Viper

You know those really annoying channels that no one watches? The ones with the constant talk about the best cleaning machine/juicer/veg chopper/exerciser, you get the picture? well superman loves them. The best ones are the cleaning ones. Where they throw all sorts of nasty stuff on a cream carpet and then clean it all off again. If SM is ever getting over excited or aggresive, I can turn to one of those channels and he sits watching it with complete attention. He is enthralled by them, loves cleaning and anything to do with it. I, on the other hand am sick to death of them and really don't need to see one more product that works miracles for as long as I live. There is one playing right now and I can't stand one more second of it, but I will, just to keep SM happy. The things we do. Tell me I'm not alone with this, pleeeeaaaasse.

Wow, what a worthwhile job. Well done and good luck.

Dodo, my 16 yr old DD had an interview today at a well known supermarket that likes you to try something new. My eldest DD already works there part time and now Dodo wants to join her. She is doing sixth form at school but wants to earn some money to save for driving lessons and a car. She will be 17 in February so wants to start saving asap. Fingers crossed for her, she finds out Friday.

I tried to vote but it wont allao you to vote in only one catagory. I think you have to check one box in each which is not the point of the exercise. Anyway, I have 4 children the second and fourth have ASD.

Emily, it all makes perfect sense to me. i think the Wii may fit as it takes game cube but wii is a more active console and everyone seems to stand up when they play it in my house, so I don't think it will be a problem. I had a look at the adult one and if we get one we will get the adult one. It has better sound thingies, well DH put it another way but I am just not gadget/techie minded. So, thanks for your input, it was a great help.

It is the same children Baggy. The little girl called Shelby with a congenital disability, who wasn't expected to live very long is still going strong and a real joy to watch.

We already have a trampoline. He isn't really into toys, he has a lot of lego and K'nex that he doesn't really use. and we have eye toy too. but thanks for the ideas anyway. I might sugest we add to his lego collection. llisa32 he likes the total interaction thing with his games so I think he would enjoy the chair.

Those chair whatsits that you sit in when playing console games. Here, I'll show you a picture cos I aint got a clue how to describe it. http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/s...=17&go.y=13 OK, one of them things. Has anyone got one, know someone who has one or any experience of them at all? Superman wants one for his birthday on the 29th and I have no idea if they are any good. He wanted a bike but I convinced him it would be a waste as he never goes outside the house to use one. The last one he had is rotting away outside, hardly used.

Thanks everyone. I had a nice relaxing day overall. so that can't be bad.

Awww Shucks. You make me feel all gooey inside. <'> Thanks.

Hi folks, back from holidays and feel re-energised. Decided Superman needs a sensory/chillout room. The only spare space we had was the cupboard under the stairs. OK, I know, it sounds like Harry Potter but it's a really big cupboard and I can stand up in it so ample big enough fo SM. The reason we need the room for him is because when he gets upset he hides behind the sofa or anywhere he can fit into. He then stays there until he feels better. He can't use his bedroom for this as he has a fear of being away from us. The cupboard is in the kitchen which has an arch to the living room, so is idealy positioned for him. Now I need your ideas. He has a fiber optic dolphin lamp in there so far. We have to get some sort of carpet, he wants a shagpile (how does he know about such luxury?) My DD is going to paint a golf mural on one wall (he loves golf) We want to get a bean bag for him too. I want to make it as calming as posible, with music, lights, soft textures etc. That's where you can help me (I know how knowledgable you all are) Any tips on what to include and good places to buy things as cheaply as possible would be great. Thanks.

Ds is only on 0.6mls right now. He started off on 0.1ml and I was instructed to increase it 0.1ml at a time. He has been on it for 3 months, with no change at all to his behaviour. The only change in his routine is that all my children are home on summer holidays. I have 4 children. The 2 eldest have now left school, second eldest this year. Superman is home educated and used to having me all to himself during the day. The problem is only my youngest DD will be going to school in September. My 16 year old is hoping to have a job by then so hopefully he will have me to himself again then. SM has always been aggresive and it seems to escalate when the girls are home. Every day is a fight fest when they get home from school, with holidays being unbearable. I know things should improve when we get back to normality but it makes life so hard to bare. At least it's only half of the day during school time. Thank you for you kind words of support.

I've not posted for a while, been going through hell to be honest. Superman is being a real nightmare. He is physically and verbally abusive to everyone in the family. It starts before he has even lifted his head off the pillow in the morning. He wakes up at around 8.30 and don't we all know about it? He starts shouting, wanting me to jump out of bed that instant. I'm not allowed to take time to gather my thoughts. Yesterday he woke up and I heard his sister go downstairs so I told him she was up. He replied "so what you pathetic looser" then he punched me in the leg told me to shut up and went downstairs to hurl abuse and anything he could lay his hands on at DD. I had to rush downstairs to prevent any injuries. Everything is such hard work. He is just so awful to us all. He has been like this now for around 4 weeks, so it's really taking it's toll on us all. When he's not hurling abuse he is screaming that we all hate him and he hates us. Then he hides behind the sofa which he has to pull away from the wall to get behind. He then stays there crying. There is very little time in the day where he is on an even temper. He is currently taking Respiridone but it is having no affect whatsoever on his temper which is what it was for. I am wondering what the point is of putting chemicals into him when there is no difference. And guess what? We are going on holiday on Saturday. That means we have an 8 hour drive, then a week in a caravan with the devil child from hell. Oh deep joy. There I've off loaded. Don't feel you have to reply. I just needed to scream even if it is only on "paper"

My 16 yr old DD went to the GPs surgery today, about a back problem that was caused when a boy at school pushed her off a chair and she broke her tail bone (can't spell the right word ) She wanted to go in on her own for the first time, I was very proud of her. Anyway, she saw the nurse practitioner and the first thing she asked her was if everything was OK at home. DD said she was asking her if she was being abused. I don't know what was actually said but DD was adament that that's what she was saying. I really don't know where this has come from, except that we had social services involved a year ago over an incident that happened at school. We had the police involved and as she was a minor at the time a SW had to be present. All I can think is, this nurse read the SW report and has taken it all wrong. What I need to know is, as DD is now 16 we don't have any rights with regard to what goes on between her and the GP/nurse so can we ask what this is about? It's a bit worrying if they think we have abused our DD especially as we have our superman with ASD as well, who is only 6.

That was fast. Great news too. We are waiting for ours to come through. I too hate filling in those forms, it took us 2 months to finally send it off. With a DX now we shouldn't have any problems getting it renewed, we had middle rate witout mobility, but with a psychiatrist on the case we are hoping to get mobility this time too.

Thank you for all your good wishes. The irony of it is, my brother is the health and safty rep for his depot and he is the 4th man to be attacked like this. He has been campaigning to get better provision for the depot since the first attack. They wanted a covered walkway and taxi service home until the culprits are caught. Since my brother was attacked all this has now been provided. His solicitor say's he can sue the pants off them but e is reluctant to do so in case he causes bad feeling in the company. I don't think I would think twice.

My Superman is only 6 but has an ability to read that astounds me, so it makes it hard to protect him from these things. He doesn't seem to worry about fire though, or should I say yet?

Superman has empty bottles and a jug. Not because we are tight you understand, it's just that he loves pouring water in a out of things. Oh and a cleaning cloth, not for him, for the bath and tiles, he loves to clean so that's a bonus.

Now, let me see, do we have any pets. Oh yeah i remember now, we have a cat, dog, three parrots, three rats, a hamster, a goldfish and 40 or so tropical fish, oh and a shrimp (in the tropical tank) oh and there is also the 2 hedgehogs that have taken up perminant residence in our garage, along with a little brown mouse and a family of blackbirds that visit and eat the cat food out there. So yes we do have a few pets, but no the kids don't look after them, it's all down to me. Unless they need a few quid, then they will clean out the birds or rats.

My superman has a real fear of being abducted since Maddie was. He wont stay in any room in the house alone or play in the garden alone. If I go out into the garage, wjere our tumble dryer is and also a lot of stuff that I don't want SM to touch, I have to close all windows and lock all doors, before he will stay the other side of the door while I sort out the washing. It makes life very hard. When we sit in the garden, if I go into the kitchen to get a drink and forget to tell him all hell breaks loose even though he can see me through the window. He say's I left him to be murdered. Not sure how to reasure him that he will be OK. It's hard to say it wont happen when it so obviously has and is all over the news and papers. A really tricky situation, anyone else have any experience of this kind of fear?

I rang my brother, haven't spoken for some time, and his wife answered. She said she has wanted to ring me for ages but my brother wouldn't let her. She then told me the most awful news. A month ago when he was on his way home from work (he's a train driver) at 1am, some yobs started shouting at him. He was all alone so just carried on walking. The next thing he knew he was in hospital. The b******ds had hit him over the head, knocking him unconcious and while one of the six (from eye witness statements) held him up the rest kicked his face in. He has a broken jaw, had to have his front teeth wired back in, stiches in his exploded mouth and has lost some saliver glands. He can't go to work until they are sure he doesn't have epilepsy as a result and may need plastic surgery. I sobbed my heart out when she was telling me. Why would anyone do that? They didn't even take his money or phone and they were still there watching when the person who saw it called the ambulance and police, and when they arrived. The police asked them if they saw anything but they said no and the police let them walk away, despite the eye witness saying he thought it was them. (he couldn't be absolutly sure as he was on a bridge over the railway when he saw it happening.) My brother is only a small man, just a bit taller than me 5ft 5, and is in no way offensive, he is mild mannered and quiet. This world is such an awful place.

This one is for you BD. Hope you don't mind. I'll start by telling you about my DH. Initially he didn't accept/understand our supermans difficulties, but then does anyone? I think it's easier for mothers as generally they spend more time with the children and get to know their ways. However, Dh has really made an effort to get to grips with Superman, and they have a great relationship. He takes him out to places, like the shops that SM hates to go with me. I spend too much time whereas DH just gets the job done, the way SM likes it. He takes him to golf and tries to play to keep SM company (he's not very good, bless him, unlike SM) and even buy's more balls when he loses them all in the rough. Dh will drop everything for an appointment with SMs psych even staying home from work (he goes away every week) to be there. He spends loads of time just doing what SM wants to do, playing Wii games with him mostly, but also gardening, hoovering cleaning etc. On the non ASD side of things DH does all the shopping when he is home, to last us while he is away. I have an undiagnosed nerve disorder (awaiting results of MRI) that means I can't do much around the house. DH does it all as well as work away for 3 days every week. My Dh is a diamond. We have our ups and downs but generally he's great. Edited to add, If you are a lone father, then feel free to blow your own trumpet, we want to hear it loud and clear.

That's how I read it too Mumble. However if his dad is not accepting he has problems it could affect his treatment of the problem. Handwriting problems is a problem with ASD children and trying to force them to do it wont work. No offence meant to anyone whatsoever. Edited to say, I said problem an awful lot there.

My superman also hates handwriting. He is 6 and can read and spell way beyond his years but handwriting is a big issue with him. I home educate so it is not too much of a problem right now. I have left it alone for now as like you it became a real flash point in the house. It did worry me though, I thought I was not giving him the right education by not making him write. But over the past few months he has decided for himself when and if he wants to write. This more relaxed aproach has produced some really great examples of what he is capable of if not under presure. When we are doing workbooks, he writes until he gets fed up then I scribe for him. He tells me the answers and I write them in. In this way he is seeing me write and we still get the books done without all the trauma. I have found that he will write on a whiteboard. Not sure if it's the novelty value or that the pen flows smoothly over the board or even that he can easilly wipe off any mistakes he makes, maybe all three. If you could get a piece of paper laminated (or you can buy small whiteboards), it could be used as a wipe clean surface for him to scrible on, or whatever he wants. Just leave it laying around with a whiteboard pen, maybe doodle on it yourself and see what happens. I am a great believer in a child will learn in it's own time and presure will delay them. We all know how we rebel against what we are told we "have" to do. Another way is to ask him if he can write your shopping list for you. Take him to the kitchen and call out the things you need, he can write them down either on paper or the laminated sheet. Or try saying you are going to cook and need some ingredients, get him to write the list and then go out shopping. Show him how writing can be used in other ways, not just sat in a classroom with presure on him. Make it fun. Sorry this is long, I just wanted to help with a few things I have found helpful, I hope they help you too. Just found this for you It is clear on the reverse.

I don't think there is much to worry about. This is the first time I or any of you have ever heard about it so it probably isn't medically proven or we would have heard more. IYKWIM Sorry if posting it upset anyone in any way. I was just interested to see what you all thought of the theory.