Kelly83 Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Hi everyone, I'm new, obviously lol. I was diagnosed in May 2012 with Asperger's, I also have a 7 year old who I believe is also on the spectrum. Had a ridiculous battle with the NHS, specifically idiots at CAMHS who say she can't be on the spectrum because she can maintain eye contact( and basically blamed me for her behaviour/ problems). The only person who has agreed is her occupational therapist who confirmed she has significant sensory issues. We are having to pay to go privately to see a specialist, she has her ADI-R assessment the end of this month but at the preliminary/ screening they said she has Asperger's too. My interests are music, movies, reading, video games and my current obsession is baking. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A-S warrior Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Welcome aboard. I rember what it was like at that age (I was 5 when diagnosed) Very confusing and frightening. You have my full support if you ever wanted a chat about it. And if you wanted to send some of your baking for me to give a review on............... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nesf Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Not maintaining eye contact is not a necessary criterium for an AS diagnosis, though it is a supporting one ;-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
robert7111a Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Hi Kelly83 and welcome. From what I've been reading, it seems to be very difficult to get a dx on the NHS and Aspergers has now been dropped from the latest psychiatrist's bible. Never give up and hope you get a dx for your daughter I sense the smell of cup cakes wafting in now...yum... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trekster Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Not maintaining eye contact is not a necessary criterium for an AS diagnosis, though it is a supporting one ;-) Thats what i was thinking, some of my friends can appear to maintain eye contact because they look at the top of someones head but they arent looking the person in the eye. A relative being diagnosed as on the autism spectrum can be a prerequisite for someone else being diagnosed. i think a few folk on here got diagnosed due to a relatives diagnosis happening around the same time. Welcome to the forum and i hope you like it here. i bake gluten and dairy free bread and cakes, made a cinnamon cake without eggs for me and my cousin for xmas day. Very tasty. If you like gluten and dairy free cooking PM as im also a moderator on a very friendly yahoo group that does recipies. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly83 Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Thank you all for the welcomes! I would love to share my cookies and cakes with you all. The last cake I made was what I call the heart attack cake, roughly a foot squared cake, 3 layers: 2 fudge brownie, 1 chocolate, horrendous amount of cream cheese frosting. As for the eye contact it's just insane some of the rubbish the CAMHS people came out with. Apparently my daughter's obsession is my fault( she's obsessed with monster high) I should buy her different toys. Oh and her literal thinking is normal all kids are like that or so they say, every issue she has they shrugged off as a combination of " all children are like that to an extent " and "she's a spoilt only child". Just so glad I found action for aspergers they are the charity who are doing my daughter's assessment and they actually know what they are talking about. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
A-S warrior Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Thank you all for the welcomes! I would love to share my cookies and cakes with you all. The last cake I made was what I call the heart attack cake, roughly a foot squared cake, 3 layers: 2 fudge brownie, 1 chocolate, horrendous amount of cream cheese frosting. . Lol, i love you. Seriously that sounds fantastic and intimidating at the same time. (If that's possible?) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oakers Report post Posted January 1, 2013 Hello welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear your running up against so much stuff with your daughter... Hopefully once she gets her diagnosis things will get easier. Good to see more avid bakers out there... I find it to be very therapeutic Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly83 Report post Posted January 1, 2013 You are correct A-S Warrior, it's both, everyone who had a slice had some sort of mad sugar rush, it's so tasty you want more but you know it will make you ill lol! Oakers - I love to bake but can't do it too often as it causes me great stress/ meltdowns as I'm a perfectionist. So if a cake comes out slightly burnt it annoys me so much and if I continue to have problems such as piping bag bursting etc it just becomes too much. I used to be obsessed with tropical fish, they were theraputic but then I started obsessively checking the filters were okay, seals on the glass were fine etc. I gave it up in the end as it all became too much. I keep looking at tanks though, it was my longest obsession and I miss it. I'd like a small tank with some cherry or amano shrimp and a betta, heavily planted with some riccia, vallis and maybe a crypt or two. Sorry went off on one then lol. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oakers Report post Posted January 2, 2013 I'm a bit of a perfectionist with my cakes as well Kelly... nothing wrong with that, until it starts stressing us too much!! I've gone on to buy so many baking books :/ oops! I like to try new recipes but find that I like to try and perfect the ones I use often as well. I was going to go on a decorating course, but have decided that I'd probably be better trying to just teach myself more than what i already know / do by just looking at pics in books and videos online. Maybe having a small tank wouldn't be too stressful? In fact, it might be therapeutic again!? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merry Report post Posted January 2, 2013 Hi Kelly 83! I'm hopeless at baking! Cooking a roast is a full day's work for me as i have to stand by the oven while cooking. Other people seem to be able to walk away and leave things, but i don't trust my timings at all. If i was baking a cake, i would have to sit by the oven and watch it cook!!! Hello by the way, and good luck with having your daughter diagnosed. How can they take aspergers off the psychiatrists lists? It exists!-I have it! We all have it. And as for eye contact, i learned pretty early on that you have to make eye contact in social situations....and it's forced, uncomfortable and awkward...you never know exactly how much eye contact to make and when, but you do it because you're supposed to, like so many other things. why is it always US having to bend to conform to the rules of the majority anyway?! Rah. Rant! And as for buying her other toys, that would be like telling someone to like hip hop when they prefer listening to classical music! As you also have aspergers, you can totally understand your little girl's obsessions...the total sense of urgency and necessity to follow your passions...how dare they make you feel like it's your fault. Anyway, welcome and i look forward to reading more of your posts. Keep us updated. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly83 Report post Posted January 2, 2013 Oakers - I thought about doing a course at the local college but I know I wouldn't go. Going to a strange place with strange people is not something I'm comfortable with. I subscribed to a cake decorating magazine, that's been a great help with all the interesting recipes and tools. I think a small tank would be good, just need to find space for one. We got some snakes last summer and their Vivarium takes up a lot of space. Merry - I can bake cakes & cookies, I cannot cook anything else, my husband freaks out if I go in the kitchen when he's cooking because I mess things up lol. I always have to watch things bake and keep checking if they are done. I have a tendancy to burn, blow up or destroy food/ appliances when I try to cook meals. The eye contact thing really annoys me, my little girl can maintain eye contact but she finds it uncomfortable more so if something else is making her anxious. Her occupational therapist phoned earlier to see how she's getting on as we had to see her about hair brushing as my little girl used to scream, cry and lashout when having her hair done. That's sorted now after a therapy session and investing in a tangle teezer( best brush ever!) . She asked how school was since she'd been in to see them, I explained that they are still very inconsistent with helping her, it's her new teacher and her attitude. Her teacher last year would let her go somewhere quiet if the noise was too much, wheras this new teacher is very "she looks fine/ isn't upset therefore it can't be that bad". OT as usual is being wonderful, said she's referring her to speech& language therapist, as she has quite a problem with reciprocal communication that is being shrugged off because again she's not making a big deal of it so the teacher thinks she is coping. She's also going to have another word with the teacher if she doesn't start implementing her suggestions for the noise levels & my daughter's need for frequent movement to self regulate. It's ridiculous the amount of negativity and ignorance we keep coming across. Only people who 'get' her(apart from us) are the specialists at the charity and her OT. She even said on the phone it was obvious that they (CAMHS& school) are not seeing what we are seeing because she is so intelligent and has already learned many many coping strategies, she said her strength and coping ability was in turn preventing her getting diagnosed because most of the people who need to see her traits don't because they are so subtle publically and we are wrongly not being listened too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merry Report post Posted January 2, 2013 That's the problem really...we all learn these coping strategies, and learn to fit in....but that doesn't mean it's easy for us! That's why i was undiagnosed for so long. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeanneA Report post Posted January 3, 2013 Welcome Kelly, hope you enjoy your time on the forum, it's a great place to be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly83 Report post Posted January 23, 2013 Thanks again for all the welcomes, had a hectic few weeks so been unable to post. Great news is that my daughter finally has a diagnosis, Asperger's just like me. She scored almost 3 times the amount needed for an ASD, will be interesting to see how CAMHS try and explain their blatant mis-diagnosis,dropped off a lengthy complaint letter to the team manager today. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trekster Report post Posted January 23, 2013 Con gratulations on your daughters diagnosis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly83 Report post Posted January 24, 2013 Thanks trekster Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merry Report post Posted January 24, 2013 Yay great news! It's about time people started listening to you! How does your daughter feel about it now? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kelly83 Report post Posted January 24, 2013 She's fine, she's known all along what her various appointments etc have been for. I told her I had asperger's last year, we watched a documentary about it and she asked me outright "mummy do I have autism? " because she recognized the traits in herself stating she was "just like the children in the programme" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeanneA Report post Posted January 25, 2013 Hi Kelly glad your daughter seems to be ok with her diagnosis, at least she is able to understand fairly well what is happening which helps. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
