mbrown

Thanks again for those replies. they are helpful. I know I seem like a doom & gloom merchant, but the usual response when describing DS's condition as he gets towards adulthood is " Oh that's just a typical teenager!" Hopefully the DLA board won't think along those same lines, lol.

Thank you both for your replies. They have helped ease my mind a lot.

Hello All, I'm sorry if there is a tax credit thread running already but I am wondering if any of you are in the same boat . At this moment in time I receive a very handsome Child Tax Credit. It corresponds to a third of my take home pay. My son aged 15 currently receives DLA, which I am told enhances the child tax credit. My son turns 16 in september. Will that automatically signify the end of the Child Tax Credit or will the fact that he will be still in full time education qualify him in the same way that child benefit can continue beyond 16 fo the same reason? Is there anyone else in the same situation? I can envisage a financial disaster come my boy's 16th birthday. with the possibility of his DLA ending, Child Tax Credit plummeting or stopping altogether along with Mum's carer's allowance stopping. Our household income will shrink drastically. Anyone with any chinks of light out there?

We have just sent in our son's dla application as he turns 16 very soon and has to claim it in his own right from then on. We are obviously concerned that he might not get it renewed without a struggle, especially with the new governments attitude towards benefilts & allowances. fingers crossed - for all of us.

Me too! And there was me getting all excited that someone had PM'd me LOL....

.Only in Scotland do two positives make a negative. AYE...RIGHT!

Thanks Kathryn, I'll give this person the benefit of the doubt this time. Maybe he got me mixed up with someone else. I'll let you know if anything further comes along in a similar vein. Mike

I just received a pm from a member here, a total stranger to me, advertising his own web forum. I do not appreciate such messages and would request that any pm's members would care to send to me would be only of a nature that wasn't for general posting or private. This is the equivalent of spam in my book. MB

That's different Something Different. Really cool. I have decided to go to bed at 37 correct so far. MB

My lad is a massive Dr Who fan, and thanks to a recent episode featuring Shakespeare, he would like to see David Tenant playing Hamlet in Stratford later this year. I managed to get a couple of tickets for July so we will take our summer holiday in the Stratford area. We have a cottage booked in Henley-in-Arden. It's all new and unfamiliar to us. It looks a great area. Anyone here got any suggestions for must-see places to visit? MB

My 13 year old son is like that too. His mother despairs and is forever tidying up his room. Lots of shouting and stress when that i shappening. Within a day or two the entire floor is covered with books, CDs, DVDs clothes etc. He doesn't seem to mind the mess. It's not that he is merely lazy, I think that he creates the mess. Tidying up is an anathema to him. I think I am beginning to understnd why. I like the majority of the house to be tidy, but my little 'den' where I play on my PC is basically a pig-sty. I often pick up a pile of papers to sort out the rubbish from the important stuff and I remove the rubbish, but I just can't seem to put the important stuff away. Even if I feel like tidying it all up, within a few seconds my head feels lik eit's going to burst. Strange. I have a feeling that this is ho wmy lad feels when he is doing something likle that. MB

If anyone here is going to see Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War Of The Worlds stage show, currently touring the uk, you are in for a tremendous treat. I caught the show in Glasgow last might and it was truly phenomenal. My 13 year old son, absolutely loved it despite the extremely loud volume(which was great!) and the flashing lights of the presentaion and lighting effecets. A great night out. MB

Our boy now 13 has been on risperidone for a few years now, no major side effects except for massively increased appetite. He has settled now but we need to keep an eye on him most of the time. I questioned efficacy with psychiatrist who recently diagnosed ADHD on top of the Aspergers he already had. I thiought that risperidone was more for autistic behaviours rather than ADHD. We tried to stop the risperidone gradually. It went well until we stopped it completely, so he is on a small dose that the psych thinks is worthless. What do they know? LOL. Currently having very heated debate with psych re use (or in my case non-use) of strattera. I am not anti-drugs but I do like to consider all available treatments as well. 0.5 mg does seem a rather small dose for a growing lad. Dosages very often have to be experimented with (under docs supervision of course) until an optimum dosage i sfound. Good luck. MB

I agree that melatonin is fantastic. I find it hard when parents are having severe sleeping problems and wont even try it. Obviously it doesn't work for all and the effects vary but I think that for us it has been the safest and most effective med/supplement we have used. Still working after over 3 years with no ill effects, it enables our 13 year old boy with high stress and anxiety levels to at lkeast get a decent nighrt's sleep. At first we disguised the melatonin in a milky bedtime drink but now he quite happiuly takes the capsules without problem. Anyone considering it's use but not quite sure, hopefully our posts will enable you to make a decision. I found the following article very helpful in making our decision. http://www.autism.org/melatonin.html MB

Good News!! With only two weeks to go until the dreaded exclusion appeal hearing I received a letter today from my boy's school saying that the exclusion we were appealing would be removed from his records. It wasn't a complete capitulation on the school's part repeating that the reason for the exclusion was a valid one , but at least the removal of the exclusion, shows that they are willing to compromise. A bit of a relief there. MB

As far as I am aware a modified curriculum, i.e. 'informal exclusion' is unlawful even if it is done with the agreement of the childs parents. Schools do have the 'get out' clause of ' if the child remaining in school would be detrimental to his safety or the safety of other pupils or staff then they can be excluded'. having autism or aspergers is not an excuse! Or is it? The school has to have sufficient provision of resources in situ to deal with any SEN child, i.e. a 'quiet room' one to one staff etc. I am currently appealing an exclusion on my son's behalf. I thought that when I appealed it would entail a meeting with the school and someone 'high up' in education. I didn't realise it was practically a legal hearing! with the 'get out' clause that the schools seem to have I don't feel too encouraged about my success but I have to try nonetheless. I'll post the outcome if I can., MB

Sorry if it appears confusing 8 october is of course the date of the news item.. NOVEMBER 9 is the day of the conference

I just received this in a google alert, for an upcoming Autism research Conference in Wales. Mike Specialist to talk at autism eventOct 8 2007 THE first international conference dedicated entirely to research into the causes of autism will be held in Cardiff next month. Dr Dawn Wimpory, a psychology lecturer and practitioner for autism at Bangor University, will be among the speakers at the event. She said, ?I hope I can throw some light on the developmental processes that appears to play a role in the causes of autism.? The Autism Research Conference will be held at the National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff, on November 9. To register call 029 2046 3263.

Clintess & JsMum, thank you fo ryour replies. Clintess , I hope that you get your boy's neds sorted out. I am not anti-meds in general. I believe that there is a place for them and that they should only be used when it is established that they are indeed the only way to go. Good Luck. I might have forgotten to mention that my lad has Asperger's, and only recently diagnosed with ADHD (by my not very favourite psychiatrist). JsMum, my boy is back at school , albeit with a very selective curriculum - his choices basically. It is working well at the moment, but school really does need to do a lot more fo rhim. At the moment it is more to do with prevention of outbursts rathe rthan containment and dealing with them as they arise. We are all working together on this. My boy has an IEP. I am hoping that some behavioural therapy may be done to help[ him. What is the ADHD related course that you are doing? What institute are you referring to? I don't know exactly what direction to take just now. At the moment I am just trying to get our family life back on track. The past couple fo weeks have been a real strain, nothing like what we have had to deal with in the past. I'll be glad to let you know how things develop. Mike

Hello Everyone, Here is an update on my son's straterra prescription and a warning. The 25mg dose mentioned in my first message was merely a 'tester' dose, just to see if there were any advers side effects. As there were none the psychiatrist wanted to put him on 80mg per day by 2 x 40mg capsules at an 8 or 9 hour interval in between. I agreed reluctantly because it seemed like a huge hike to me. In the month inbetween psych' appointments things went well, and in particular the last two weeks were probably his best ever at school. I didn't attend thenext meeting, but I was astonished that the doctor, despite my son doing well, hinted that there was scope to increase the dosage further(???). The doc persuaded my wife to agree to give the 80mg in one dose - with the explanation that they were slow release(!!!) The following two days were a disaster. Sent home from school on day one, excluded on day two. I know that 'nightmare' is an often used expression but this truly was a living nightmare fo rus, and almost completely disintegrated us as a family over the following days. On the second day I took him off straterra completely and after almost a week and a half my boy is back to 'normal' - still a pest and a half but more recognosable than the monster of a few days ago. We called the psychiatrist two weeks ago to tell her of our problems and our plans to stop the medication and she hasn't even bothered to respond. After discussing this with a few friends and the odd professional, it seems that straterra had produced almost exactly the same reaction with their children. I am rather disillusioned at the moment. I had been asking for behavioural therapy for overa year to help overcome my son's problems but the only thing we were offered was the meds. I know that everyone is different but I couldnever recommend the use of this drug. Mike

Has anyone here used the supplement SYNAPTOL, to help with ADHD? As most of these supplements touted as 'almost' cures they are priced at a level where you are frightened to buy them if they don't work but they are worth every penny if they do. Does anyone know of any UK alrternatives to Synaptol? Has anyone had any success treating ADHD with any supplement or homeopathic remedy? Mike

Shell, I was quite disgusted by what this person said to you. If the managers/moderators of that group had any decency they would delete that message and censure the person responsible. You gave an honest opinion, probably based on personal experience so that could not be open to question. If that person's child is cured then therfe is no longer any reason fo h er to be in a support group she should leave and good riddance to her. Shame she cant read this. MB

My Boy is currently taking risperidone. over the past few months we have worked with the psychiatrist on reducing the dose and we are now at 2mg per day. one in the morning first thing, and the 2nd at or around lunchtime/early afternoon. We feel that he doesn't need a later dose. Further to my earlier post today Re Strattera. The psychiatrist believes that my boy (with asperger's) also has ADHD and has prescribed the strattera. We are in the process of contoacting the doctor to ask whether both can be taken at the same time or should the risperidone be stopped. Anyone here using both??? Mike

My almost 13 year old boy has just been prescribed atrattera. 25mg per day. As with all meds I am concerned about all of the adverse side effects which always seem to outweigh the good. I would just like an update from everyone that has used or is currently using this drug - basically looking to get my fears relieved rathe rthan realised ,LOL. Any experiences or advice would be most welcome. Mike

Thanks for that Mummy and Curra, I'll pass on the link and your thoughts. Mike