jen

We told our son last year that he was autistic. Now when he meets someone new he says he has autism which is full of lots of good things and lots of bad things. Jen

Excellent news,I hope he enjoys his lessons Jen

Hi Eva, Hope you find all the support and advice you need. Jen

Very interesting reading it confirms what alot of parents already know. Its a pity parents have to do it themselves and get no help and support from health. Jen

Butterfly our son has been diagnosed for 3 years and my husband is only just coming to terms with it. Take it has it come some days are better than others. Once you have accepted the diagnosis you still have good and bad days for your emotions. Using a forum like this give you knowledge. Knowledge gives you power to handle the situations you are faced with Jen

The only thing I wished I done was take my child to casualty when he came home from school with bruises and carpet burns. Everything else has been a learning curve that I have needed to go throught so I could understand my son better and not only handle him better but deal with the teachers and other people he comes into contact with to his advantage. Along the way I have met some professionals (teachers) that are not fit to teach or be alone with children. However, in my sons present school I have met a fantastic headmistress who will listen and try things out. The school teachers, LSA and TA who are also a fantastic group of people and who are learning all the time from my son. Jen

We have to massage hands first and then just clip the edge of the nail and our son will than pull the rest of the nail off. Our son wears goggles for washing his hair. (The googles have to be very tight) Jen

just soak him in the bath for a few days and they will fall off by themselves and by that time he should not need any more. I have actually loosened plasters when my child has been asleep so when they have a bath the next day they can fall off Jen

I know of a 6 year old who was not coping at school. Yet the school said he did not have any problems. In the end the child was transferred to a special school with out a statement. So these things can happen Jen

Hi Sam, this also happened with my son. Once your child has had the support and the school have proved your child needed it than it will be easier to get it back. Keep all your documents and contact IPSEA you may need to go to tribunal to sort it out. Good luck Jen

You could telephone the ward you are going into and speak to the manager of the ward. Explain your situation and worries and I am certain that they will be able to arrange a visit pior to the admission. The earlier you phone means there will be more time to fit in a visit Jen

When I was talking to my psychatrist she told me that many mothers with children with ASD had problems in the pregnancy or the child got distressed pre birth or there was bleeding during the pregnancy. I had bleeding during my pregancy and my child was distress for 6 hours the week before he was born. However, we had a home birth with no problems. Jen

my friends child had difficulty sleeping due to his ASD and sensory overload. They were advised to put him to sleep in a room with a plain colour and plain curtains. The difference this has made to her childs life is amazing. So you could word something similar. I do not know if this is written down anywhere. In hers sons room is just a bed and nothing else Jen

The only two things which have really improved my childs problems are the advice from the SSS teachers and his weekly sessions with his sensory OT. Melatonin has helped to calm him down. Some PCT purchase so many sensory OT sessions if they do not employ there own sensory OT. It is useful to write to the commission of your PCT to see if you can get some sessions organised for you. Jen

It has to be for the LEA to actually listen and understand what the parents are saying. Yes they listen but they do not understand or can not be bothered to understand what the parents are saying. Normally what the parents are saying the school or ed psy also make the same or similar statements. The problem is communications does not affect attitudes and I believe LEA's have got to change there attitudes and work in partnership with the family school professional and child. If this was done there would not be any problems Jen

Isn't it amazing how the LEA have said they have had regular meetings. Yes but obviously no action was taken following the meetings. This is typical for our children with special needs. Jen

ASD children can show different sensitivity. It may be to food. It could be tactile or auditory. However, we need to deal with the cause of ASD and this is where research needs to be focused in the future. Many people believe ASD is a neurological condition.The nervous system and gastro intestinal system is also affected. It turns out that a great many individuals with behavioural and neurological problems have some fundamental disorders arising from their digestive systems. Sensory sensitivities can also cause problems such as stomach and bowel problems. Auditory and visual or tactile sensitivies. All these seem to come from a nervous system that is being overloaded. Looking at triggers can help. Medications such as melatonin, baclofen,amtriptyline can also help. OT can help and coloured lenses. Diet and eliminating some foods can also help. We need to look at the main problems rather than dealing with the side effects of ASD. Many children with ASD will have an additional diagnosises. This could be epilepsy, ADHD etc but this secondary diagnosis is also another neurological cause. Nerves communicate with one another through electrical and chemical signals. Neurotransmitters and the messengers. Exercises for sensory problems stimulate the nerves in certain ways to respond to certain stimulation and neural pathways can be built. Coloured lenses reduce the amount of sensory information going into the brain. Martial arts help with orienting your body in space,muscle strength, co-ordination, balance, discipline and focus. The research should focus on what is causing these neurologial problems. Removing certain food groups in ASD children have helped some children. This is because the chemical reaction has stopped or been reduced. This has stopped the inflammation and hence the person feels better or behaves better. May be research needs to look at how chemicals are broken down at the beginning of digestion. Enzymes have a key role in the first process of breaking down food. Digestive enzymes are notoriously effective in facilitating and supporting intestinal function, immune system health, detoxification and many other things. It is well documented that if people are deficient in nutrients than there are different problems that can occur. Lack of iron and vitamins can cause all sorts of problems.t Maybe our childrens bodies are not able to break down the chemical in the first place which is causing the problems. If our children are not absorbing the nutrients than problems will develop. Many of our children have problems with food. Do our children have damaged or leaky guts which mean the food is not being processing correctly. Does this mean insufficiently broken down food particles and other things are crossing into the bloodstream when they shouldn't. Hence the immune system reacts. Research has been undertaken in 1996 on ASD children with intestinal damage. This indicates that a greater probability of leaky gut may exist with children with ASD than in the general public. Could the answer be to look at the start of how our children break down the food and how efficient there bodies are at doing a basic neccisity Jen

Cold sores are an active virus and your should not be kissing anyone while you have this virus. It appears that some types of substance vaccine or food is one of the trigger factors for our childrens difficulties. Lots of our children have recurrent ear infections or allergies to different things. Researchers at the Autism Research Unit believe that some cases of autism may be the consequence of a metabolic disorder caused by eating certain cereals such as wheat, barley, rye,caseim or the primary protein from milk and dairy produce. It appears that most of our children are very sensitive to certain things and these cause a reaction. Jen

Lauren There is no reason why your child should not go into the class for the introduction of the lesson then he should come out and do a modified lesson that he can cope with. What does your childs statement say. My childs statement say the following which would obviously cover a lot of special needs children. A broad and balanced curriculum appropriate for his needs, learning style and abilities including full access to the National Curriculum. The breadth and balance of the curriculum may be temporarily adjusted in order to address .......... priority special needs In order to improve his skills, ........... teaching programmes should be underpinned by the preparation of an appropriate and thorough curriculum. Ongoing assessment of ............ strengths and weaknesses should guide an intense educational programme that aims to address deficiencies and build on already assimilated skills. This monitoring and assessment should inform and enable .......... movement in terms of group placement or setting as his skill level improves 4. ........... class teacher should work closely with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator, learning support assistants and the appropriate LEA support services to ensure that there is a focused, co-ordinated and effective approach to devising and delivering the following programmes and activities which should include: 4. The class teacher should liaise with the SENCO and learning support assistant(s) to ensure that through the careful deployment of the school?s core and additional SEN resources, an appropriate balance of whole class, small group and individual teaching and support is available to ........ throughout the school week. Detailed and ongoing monitoring and evaluation arrangements, through the IEP and the school?s broader SEN policy must be put in place to ensure that the investment of these additional resources and strategies are deployed effectively and have positive measurable outcomes in terms of ..........rate of progress. 8. .............. teachers and learning support assistant need to plan together and prepare appropriately differentiated material (if necessary). Class teachers need to be aware of his individual Education Plan (IEP). 9. Full access to any specialist resources, materials and equipment within the school regularly available for use with pupils having special educational needs a) A structured behaviour programme delivered in an environment with clear boundaries and the implementation of firm, consistent and solution focussed approaches. The programme to include individual targets relating to: Hope this helps Jen

ASD fun run and you still have time to catch a man and marry him. You must be made of strong stuff to manage all of that!! Excellent news hope everything goes well. I hope the training for the fun run goes well Jen

Hi Caroline, Sorry you are feeling down. We all have our down days now and again. Have you applied for a statement from the LEA? Most LEA encourage you not to have one but you can go to tribunal if they refuse. A statement is a legal document which lists your childs difficulties and the support your child needs. You do not need a diagnosis but there does need to be concerns. If I was you I would also change your GP. You need someone you can rely on and the relationship as already broken down. When your child does start school there is a fantastic service called Specialist Support Service or Visiting Teacher service. These people are our childrens guardian angels. You could contact them before your child starts or you can ask the headteacher to contact them. They go into school and monitor your child and give the staff ideas and support. They normally run a parent course as well. Please remember your childs behaviour is telling you he can not cope, do not take it personally. MEN Well some men find having a child with special needs very freightening and confusing. It took my husband several years to accept our sons diagnosis. He still does not attend any of the meetings or write any of the letters he says he would not know where to start Sending lots of <'> <'> <'> <'> Jen

We had a pole on here for information that was given to parents on diagnosis. Maybe you could use this information and turn the question round by saying in 2006 these are the results on people diagnosed with ASD. However the incidence of ASD is rising and it is goverment policy to aim for children to be included etc etc. Looking at diagnosis 10 years ago the number of people given additional information was.............. You could also look at the number of people going to tribunal. There have been several people who have killed there autistic child because they could not cope. You could use your sons family as a basis for 10 years ago and use the people on the forum for a later diagnosis. Jen

my ASD son is allergic to Ampicillin its cause internal blistering needing hospital admission. His mother is allergic to lots of drugs. One allergy has caused asthma. I wonder how many more children or parents have severe allergies Jen

my son says a temper feels like he has pins and needles all over him. But a melt down is when the volcano explodes and he loses the ability to communicate via speech or touch. Some tempers can lead to meltdown but it is very difficult. ASD children will push things and try to get things there own way. Jen

Hectorhouse that is fantastic. He is definately in the right environment. <'> <'> <'> <'> Jen