Fen08

Hi all, I saw the GP yesterday and he has written to our paediatric consultant to get us a referal to someone else! not sure who we'll be seeing but at the moment I'll take anything they can offer. Fen

Hi, I'm not sure I can be of much help since my daughter is only 9 but I am going through a similar thing being only in the early stages of receiving a formal diagnosis. So can sympathise with the problems which arise when not everyone is aware of the issues. I understand your families feelings about labeling your daughter but it may help her to feel some sense of ownership over the situation as well as giving people a way of gaining a basic understanding of her needs and potential difficulties. My beleif is that giving a label of ASD is no different than describing her as having brown hair, blue eyes, a happy disposition or a fear of spiders! it simply enables others around us to get a clearer picture of who we are. even with a formal diagnosis in place it is still down to you and her to decide whether she adopts the label for herself and uses it when talking to others. I think we all have mixed feelings when persuing a dignosis, one part of you just wants answers whatever they may be, the other feels terrifed of hearing it said aloud. and when it happens you are likey to feel a sense of relief and vindication followed swiftly by sadness.....I know I did! I hope this has been of some help Fen

Thanks Sally, I think she is fairly sensitive to gentle touch, I must admit that although it had crossed my mind that this may be the problem I had disregarded it assuming that it couldn't be the cause of the problem since she reacts that way when my husband hugs me! Despite us having concerns about her since the age of 2 it took another 5 years before we were able to get her assessed, we were met with a lot of people who wouldn't even consider her having Aspergers because she is a girl! I am still learning to think in terms of ASD when I am trying to understand how she is feeling and often fall into the trap of trying to apply my logic to her concerns which is never going to work. I hope that makes sense? Fen

Wow! just been reading through all the messages everyone left, I now have a long list of things try, as well as a list of things to ask the GP...he's going to love me! I have given up trying to get her to sleep and now just let her look at books, watch dvd's (Mr Benn is a current fave) and play etc, I'm not sure it's the "right" thing to do but it seems to reduce her stress levels considerably. Although she is more relaxed if she is in bed with me it is still something I am trying to avoid as I find it has an adverse effect on the entire family. It is also very frustrating and upsetting for My husband as she tends to only want me when her anxiety levels are high and becomes tearfull if he tries to hug me or her and with all our family living at least a 2 hour drive away it is hard to get any time without her. Fen

Thanks to Mel and Brooke for the comments. I have just been reading some of the other threads on this forum and it all feels reassuringly familiar! Fen x

I have just found this forum and was hoping someone may be able to give me some advice. I have a 9 year old daughter who has a recent disgnosis of Aspergers. Meg has always suffered from insomnia and never appears to get tired however busy a day we have. In addition to this we have an ongoing issue of stress and anxiety which appears to take the form of seperation anxiety leading her to constantly seek reassurance and approval. I know this may seem to be a bit of a contradiction considering she seems to suffer from seperation anxiety but the sleep and anxiety problems appear to have become MUCH worse since the start of the summer holidays. This may be due to the significant change to our routine. We are now having to settle her every 15-20 minutes until around 2-3 am every night and during this time she is vomiting, retching, crying and shaking. She has become totally fixated on the fear of leaving me at bedtime that it is almost the only thing she thinks about, she has hardly eaten a thing for 3 days and often gaggs when eating. I have made an appointment with the GP for Monday but I am unsure what I can expect in the way of help, someone has previously mentioned Melatonin but I am under the impression that my GP will not be able to prescribe this? I am really just looking for any help or advice you may be able to offer either with things I can try at home or in terms of what I should be asking the GP to do for us. Thanks in anticipation, a very worn out Mum!

Wow, what a relief to find a forum full of people with similar experiences to my own! I have a 9 year old daughter who has a very recent diagnosis of Aspergers and reading through some posts made by other members has already given me such a sense of relief. We are going through a particularly difficult phase at the moment and I am in desperate need of advice (as well as a freindly 'ear to bend')