LittleRae

Good to see you back T. A

Hi My son does this also. When we had him assessed by an Occupational Therapist she asked this very question. She said this relates to a Visual Processing difficulty and has 'some difficulty regulating his visual system'. Now as to what that means......

T ((((((((((hugs)))))))))) A

Hi Bid Been there, done that. But....Now I have someone else to talk to.... Feel better A

Hi All Just wondering if anyone has had cause to use a reminder watch for their child? We though we'd tackle the toileting problems by using a watch which would remind him to go every 2 hours. It can also be used for helping him remember to do other things. I found details of some in the USA which are advertised as ADHD reminder watches to remind kids to take pills, etc. The most interesting is this one http://www.biof.com/onlinestore/watchminder.asp but it is available in US. Has anyone come across anything similar in UK? Or has anyone any experience of using one & was it useful? Thanks A

Hi My DS is no athlete and usually comes last. He's only noticing this lately (he's 9). I used to send him off to Sports Day with the usual 'winning isn't everything' 'the important thing is to take part & be a good sport'...etc. But it was getting to the stage where even other parents would comment on how he was always last or how clumsy he was (they don't know about dx). For the last 2 years, however, Sports Day is great fun. D's school has decided on 'non-competitive' activities where no prizes are given and the emphasis is on fun and participation. The kids all have a great day and 'events' can be added to suit everybody. I'm sure I prefer it! A

Hi Karin Have you checked out the National Association of Gifted Children website? www.nagcbritain.co.uk. This page deals with Gifted and learning difficulties http://www.nagcbritain.org.uk/giftedness/character.html There have also been a number of articles written about Aspergers and Giftedness: Lynette m Henderson - 'Asperger's Syndrome in Gifted Individuals' and Cindy Little - 'Which is it? Asperger's syndrome or Giftedness: Defining the Difference' It is interesting to see that here in Ireland, the schools website has now listed gifted and talented in the special needs section.

Hi Don't know of any books but you could try this: It's written for grandparents and is on the O.A.S.I.S website - lots of good articles, this one is about half way down http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/importantnews.html Sorry, can't do links! A

Annie I'm delighted for you and for Alex A

Hi Alli Welcome! I haven't used the Mind Reading CDROM although I see Tony Attwood recommends it on his site. Have you contacted the Autism Society in Dublin - I know they lend out books & videos - they may have a copy. www.autism.ie Otherwise, your local Autism Team may have a copy Take care A

Simon That's fab news. So pleased for you A

Hi to all the newbies This is definitely the right place to be. Martina, I'm from Ireland - living in Navan. There are a few more of us here also! My son is also 9 with AS and now possible ADHD. Welcome A

Hi Does your son get enough time to eat at school? I know my DS (9) complains that they only get 10 minutes to eat lunch and then it's out to the playground. He takes so long to get his lunchbox out, most of the kids have finished eating and are ready to go, so he rarely gets to eat. I've taken to putting grapes and strawberries in his lunchbox which I've told him to put into his pocket and eat outside (eating outside isn't allowed because of the litter problem - but I remove all stalks, etc so we won't have this problem). we've tried to get him extra time, but unless he starts eating earlier than the others they've all gone out by the time he's finished and he cannot 'find' them and so spends playtime alone. Some days he won't even feel hungry and it'll be 6 o'clock before I've discovered that he hasn't eaten all day. A

Loulou No advice, I'm afraid. Just <'> <'> <'> <'> Was the Head of this school not able to point you in a different direction? I really feel for you and Kai. A

Hi That's a dreadful thing to happen. You are right to be upset by it. Don't know if it would help at all to put an aide in the class but not label her as specifically for him. If he copes for the most part, just someone who would help out when needed might work. My ds shares an assistant with another child although he doesn't actuallyknow this, as he would freak out if he thought she was there to help him. He often comes home however, saying that B's assistant wrote his homework in the diary for him or that B's assistant helped him pack his bag! Works for us! A

It was interesting, though a little disappointing as it was made in 1987!! They did make this clear though before the programme and mentioned that any language used reflected the time it was made. Hopefully more up to date programmes will be forthcoming. The SENCO program is on 25th (tomorrow) at 2.30pm in the Primary Special Needs programme. There are also a number of programmes following this dealing with Secondary Special needs and LSA. If you look at www.teacherstv.org.uk you can get a list of future programmes. A

Hi All. This may be of interest to some. Just discovered a new TV channel called Teachers TV (located with the documentary channels). I know there is one program on tonight called 'The Foolish Wise Ones' where Autism is mentioned. I skimmed the program list for the next few days and there is also one about 'a day in the life of a SENCO' - sorry can't find the exact times at the moment. A

Tez The WORD test is the Wechsler Objective Reading Dimensions test, designed to test literacy skills. You get a score for Basic Reading which is sight recognition of a word on its own (ie not in a sentence), Spelling, and Reading Comprehension (reading a short passage and answering questions on it). They usually give you the Standard Score of the child in each section, a Percentile Score and then their age equivalent. If you want to search about it online, put in the full name. Hope this helps A

Hi Just posted earlier in the Education section, but thought I should introduce myself. I've been checking out your board for the past 3 months since my 8 year old son was diagnosed with mild AS. I've found it immensely informative with lots of info not contained in any of the many books I've read. A bit of background: We live in Ireland. I have 2 children - a 2 year old DD and an 8 year old DS who just diagnosed with AS in June. We've been quite lucky with the speed of our dx as D was only referred to School Psych in November/ December 2003. He was referred to the Ed Psychologist last year when his teacher noticed his high score in the standardised English tests our primary school kids complete each year. He scored in the 98th Percentile. My son is in 3rd class, hates school and generally doesn't 'put himself out' doing his work, so was judged to be middle of the class. Both ourselves and the teacher were surprised with the AS diagnosis - she had just hoped to get him resource hours to provide him with more challenging work! The more I've read the more I'm sure he has AS (up to now I just thought he was a little odd!). I've always known that he's intelligent but had a hard time getting his teachers (except one) to accept this, given his level of output in the classroom. We've been lucky enough to have been given 5 hours of resources each week and tomorrow I have a meeting with his Class Teacher and the Resource Teacher to discuss what should be done. While we do want to have some social skills and anger management training for him, we're hoping to place more emphasis on stretching him academically in order to place him in a good frame of mind while at school, rather than sitting bored all the time. D also has a diagnosis of Dyspraxia. I look forward to 'meeting you all'. A