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I'm in my second year of college, and i have been back since summer break for around a month now. Yet, I've failed to attend a continuous full week.Last year seemed so much easier. I have a lovely selection of tutors that im comfortable with, their support is so so helpful and my family support is just as brilliant. Why wont this meltdown period go away? I love learning so so much and I want to be in college so badly but it just makes me so anxious and theres something inside of me that makes me want to stay away. I honestly have no idea what it is - i was the same throughout my entire school experience. I want to be there, I love learning, i cant pinpoint the issue, so nobody can fix it to make it better. Has anyone else had this? does anyone know what i can do? Dont tell me to just push through and try to go because i'll 'be fine once i get there'. I already know that, i've tried it, i've heard it, It's not how it works for me. I dont even know what this post is asking of anyone, i'm just so stressed and upset and angry at myself. I have so much potential and i'm being stopped from using any of it because of my stupid anxiety.

Our 12 year old has recently been diagnosed with ASC. We live in Mid Devon and he goes to the local comprehensive which is trying its best to help. But... I want to know if anyone out there has been through what we have and can save us having to reinvent the wheel every time. Does anyone know what works with this: In the last three months he has become violent towards himself and us, lashing out a lot Swearing constantly Massively increased OCD Refusing to go to school a lot Finding more and more things difficult. Wanting to control us more and more, in terms of what we all do as a family (we've got two older girls in late teens) Long tantrums lasting hours. Threatening us with hitting Spitting Stealing money from me It seems like there are layers of this really awful behaviour building up on him and I just want to find a way to bring him back to being himself again. What works? I think it is all because he is finding things more difficult and the OCD has really pushed him over the edge. Should we be more strict, should we do a rule book or something that he can see clearly, should we use sanctions (so far we just take away the Xbox etc as he lost his pocket money for stealing from me). I got in touch with the school counsellor and nurse and it seems everything has been cut back in local services, or would take ages to get referred and get help with. What has anyone else done that really works to gain some limitations on what his behaviour is? If we sound a bit desperate it's because we are! Sorry for the long post but if anyone can let us know what worked for you then I'd be really grateful. Thanks!

Our 12 year old has recently been diagnosed with ASC. We live in Mid Devon and he goes to the local comprehensive which is trying its best to help. But... I want to know if anyone out there has been through what we have and can save us having to reinvent the wheel every time. Does anyone know what works with this: In the last three months he has become violent towards himself and us, lashing out a lot Swearing constantly Massively increased OCD Refusing to go to school a lot Finding more and more things difficult. Wanting to control us more and more, in terms of what we all do as a family (we've got two older girls in late teens) Long tantrums lasting hours. Threatening us with hitting Spitting Stealing money from me It seems like there are layers of this really awful behaviour building up on him and I just want to find a way to bring him back to being himself again. What works? I think it is all because he is finding things more difficult and the OCD has really pushed him over the edge. Should we be more strict, should we do a rule book or something that he can see clearly, should we use sanctions (so far we just take away the Xbox etc as he lost his pocket money for stealing from me). I got in touch with the school counsellor and nurse and it seems everything has been cut back in local services, or would take ages to get referred and get help with. What has anyone else done that really works to gain some limitations on what his behaviour is? If we sound a bit desperate it's because we are! Sorry for the long post but if anyone can let us know what worked for you then I'd be really grateful. Thanks!

I know i've got a while yet, but i'm going through the process of deciding what course I want to do at university- when I go back to college next next September i'll need to start applying for university (if that's what I want to do). Apologies in advance, because this post is a few paragraphs long (but it shouldn't be too bad, hopefully). Basically, i'm questioning whether it would be a good idea, since I seem to be pretty bad at making friends, but I really want to further my education and I currently have a specific course in mind. However, I don't want to go without consistent contact with people for 3/4 yrs, and even the thought of going to the open day makes me feel anxious. If i'm put in a room with people I don't know, and none of my existing friends are there, i'll have no way to break the ice/meet new friends, so I just sit there silently. Obviously, this isn't going to gain me any friends. I also have social anxiety and no conversation starters, so I don't really know what to do. Even if people approach me, the chances are that i'll be polite when answering, but not initiate any of the conversation myself and only answer things they ask me. This makes me seem really unapproachable and boring. Also, when i'm in new situations, I usually like lots of time to be silent/read etc. and adjust, but my understanding is that at freshers' week you're supposed to make an impression and make the majority of your friends then. If we were in small groups this might be easier, but i'm guessing there will be a lot of people there. I'm not exactly sure what happens on freshers' week (apparently there are societies ran by students and a lot of partying/drinking) but that's all I know about it, so it would be useful if someone could explain what happened to them. It'd be useful if people could describe the actual process/ procedures which take place in the first day- the thought of not knowing what will happen makes me very anxious, especially when I have no familiar people or surroundings. Another problem is that I hate partying- to be fair, I enjoyed a small house party that my friend threw. I had a couple of shots (nothing too crazy) and I really enjoyed it, because I was with people I knew well. If you met me and saw me with my friends you'd probably not realise I had Aspergers, but when meeting new people I look really shy, timid and withdrawn since I have nothing to say. Any advice or university experiences would be really helpful. Just wondering, can you take a friend with you as well as your parents on open days? I'm not sure if that's a common thing (and idk if my friend would want to go on a long car journey anyway), but it would probably make me a lot more approachable/ less nervous. Thanks!

I know i've got a while yet, but i'm going through the process of deciding what course I want to do at university- when I go back to college next next September i'll need to start applying for university (if that's what I want to do). Apologies in advance, because this post is a few paragraphs long (but it shouldn't be too bad, hopefully). Basically, i'm questioning whether it would be a good idea, since I seem to be pretty bad at making friends, but I really want to further my education and I currently have a specific course in mind. However, I don't want to go without consistent contact with people for 3/4 yrs, and even the thought of going to the open day makes me feel anxious. If i'm put in a room with people I don't know, and none of my existing friends are there, i'll have no way to break the ice/meet new friends, so I just sit there silently. Obviously, this isn't going to gain me any friends. I also have social anxiety and no conversation starters, so I don't really know what to do. Even if people approach me, the chances are that i'll be polite when answering, but not initiate any of the conversation myself and only answer things they ask me. This makes me seem really unapproachable and boring. Also, when i'm in new situations, I usually like lots of time to be silent/read etc. and adjust, but my understanding is that at freshers' week you're supposed to make an impression and make the majority of your friends then. If we were in small groups this might be easier, but i'm guessing there will be a lot of people there. I'm not exactly sure what happens on freshers' week (apparently there are societies ran by students and a lot of partying/drinking) but that's all I know about it, so it would be useful if someone could explain what happened to them. It'd be useful if people could describe the actual process/ procedures which take place in the first day- the thought of not knowing what will happen makes me very anxious, especially when I have no familiar people or surroundings. Another problem is that I hate partying- to be fair, I enjoyed a small house party that my friend threw. I had a couple of shots (nothing too crazy) and I really enjoyed it, because I was with people I knew well. If you met me and saw me with my friends you'd probably not realise I had Aspergers, but when meeting new people I look really shy, timid and withdrawn since I have nothing to say. Any advice or university experiences would be really helpful. Just wondering, can you take a friend with you as well as your parents on open days? I'm not sure if that's a common thing (and idk if my friend would want to go on a long car journey anyway), but it would probably make me a lot more approachable/ less nervous. Thanks!

Bit of a different theme I guess, but thought I would start a topic here. Currently, my university is choosing which charity to support in the next academic year, one of the shortlisted charities is Autism NI, and I've been organising the election campaign, in order to get as many people to vote as possible. There is 8 shortlisted charities, and the 4 that get the most votes are chosen as the supported charities. I was just wondering if anyone has any previous experience of something like this, and have any advice or tips for me? I've never been great at public speaking, but I am very good at writing online blogs and pieces and explaining things to people, but in person this is a struggle for me, Also, if anyone on here attends Queen's University, fancy voting?! (Worth a try I guess)

Sent email to social worker Please can you be clear about what the local authority is providing for my son. The support worker, who works with parents, is unable to provide support to my son as my sons needs are neurodevelopmental, not parental. The Paediatrician specified this last September. The issue is not parenting. My son due to his disability and medical needs could not go to school. How is this to be addressed? Dimensions whom CAMHS identified last November as been able to help my sons neurodevelopmental needs has been ?dismissed, ?ignored by Social Services as been unsuitable to provide a service. I am paying for Dimensions with my sons DLA 3 hours a week. If I used all my sons DLA that would only cover 6 hours a week. As the Headteacher pointed out to me from xxxx School they would use the services of Dimensions as a block of 6 hours a day for 8 weeks. As I told him my son needs a full integration plan involving all services as specified by all the professionals involved with my son. By this I mean the multi disciplinary team. What is the point of a section 17 meeting where Social Services make decisions based on finance not the child's needs? As a school has yet to be named by Children's Services what provision is being made for my son now by social services to enable my son? Are you saying Social Services would employ the services of Dimensions to assist xxxx in accessing an education? Reply I am worried that you seem to feel a purely medical response is what will help xxxx. He may well have a diagnosis, and this may well be valuable in helping understand the way he is feeling, but he is at least partly in the situation he is now in as a result of the way you and H have responded to him. This is the only area where social workers have skills and knowledge that might help you and xxxx. I am trying to find the best way we can help, but I feel this is going to be very hard if we can't agree that you and H are the people most likely to be able to make a difference for xxxx. xxxxs' situation is not unique. I have come across two boys of his age recently who refuse to go to school and stay in their rooms using computers, and who have let their friendships go. Both these boys have had a difficult time at school, and both have been allowed to miss school by their parents for such a long time that they have found it hard to return. I think xxxx must be terribly worried about you and H after your recent health problems and I am sure this anxiety is a significant contributory factor in his present state of mind. I'd like to know what his paediatrician would say about this. When you agree a school place for xxxx I'd like to help you plan how to get him there. I think this would be best done with the school and following advice from an organisation that specialises in working with people with autism. We could involve support worker, or we could ask the Dimensions worker to do it as he/she has specialist training. Let's not exchange emails about this any more. We can talk when I visit, Feeling very angry and frustrated. My son has had no support or education for 20 months and its my fault. What do you reply to this?

Hi, I'm starting a masters degree in English Literature this year and I'm in a bit of a dilemma regarding when, if at all, I tell fellow students that I have pretty strong Asperger's Syndrome. Whilst I am a very emotional person, I don't express it very well at all, so when I did my first degree I suspect that I missed out on making friends and socialising because maybe I gave the impression that I wasn't interested. I was wondering if any of you out there have been in a similar situation and could share what happened. At the moment my plan is to tell my peers that I have AS because, even though I didn't know I had AS when I did my first degree, I didn't share it with anyone and it didn't end up very well. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. - Skaro7

We have an inportant project that we would like Autistic people in Scotland to participate in to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd 2013. Autism: Life in Colour aims to capture the views of people with autism about their lives by inviting them to submit two photographs or video clips, both taken on April 2nd 2013, World Autism Awareness Day. The purpose of the project is to provide a visual representation of the Scottish Government’s Autism Mapping Project which aims to gain an understanding of what life is like for people with autism throughout Scotland. Autism: Life in Colour will add to this understanding directly through the eyes of the person with autism. This project will be unique in including people of all ages with autism across Scotland. Help us spread the word about this project. You can find the site at www.autismlifeincolour.org.uk. Please tell others. Thankyou

Hi there, I am new to this forum and in desperate need of some help - please! I have a 9 year old little boy with mild Asperger's who I feel I've lost. I'll explain our really messy situation; my husband took a job in Kuwait in August with 'family status' which offered private education for our two boys as well as other benefits. After doing as much research as we could online (the schools were closed as it was Summer holidays) we decided to take this opportunity which would get us back on our feet financially (hubs had been made redundant 4 times in 4 years) and we thought it was going to be a wonderful opportunity for Corbin to have private education. We prepared him as much as we could for our new life. Well, we couldn't have been more wrong......I'll try and keep this brief. Basically after visiting the schools here, I was shocked and horrified - not at all like their websites! They are private, but are overcrowded, ran down and chaotic. There was only 1 British School I felt the boys could go to, which although large it had great facilities,a SENCO and a 'western' feel. Children have to sit entrance exams here, so I was upfront about Corbin's diagnosis. I explained that he had been in main stream school in UK, and did not qualify for a Statement. I provided his reports from his diagnosis etc and that's when things went wrong. They refused him a place and said he was the weakest child in maths they had ever seen (rubbish!) and that it wasn't the school for him. We were devestated. It was clear they had formed an opinion on our son. I then went to another school which I had discounted due to its size (2,500) children and again the noise levels and craziness. The head there was great and offered Corbin a place, however we all knew that really it wasn't the correct environment for him. He lasted 2 weeks, and then the meltdowns began. I couldn't get him into school, he was crying and screaming. He was very distressed and obviously we talked about how he was feeling. He couldn't cope with the organistaional skills needed (moving classrooms for lessons) or the noise or size. The classes are so small that there wasn't an option of paying for learning support to help him cope with the sensory issues and keep his confidence levels up. We appealed to the original school who gave him a 1 week trial (he loved it) and then refused him a place at the end. I was told that they don't need children with 'Special Needs' at their school......myself and my husband were angry, shocked and devestated. We told Corbin there had been a mix up and there were no longer any places. His little face just dropped. Apologies this is so long...wanted to explain the background to the mess we are now in. So, we came to Kuwait 28th September and aside from 2 weeks in one school and a 1 week trial, Corbin has been out of education. We decided our only option was to home-school him, and set out to find a qualified British teacher - to no avail! Therefore I said I would do it (I'm a teacher). Now this is where it gets really tricky..... Due to the fact my little man's entire life has changed overnight and there's no suitable schools,he has changed dramatically. He is angry, disrespectful, lazy and very very sad. It is killing us all seeing him this way. I can't get him motivated to learn as he's definitely built a barrier now. All he says is 'i want to go to school like a normal boy' and 'i refuse to do home-schooling'. He is particularly angry towards me as he says that I've taken him away from the school he loved (not strictly true), his friends, his family, his home. Ontop of all of this our house has sold in the UK. I've talked and talked with him, cuddled him, given him space, made lists of positives, drawn pictures.....but I can't reach him. I think I've lost him due to me and my husband making the wrong decision to come here. My ability to cope has long gone and I'm erratic, I shout, I scream (all of which I know are adding to the problems) and then comes the horrific guilt. Our family lif e is terrible and our 3 year old is picking up on the awful atmosphere. Myself and my husband fall out constantly. Wonderful! So, I was hoping someone out there may have a suggestion of how I can move things forward. Of course we've talked about going back to the UK, however financially we will be almost destitute. I also think that not having his lovely home to go to, and returning to school mid term would be simply more transitions to overload him. I've ran out of energy and ideas......can anyone suggest how they would deal with this? Thanks so much.

Hi Moving from Australia for 10 yo education support. Have letter of offer from ASP school in Sth England. Have another son so looking for areas with good schools, communities etc. Would love to know of mainstream or independent schools which can support kids with multiple ASDs. Not committed to any one area as ASP school is boarding. Have a solicitor for tribunal process which seems very scary. Any advice would be great. Thanks

I was wondering if anyone has any advice. My daughter Erin 9yrs had her IEp meeting just before the break up of primary 4. I should add that we stay in scotland. Although erin has done really well in p4 ( she got her diagnosis at the end of p3), I am concerned that things are just drifting. She was supposed to be assessed by an educational psychologist ( this was from her IEP meeting in october 2011.) but this never happened. Then the speech therapist informed me that she was discharging erin, which i was very unhappy about and expressed this> so i wrote to the head teacher and asked to meet with her. I met her and two other teachers, i was there myself. I stated that i wished that erin to have a statutory assessment by the local education authority for a co-ordinated support plan as I was concerned that while P4 had been a good year for her as she has got older the differences between her and her peers have become more noticable and I was worried that she may smart to run into difficulties. additionally i wanted something in place well before she transitions to high school as i know that she will not cope without a high level of support ( moving from one class to another will totally stress her out). anyway the head teacher stated that erin did not meet the criteria for a co-ordinated support plan as she does not have any external agencies involved.( she statesd that educational psychologist and speech therapy are not external). Is this right ?. I feel as if iam being hoodwinked and just wanted to try and get as much info before she returns to school at then end of august thanks Cameron

I must be impossible to talk to. I’m sorry but I can never settle, my mind is constantly on the go. There is no rest only by drowning it out and escaping into my own world. If I have such strong emotions about a subject, I feel I must explain every other reason why I find something difficult. I find starting topics so much easier than replying to existing ones. I am not sure why, but I think the more people have responded the more chaotic my thought processes become. I am sorry if I am so inconvincible, coming on to this forum is the best way I thought I could process my thoughts and receive some useful advice. I am so stuck it is unbelievable. I had to receive education from behind my bedroom door for so many reasons. One is the trauma that the P.E teacher that was the head of year caused me as well as the fact that it is so hard to concentrate otherwise. I have lost that education when my statement of special educational needs ended when I became 19. I need to be educated that same way. It was a great way of keeping my mind focused on the subject I was learning. I had passed quite a few of exams and got two diplomas. I don’t know if anyone has any advice that could help me; I feel that my mind challenges every response I receive. It feels so hopeless.

LINKS UK Specialists Ltd is hosting a series of important half day seminars designed specifically for Frontline Education staff. These include topics such as … Ø An introduction to Autism and other related diagnosis Ø Differentiating topic for children with Autism/ADHD within a classroom setting Ø Behaviour Management Ø Effective Communication for children with Autism Ø Individual Education Plan (IEP) creation and delivery LINKS UK Specialists Ltd has secured the force behind The Island Project School as key speakers for a number of events to share best practice and effective strategies. Ofsted has recognised The Island Project as ‘outstanding’ in all areas of SEN provision. The school serves five local authorities and accommodates children with the most complex needs. “The school’s use of multidisciplinary staff to support learning, so that all areas of the pupil’s development are targeted, is a fundamental aspect of its impressive work” “Pupil’s behaviour is outstanding and no disruption to learning was seen during the inspection. Although pupils enter school, often with challenging behaviour, they are quickly given respect for what they bring to the school community and clearly established routines and strategies rapidly encourage positive behaviour” “Staff are very skilful at following the highly individualised behaviour plans so that any initial signs of discontent are identified and pupils are not distracted, or their behaviours de-escalated, before any learning is lost.” – Ofsted 2012 Please contact me for a booking form and a copy of our brochure outlining the workshops currently on offer and prices. The next available dates are in April 2012 so please email your booking form to reserve a place immediately as interest is high. Course dates will be confirmed as soon as places have been reserved. Kind Regards Mr Chris Gardner Director LINKS UK Specialists Ltd Tel: 07565852118 Email: chrisgardner.linksukspecialistsltd@hotmail.co.uk