**AUTISM / ASPERGERS SUPPORT GROUP**

[doll*obsession]

A safe place for all members with friends or family with ASD

Come and have a cuppa, share your joys, and vent your problems with other people who understand.

[mapalarkin]

We were lucky that when Darcy was diagnosed that the school had a meeting within 3 days with dept of ed fellow for funding but as it was end of October and school was almost finished we got the aide at the begining of this year.The good thing is that his funding is in place till the end of primary school.I dont know how the principle managed to do that but he did it.The aide Darcy has is to also help him in the play ground too because he has a habit of tripping over invisable objects and has already been a target for older and younger kids to pick on.Last year some year 6 kids were taking his canteen money and telling him if he told they would bash him.He eventually told me after I continually questioned him about what he did with the money what he bought etc etc.I was straight in the office meeting the principle.The teachers watched him a lot closer after that and weve only had 1 instance of bullying this year and that was at vacation care.Sometimes I really want to bash these bullies parents and give them a tatse of what their kids give ours.

[gshepherd510]

Hi Mizz.......he has no choice because I won't put up with his kerapp. I asked a co-ordinator who knows my son if there are boys worse than mine who came home "human" after these camps, and was told that there are boys a lot worse than mine.

I have had a lot of positive feedback and no negative one's at all..........so there is hope, but I won't count my chicken's before they hatch.

If this camp doesn't work for him, I will be looking into sending him to "Father Riley" or similar, who has helped a lot of wayward teen's.

It's more the attitude than anything else that does my head in though.

normal little boy/girl with no problems...I wish.

[sheepy_1-4]

my eldest got his own revenge on one of his long time bullies earlier this year - He got a new therapy dog (last one got a tick and died - and named him Harry (Bully was called Harry) when I asked him why - he said cos if he was naughty - he could kick him in the bu** (he wouldn't really - Jade is a very gentle boy and loves his dog to bits) but it was really funny when the bully Harry and the rest of the school learnt that we had named a dog after him:^O

[bella_again]

> Cool, I will ask her tomorrow, but won't be online again until Friday at the earliest. (And it will only be to report in here :-x)


thank you Kiwi:-x

[sheepy_1-4]

Hey dolls, we use Tony Attwood in Brisbane (Shrink - but his name has some serious pull) might have to have someone else in his practice though cos he rarely takes on new patients now - we were just lucky - we got in before he published and went all famous so now we see him about every 6 months or so - kind of have to work around when he is in town though.

Also, I know it is along way from Redcliffe but down here on the Goldie we have been using Dr Harte (Peadie) for 11 years, 3 months, 1 week and 1 day and he is brilliant! Might be worth the trip. No BS - tells it like it is - tells me when to worry - tells me when I am over reacting, prioritizes the dif treatments so I can afford it rather than trying to get it all going at once and best of all he is interested in YOUR child - not the case study ones or the bench mark ones and understands that the label helps at school

[doll*obsession]

evening girls!!
I had a big chat with joes teacher thismorning while the aide took care of the class- she thought the same about the paed as we do.
she said when he called her he talked AT her, rather listening to what she had to say about joseph. she was shocked that he wouldnt diagnose, and even more so when i told her how joseph was acting when we were there. Aparently the school guidance councilor had alot of ties in the local 'paed community' so she should be able to help us 😉 but we cant get in to see her untill after the school holidays...
I told joes teacher that if he has another screaming meltdown and we have to pick him up i will take him straight down to the paed- sure i wont have an apointment, but i have a valid referal- and i will use it damnit! X-(
when we had joes inrolement interview last year i told them that he is an undiagnosed aspie- and they have always treated him as such. I LOVE his school, the staff are all so patient and understanding :-x

I apologise for being so joe joe joe at the moment and not saying much about all your kids, lives etc, but I am sure you all know what it is like when going through this- it becomes your main focus and can think of little else :_|
how is darcey going with his friend?
Mizzie, how is Mr 15 going with his 'home away from home'? lol
kylie- jade has quite the sence of humour naming the dog harry!!
lisa, i hope the camp gives your son the kick in the pants he needs 😛
Krazy, hope you are having a blast on your camp 🙂
webby- how are your beautiful girls?
Rae- how is Mr newly 16?
and how are all of YOU?
take care my cyber sisters 🙂 xx

[talky*wal]

dolly, our paediatrician was the same. we originally took miss12 in to see him with a question on whether or not she had aspergers when she was just 4 or 5 years old...he of course said no...why? becoz he didnt feel that she would stand in the middle of a cricket match unaware of being in the way of the game. ?:| yup thats what he said! and kinda pleased there was 'nothing' wrong with her we took her home.

a few years later still wondering if mayb he was wrong all along, the school brought it up with us. she was 9 then. we took her back to the paed and he still said no he didnt think so becoz she didnt seem stuck on any particular topic when he spoke to her! this is in the 20 mins he spent with us.

then he finally referred us to royal far west in sydney to be assessed by the psychiatrist, paediatrician and pscyhologist down there and they said without a doubt, yes she has aspergers syndrome....by the time we had the official diagnosis she was almost 10 years old and we had suspected it for about 5 years

argh! needless to say i wont ever go back to that paed again.

i can relate to how ur feeling atm. im pulling my hair out here too. only thing is that miss12s aspergers is actually the least of my worries atm. its the OCD thats giving me grey hairs. *sobs* i just dont know wot to do with her.

[mapalarkin]

Doll we aall understand what you are going through.I think most of us have been there or are going through it.Our first pead we thought was a good guy but he was more interested in showing darcy magic tricks.We went to him a few times.The 2nd told us that he was ADD I told him I didnt believe in the alphabet disease(he didnt like that) and then gave me a script for ritalin.He also went into one of those green coles shopping bags and gave me 2 ritalin tablets to take home from someone elses box of tablets.I knew then this guy was mad.I would never in my life give my son drugs prescribed for someone else and for a doctor to do it was not on.We then went back to the first pead hoping he would listen to our pleas.He didnt want to label Darcy so told us he was dyslexic.So to our behavoural optomertrist for glasses.She asked me if he had been tested for ASD.I told her we had been trying for 9 months.Her daughter has aspergers.Our 3rd and last pead is a woman who after reading a few things asked me why so many doctors.I told her we needed an aide and she said straight up "I will be the last doctor you see".I could have kissed her.She asked us more questions in an hour than the other doctors in all the visits.She gave Darcy some simple tests involving tasks and he failed them all.I was never so happy to see him fail.I knew he would then get help.By the time we left her office we were smiling because he finally had a "label".Our school councilor told me to trust my gut feeling and I did.I skipped into the school the next day and told the principle councilor and his teachers past and present.I was happy.We had pshycologist come to the school and watch him and weeks later we had the diagnoses in writing.They all agreed.I so badly wanted to take those papers to those doctors and say look I was right you were wrong go back to school.Listen to the mothers we know our kids you dont.It gets better maybe not easier but it gets better.And this Friday night Darcy is having his freind sleepover here.That will be loads of fun lol.Keep smiling doll.It doesnt cause as many wrinkles.

[mapalarkin]

I do believe ADD and ADHD does exist I just think a lot of kids are put on it because of idiot doctors like the one we saw and arent diagnosed properly.

[islandretro]

Our journey to diagnosis was the opposite to most 🙂 I didn't think for a minute there was anything wrong with ds, at home he was fine, very bright and advanced in many areas, one of those kids everyone loved. In retrospect there were signs, but at the time they were not really even red flags of future problems.

Then in Yr 2 his teacher called me in and said there is something going on with him, I think you should have him checked by a paediatrician. I asked if she thought he had ADD as he had a tendency to go "off with the fairies" among other things, she said she didn't know.

We started with eyes and hearing - the audiologist was the first person to mention Aspergers at his testing. At the optometrist all he wanted to do was fiddle with all the complex machinery.

We got in to see a paed, who asked questions and observed him and then said he believed he was on the autism spectrum but he needed more info to make a diagnosis. I was stunned. He asked the school to do an IQ test; they refused, so I contacted Child and Youth Mental Health, told them the story, they made an appointment, IQ tested him, did various other tests and then diagnosed him with Pervasive Developmental Delay/Autsim spectrum Disorder/Aspergers Syndrome and Sensory integration Disorder. We saw Tony Attwood a couple of months later and he confirmed the diagnosis.

Not what I was expecting at all.

It is interesting to talk to him today though, at 16 he really has a lot of insight into his strengths and weaknesses and will at times talk about them, there is a lot of stuff like the face blindness and inability to do the "small talk" thing that he couldnt articulate when he was younger but can discuss now.

cheers
Rae