Just wanted to say hello. My family and I are just discovering this new world that I am sure we will become rapidly familiar with.
We have 4 children ranging in age from 16yrs to 9 months. My 9 year old boy has always had his quirks which are now becoming more obvious as he is getting older. It's amazing how many quirks we have become used to! In the last 3 years his behaviour has become much more difficult to negotiate around which has become a problem both at home with siblings and at school.
School have been so far very, very supportive in their time, patience and openness to advice. We have just been seen by a psychologist and are being assessed for an autistic spectrum disorder. The psychologist asked if I was aware of 'aspergers'. I said I was aware of it but did not know that much about it. (In fact most of my knowledge would have been based on 'The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Night Time' which I had felt did not quite fit my son's behavioural traits). However, the following night I went on-line with my partner and dived into the world of aspergers. We were quite overcome and felt we had suddenly been given a handbook for our son!
In fact strangely enough I felt like I was also learning about my Dad too! Suddenly the long monologues on history with or without an audience and his garden designed and planted to represent the battle of Waterloo, had some plausible explanation.
My eldest son was also seriously hyperactive up to the age of at least 10. We used to have great battles with him, often resulting in him screeching. He has always found great difficulty pronouncing certain words. He was bullied for a long time both in primary and early secondary, but since year 4 he became more outgoing and started to enjoy having friends. He is currently at a mainstream school doing fairly well.
However, our 9 year old has lots more traits and it affects everyday life for all of us. He ran away last week, when I was trying to ask him what the matter was. I didn't realise he had run away. He often goes off in a mood, but I usually find him round the next corner. This time he had taken himself straight off walking 3/4 mile back to school. In the meantime I had the town security and the police all searching for him. I was obviously relieved when the school phoned at 6pm to say he was safe and well with them.
I am already gaining a better understanding of him and how to react. We are hoping that the formal diagnosis will not take much longer and the school are anxious to move on to him being statemented.
Any advice for this stage would be really gratefully accepted. As I say we are totally new to this and all the procedures which we will have to go through. I am looking forward to using this forum to assist us along the way.
Thanks for reading, raonaid
