level is 32+ and is reading fourth grade books from the media center. He loves maps, numbers, riding down the highways, exit signs, recipes, measurement, weather, gameshows, making things with mom, and of course the computer. And, along with the PDD-NOS diagnosis with adhd, he has Sensory Integration Disorder.
I was happy to read some of your notes here, as it sounds alot like our family. (Dad is here too, although i havent mentioned him LOL)
So, I guess that's my introduction....
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Permalink Reply by Jenn Brockman on -
I'm Jenn, Nove is my 7 year old. She's been diagnosed with Autism PDD - NOS, possible sensory processing disorder.
She is in 1st grade and not doing real well after a rough start to the year. The school scaled back her IEP at end of year last year and she started with little to no extra help after a summer of no school.
She does not do well with schedule changes and new people.
She still has potty issues, doesn't read or write very well, yet speaks a mile a minute. Her speach isn't always coherent and she does some echolalia at the strangest times.
I am signing papers this week to get her into case management which will hopefully open up more services to help her and me (single mom).
She also seems to get sick alot. Not exactly flu, but fevers and such.
Her teeth have been a problem her entire life. Had reconstructive surgery at age 3 because her teeth were rotten. Since then, has had teeth grow in behind, on top of, or in addition to existing teeth.
Food allergies don't seem to play a part of her behaviors, but too much fruit can cause disentary for her (comes from dad's side).
I also have an 11 year old daughter with severe ADHD. Is on meds which are (thankfully) helping.
My mother has some undiagnosed issues as well. Probably aspergers /ADD and definite Sensory integration disorder.
So, that's my family. It will take another post to outline me!
Jenn
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Permalink Reply by Stacy on -
hello,
My name is Stacy. I am the mother of 4 kids. Our soon to be 5 year old is a verbal severe autistic, while his twin has undiagniosed apsbergers. Our son is diagnoised, and since we are homeschooling we did not feel like we wanted to put her through testing right now just because us and our doctor already is aware of it. Our son has some really horrible days. He can get pretty aggresive somedays. I love his so much, and enjoy being around him. However, our friends have all stop being our friends, and we hardly see our family anymore. gets lonely
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Permalink Reply by Gigi on -
Hi, I'm Gigi and our family has recently moved to L.A. We have two kiddoes w/ disabilites: our ten year old son has T-21 (aka Down syndrome), hearing loss and global delays due to an infant seizure disorder and our nine year old daughter has Asperger's (un-dx'ed but she fits the bill on the DSM-IV).
Our daughter was born w/ profound sensory integration dysfunction and has received years and years of intervention services (thank goodness--for her and all of us) and most people probably wouldn't recognize her as being an Aspie. We're a homeschooling family and are able to help her regulate herself and manage her behaviors because of this.
We'd LOVE to meet other families in the L.A. area w/ Aspie girls. My daughter ESPECIALLY would love to meet other girls! We're about to buy a web-cam too, so if there are any other Aspie girls out there who would like to make a new friend, my daughter would be ecstatic!
Nice to be here and I'm looking forward to making new friend here!
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Permalink Reply by NanLT on
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Hi everyone.
I have 3 sons. The oldest was diagnosed was ADD way back when he was 9 years old, he's 20 now. I now suspect that he was misdiagnosed and really has Asperger's Syndrome. It just wasn't recognised back then.
Number 2 son, referred to online as Thing 1, has Asperger's Syndrome.
number 3 son, called Thing 2, has not been officially diagnosed yet, but we suspect he has Asperger's Syndrome as well now. I am waiting for the referral and appointment from the paediatrician to come through to start the assessment process.
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Permalink Reply by momjbob on
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Hi My name is Mary Ann and I have a 12 year old Aspie son. He was diagnosed at 5 prior to starting kindergarten. Over the years he has had meltdowns, echolalia, many OCD issues & food sensitivities along with other Asperger related issues. He is mainstreamed and is in the sixth grade. He does not play sports, but has found that he has a knack for guitar, which considering the fine motor skill issues of his younger days was quite a surprise. He has had psychotherapy over the last four years and I do a lot of social skill training at home with the help of a lot of books from Future Horizons. My son asked that the diagnosis not be made public other than with the school staff, and that has left me unable to talk about the day to day issues facing a Mom helping a child with Aspergers. I sometimes feel like I live in a bubble. I get told constantly that he is "quirky" and "funny" and I just smile and say "Thank you, wouldn't want him any other way!"
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Permalink Reply by Tina on -
Hi, I'm Tina, @sendchocolate on twitter. Have 3 children, 2 are diagnosed HFA (though pretty sure it is about the same as Asperger's, especially my son. Tony Attwood has said the only difference between AS and HFA is how they are spelled). My son is 10, my daughter is 7. My oldest daughter has never been "officially" diagnosed with Asperger's but we all know, and she does, too. Her therapist (Not an autism therapist) prefers we not label it.. she is VERY high-functioning and was in gifted classes before I withdrew her from school in 7th grade. My son was in the Second Grade when I withdrew him for homeschooling; the public school environment wasn't meeting his needs. He had lots of anxiety, eloping, off-task, it was awful for both of us. I homeschool all of the kids; best thing I EVER did for them. No more fighting for sub-standard services with the district. Less anxiety, more personalized education. I highly recommend it as an alternative. I am going on my 5th year. I am a writer, so I am happiest when I am writing. It can be a challenge to find the time, as I am sure you understand. I end up writing late into the night. I write all over the web about special needs ( for example, Examiner.com, TypeAMom) as well as my own blogs.
I view autism as a growth process, and don't try to change or cure my children. I am most interested in helping them gain skills to help them succeed in life. If that means a special diet, vitamins, social skills, etc. That's what we do.
Tina
Send Chocolate
Autism Sucks
Geek4Kids
LA Special Needs Kids Examiner
Special Needs Parenting Editor
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Permalink Reply by Maryann DellaRocco on
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Hi, I'm Maryann. I'm the mom of 2 boys, my oldest (age 4) has PDD-NOS which may be changed to aspergers as he gets older. He also has hypotonia and sensory processing disorder. We use biomedical interventions with great success. This is what has brought him out to the forefront. We also do in-home ABA therapy, and at school (special ed-preschool) PT, OT and speech. He is on the GFCF diet and many supplements. We feel they have done the most in recovering Matthew. I'm hoping that by 1st grade he will no longer be on the spectrum. my blog http://matthewspuzzle.blogspot.com is geared around our recovery and natural product reviews.
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Permalink Reply by Robin Hartman on -
Hi- I'm Robin. I have two boys, 4 and 5. My 5 year old is diagnosed with Aspergers. We've made a lot of progress with him after preschool and kindergarten. He had some pretty wonderful speech and special needs teachers. We mostly used pressure therapy, a weighted blanket, oral sponge suckers, Wilbarger Protocol, and joint compressions. He's biggest developmentaly delay was in speech. We have recently had success getting him to communciate to us in a conversation. He, sometimes, answers questions about what he did at school. He has moved passed the labeling items words and attempts more sentences. His younger brother has been a wonderful help to him too.
Thanks for starting this group. I am looking forward to reading and sharing stories and learning from everyone's experiences. It is so hard when working with my child and knowing how he struggles at times when everyone close to you looks at him like he is just being bad. They don't always understand that certain textures will make him vomit or that he answer questions because he may not be able to vocalize at that particular moment.
