trekster

i did my shopping in October when i had enough cash. i then cut back so by xmas im in the black again. If i am tempted to treat myself to something i just ask for it on my xmas want list. i rarely ask for anything more than the value of £20. Alexis

In that case maybe you are after book recommendations? If you want specific social skills training then contact the NAS and see if they have a socialeyes project in your area. Depends what you mean by support? It is what NTs (so called normals) call a postcode lottery, ie you get the services depending on what area of the country you live in. Bristol has a range of social groups that i enjoy but i hear Yorkshire has one. There is still a debate about whether autism is hereditary or not. Did you mum have problems giving birth to you? Mine did and i was left too long and so born late. She bled a lot afterwards and needed 1/2 her blood volume replacing. It took a long time for me to be born and difficult birth can cause autism/aspergers according to some experts. Personally i think you inherit the tendency to develop autism then something sets that autism off. Overload is a natural feeling when you are searching for answers. i know of one book "aspergers in love" that mentions the parenting side of asperger syndrome and other parts of asperger syndrome. Alexis

Sounds like me when i was at school and im 2 years younger than you. Sounds like asperger syndrome to me. Im the same and recently my topics of conversation have seemed a bit too narrowly focussed despite having many topics that i can discuss. i just dont know when or how to bring them into the conversation so fear of boring the other person i just wait until someone else brings them up. Another asperger sign Yes it does sound like aspergers to me. Many undiagnosed autistic/asperger folk just want to know for sure. its a natural reaction. i didnt have any friends until i went to college post diagnosis and 1 of them i meet up on a regular basis. i even attend my asperger social groups in Bristol, im fortunate that there is such as choice in my area so i make the most of them. When the autism act is better solidified it could help you get access to services. You could read the NAS leaflet on diagnosis "a label or a signpost?" It doesn't unfortunately automatically entitle you to benefits like DLA but you will know for sure whether you are asperger or not. On the flip side, I'm also afraid that I don't have aspergers, it seems to answer so many questions, but if I'm wrong Im just left with questions. Thanks for reading. justageek

Hello Rally man is seeing a physiotherapist and he feels it helps him with his OCD. Hes also autistic and ADHD and he seemed calmer on the phone tonight after his session. Hes one of my closest friends but i wish he would be given it on the NHS! Alexis

Hello i read somewhere that lack of motivation type depression was caused by low histamines in my system. So i started drinking strawberry smoothie and strawberry products to combat this. What effect do histamines have on the immune system? i ask because ive had a cold and cough for nearly 3 weeks and it's beyond a joke now. Im still sneezing randomly but i look OK. But im worried that my "kick up the backside" treatment is causing these colds to linger? It could be that due to a recent death in my block and my come down from an incident last Thursday has affected me more than i thought. Im worried in case i develop ME again since disturbed sleep patterns and a cold that doesnt go away were the 1st signs last time. My fibro pains are much better and was wondering if 5htp can help with pain? Alexis

Welcome to the group. Alexis

If you dont find an ASD friendly service your mental health problems are likely to worsen.

i would contact, NAS, student welfare and mental health/shelter charities at once. Then whichever organisation offers you the most useful advice follow up and ask for further help from them. Contact as many people at once as you can, these 4 should keep you going for now. Yes do send a generic email to them, but best use bcc function if you can. i find eating strawberries in the morning helps with the feeling numb type of depression that you have. They contain histamine and it's low histamine depression that you have. i tend to go between constant crying depression to anxiety depression which is set off by low histamine depression. You could ask the university welfare officer to help you draft a letter to CMHT. It would explain you have to leave university for mental health reasons and you need a service to access when you leave due to being a vulnerable adult. i can see why you are sceptical and wary of people. i also have trust issues but that's more PTSD than AS. The NAS should know of reliable services to access in your area. Alexis

welfare@nas.org.uk i would personally prefer the university welfare department since they are paid to help you. i think that is a good idea. Sounds like a plausible solution as well.

When i was attacking people physically and mentally, it was due to my diet. Benzoic acid and tartaric acid in particular (contained in my liquid risperdal) turned me almost psychotic. i went off the meds overnight due to my behaviour and went on 5htp/taurine for anxiety and vegan probiotics for the OCD (mines a rumination (severe at the moment which is why im still awake!), hoarding spending (those 2 under better control) type OCD. ive read some studies that say probiotics help with both OCD and depression which your son has. If you give him a dairy free version then if you attempt gf/cf/msg f/aspartame f diet later on it wont be so much of an issue. The gluten free part of the diet especially can help with depression. i resisted going gluten and dairy free for 10 years as i couldn't face it, but believe me it was well worth it. i am currently badly depressed but im dealing with it in a more constructive way. i stopped self harming in Feb 2005 and apart from my diet being the wrong sort of foods (sugary at times or very little to eat) in relatively ok. i can look forward to the future now. Im no longer on meds since i react atypically to them. Personally i feel the risperdal is the harmful drug, havent heard bad press about prozac (floxetine). Good luck Alexis

i guess you have explored options about changing to part time university? i did this and found i lasted another year and a bit enough time to get my DipHE. i managed to get my uni gp to write me a note to accommodation allowing me to stay even though i was a part time student (60% time). i found my university welfare department invaluable and you can still use them even if leaving university. i had to give up university due to bullying and not being able to cope with the death of another aspie at the time. So no friends or other family members to take you in? Even if they live miles away from where you are sleeping on a friends sofa for now would be better than the alternative. If that's the case you need to apply for emergency accommodation quickly. Go to university welfare department and explain your situation. Mention that due to your ASD you are unable to fill out even simple forms without help. Mention why you cant get help from your family. i was fortunate i had a gran i could live with as mum was unable to cope with me. The welfare officer should be able to tell that from your problems speaking that you need some emergency help. Hopefully the welfare department of your university, they at least understand mental distress which your post shows. Welfare helped me fill in a form when i was unable to access prescriptions, helped me apply for access to learning fund when i was still in university, helped me decide whether to take my exams or sign off sick when i was heading for a breakdown (didnt happen that time), can help with benefit applications. They can at least fill out the forms with you but in order to fill out the DLA form, i strongly suggest you download a copy of the "taking responsibility" report http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?a=3925&d=368 . i used it to help a mate fill out his DLA form and that along with the extra help he provided from the NAS website was enough to get his DLA approved. There is a page on practical support services section, another page on crisis services (which you are in since you are about to become homeless) and other sections on what works for asperger folk. The practical support services will give you prompts for what to fill in on your DLA form. It will be depressing to have to come to terms with being autistic but it can be worth it in the end. It wont make you less of a person but it could give you something to live on whilst you get your life back on track. i had to give up university in 2005 and i almost had a breakdown. i say almost as i decided to change my diet and lifestyle and sort myself out. I am now fairly functional and stable and living in a learning disability housing scheme. i think it depends on whether you are prepared to go into hospital (since you cannot go into detail hard to tell how to best help you) if this is a severe illness. Do mention you are about to become homeless and why also that you will have no money to live on and why you feel services are inaccessible for you at the moment. You can ask social services to provide emergency housing (they have very strict criterion especially if you are male). You can ask about this at the welfare office. If you can email the autism helpline and explain your situation and ask what you can do. Let us know what their response is. Also try not to be so hard on yourself, ASD can be a severe disability no matter what level of autism you are supposed to have (that's an attack against using the term mild autism for aspergers not aimed at you). Im 80% disabled despite having so called mild aspergers. Good luck and Welfare officer at university and autism helpline are your 1st port of calls. Alexis

What about home schooling? Some colleges offer a 14+ service for kids for some reason or another that cannot attend school.

i think perfectionism is likely to be the cause. Does he use PECS or something similar for communication? Alexis

i love your attitude towards helping your son. Ive heard b12 supplementation has helped some kids with their language. Epsom salt baths has helped others. Im on b6, b12, fish oils, mag etc for my aspergers and it is helping me tremendously. Alexis

Jazzie Was wondering if he could benefit from an e befriender? The book about "what does everybody else know that i dont?" has been beneficial for many asperger folk that i know. It was recommended on a university autism list sometime ago. "how to be yourself in a world thats different" is also a very good asperger book. Can he take supplements? ive found 5htp helps me sleep at night and also helps me depression. Meeting other asperger friends has been the best thing for my depression. Alexis

We've had Downs kids playing Downs characters, cerebral palsy kids playing the same so why not hidden disabilities playing aspergers or dyslexia or something similar? Eastenders im quite impressed about with the dearth of issues they have covered.

Hi Kimberley Yes i agree we could be similar i also have severe anger but it no longer involves violence. i asked about sleep problems since he could be so exhausted during the day he could end up blowing up like this due to his lack of sleep. Could you try him on melatonin? i hear its easier to get melatonin for a kid than an adult. Im on taurine, 5htp and gaba for anxiety. Have you considered sending him to a better school eg a special school or one with smaller class sizes? Your brother could be depressed, anger can actually be depression in asperger folk according to Tony Atwood. Did you find out why he turned over the table and started throwing chairs? Could it be sensory overload? Did it happen at lunchtime? The dining hall is one of the most upsetting experiences i had to endure at school. Getting older meant waiting longer for my dinner and with painful feet that's not much fun. Understanding how the queue system works hearing random spoons banging on the table to tell us to "keep the noise down" and various other sensory experiences (the plastic seats were very uncomfortable). If he self limits to foods containing gluten and dairy it could severely affect his behaviour due to the high it would give him. Going gluten, dairy, benzoate, aspartame and msg free helped with my aspergers. It brought on the biggest fibro flare but that was worth it for being less zoned out. My OCD is related to hoarding, spending and ruminating.

Thanks bid, love your avartar! Alexis

My carer was an inspector for schools in what was then known as Avon. i felt an enormous pressure put upon me not to show her up by the way i was behaving. My behaviour at the time was mistook as more than flirting. i was 16 at the time and had severe PTSD caused by bullying, how else was i supposed to behave? As i have mentioned before to folk that attempt to help me until i can be taught adult behaviour in a way that doesn't kill my self esteem ie no implications or direct comments about me being selfish, stupid, child like in any way to be used then i am going to resort to the only behaviour i know. Lots of parents have had to educate themselves about the SEN system, complaints system, red tape etc. Alexis

Thanks for sharing your story hope he is ok? for me i wouldn't play with other children at nursery. Alexis

i was like this on risperadal as well. i went off it, went gluten, dairy, msg, aspartame and benzoate free and felt much better. The tablets have milk in (caused brain fog and severe confusion), the liquid has benzoic and tartaric acid in it. Both ingredients have been known to cause behavioural problems in certain individuals. Sounds familiar i used to say "this isnt me this is someone else, im not a monster" ive done similar things, not attacked people with a weapon but attacked people with my fists. Note that i would never do this when im off the gluten, dairy, benzoates, msg and aspartame they literally saved my sanity. i appeared to regress 3 months later so read up about possible deficiencies in autism and found i was lacking in loads of stuff. Milk thistle helps me regulate my body temperature (raynauds), b6 helps with meltdown like behaviours actually prevents them, b12 helps with cognitive issues and getting the words out, flax seed or fish oils are one size fits all recommendation for depression, cal, mag help with behaviour, 5htp for depression, taurine for anxiety, probiotics have also been known to help with depression. i am not exaggerating when i say that without changing my lifestyle completely i wouldnt be having this discussion with you, i would have been sectioned, in prison or dead. i was that out of control. Used to feel this way but now im looking after myself better i dont anymore. Also without changing my lifestyle i wouldnt be in my own place. i used to go away for sometime to a residential holiday but i wont go there anymore. Avoid learning disability holiday scheme in Wadebridge. Dangerous people were allowed to go there and i cant trust them anymore. Also they blame HFAs on their behaviour. Little or no understanding of verbal autism/aspergers at all. Good idea, siblings support groups, social groups for your autistic son, courses to learn about what causes specific autistic behaviours. i would personally remove all the visible triggers then remove possible invisible triggers. Puberty does tend to last longer in autistics than NTs ive noticed.

? What brought that on?

My father was one of those exploiters, im determined never to be like him. He was asperger/dyslexic (undiagnosed due to his age and denial). Being patronised can make things worse i agree which is what i think folk mean by "enabled to be disabled". He was a real bad bad but im guessing your username is a joke? something thats been bothering me for ages. Wow that is a statement something i totally agree with, if autism didnt exist then this site and many others wouldnt either. ive heard of folk calling it a fancy label to have, but they dont have a clue when they speak like that. im sure ive got undiagnosed OCD and dyspraxia but knowing why i do certain things is enough for me and unless a diagnosis of either would give me access to services im unable to currently use i dont see the point in pursuing them. The parent at our group (manager of the place we were in) although had an autistic son couldn't understand how distressing 2 changes at once were for me. i ended up crying as she wagged her finger at me for mentioning the DDA. An official NAS staff person had negotiated and agreed our needs under the autism umbrella and she knew it could affect us. She was over her head and shouted at me and banned another new pub group member (who has no social group access now) when he mentioned the local papers. We had been attending there for a year, they knew we were going that night (somehow the leaders mobile number mysterious appeared in her diary even though she claimed not to have it!) They could have warned us, chose not to then blame us for reacting. Mods feel free to split this thread if you wish (something like "manipulation in autism" could be a good topic heading).

Good on you for working with these very challenging children and well done for turning their lives around. i would love to hear more about how you teach behavioural skills to the young people at your school. Alexis

That makes sense, remember that its not all about getting ones way, she just doesnt understand how anyone elses way works. Do you think she would participate in playmobil play at an NAS out of school club? Or isnt there one in your area? Alexis