Ambriel

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, folks. I think we'll need to talk to him about going back on a steady dose of Movicol to try and help his regularity. There definitely seems to be a problem with him recognising when he needs to go. Being 11 he doesn't like being told what he has to do, which doesn't help either. He's currently in his final year at primary school. Because of our location we don't have any choice in where he goes after this: there is only the one secondary school he can go to. Similarly access to medical professionals is difficult because of the distances involved. There is supposed to be a community out-reach team but we've only seen them once and, to be honest, they didn't inspire me with confidence.

Our son (11) has had an Aspergers diagnosis for a few years now and has a problem with soiling. His paediatrician initially diagnosed constipation and he has been diagnosed Movicol for when this appears to be bad, but this real problems are more practical. He regularly (=daily) soils himself - both solids and liquids. He doesn't appear to have any realisation that he's doing it although he does deny it and often hides his soiled clothing. His bedroom reeks. His primary school have been very supportive throughout but he'll be moving up to secondary school in the autumn and I'm dreading the problems he will have there if we can't solve the problem somehow. He's been referred to a dietrician and we're waiting for an appointment but his usual paediatrician has now gone sick and isn't expected back for a couple of months. It seems worst when he's doing something and all his concentration is fixed on it - he just seems to switch off awareness of everything that's not connected to what he's watching or doing. We really don't know what to try next. We've tried discussing it with him, doing charts of when he uses the toilet, rewards, everything. He just agrees, and then carries on as before. I'm sure we can't be the only ones with this problem but it's driving us up the wall. Aside from this he's a happy, intelligent, friendly boy.

Thanks for the comment. Our son is 9 and has only been taking it a short while but I'll remember about giving him a break for later, and check what he has before bedtime.

My son was recently diagnosed with Asperger's and has been given melatonin to help him get to sleep in the evenings. I was wondering what people's experiences were with regards when is best to take it? At the moment he's taking it not very long before bedtime but I was thinking of advancing that to teatime to give it more time to work. As it is he's definitely a little better since he's been on it but he still wakes up around 6am, which of course leads to the whole household waking up, too. He's currently taking two capsules. Is there a problem increasing this? Will it help him stay asleep in the mornings? Sorry for so many vague questions. We live in a rather remote part of the country and don't have ready access to hospital or the GP.

This is interesting as our youngest son has just been diagnosed with Asperger's and the GP is going to be prescribing this for him. Hopefully he won't have the nightmares but at least now I'm ready for them.

I think I've only actually had proper flu a couple of times in my life and it was pretty unpleasant but, hey, I'm still here. I don't think we've had any cases in our tiny corner of the world which is probably a good thing because if you need to go to hospital in a hurry they don't send an ambulance they send a helicopter. Swine flu seems (for most people) a pretty mild dose of the variety that usually kills quite a few people each winter. I have problems with my kidneys so I get given the flu vaccine automatically each autumn - I expect I'll be on the list to receive the new one, too. Anyhow, I hope it isn't too rough on you if you do have it. Remember to keep your fluids up and accept all offers of bacon sandwiches.

Our youngest son, 9 yrs old next week, has just been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. This has been the culmination of several years involvement with health and education professionals trying to address various aspects of his behaviour and relationship with the world. We live in a rather remote part of Britain and resources are few and afr between but we have been very pleased with the way his primary school teachers have supported him and managed his behaviour in class. Seriously, they've been brilliant. He has been bullied by some of the other children in his school because of the way he reacts and behaves at times but I think this will improve next term when they understand more about his condition as they are already very understanding about another pupil with Down's Syndrome. We'll just have to wait and see. I know we're at the bottom end of a very steep learning curve but as the song goes, the only way is up.