Jericho

Thanks, Sam. I sent the application form off this morning. If the application is your first then the FF send someone to visit you and assess your family's needs. Apparently they also have a lot of local knowledge about groups and schemes so I'm hoping they'll help me to find a suitable place and perhaps even arrange some 1-1. Alternatively I'd be happy with somewhere suitable for both Danny and his little brother where I could take them and stay with them. Fingers crossed!

After the nightmare of the past few days I think I have finally answered my own question. At the very top of any wish-list will be a request for help in finding a suitable playscheme for Danny in the summer-holidays. If they have any spare money I might even request a bottle of hair dye - to cover up all the grey hairs that are bound to have appeared by the end of the Easter holidays! :o

Hi All! Yesterday our portage worker sent us some information about the Family Fund. As you may already know, this group "exists to help families...caring at home for a severely disabled or seriously ill child under the age of 16" by "providing grants and information related to the care of the child." I've looked at their website (www.familyfund.org.uk in case anyone is interested) but have absolutely no idea what we could ask for help with so that we in turn could help Danny. The most popular requests seem to be for holidays (Danny hates change) or driving lessons (not really practical for us). I was just wondering what other people chose/would choose. Thanks, Jericho

Hi there, Babyeggsmum! I have a 3yr old boy who is autistic. This is a great site for help and advice. Jericho xx

Hi! My 3 year old is quite sensitive to light. He is particularly bothered by the fluorescent lights that seem to be in every doctor's surgery. When he was younger he would just sit in such a room looking out of the corners of his eyes. As his speech is now developing he will say "Light off. Light off." If it all gets too much for him he will hide under a chair where it is a bit darker. My husband, who has a lot of AS traits says that yellow paper is definitely the hardest colour paper to read from. Blue-white is the easiest colour to read from. Even now if he is reading something he finds it easier to read if he puts a sheet of clear acrylic or clear plastic over the top of the page, as this takes the yellowness away from 'white' paper and makes it easier to read. In his eyes, cheap white paper looks yellow.

Would I give my son/husband a pill if it would take away their Aspergers? I asked my husband about this and his reply was "No, but I'd give the rest of the world a pill if it would make them think like an AS person: No hidden meanings. No deceit. No more being expected to lie when someone asks you a straightforward question. D is too young to ask but I think he would probably agree.

I think you can still apply without an exact diagnosis. You can ask your Paediatrician, GP etc to fill in the medical 'back-up'. The criteria is generally to do with how much help your child needs with things like dressing, toileting, crossing roads, travel (running off or even needing the same route) etc. The other big thing is how much they sleep at night - or not!! Payments are backdated to when you ask for the form so it's worth a try.

Your earnings and savings are irrelevant when applying for DLA. Not sure about the others though.