re, joe

[donnabartlett]

hello again, thank you everyone for the kind welcome,

my son joe has been in a special needs school for 4 years now & never been diagnosed with anything, just seemed to have huge problemms with interaction & conforming. he has got easier as he has got older. he now has a new teacher who has worked with aspergers & thinks that joe fits the bill. the information i have read doesnt sound much like him to me but i understand it can be a very broad spectrum. has anyone else had unclear symptoms & still been diagnosed with aspergers? a brief description of ur childs behaviour would be helpful to me, thanks, donna x

[Flora]

Hi donna. This is how I understand it, but I know that others have a different view. All children on the autistic spectrum will have the triad of impairments; socialisation, communication, and theory of mind. Along side that triad they often (but not always) have other differences or difficulties; difficulties with gross and fine motors skills; specific learning difficulties;language disorder; sensory issues, to name but a few. This list is by no means exhaustive.

 

To make it even more difficult to diagnose from a list, you then have the very different characters and personalities of each individual, which means the presentation of difficulties and how they affect each child varies enormously from individual to individual.

 

I thought my son was straight forward and typical with AS. He was diagnosed fairly quickly after being seen in CAMHS and seems to be a text book case. Recently though I took him to try out a youth club for children with Aspergers Syndrome and it wasn't until we were there that I saw how different each AS individual really is. There were about 10 kids there with dx of AS and no two were the same.

 

Some are quiet and passive; some are noisy and boisterous; some don't like to be near other people; some of them have no concept of personal space. etc etc

 

And to make it even MORE complicated the presentation of differences can vary. Sometimes William (my son) doesn't stop talking, he could talk for England. On other days it is like drawing blood from a stone trying to get one word out of him.

 

If your son's teacher has raised the question of AS and you want to find out if he has or hasn't then you could ask your GP to refer your son to be assessed by a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; preferably one who specialises in ASD.

 

I hope this helps in some way.

Lauren

[justamom]

It was also my sons teacher who pointed out a problem to us, we have her to thank for pointing us in the right direction. She never said that she suspected AS but that he had a deficit and we took it from there, first at the Dyslexic ass but I then went to our dr who referred us to a Psychiatrist and he was dx rather quickly.. I would suggest if you suspect anything to go with your GP first....

 

His problems are with:- literal thinking - i.e pull up your socks.

social & communications problems

need a routine hates sudden change

Cannot tell body language - facial expessions

Hypo sensitive - overly tactile

Bothered by sound/clothes/loud noises

Very fussy with food/cant touch on plate

Obessions

 

cant really think of more the list is endless, his behaviour would be discribed to others as "odd" is all i can say regarding your question about his behaviour

 

hope this helps

 

good luck

justamom

[Paula]

My son is 12 and hes never been diagnosed with asperger either.He also attends a special school.hes classed has haveing moderate learning difficulties.But all the teachers and me just know hes got features of Aspergers.

 

 

When he was younger,hed stim a lot,he also lined things up all the time,hed no imaginative play,he had stricked routines and rituals that hed scream and yell if they were deviated from,he also had a lot of echolia,he hates been touched unless its on his terms,his speech is very formal and ridged.The list is endless.He has awfull tantrums that cant be passified.

 

 

Hes a bit of a roy cropper/sam dingle /mr spock like charecter all rolled into one.

Edited March 2, 2006 by Paula

[jb1964]

Hi Donna,

 

My daughter has only recently been diagnosed - she was referred to CAHMS for something else - after six months of weekly visits and home visits by the CPN we were told she had AS. However, the CPN after the very first meeting with us (1hr) told us that she suspected AS.

 

My daughter was always classed as quiet/shy type in school - yet would go beserk at home. Emotions are not on a scale - she is either happy (to the point of being annoying) or sad (to the point of depression) - unless she is focussed on something (i.e. playing PC etc) then she is just quiet.

 

She has always had difficults with gross motor skills, such as riding a bike, running etc, and has been very slow with learning how to use a scissors/tie laces/buttons/zips/knife and fork etc. and although she can now use these she looks extremely awkward when doing it. Even pushing open a door etc doesn't look easy for her. She struggled (and still does) with joined up handwriting - yet she can draw beautifully (even if she does hold a pen again awkwardly).

 

Things that trigger off massive tantrums are usually based around her not understanding something or changes to routine. She needs very specific instructions, any rules must be stuck to (heaven forbid), she cannot lie, can be very blunt and promises must be kept (otherwise you have lied - and once trust is broken it is extremely hard to get back).

 

Words are taken at face value and she is very literal, she has difficulties reading facial expressions and uses very little (if any) gestures. Body language is very rigid - she doesn't seem to relax as I would - slouch in a settee etc - yet the way she sits to watch tv looks really odd - she usually has her one foot wrapped around her face.

 

When she was little I can remember many people saying to me that she was so 'old fashioned' because of the way she spoke and acted.

 

She has always been over sensitive to touch - i.e. brushing hair and if you so much as brush past her arm you would think you've give her a good smack. Buying clothes are a nightmare, socks/shoes and underwear especially (once we find something she is comfortable in I usually buy loads in a few sizes). She hates certain noises especially buzzing/humming/mumbly kind and can't follow a conversation easily where there are more than 2 people.

 

Always had eating and sleeping problems, chronic constipation and underweight/height (food: textures). Certain colours hurts her head or makes a feel sick. Terrified of blood/hospitals and dying.

 

Poor memory for certain things, yet other memories from when she was 3 are vivid. Anything she is interested in is taken to the extreme - be it a toy/tv programme/ps2 game etc.

 

Probably loads of other things that I can't think of now.

[jen]

If your child has seen a psychatirst and there is no diagnosis you can always ask your GP to referral to another Psychatrist for a second opinion. Do not be afraid to ask.

 

 

Jen