Miss Foo Fighter

Hey thanks guys. i've only just come back on. Didn't realise I had replies. I'll post on the main board now. Its very interesting what some of you have said.

Thanks Bagpuss

I'm Leigh, married to Charlie. We have 2 children, Sam 5, and Lucy nearly 7. Lucy has a formal diagnosis of Aspergers. Lucy is an exceptionally bright girl with many ever changing obsessions and funny behaviours. She can be extremely difficult at some times, and at others you would barley know that she has Aspergers. We appreciate that Lucy's difficulties are not as stark as many other children with ASD's and for this we are extremely grateful. However, this does present us with one of our biggest problems, we have some friends and relatives who seem convinced that is all a load of nonsense and that Lucy is just 'a bit odd' sometimes. The fact that she has been diagnosed by two specialists seems to pass these people by. Lucy has learnt to cope with, or mask, certain behaviours e.g. she is very, very, slowly learning the concept of what you should do when people are hurt. She is also getting better at communicating within her peer group, although mostly on her terms, and does have some friends. We talk to her a lot about why she finds it difficult to talk to people (she tells us she doesn't know what to say) and strategies for making friends or joining in. She has come on leaps and bounds to be honest. The other thing we do is try to break routines or obsessions at the first whiff of them becoming all consuming. The last major one was countries. She couldn't concentrate on anything else so we took her maps down and put her books away for a while. We did wonder if we were being cruel, but Lucy's consultant was interested when we told her how and when we did this and it works for us sometimes. I appreciate that it may not for everyone though! I'd be really interested in speaking to other parents with a child like Lucy. We feel quite isolated at the moment. School have admitted that they can't meet her educational needs, but say she won't get statemented. If you have got this far, then thank you for reading! L

I have heard this too and find it fascinating. My Aspie daughter was born with milk and egg allergies (needed an epi pen for anaphylaxsia with eggs) but out grew them both. An interesting point here was that her consultant at the time told us that children who display allergies under the age of two CAN grow out of them. She now has Asthma / eczema etc. My son doesn't have an ASD or any allergies.

My daughter is now a diagnosed Aspie, and as a result of that it has become apparent that my husband has Aspergers also. Like you our consultants found my hub, and his family background, very interesting. My hub has gone to the Dr and asked to be assessed. It must be bothering him because he never makes appointments like this off his own back. Like your husband he is exceptionally intelligent, and has obsessions, although he would prefer them to be called 'fads'. I have also struggled with depression and although I know he really tries hard he doesn't understand and wants me to just snap out of it. He also often can't see when certain patterns in his behaviour (borne out of frustration with my depression) actually make the situation worse not better. I can't really offer any advice because it sounds like we are at a similar stage to you. It's all relatively new to us at the moment (well putting a name to it is anyway).