hello im not alone

[amygriff]

hello everyone joined about week ago. you have to excuse spellin im no goood on computer its all new. anyway jus thought id say hi and thank god im not alone. as a parent my son is still not fully diagnoised they think he may have AS! i dont know any body with a child in the same position and after readin all posts know i am not the only one who feels like cryin or feels lost!!! it is such a long process{my son is nearly 4 i knew when born not right} sometimes you feel am i jus wastin time or am i jus making it upin my head then i seee my son every day and think no i am pushin it he is my son!! so thanks everyone for makin me feel not alone and positive amy xxx

[Sammysnake]

Hi Amy, you're definitely not alone. I too always knew there was 'something' going on with my daughter although it seemed no one else saw it. Even my husband thought I was imagining things and just being overprotective and the paediatrician missed it the first time at age 5. The trouble is, generally it's only the mum who sees their child in a range of different circumstances and situations and can judge that their child's behaviour and responses are not quite the same as the majority. My husband only saw Beth when she was safe and relaxed with family - if he'd ever been to a birthday party with 50 other kids he would have seen a completely different side of her .

 

Hang on in there. Not having a diagnosis didn't stop me researching everything I could to find strategies I could use to support Beth's areas of difficulty as I identified them. Even before I knew about AS I was breaking down directions into smaller chunks, teaching her rehearsal strategies to help her remember instructions, using visual prompts, translating facial expressions and body language for her etc. We finally got a diagnosis at age 9 and a half and it's been lovely to feel more relaxed - I'm not constantly questionning myself as to whether I'm imaginging it all and I don't have to battle with other people to make them believe me now. My husband is much more patient and understanding of Beth which is fantastic. She is academically very bright but struggles to write quickly enough and the diagnosis has made it easier for her school to justify allowing her to use a laptop for longer pieces of writing. Other than that, we're jogging on as we were before the diagnosis but at least I can now access support if and when we need it and it will make it much easier to access support at Secondary school.

 

This forum has been amazing. Please ask any questions you have - whatever your experiences there'll be someone here who understands.

 

Best wishes, Sam