loupin

Springer pups are adorable you lucky thing!!!!!!!! I really want one too!!!! We have a 5mnth old jack russell pup We have crate trained him and it is fantastic. It gives them a safe base and if my son was having a moment!! then I knew that the pup was safe. My son was very scared of dogs but having Boris has made a huge difference. He cried for the first two nights but we left him in his crate with a t shirt of mine! (the dog not my son!!)and he has never done it since. It was very hard but definately worth 2 nights lack of sleep!!!! Good luck hope you have lots of fun!

What a strange scale and list. I would not fill that in. It reads like one of those tea towels you send out for xmas pressies!!!! I think your letter in response is spot on!

I forget what people have told me quite often!!! When I was pregnant I was very forgetful so every meeting that I went to I explained that it was hard to remember all of the important facts and I would just keep a few notes as the meeting progressed! The other option is to put a small dictaphone in your pocket! Great for catching them out when they say something stupid!!! Have you thought about keeping a diary of events after every meeting and home asessment/visit. Its time consumming but at least when they refer to things that may have gone on you can also refer to it and give your take on the event. After all visits the so called professionals go away and keep a log of conversations/ observations etc. If I were you I'd do the same that way you are always ready for what they throw at you?! I try to do that after meetings about my son just so I can go back to it when needed, especially as we have a lazy ed psych who doesn't do what he always says he will! Keep going!!! <'>

My sons latest obsession is cleaning the car windows! All the way to school (20mins) up down up downup down!!! Mum clean the back window mum clean the front window!! We have to go up very muddy lanes so the windows do get the odd splodge on them so it is a nightmare. I'm not sure how to stop this one normally they run there course and we just go with it but with this he is getting aggressive if we dont do as he insists. The sock thing some one mentioned we have had the same... My son can dress himself and even put on his socks but when he is stressed (Most days at the moment) he cant dress himself at all. He is 6 and i am still dressing him as I cant stand the all day performance if i dont. He went beserk today because i wouldnt put his shoes on. I thought he was being akward so said no and he put them on, really struggled and then put them on the wrong feet. I feel so mean now!!

Really lovely!! Cant listen to whole song as cant stop crying!!!! One of those days!!!!

The sensory overload sounds likely to me too. My son is really suffering at the moment to the extent that the sunshine coming in through the car is causing absolute hysteria. Describing his troubles as zigzags is very clever. Can he not do something else during rehursal time? Welcome to the forum hope you find it useful!

Hi My son is a faddy eater. we have the same meals over the week every week!! He wont eat vedge but he now eats oranges and bannanas!!! Food has to look just right or we end up redecorating the kitchen with it!!! When he turned 6 he added a couple more things to the menu like roast potatoes. We spent several years telling him that they were big chips, and fish which i breaded and called chicken nuggets!! However lately he has gone of fish altogether and is getting fussier again! Food is such a powerful thing It makes me feel so awful when he wont eat what i percieve to be a proper meal. Any way.... Claire you are certainly not on your own with this one!!!!!! <'>

Oh Gosh what a nightmare you are having. I am no expert but my son is 6 and has similar violent outbursts and hates his brother at times. I use hot lavender baths when he is really wound up but i ususally have to beg someone to have my other two so its not always easy to do the calming diffusion/deescalation stuff!! I have been advised in the past to give him his bed time dose of melatonin early and use it as a calming tool not necessarily as a sleep aid and it does do the trick. I've only done it once admitedly! As melatonin isnt a sedative i feel happier using it. Good luck Christmas is a tough time of year we have just seen the first glimpse today of the christmas stress monster!!! Fun all round for us mums!!!!!! <'>

Luckily he doesn't have any aspiration to be a train driver or a pilot!!!!!!! He wants to be a teacher so coloured lenses will probably make him very cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Definately have a word, maybe go armed with some reading material about autism and kindly say that it has helped you to understand about autism and you thought they may be interested!! I've done that in the past and my sons teachers have been very responsive. I think a lot of teachers proclaim to have a good knowledge of autism but really they know the very basics which is not enough when they deal with our children all day. <'>

Hi! keep going!!! I've also had periods when i"ve thought that the tears will never stop. Luckily the last time it happened I woke up one morning and thought ENOUGH! Ok done the tears now what?!! I have started to be a bit selfish and take some me time. My boy (ASD SPD and Learning Dis) goes to bed at 7.30 since we introduced melatonin and I go to the gym for 1-2 hours. My husband has to learn to cope (my son is also quite aggressive) and I cant go on without a break. My energy levels have increased and I am making an effort to talk to my husband and spend at least for 1/2 hr a day just chatting and we have both promised to put a little effort into each other. I think its so easy to let the relationship slide when you are under such constant draining stress. When my son didnt go to bed until 10pm I had nothing left at the end of the day, all i could do was fall into bed and sleep until the next onslaught! I dont think I would of cared if my husband never came home as we were just tired and snipeing. But for now life seems ok!!!!!!! I'm sure I will have another down patch but thank god for everyone on this site!!!!! Good move going to the GP <'> <'> <'> <'> <'> <'> <'>

we have had similar problems and the only way to break the cycle is to remove the tv. You can then regain the control of it by allowing it back in for the duration of one film only. If you dont fancy that then go in when the film finnishes and say no more tv and if he wont accept it then remove it. You could try a timer on the plug like the ones you use on lamps etc then it will automatically switch off and you wont get the blame. good luck its a tough one! but solveable over time!

oooh yes!! Harry potter ps2 games James Bond is the current favourite. He also has certain bits of films that he watches over and over. He is so mad about the Herbie films that my husband bought a Herbie vw and has customised it to look like the original. It is now the school run car!!!

I have 3 boys 6, 4 & 2. My eldest has asd. I'm glad that I had the 3 as the little 2 bring an element of normality to our lives. When i had no2 my eldest was fascinated by him. He was 2 1/2. His behaviour did deteriorate and that was when we really acknowledged that there was a problem. I wont lie it was really hard work coping with the demands of a new baby and a chaotic toddler, but it turned out well and when my middley was 22months i had my third son. My eldest fell in love with him at first sight ( in fact they both did!!)and even picked out his name. I do love having all 3 sometimes it is hard work but at other times i watch them and hear my middley taking on the role of big brother and i melt with pride. I hope that when they are older they will all look out for each other.

My son had an EEG done recentley due to having absences. It came back normal so we have put it down to him having a break from the world. Very odd though as when he was 1 1/2 we thought he had a hearing problem as when he was sat one day staring we clapped our hands and made loud noises behind him and he never flinched. Probably something we will never have an answer to!

I'm still trying to decide how to tackle this one. My son is 6 and last year was terrified of this big bearded man coming into our house so we did say he wont its just pretend. This year we are doubley blessed because jesus is coming to visit for christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not much help i'm afraid!!!!

<'> <'> How horrid for you and youre husband. Keep going keep fighting remember you are in the right and you know youre son better than any one and you know what he needs!! Take a deep breath get on the rollercoaster again knowing that you know how to drive it!!! Really thinking of you and sending you lots of positive energy! <'> <'>

Outrageous!!! The team you are under sound useless!!!!(ive read your previous posts too). I cant think of any useful advice to offer that you probably haven't tried. Have you thought about moving schools to where your son comes under another team. We were originally under one team in the north of our county and then we moved our son to a better school (last one was rubbish) and then he came under the south team which were completely different, different professionals, offices and techniques, even assessment protocol was different. Maybe look at all of the ofsted reports online and find local schools that have fab senco's and great write ups about their sen departments, then go and see them all and see who can support you the best in getting your little boy to school. As for her comments re your sons weight and activity what a [edited]. Have the NAS been of much help? I leant on them a bit when we were moving my son. Probably not much help and all stuff that you have done!! But good luck I'm not suprised you are fed up! You sound like a good mum to me, keep smiling/grimacing!!! Loupin <'> <'> edited by Montee to comply with forum rules

That is lovely it has brought a lump to my throat. Thank you <'>

that is so lovely! Sounds like it was said with real meaning to it. My boy has just supreised us today by saying to his daddy at the end of a phonecall (having sleepover at grannys) I love you dad!! Aren't we all lucky parents to have such wonderful kids!

<'> <'> What a rotten gp. Do you have a psychologist or psychiatrist? Could they not give you a sick note or ring the gp and explain the situation in future? Hope it gets sorted!

Me again! When my son was diagnosed officially it was a long process.Every aspect of him was looked at and the triad of impairment was their marker . He was seen by a specialist speech and lang therapist several times and she also interviewed me, then he was assessed by a clinical psychologist, she also did a home /behaviour profile, the learning behaviour support teacher did an evidence based report as did the social inclusion team. I also went to see a private child psychiatrist as i neede some answers before the process even started. she diagnosed him with asd and semmantic pragmmatic disorder, so that added clout. once everyone had assessed their speciality they had 2 meetings in which they debated the diagnosis until they unanimously agreed and then they put their package together. From my experiance they move well with a diagnosis. a friend of mine whose son has lots of asd like symptoms has no diagnosis and he has been seen by lots of people over his 4 little years she has to fight for everything. She applied for dla and they only gave her bottom rate as there was no evidence to back up what she was saying.I'm no expert but she certainly should be getting more even the mobility component because her boy is so very disturbed by his senses and really cannot cope outside in the busy world. I was really bothered about labelling my son but it has worked well for us and it gives me a marker as to what to expect and what to read up on! Hope that helps a little. x

We did a sensory profile and then the ot did a school observation i think to back up what she saw from the profile . It took about 3/4 weeks until i had a home visit to discuss it. It was well worth it. It gave me a whole new perpective on my sons behaviour and it has made me rethink how i go about things. I had read about as children suffering with sensory issues but ignored it to an extent. She told me that my son really suffers with sensory overload and detailed with evidence what was happening to him. Fascinating really although very sad! Another piece of the jigsaw!!!

Thank you all for your replies. Its so nice to read that other mums have the same issues although i wish non of us had them!(issues that is not the kids!!!) Michelle you have word for word described my morning too!! I am sooooo impressed you can work i had to give up because my son couldnt cope with any kind of nursery care. i tried a nanny for 3 days a week and grandparents but it cost a fortune and grandparents go away which leaves you stuck. There is a little bit of me would like to work but i would be so stressed all day and coping with illness and appointments is to much for me. So i penny pinch!!!! Have you looked into getting carers allowance if you had to give up work? I think our subsequent children have a very hard time they see behaviours that they arent sure whether to copy and so to them the boundries just dont make sense. I wish my son had been born last as he would a) have the role models and they wouldn't be so confused and i suppose vulnerable. any way i must go as i am nursing my first hangover in years!!!!!!!! Think i will take to the sofas!!! <'>

Hi I have just come back from the health visitor this morning feeling very pathetic!! The nice nurse said (re my 2 yr old son, No probs at moment!!) How is his behaviour? How are you? That was enough to send me into floods of tears! My 2 yr old son is being really naughty. he is attacking his brothers screaming all the way wherever we go in the car and back again.You can imagine my 20 min school run!!! He is demanding my 100% attention and compliance with everything he wants. I am exhausted with it. Hes not spoilt or given into but still he persists. The tantrums are ignored and he has boundries set but push push he will! I think there is a lot of copying behaviour of my eldest (asd). The physical aggression has been a part of our lives since he was born so i think he sees that as normal behaviour, although my middle son (4) is not like it at all. He has started saying dont look at me go away just like his brother and being fixated on 2 tv programmes. My logical brain says he is not autistic as he is very sociable and doesnt fit the triad of impairments but i panic from time to time as he does the odd little thing and is sooooooooooo noncompliant with rules and boundaries. Does any one else have experiance of this kind of problem with younger siblings of asd children? Any ideas on what to do?