bramblebrae

Hi I'm not sure what age or ability of kids this is for and I don't know how relevant this is to the wider autistic 'problems' but here's my idea. My son is an avid and advanced reader and we used to have a problem with getting anywhere on foot as he always had to stop and read signs, posters, adverts,drains even basically if it had letters he read them - whatever they said - as in "durex it goes on easy" when he was 3yo out loud in the supermarket toilets- lol it's funny now- got a very strange look off the other occupants though! I tried asking his nursery at the time to move the notice board at the bottom of the stairs as this always held him up but no they just carried on complaining about us being late *sigh*! Anyway I thought maybe you could have signs made up around a large area and the pupils would have to stop and read them as they went around and see just how long it takes and then walk around without having to stop and read them to show how much quicker you can do things without the distractions autism can cause our kids to have. Obviously the signs could be filled with autistic related information. With maybe a quiz at the end to ensure they actually read the sign. I'm not sure which bit would actually be sponsored maybe for just taking part or I suppose maybe they could be sponsored for the number of answers they get correct in the quiz as long as it was straightforward with hints or something so mainly they get 100% all round and more sponsor money for NAS sorry if it's a silly idea just popped into my head. Take Care Lorraine

Hi I am in North East Scotland, the school was meant to be good for SEN practises but frankly I've not seen much evidence. I do believe they try, they just aren't as aware about spectrum disorders as they need to be and they will not ask outside agencies for help. I have got one to one support for my son and the autistic outreach teacher comes to school for an hour a week and does a social group with him and a few classmates which the auxialary is then supposed to do back up work on at other times during the week (Ive not actually checked if they do this). The support and help from outreach teacher only came about by me bypassing the school as they did and continue to misinform me of what S can have or can't - the outreach teacher has been a blessing she really helps me with any school related problems. I've not applied for the equivalent of a statement up here as he should be provided with all he needs without one according to the 'laws' or guidlines up here I'll see what happens when I can't get something I believe he really needs in future though or when it gets closer to secondary school. There is a very good setup for high functioning autistic students called (name removed by moderator) here where they get good support within secondary there were just 8 places based in one school for this but it has now doubled to 16 places across 3 schools I would hope if needed S will get a place in one of those in the future. I have written more about school in general on my new blog (link below - shameful plug *blush*). If you can stand to hear any more ramblings please visit , any and all comments critisms welcomed Lorraine

I've been looking through old posts trying to find something..still looking *sigh*. Anyway I came across this post and find it very interesting. My son too has always had comments about his eyes as he has the longest eyelashes I've and apparently anyone else has ever seen. His father had fairly long eyelashes too even if he was a git he was a goodlooking one in my opinion - as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However I do get Baddad's point that its not autism related and some kids are lookers and some arent with autism or not. My son is spoiling his good looks with the fact he is a constant thumb sucker and his adult teeth are currently coming in all over the place at funny angles. Anyway I'll get to the point I was wondering if there is a tendancy overall for kids with ASD to be attractive to others because of the symmetry of their faces. I read along time ago about the more symmetrical a face the more attractive to others and I do wonder if children with ASD tend towards symmetrical faces as I believe this could be affected by medical conditions. This I agree could be absolute rubbish and it is just my own wonderings! I was once told it was lucky that Stephen was such a good looking boy as it would help him in the future I have to say I took offence at this on behalf of all people(including my ugly self ) as looks should not determine how others treat you. Now all kids on the spectrum having beautiful souls sounds more likely and I think it would have to do with the way they view the world through less judgemental eyes. Lorraine

I'm always checking dates and not very organised so stuff is always going off my wee one is becoming the same but I think it's just my 'bad' influence - is it 'bad' I don't want a tummy bug...I think it came on me from doing a microbiology course where we took milk(and many other things including the outside packaging food comes in!) which smelt fine but was actually a little out of date and grew the bacteria on petrie dishes ...it kinda put me off out of date food unsurprisingly

My personal thoughts on the subject of vaccinations. I am still quite undecided about what I think about vaccinations...I am unsure enough not to give my son his booster injections just incase it causes his ASD to become more severe and because I've read somewhere that the booster is often not actually needed and the child is still immune i.e. it is a backup to catch kids on whom the first injections failed and to extend the immunity a few years of the kids on whom the first injection worked. On the side of vaccinations if you like there is a small family history of autism in our case and also mental illness on my sons paternal side but this does not mean his ASD or my very young cousins classic autism were not made more severe by modern vaccinations. My son did have a unknown virus and a night observed in hospital a couple of weeks after his first injection which contained mercury this was at 11 weeks old and the doctors at the time noted that physically at this time he was quite advanced at holding his head up etc however I never noticed anything unadvancing so to speak after this scare except from the fact he was a little stubborn thing who never listened and never seemed to want to do anything anyone asked him. The only regression I saw was when at about 2 years old he became very fussy about food and is still extremely phobic about trying new food and the smell of others foods even. One thing which has swung me back into wondering about the safety of vaccinations is an article I read a while back about a survey which was taken on the amish community in the states where the incidence of ASD was virtually nil. I wish someone would do proper scientific research on this as it could prove very valuable group to look at whatever the causes of ASD. Lorraine

Totally agree pumpkinpie thing is I always try to give people benefit of the doubt ie I think of all the excuses they are gonna come out with FSW will say she sent email to coordinator...then maybe this week coordinator took ill on the wednesday night and maybe thats why she's not been in touch I really don't know ...I'll have to wait and see if anyone contacts me on Monday morning. I think the FSW is back from her holiday on Monday so I'll maybe ring her and let her deal with it all...still don't know about making him go to it at all now as he's so adamant that even if I drag him there he's not doing it...thing is he says that about school most mornings then we get to the gate and he's usually fine...I do realise though the thought of doing something is sometimes worse than actually doing it cause I've often had to force myself into things which in the end turned out to be fine really...I'll just see what happens on monday though....just wanted to say thanks to you all for your knowledge and support, it's always appreciated <'> take care Lorraine

Honestly I'm gonna write this down cause if I don't I'll be on the phone screaming at a ladies answer machine who I don't even know...right where to begin My son WAS eager to go to a free football training course during the holidays at about the same time we were looking into this I got a surprise call from a family support worker who had been given our name by the local SS children with disabilities team, I had asked them to assess S so he could get funding to attend the funclubs for disabled kids or a specific jigsaw club for ASD kids about 2 years ago they couldn't do the assessment then but visted briefly and basically said if he attended a mainstream school then he should attend mainstream activities. With support from the clinical pschologist who ran our earlybird course I argued that he had 121 help in school even if it was mainstream so they said at that point maybe a support worker to help him at activities could be funded. Anyway we never did get around to arranging anything so at last this lady phones about visiting and giving him a proper assessment just before the holidays. It has been all a bit last minute but she said she would arrange someone to support him at the football which is only an hour for 5 days so not much funding wise really. Anyway we were away on holidays and before we left FSW said she had talked to the lady cordinator who arranged the support workers and that she(the coordinator) should be in touch with us after our holidays with the details sayign stuff like he should meet the support worker before the football training happens so we could both get to know him/her. Back from holidays last Friday I waited for the phone call..Wednesday came I thought eek I better phone coordinator didn't even know our names she had vague details about a little boy and football, our support worker (now on her holidays) was supposed to have emailed the exact details to her but she hadn't got them- anyway not to worry she says I'll phone you tomorrow once I've got the support workers name and if there's time we'll come see you on Friday or perhaps meet on monday before football a little early so S and support worker got a chance to meet. Well I had to be out yesterday and told her to leave a message and I'd get back to her got home at 6pm no phone calls at all tried a few times today to phone her and all I get is the answering machine ..I left a message on said answering machine and no one has phoned back...on top of all this for the past week S says he dosen't want to go to the football at all now as he thinks he'll be rubbish...now the truth is he isn't very good mainly because he keeps picking the ball up and telling the other boys how to play but it's the only sport he's ever been enthusiastic about at all and with every activity its the same he never wants to go at the last minute. We had a summer club arranged earlier in the summer and he only went once then even though he enjoyed that day he couldn't be bothered going again and I don't mind (well I do actually lol) force dressing him for school but I'm not doing it for activities...the whole point of getting the assessment was because we are isolated it's my fault too cause I'd much rather stay in than go out and deal with strangers..I'm not gonna self diagnose completely but I definetly have AS traits as far as social gatherings are concerned and I am very long winded lol Thing is I'm tempted to just phone up at this point and tell her to shove her support worker where the sun don't shine cause he dosen't want to go now anyway...if it was all arranged already I would be more motivated to push S into going I've alreay backed down to the point of saying just to give it a try on the first maybe second day and if he really hates it he won't have to go back. The annoying thing with all these activities is yeah sure go to mainstream but the summer club we had arranged had a day out trip once a week and for S to go they wanted me to come too and I really think thats unfair on us both I don't know these people or want too get to know them that well and would've felt totally awkward on the trip and felt like I was being critised as if someone so looks at me I get paranoid so with my lack of enthusiasm combined with S's lack of enthusiasm he never goes anywhere except the cinema(I still have to push him a bit but at least I'm enthusiastic about going there most of the time) which we both enjoy thankfully. I feel like we've waited 2 years had 4 home visits (loathed them) from this family support worker I've answered a zillion questions and all for blinking nowt in the end!! I think we should just stay hermits but at the end of the day I want to do the right thing and S does actually say at this point anyway that he wants to make friends with folk his own age and that he just can't be bothered putting any effort into it. anyway thanks for the space to ramble on Lorraine

omg well done and welcome back ...I've be going to redecorate the living room since last november I think ...I bought the paint about 2 mths ago ...now how long will it take me to get started ...maybe this xmas it'll be finished ...I think I'm waiting for it to paint itself but I don't think it's working..ah well theres only me here to do it or S mmh don't think he'll do it for me he's only 7 next saturday lol though he has offered to help...I'm definetly waiting til school goes back now though I think to much of his help might tip me over the DIY edge I just hope all the new furniture etc I picked out as wanting to buy at the end of last year is still available or I might get to the end of the painting and have to change it all again lol Lorraine

Hi we saw this at the weekend S loved it. I'd bought him this months disney mag which had cars splashed on the front and a 48 pg comic which was basically the movie in comic style pretty much the movie without the long action bits..maybe that could contain him til DVD comes out. My S is exactly the same about movies and dvd's he can't get enough and each one is watched over and over til the next obession but he still goes back to his favourites every now and again... james bond die another day for some reason really stuck with him I think he's watched it 20 times plus and its just on loan to us from my folks I don't think they expect to see it ever again as last time I tried to return it to them we left 2 hrs later with the DVD in his hand again lol Im just glad he really likes something which gets him/us out of the house...though sometimes the whole thought of going to the cinema gets to much for him and he ends up saying he'll just wait for the DVD as he wants that anyway. Between buying the sweets and getting into the actual seats he does get pretty anxious I end up carrying everthing and trying to hang on to one hand while he sucks the thumb off the other and once we were late and just entering into the dark cinema theatre as the movie started and he jumped out his skin needless to say popcorn went sailing at least I managed to hang on to the drinks lol Luckily I love the movies too phew ..actually we are very similar in many ways and mostly like doing the same stuff luckily I'm a long term tom-boy I suppose. Lorraine ps I'm going to McD's tomorrow now Ka-Chow lol

S's favourite colour is green it has been for a few years since his thunderbird obsession as he loved TB2. He won't eat anything green however along with most other food substances whatever their colour. He wants a green car if/when we ever get another one. I've loads a green paint waiting for me to get arouind to splashing them on the living room walls though it already is green but very brown tatty tinged. (DIY ugh ) He always talks about green alot but we've not got to a point where he needs all clothes or cups etc that colour though he does have his favorites which are usually green or blue actually except the jacket I specifically bought because it was green and he said he wanted his old brown one ---there just aint no pleasing some folks lol Lorraine PS S is moaning at me for not putting his 2nd n 3rd favourites in so here goes- 2nd blue and 3rd red. Don't ask what he's still doing up at this time grrrh - he's having a fit o giggles now lol

Hi sorry can I totally butt in - firstly hi fellow Aberdeenshire person well I'm in Aberdeen itself now. I'm not to sure myself what to do my son does lash out occasionally at me and others at school when in primary 1 ..I say no and sometimes smack his bum which is probably wrong- my dad goes absolutley nuts the couple of times he has seen him hitting me he shouts very loud at S and school well if he hit a child they didn't seem to care that much but if it's a member of staff they don't see it as ASD related (well they didn't-now he has 1to1 support in school most of the time and a weekly social group with autism outreach teacher-it hasn't happened - funny that school still act this way alot even though I feel we have shown how different he is with the right support). What I wanted to butt in about was this-- my son has worn AFO's ankle foot orthoses (splints) for mmh 2 or 3 years now but at his last orthotics review they have prescribed stability boots. The whole appointment was a bit chaotic cause S was totally hyper like I've never really witnessed before - jumping around everthing- coulda been cause we had a different lady and there was a physiotherapist there too - so not quite as expected and it was the first week of the holidays. Anyway the thing is she mentioned inserts being put in the stability boots but then they didn't make any casts or anything as usually would happen for the afo's and I wondered if your son had inserts in his boots and are these standard things or do they need to make casts of the actual foot first? Thing is my sons trainers are falling apart and I've tried various shoe shops and cannot get a shoe/trainer to fit over the splints. So we are hoping in vain that the stability boots show up before the sole falls out the bottoms of these. It shouldn't be long, just after school goes back I think, but if we then have to wait until cast is taken and insert made I think he'll be going to school barefoot for a bit. Thanks for your help Lorraine

thanks it does make sense wether I can get me lazy self around to getting organised and doing it is another. I'm defintely going to try the social stories though as reading is his passion and if I can get the story right and repeat it often enough I think it will have an impact on him remebering the 'right' thing to do. He really likes to please people which is half the battle I suppose he just forgets what is right and what is wrong which I forget that he forgets and lose me temper in the heat of the moment. Then when school does it I give them a row lol I'm a hippocrit but then i think well I got him a heck of alot more(good thing mostly:)) and no support mostly whereas there is alot of them and to be honest they have got a lot lot more experience of children in general than I do...so they should know better and there emotions aren't so involved or in an ideal world wouldn't be. (mini school rant!) anyway thanks for the great advice and the link. off on hols tomorrow afternoon so I'll bear it in mind for our return - I may even put the social stories into effect slightly on our way as we're stopping with relly's for a few days on the way to legoland see if I can get something down about que's (though we can use special stamp to skip them) or not running off ( I was thinking of taking his old wrist strap - in case it did get bad but i hate using it we've not used it for awhile and never did much but he's got too fast now. anyway still not packed lol I'm really hopeless - I think I need some social stories of my own! - if u don't pack, u'll be late, your mum(granny) will be furious and you'll all set off in a bad mood! take care Lorraine

No sorry not been on a plane for years. I'd be livid though imagine saying their disability policy is outstanding when obviuosly it wasn't. I'd keep writing and want a full explanation that enlight of it being 'outstanding' how did it go so wrong and what where they going to do to make sure it didn't reoccur. As for the 'real' disability line I think I mighta quite lost me cool on that one!! ((((hugs))) When one thing drags you down everthing feels worse - I think the opposite can happen too though I bounce up and down with feelings all the time - never get a nice happy medium - ...plus these things that have happened are all really annoying just on their own combined I'd be finding a nice big open field away from everyone and letting out a big scream (I find it helps) can't find a field though so the neighbours just get their ear drums done in. The all scream out there windows for their kids to come in around here ..really annoys me... so I'm just getting me own back Lorraine

It's not petty all these things add up and as said before I would be worried about how this teachers behaviour towards your son affects his classmates behaviour towards him...she should be told what damage this could do...she is not the one going to have to live with the consequences. I know what you mean about the 'answer for everything" bit my son is a very unreliable witness...he often doesn't remember things or gets them confused and so when the school say it happened like this or they know nothing about it I really don't know what I can say against them ...I wish I could fit him with a secret camera just to see what really goes on. take care Lorraine

<'> <'> <'> <'> for you <'> <'> <'> <'> for your DD She should be proud she dosen't know these words she isn't meant to at her age in an ideal world. The other kids and there parents should be the ones in tears. I'd be tempted to write a letter to the school (if they can be trusted) insisting they not mention this to your DD but could the keep a close eye on her with this group of children as that seems like bullying to me. If that had happened to myself at school I would've totally flipped out and hurt a few of them. I cannot stand being laughed at I think it's things like this that lead my son into aggressive acts he hates being laughed at too especially when he's confused. Your DD shouldn't have to put up with that kinda treatment ..but I know it happens ...I'd be glad she was able to tell you about it though as she must of felt funny in knowing these where 'dirty' words. You must be doing a great job if she trusts you enough to confide in you this way I imagine it gets trickier as they get older my DS is almost 7 and tells me nothing - one day everyone is his friend the next day he dosen't like any of them at school but what happens in between I've no idea and he insists he hasn't either. take care Lorraine

Thanks everyone for your ideas. The thing about the stickers is interesting because in between the writing he did get a set of harry potter stickers with a little book - they are tiny little square stickers with all the characters on them - anyway once book was filled up there where about 50 spare stickers or so and these now"observe" everthing they are all round the house I'm still finding them in unusual places - I don't really mind my house is a tip anyway but being observed by Ron Weasley in the bathroom is a little disconcerting I have seen a social story book I tried to use it for general things like the toilet but I didn't really understand how it would work ... I suppose its the repetition of it I just looked and thought he won't remember any of it...though I never tried writing a specific one. We only had the book for a short time as it was borrowed... I'll look up more information on it and see if I can understand any better now and perhaps S will too now he's a little older. thanks everyone Lorraine

My son S (ASD probably HFA/AS but no one wants to pin it down - almost 7) is a reluctant writer due to poor fine motor control and the ASD too i suppose destroys work if it looks wrong. This school year just past he has been much more willing to put pen to paper and the look of the lettering has improved some however along with this came a strange obession with writing on everthing at home but paper. He has written on the drawers of his new desk put pen arrows from one door of the living room to the other "to mark the route" he says leaving little arrows on door, frames, walls, ironing board and table. His latest exploit has really annoyed me as he has written his intials on the top of my beige sandals in blue ink and it's resisting all attempts at removal. Previously I asked why did u write on that ...answer I don't know ...I said well you should not write on the walls ...answer oh I didn't know, you didn't tell me I couldn't..this happened a couple of times til I said I can't tell u all the items your not allowed to write on so just do not write on anything but paper..reinterated as only write on paper..ok he promised ...then when it happened again he just says he didn't remeber me saying that...the not remembering thing happens over everything I tell him. Like when he nearly killed our fish - he knows not to put in too much food but we had got a new catfish and new type of food and he put in half the tub -cloudiest fish tank u've ever seen..they survived but it took me hours of emptying water and refilling whole tank 3 times. Maybe it was the different food I suppose but he can never explain why he did it although he did admit he knew it was wrong. Thing is it's not every week or anything and it just comes out of the blue alot of his most unwanted behaviours are like that he's totally unpredictable but fine 75% of the time but then I'm left watching his every move (as much as I can there is just the 2 of us) for what mostly is no reason but I just never know. It begs the question as well for next year when I'm filling in his reapplication for DLA and they want to know how often this or that happens ..well not often but I've got to watch for it all the blinking time!! mmh maybe it's not happening cause I'm watching.... infact the sandal thing happened right under my nose I was wearing it and didn't notice so not watching that carefully even when there ..engrossed by big brother ... see I'm befuddled sorry it's a bit of a ramble thats why I'm bramble any one got anything similar? or help / ideas? thanks Lorraine

sounds exactly like my son too he often says he's lost all his words when he gets tongue tied and stutters as you describe...thanks for explaining the feelings behind it though it helps me to think more about what's going on inside...happens with other things though not expressing feelings as he dosen't express any verbally that i can think of....it's generally when asked to explain why he did something he shouldn't of...oh I suppose that is asking him to express how he felt before he took the action...but we never actually get to an answer...I usually back off once the stammering starts. Sometimes I just get a straight I've forgotten or I don't know and then he stays calm but I'm still left clueless. thanks Lorraine

Well we've already had 2 weeks of holidays up here in sunny scotland -is it really 2 weeks omg- anyway S (ASD age 7 next month) was supposed to be going to a summer club its run by the folk who do a friday play club he started to go to just a few weeks before school broke up. anyway it was supposed to be mon,tues morning for 2hrs and a trip on thursdays(I was to go on trip with him as they weren't sure how they'd cope wonder what they would've done had I said no mmh? we missed the one trip we could make anyway) for first 4 weeks of hols so far we've made it once on the first monday he says he's not going tomorrow or tuesday but I kinda want him there so I can get on with organising for our trip away...we just like chilling too both of us..and we both find it hard to get up. We leave on tuesday afternoon for out trip to Legoland Windsor..we're making a few stops on the way with relly's and wont actually be going into legoland til next saturday weve got 3 day pass and 4 nights at hotel. I'm not sure how it'll go it's all a bit daunting for me and thats just the packing My mum's coming with me and S so that might help or sometimes it hinders depends on both our moods lol. S is very excited he's wanted to go for a couple of years now. They have a system there where we can get a special stamp and get on rides without cueing I just need to show them his DLA letter though they say next time it'll have to be actual diagnosis letter, it's at the gp's and I don't have time to get a copy before we go. After we come back S is going to a football trial sessions thing for 1hr a day for a whole week, I've jsut been told he can have a supporter to help him at this through the social work dept (2 yrs after asking we got an assessment woot) so it's a weight off my mind as though he loves talking about football and having footballs (just bought a replica world cup one today that makes 4 !!) he always picks up the ball with his hands and starts telling everyone what to do/not to do and I can't see that going down very well...at least it's an afternoon thing 3-4pm and he'll be in a better frame of mind to actually go (at least on the first day). Then the day after footie ends its his birthday which I've not planned anything for yet prolly just family stuff, cake, pressies, trip to rambo's maybe a local play gym thing for 5-10 yr olds he likes that. So far we've done nowt really except that first monday play club, a afternoon at the park, my nieces birthday barbecue and today we were going to see pirates movie but ended up seeing superman returns I was still trying to persuade him to stick with pirates when it was our turn to pay so I reluctantly gave in, the very nice and friendly ticket operator jokingly said he'd given us pirates tickets and S almost threw a wobbly til I quickly showed him the tickets, he (ticket guy) weren't to know and was being funny and quite cute (Anyway Orlando I'll see u one day honest!) I did cheer up when I saw James Marsden (cyclops from xmen and ally mcbeal fame) was in it ...something nice to look at anyway:) S loved it though he got a bit squirmy as it was a bit slower than the films he's used to and he spilt half the popcorn omg I do go on anyway have a great holiday time wether your chillin or trippin off somewhere I'll miss the internet whilst away for this board and my current online gaming addiction (Runescape) last years holiday broke the last online game addiction (toontown(for kids- it was for S to play honest but he didn't want to just liked watching me)) i had so hopefully this one will (can't see it myself) looking forward to catching up on all the news from you guys after though take care Lorraine

My son absolutely loves the colour green seems to have always. I've not noticed behaviour changes with other colours but certain light conditions definetly make him hyperactive. The showers at his swimming lessons totally flipped him and certain shops...I thought it was just a coincedence but a shop we maybe go to twice a year always makes him hyper he runs round all the aisles and is very diffciult to control. We've not been in along while now though. You know as I'm writing this I just though it could be that bright white is actually causing the affect I've just realised as both places were predominately white esp showers combined with both having flourescent lighting. Other shops with the fl lighting make him excited but do not have the same affect to the extent the particular shop had could be cause the aisles were very wide so more light bouncing around off the white walls. Interesting and thought provoking thanks for asking mmh maybe coloured lenses would help more than I've considered before. Think I'll try for green tinted goggles when we attempt swimming again they were blue before and didn't help. Lorraine

My sons attendance is bad 232 days out of 284 and I've only got the one can't say how I'd have done non ASD wise. I keep him off for every 'runny' bum now as I got sick of him being sent home even though we agreed it wasn't tummy bugs but his highly inadequate diet and/or anxiety. Also once it was just that he hadn't wiped properly or at all (he seldom does-I've seen him jump off the loo and go to pull up clothes and I've stopped him and knowingly I've said did you do a number 2 - and he can't remember) so anyway the TA smelt something funny and he'd been changed earlier in the day so they sent him home surprised it's not happened more often now he stays for lunch there..I'll have to watch he's not holding 'it' in whilst at school. We are always late too which I have admitted would have happened to some extent ASD or not cause half the time its my disorganised sleepy problem not S's. I've always been late for everything..so shoot me! Lorraine

PSA your full ...well your box is lol..I'll try pm later mods ..I respect your comments..but I trust my own judgement on wether to post on 'other forum' ie (it's not a slanging match- if it turns into one I'll leave as u suggest) or not I hope you can too thanks Lorraine

mmh I get what u mean ..lets say support PSA not retaliate as such...

pm me the other board I wanna go shout at someone... helpful suggestions are one thing differences of opinion another but to just say your lying is well out of order... how dare she do that ...there is nothing to stop someone on the internet making up stories but maybe I'm thick I can't really think of a reason anyone would, not on these types of topics at least...she's out of her mind hun you just do not need that sending u loadsa hugs Lorraine

Thanks I've been wondering the same thing for awhile and never noticed the jargon buster button either. Also the DH DD DS thing I knew it referred to family from the way posts are written but sometimes slightly different terms are used and I was never sure if it was 'dear' or something else. I just write my S cause he's my son and his initial is S too. I don't put DS cause sometimes I don't feel like calling him 'dear' lol!!