My child's not perfect

[Sally44]

On ITV now.

[harveys-mum]

I am

[Lynden]

I'm going ot try and catch it on demand - I didn't know it was on till it was done!

[Bren T]

Yes, I watched it

[dekra]

We watched this, very interesting especially little Adam with his eventual dx of ASD. I am guessing the parents had to take him to the priory privately for his dx.

[Suze]

I was quite impressed they had a SALT going into school 3 times a week....

[justine1]

I hate the title of this programme but watched it anyway. I was surprised by the tourettes never really read up on it much,but the few things I have its always shown that the kids have tics from early on,though these change as they get older, so to see the boy develop his in his teenage years was interesting.

 

I also have not really seen the selective mutism,heard of it but to see it was an eye opener. The little girls was clearly very tense when she was approaching school. Its great that she is getting so much support,I am sure it won't be long before she is talking non-stop at school as well as at home.

[cmuir]

Hi

 

I too wasn't enamoured with the title, since none of us are perfect.

 

I was really interested in following the two boys, since my son has Aspergers and my uncle has Tourettes. If I'm honest I really didn't know what to think about the little girl. Could be because I don't know anything about selective mutism (am ignorant/don't understand it), but actually felt that the little girl was given a great deal of adult attention all round from parents, teacher, learning assistant and SALT and wondered whether this contributed to her not talking, for example, I was surprised that she was being visited 3 times per week by a SALT, she actually looked like she was quite happy playing with games/toys, etc and chose to speak on a 1-2-1 basis and then later on a 2-1 basis. Guess overall I had really difficulty with the fact that she chose to speak outwith school and appeared to chose not speak in school, though it was narrated that she couldn't speak. In contrast, could be because I have a much better understanding of Tourettes and AS, that I felt that there was a lot less support, for example, mum of boy who was eventually diagnosed with ASD, felt that no one listened to her and that it was a lengthy road to get any answers (sound familiar?!). My first impression was that the boys didn't choose to have Tourettes and an ASD, whereas the girl chose not to talk. Highlighted the fact that there's a discrepancy in support, etc.

 

C.

[caci]

Intesting reply cmuir.

 

I found the Torettes the hardest to understand (probably as I have no experience of that, whereas I have some experience with Autism and selective mutes)

 

The SaLT was employed privately by the parents (I think) and that is why she was going into school 3 times week, rather than once a term as they seem to via NHS.

[dekra]

I didn't have a problem with the title of the show but many people do seem to.

 

For me the title summed up something I found hard to admit to myself when we first started having serious concerns about our son's development. At first we'd only talk about it in bed in the dark of the night. Verbalising that there might be something seriously wrong to ourselves was hard enough and eventually to someone else was a huge step as were admitting that the child we love and adore isn't the perfect child we all want our children to be. I think it's similar to the "mourning" process many go through when they get their dx even although they may have known for months or years that their child had ASD and the dx doesn't change who that child is or what their issues are.

[justine1]

Intesting reply cmuir.

 

I found the Torettes the hardest to understand (probably as I have no experience of that, whereas I have some experience with Autism and selective mutes)

 

The SaLT was employed privately by the parents (I think) and that is why she was going into school 3 times week, rather than once a term as they seem to via NHS.

Wow I guess I am very lucky then,Sam is at an ASD unit attached to mainstream he gets seen by the SaLT twice a week! Once 1:1 and once in a group. I know his friend who has more difficulties gets seen twice 1:1 and once in a group.

[Sally44]

I found it interesting to see the varied children with the disorders they had.

 

I think the SALT was bought in privately. But that is an option that other parents may not even know about. And parents could pay for some private therapy, and use that information if they applied for a Statement or were going to an educational tribunal.

 

I think the selective mutism was interesting to see. The child obviously became very anxious when approaching school. I also think the word "selective" is misleading. The child doesn't choose not to speak, they can't speak in that environment. Hopefully that little girl will manage to break through that barrier with the help of the SALT. It was sad to notice that without the parents involving a Speech Therapist that nothing was being done by school.

 

Adam should have been diagnosed years ago. I felt happy for his family to finally have an answer so that they could do something for themselves and their son.