Hello all, I have a lovely 12 year old son with a diagnosis of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. He is intelligent and pretty academic (he scored 95% in the Wandsworth test and was also offered a place at Emmanuel which we had to turn down as we couldn't really afford it although I am starting to regret that decision) though he is not terribly motivated. His main problems are communication skills (very poor) and social skills (even worse - he doesn't really have any friends), he's good at Maths, Science, Geography etc. I am currently grappling with the problem of secondary education and I am seriously considering homeschooling because he is finding school very stressfull and it seems to be making him worse. His primary school was fantastic and very supportive ( I would recommend it to any parent of an ASD child) but there doesn't appear to be anything like it in a secondary school! He is currently at school in Mallorca (Long story, but he was born there) where we are all spending a year basically seeing if the schools here cope better but it's not really working. His English teacher just gave him a D in english in his end of term report because "he doesn't make eye contact or speak clearly" and yes we have previously been in to talk to her and the head but she is not having any of it.
Incidently I do have a husband but we both suspect he is on the spectrum too and his input is very limited, he feels totally out of his depth.
Sometimes I think I am just being nuerotic as I receive conflicting advice from other people. I don't have much family, my mother died of cancer a few years ago and my father and she divorced when I was a child. My father has very little to do with the children and doesn't know about my sons diagnosis. I have a sister but she is not very understanding. Her children both attend private schools and she told me that schools like that "screen out" children like my son. Most of my friends don't really understand about autism or the problems involved.
Uh oh, this is turning into a rant. I gues I don't have anyone else to talk to about it... Sorry!
Anyway - Hello everyone!
