Eva

Thankyou all for your replies - that's grouse! We're going to start with Star Wars (the original one, I hope that's acceptable), Pokemon and Power Ranges I think. Emum, thanks for your suggestion about asking locals - I haven't found any good local sites though. Australia happily follows general trends so there's not a great deal of difference between what's the latest new thing here or anywhere else! Off I go to watch Star Wars again - don't mind watching Harrison Ford! Eva

Hi all, my son, who'll be 6 in March, is going to start school at the end of this month, gulp. We have 6 weeks of holidays (a very long 6 weeks) and he spends a lot of time playing this computer game called Strongbad, which he's right into and scripting from or else starting to show an interest in...Thomas again. He's also interested in the planets. Could anyone tell me what NT boys are into, just so I can introduce him to some of the stuff? Better go and enjoy some more of the hols, cheers, Eva

Hi everyone! I haven't been able to access this site for about a week but people here seem to have been able to post over the week. Frangipani couldn't access the site either. Is this because we're upside down in Oz or something? Cheers, Eva

Hi debz, my son's name is Joe as well! He's 5.5 and was diagnosed early this year with AS. Welcome to the forum - it's a great place - I've learnt so much from it! Cheers, Eva

Hi all, I'm thinking of getting some melatonin for my son. Has anyone's child experienced any (negative) side effects from it? I was reading some info about melatonin and there was a longish list of possible side effects, such as a hangover type of feeling, grumpiness, etc. Cheers, Eva

Hi Hedders, I think with social interaction it all depends on how your dd is interacting. With the active but odd group, children engage the teacher in class and often are the only ones putting their hands up and answering questions. And also you'd have to find out how your dd is talking to her peers - you know, talking at them and all that side of things or having a 'proper' conversation. The active but odd group can be very social in the playground too. They organise games and interact with other kids but if the others don't want to play the game the 'right' way, then problems can start. I don't know if the team of professionals will consult the school; often the other people who work with the child who's getting assessed write a report about their observations and the parent gives it to the psyche/paed. (The psychologist who diagnosed my son didn't have any doubts after his appointment and we only had one report from his EI teacher.) (I'm in Australia so things could be done differenty here). I would try and find out how much your dd's teacher learnt about AS, just to make sure she and you are talking about the same thing. I'm sure others will have more of an idea than me! Cheers, Eva

Hi Hedders, when my son was diagnosed, the psychologist used three of those sub-groups to help explain things to me - he didn't mention the formal one though. He said that my son is in the passive group and also a bit in the active but odd group. The psyche also said that only about 30 to 40% of the criteria applied to my son so a fair bit of the final diagnosis was done with just me answering questions about J. My son is socially challenged too but he's getting a bit better - just a bit. He's finally interacting more with the other kinder kids and it's taken all year. He likes to play with them but only if they'll play HIS game. Or else he'll play by himself, acting out various stories and stuff. Cheers, Eva

Hi Hedders, my son who's nearly 6 is just the same. I bought him some pirate figurines the other day and he loves to act out stories with them - all the stories are scripted from a tv show of course! I try and play with him - pirates having sword fights (or is that cutlass fights?) and he sort of joins in but isn't really into my game. Our psyche reminded me the other day that in terms of maturity, he's at a 4 year old level so you should keep that in mind too I suppose. Anyway, from what I've gathered 5-6 year old girls are into fairies and princesses and My Little Pony and Bratz dolls. They like to pretend to be bizarre characters called Fairy Hermoine or something or other and Fairy Rhapsody (I haven't a clue where they're from; I've got two boys). Eva

Hi, that's exactly like my son too (he's nearly 6), except my son bounces up and down on his hopper and does the singing thing! Cheers, Eva

I'll join the club too! I don't have anything to do with my three brothers and their partners. And it's best that way! Cheers, Eva

Yeah, I'll try on ebay at some point. The drug references aren't really drug references - I know I'm not making much sense - it's how it's interpreted. The Office of Film and Television Censorship aren't known for their liberal views! Oh well, Eva

Hi, my son who's 5 has been in preschool this year (he's going to school next year). He likes most of the kids at his kinder and plays chasy and hide and seek and other structured games with them, however he's not interested in any of them really. The unstructured social games aren't his thing - he's happier playing his own imaginary games. The social dynamics make it hard for him to relate to many of them and to fit in; the girls walk around hand in hand playing girl games and the boys are very physical (which my son isn't) and play footy (which my son is totally disinterested in) and wrestling. He's not fussed though and is happy there. Eva

Families can be horrible - I've given up on certain members of mine. I know how you're feeling hev, I stew over things for ages and just get a headache. <'> <'> Hope your dad gets better quickly - it sounds horrible. Eva

Hi everyone, for ages I've been trying to get a copy of The Magic Roundabout episodes but can't - doesn't seem to exist over here. Then I found out it's probably been banned due to it's subversive nature - the drug references! Mind you there was never any problem with HR Puff n Stuff and Captain Pugwash! My poor deprived children. (Mind you, they have been introduced to 'The Trap Door' recently which they love. Now my son says 'globbits' all the time). Can you still get VHS copies of The Magic Roundabout? Cheers, Eva

Hi, I noticed my son behaving differently when he was 9 months - all of sudden he started crying if other babies touched him whereas before that he didn't mind. When he was 2 I asked the Maternal Child Health Nurse if he was autistic because for example, he didn't copy other children, he spent a lot of time alone lying on the ground (and hiding under tables too) and he didn't say much. She looked him over and said of course not. Then at 3 I asked a different nurse who said no, but his poor social skills, ability to recite The Goodies episodes and other books but found it hard to express himself otherwise, his fear of going to different places, his love of routine and the way he used toys, led me to a speech therapist and I got him into EI. From there I had him assessed this year and he's been diagnosed with AS. His expressive speech has really improved this year - he's 5 - although he has odd ways of expressing himself sometimes, such as 'my feelings are broken'! Cheers, Eva

Hi Liz, I have no suggestions because my son (5) is exactly the same. Sometimes I feel like I'm speaking to myself half the time (I'm including DH in this too!). I think my son's listening has got worse instead of better - he can hear a dripping tap in the other room but can't hear me next to him! I'm very interested in some strategies too. Eva

Hi Mum22boys, you've described pretty much what happens in my house! Wow, parallel lives! My AS son is 5.5 and takes forever to get to sleep. He's often pale with dark rings under his eyes too, but I think in his case it's more diet related. He's on the GFCF diet (well, my version of it) and when he has too much of a certain food, his paleness gets worse. As for my other son, he's 3 and also wakes in the night, (screaming of course), and because he shares a room with my other son, we can't let him go on for too long. So, I bring him into bed with us. I decided sleep is better than no sleep and that he'll grow out of it. He's actually been sleeping through the night in his own bed more since I've relented and been bringing him into bed with us. Maybe it's late on-set separation anxiety? He also went through a stage of following me round the house - I couldn't move without him tagging along, but he's got over that now (thankfully!) Cheers, Eva

That was great TN. I got a lot out of it! I didn't realise the bit about not being able to see alternative outcomes - hope you don't charge consultancy fees! Cheers, Eva

Hi Frangipani, yes, I remember that dust storm - it was amazing! Victoria still gets covered in a layer of red desert dust every now and again, you notice it first on your car's windscreen. Coming to think of if, that's probably why our house is alway dusty inside . I hope your bushfire has settled down now - how frightening. Do you have a fire plan? I'm not ready for ultra hot weather yet; gotta lose a few of those winter kilos before I get the bikinis out . Cheers, Eva

Hi, well now half of Victoria is up in flames it seems. It was 37 degrees today!( And it's only spring). That's it, stuff the environment, we're getting an air con! Eva

Hi, I read something recently which explained that IC is a new age term for ADHD/ADD. I am always a bit suss about groups of people who claim to have 'higher powers' and be 'telepathic' and be 'more evolved', but bad parenting and an uncaring society has meant that their powers haven't been able to evolve to their full potential (I'm not making this up!). Cheers, Eva

Hi Stephanie, this is not AS/male related, but Evening Primrose Oil is really good for PMT! Sort of calms you down and you don't get so wound up...hmm, maybe I SHOULD be giving it to ds! Cheers, Eva

Hi everyone, I was wondering what free online games people's children like - we need to find some more! My son used to like Starfall.com and Noggin and some others which I don't remember, but he's bored with them at the moment. He likes shooting games (like Quake, thanks to dh ) and also games to do with words/alphabet/reading. He's 5 and a half... Cheers, Eva

Hi all, just a quick update - Sojourned is still at the motel and meeting some interesting people. He's coming round later so he might add some more. Thanks Badonkadonk for your fantastic post! And thanks Frangipani for your posts too! I must point out however that a true Melbournian wouldn't watch the Sydney Fremantle game - it's just not cricket. People in Melbourne are upset -but trying to be brave- about the fact that the preliminary finals aren't being played here! Cheers, Eva

Woops, I mean 'Sojourned'. Sorry!