caci

Please can I point out Gordon is BLUE. It is Henry who is GREEN. The Thomas phase has long passed in this house, but a few thousand re-runs of the videos and re-reads of the books leave these important details imprinted on my mind.

I don't know your son's background, but if you have only recently taken him out of school, maybe he needs longer to de-school, before he can face the world ? Most Home Ed groups talk about needing about a month of de-schooling, for each year a child was at school, and much longer for kids with any type of SEN, or who had problems at school. On that basis, a child who was at school until their early teens would need at least a year. With our son, he was 12 when I de-registered him. He has SEN and had huge problems with school, so I am assuming he will need 2 - 3 years of being at home before he can begin to cope with the world again.

Maybe not quite what you are looking for, but have you read "All cats have Aspergers Syndrome" It has beautiful pictures and only has a few words, so would be OK for a younger child, however we have used it as a starting point for discussions with our 13 yr old. ( He got levels 4/5 at yr 6 SATS, so academically OK, but he struggles with emotions )

Do you have a spare duvet cover that you could peg onto the curtains ? If you get desperate for sleep, you could try sellotaping newspaper onto the window itself to block out some of the light.

Fantastic news

Sorry to hi-jack this tread, but does anyone know of a driving centre in South East Engand (preferably SE London) , where kids can get driving experience ? Our son is 13, and as big as me, so a normal car would be fine, but I would like to find somewhere he can get a little experience before he applies for his license at 17.

Ok, try having just a few leaftlets with you at a time (12 maybe). Put those through the doors then wait for your auntie to come to you with the next 12 leaflets. If you can wait patiently for her to come, you won't loose each other, and the mobile phone is a good idea as a backup plan.

I think it is excellent that you want to help her. Can you both do the same road, with one of you doing the houses on one side of the road, and the other person working across the road ? If that works, you can wait for each other at the end of the street, and move to the next one together.

Can I offer a slightly different view on this ? I have worked at a primary school which has an ASD unit, and I have worked in both the unit and mainstream classes. They are VERY different. One thing which seemed to work well, was a child from the unit, who was academically able, being supported 1:1 by a member of staff from the unit, whilst he attended maths in mainstream. Playtimes and lunchtime integration did not really work, as mainstream is too busy, and not enough structure for most of the kids from the unit. One child only had a place in the unit for mornings, and he really struggled in mainstream each afternoon, even with 1:1 support. This was mainly because in infants, the afternoons are less structured. I think if a dual placement is handled well, and regularly reviewed, with good communication between staff in both settings, it could have huge benfits for some children. However, it is likely to cause a great deal of anxiety and confusion for a child unless the same member of staff supports in both settings

If this was me, I would ring the garage and ask for their help. Explain what has happened and ask what they suggest. They will almost certainly say you need a new key, so when they do, say "Can you get that for me please ? How much will it cost ?" If they suggest a price, make a comment about how expensive that is, and would they be willing to go halves on the cost with you as it seems something happend to the key whilst the car was in for it's MOT. If you don't ask, you will never know Good luck !

OOOPs - sorry Chris (I didn't read your profile and just assumed you are female, my mistake !)

This sounds like a promising start. Just a thought, but to preserve your son's self esteem, could he cope with you meeting him somewhere other than just outside the gates ? Is there somewhere a few yards away where you could wait ? If he isn't ready for that, could you go into the school (so it looks like you are meeting with a member of staff) and then leave with your son after the main rush of kids have left ? Kids like ours are picked on so much for TINY differences, and I can see having mum waiting at the school gate being one of them.

Have you considered signing on with temp agencies for office work ? If you specify you do not want call centre jobs, and would be willing to do data input, this may be a way forward. My husband can not cope with the phone, and did not have a permenant job until he was in his 40's, but has always worked. He said it was easier (for him) to register with an agency and let them find the jobs for him. Most contracts were on a weekly basis, but he had a few which lasted for over 2 years. Eventually, an employer recognised his "true" abilities, and promoted him onto the permenant staff.

The 35 hours a week for carers runs from Sunday to Saturday. Is Glen at home enough hours each time to qualify ? If he does qualify, I agree with Kathryn, and you should get the name of anyone you speak to, then follow up the phone call with a letter.

Can you PM me the name of the special school ? I think you are in the same area as us, and the special school may be the one our son had a place at.

Chris54, please may I copy your post, about the film, onto another ASD forum ? Thanks

(((( TALLY )))))) love from Carol and family

Please will you PM me the pub name too ? We live quite close to Croydon, and although our son is too young for the pub yet, those days will come. Hope you have a great time

I have just rememebered, as well as having more nose bleeds when stressed, my son and husband, tend to get more when the weather is hot/dry and they haven't been drinking enough. Maybe drinking extra water or squash may help ?

Rather than use tissues/toilet paper, we have a large stock of white flannels here for nose bleeds, probably about 60 of them. They are more absorbant than tissues, and if you soak them in cold water ASAP, then wash them on a normal wash, with a Vanish 2 in 1 stain magnet in the drum of the washing machine, they keep looking white. We use white flannels as they were on special offer, and it keeps them separate from the others used for washing faces. NB - these flannels can also be used as hankies as they hold a lot of snot ! (sorry TMI)

I have no sense of smell, but I have no AS or ASD traits either. I was probably in my teens before I realised I couldn not smell things, and am now in my 50's. Sorry, probably not much help, but you are not alone in being unable to smell, or taste things properly.

I don't know the legal position, but if a school had said they couldn't meet our son's needs, then the LEA "forced" that school to create space, I wouldn't be happy. I know you are in a really difficult situation, but I don't think forcing a school to take a child would help anyone.

I don't know the answer, but I am intrigued by the situation. Are you saying there are 3 possible schools ? One chosen by LEA, one by yourselves, and now another chosen by EP ?

I think it also means not asking the families loads of questions (which might cause them upset). I think thr "low key pleasantness" sums it up very nicely. Good luck.

Our LEA are reviewing all their transport policies. The current thinking seems to be to they will encourage and support the "more able" to use public transport, instead of taxis. This is a very real possiblility, as all children under 16 get free buses passes in this area. I will let you know what happens.