J's mum

Could you text him to ask if he wants you to put any dinner aside for him? Hope it all goes well for him, my ex doesn't see the kids at all - which in our case is a very good thing.

and me - I've had both a violent son and husband to deal with. My girls ended up living with my parents for 3 months when my son decided choking them at the top of the stairs and then throwing them down was jusitified after they'd dared to use some of his felt pens to draw him a picture. HEV - I know how hard it is, and I know that you just want to keep your head down and hope it all goes away but that's not going to happen. You really have to start backing your husband every step of the way in front of the children and make it known to your son that he has to respect his step-father. Maybe the old adage of if you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all would be appropriate here. Children learn by example and it's pretty likely that your daughter will start copying her brothers lack of respect an abusive behaviour - how would you feel then? Tell you son his behaviour is unacceptable and won't be tolerated - instigate sanctions if he repeats his insults / abusive actions. You know how bright he is and that he's more than capable of understanding what's going on. Work with his intelligence and hopefully things will settle down.

Would you tolerate this behaviour from an NT teenager? I know for a fact I wouldn't. My son is 12 and has Aspergers and if he spoke to anyone like that I'd put him straight on it. If he then repeated his behaviour I'd have his head on a plate. Your husband is an absolute gem of a man, I can't imagine how awful it must be for him to have to listen to Steve abusing him like that and for you to not say anything about it. Your son is perfectly capable of understanding what is and isn't appropriate behaviour and it's about time he was told. Your son is still a child and children don't ever rule the house, no matter how far from NT they are.

I've bought from a seller on ebay before - notebookspares - and he's really good. Next day delivery and really friendly. If he's got what you're after then I'd recommend him.

DP isn't autistic but she does have severe anxiety and panic disorder so I figured I'd reply! She's tried citalopram and it was horrendous - she ended up pratically convulsing with it and had to come off it, prozac didn't do anything for her neither did most of the other meds she tried (at last count it was 10). She's currently on atenolol (beta blocker), haloperidol and lofepramine (a combination that works well for her paranoia, depression and anxiety) but it's taken over 5 years and many, many different combinations to find what works for her. Off meds she's a mess, on meds she can just about cope through the day. Having seen the difference medication makes to her I'd strongly recommend trying your daughter on whatever is suggested for her -yes, there may well be side effects (DP feels faint a lot, feels itchy all the time - she takes antihistamines for that - and sweating) but the benefits are well worth it.

Thankfully this is a hoax - see here for more info

First post on here (have read the forum for a while now) but I'd just like to say that not all Australia is in mourning and that not all Australians voted out of 'ignorance or stupidity.' Must be great to have such a low opinion of your fellow countrymen/women.