Loss of skills

[Siadwell]

Hello, this is our first post, parents of a 12 yr old AS boy, diagnosed 2 years ago (which didn't help). Over the past 12 months we have noticed a change in his skills, mainly loss of language skills, mobility and immaturity. i.e. he said "this is raw" meaning that his water he was drinking was warm, "we have run out of bed" meaning bread, "don't forget the jam" meaning gel, and not knowing what "incorrect" meant. Also in school, he left yr 6 on level 2, (after just reading Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone all by himself and understanding it) he is now at a level of 1/2 across the board. Does anyone else or has anyone had this happen to them at all?

Edited July 19, 2006 by Siadwell

[Flora]

Hi Siadwell, welcome to the forum

 

I was mulling over posting about this. I too have a 12 yo with AS, and someone pointed out to me the other day that he was more 'able, enthusiastic and motivated' when he was 8 than he is now. I've noticed that his ability to socialise has got worse, his tantrums/melt downs more aggresive, etc etc, his obsessions (computers and various video games) are now so extreme that he is very stubborn and aggresive if I try to get him to do anything different.

 

I'm assuming it's down to adolescence and all the accompanying hormones; there is evidence that there is an exacerbation during puberty.

 

However, my concern is that not only has he regressed in some areas, he's not making progress in areas you'd expect, regardless of adolescence.

 

I'm very anxious about his, as well as frustrated as the finger seems to be pointed at me. I go to bed every night with action plans for trying to help him forward, but they all go to pot the next day. I feel quite useless as a parent.

 

Sorry, I didn't want to hijack your first thread , but it is very worrying, so hope someone may be able to share their own experiences on this.

 

Lauren

[Siadwell]

AH, forgot to mention the aggression, obsession, he also says he hears voices and does not want to go upstairs by himself, so when it's ablution time we have to go upstairs with him, luckily we are having a downstairs toilet being put in by the adaptions team

[curra]

Hi Siadwell,

 

Welcome to the forum! Some of the changes in your son's behaviour are similar to my son's in the last 2 years. For example, my son also used to do very good academical work in primary, he was less afraid of things and less depressed. As Lauren said, some of the changes that children go through at this age are due to adolescence. Also the transition to secondary school and social problems with peers (bullying, not having friends) have also been the cause of many of my son's changes such as becoming aggressive, more "obsessive" and doing poor work in some subjects. Perhaps social problems at school could also be a reason for the changes you see in your son. It could be worth discussing your concerns with the senco. As to the changes in language skills, I think that they can happen under stress.

 

Curra

[oxgirl]

Hello, this is our first post, parents of a 12 yr old AS boy, diagnosed 2 years ago (which didn't help). Over the past 12 months we have noticed a change in his skills, mainly loss of language skills, mobility and immaturity. i.e. he said "this is raw" meaning that his water he was drinking was warm, "we have run out of bed" meaning bread, "don't forget the jam" meaning gel, and not knowing what "incorrect" meant. Also in school, he left yr 6 on level 2, (after just reading Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone all by himself and understanding it) he is now at a level of 1/2 across the board. Does anyone else or has anyone had this happen to them at all?

 

 

Hiya, welcome to you, I've only been here a week myself.

I also have a 12 year old AS son and I have noticed only very recently that he is getting his words mixed up a lot and making verbal mistakes and is even more clumsy than usual!! I too feel that this is a puberty/hormone thing, as I have also noticed a slight pimpling on his skin, so something must be happening on that front!!

 

I remember seeing a specialist once who told me that these kids often don't seem to develop for a long time and then all of a sudden they make a jump or leap in development onto the next stage. He said that just before they make this leap they seem to regress a bit. It could well be that our boys are just going through hormonal changes and that it'll all come out in the wash!

 

Good luck <'>

 

~ Mel ~

[Siadwell]

Hi Siadwell,

 

Welcome to the forum! Some of the changes in your son's behaviour are similar to my son's in the last 2 years. For example, my son also used to do very good academical work in primary, he was less afraid of things and less depressed. As Lauren said, some of the changes that children go through at this age are due to adolescence. Also the transition to secondary school and social problems with peers (bullying, not having friends) have also been the cause of many of my son's changes such as becoming aggressive, more "obsessive" and doing poor work in some subjects. Perhaps social problems at school could also be a reason for the changes you see in your son. It could be worth discussing your concerns with the senco. As to the changes in language skills, I think that they can happen under stress.

 

Curra

when I say loss of skills I mean significant in that he now communicates like a toddler, where two years ago he was reasonably mature and fairly articulate. It is extremely hard to decipher sometimes what he is saying because his use of words are more than often incorrect. He is also in a special needs school due to his inability to cope in mainstream (won't dwell on this another topic I think) it caused him to have what I can only describe as a breakdown and he was in hospital for two months when he was ten

[Guest hallyscomet]

Welcome to the forum Siadwell <'>

 

My son at the age of twelve significantly regressed and virtually came close to being non verbal he went through what you and Lauren described and I remember oh so clearly how worried my daughter and I became. On top of this resulted in huge meltdowns it got to the stage that we feared he would be removed from school and home. He was truly despaired with himself and confused, he got so angry as he just couldn't put things into words anymore. I remember feeling really sick to the stomach and spoke with the Paediatrician on the phone and he insisted in seeing him immediately.

 

In my sons case he at the time was taking Ritalin & Catapres and these helped him appear 'normal' and cope with school, then when he reached 12 no more did they work, the doctor introduce a medication called Risperdal after a month of taking the medication I remember my son saying to me 'thank you so much mum for taking me to the doctor and changing my medications' he said it was like something in his brain came loose and he just couldnt put words and meaningful sentences together. He would talk at you with things so random and meaningless you couldnt help feeling worried and confused as to what he was trying to say. He became a very short fuse because of it.

 

This intervention changed this for my son. I recommend you see your doctor and ask them about whether or not this is similar.

 

Each child is different and just because this worked for my son may not be the case for you, but it certainly helped my son gain control of his life again, no more major meltdowns as he was so frustrated.

 

He also said in the classroom it was a nightmare, he had so much trouble interacting and grasping what everyone was saying and he virtually didnt have the mental energy to put a sentence together to reply or interact with people.

 

A time my son daughter and I will never forget as it was quite scary and sad for all of us. It was such a bonus to see my boy smiling again, feeling safe around people and feeling he could talk among his peers, and go to school.

 

Hope this helps

 

Regards

Hailey.

Edited July 20, 2006 by hallyscomet

[Kathryn]

Hello, this is our first post, parents of a 12 yr old AS boy, diagnosed 2 years ago (which didn't help). Over the past 12 months we have noticed a change in his skills, mainly loss of language skills, mobility and immaturity. i.e. he said "this is raw" meaning that his water he was drinking was warm, "we have run out of bed" meaning bread, "don't forget the jam" meaning gel, and not knowing what "incorrect" meant. Also in school, he left yr 6 on level 2, (after just reading Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone all by himself and understanding it) he is now at a level of 1/2 across the board. Does anyone else or has anyone had this happen to them at all?

 

Hi Siadwell,

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I can identify with much of what you describe here, I have noticed a very similar change in my daughter's language.

 

Briefly she was diagnosed with AS at 15. At the time she was clinically depressed because she was struggling so much at school. A few months later she had a complete breakdown and couldn't continue. In the weeks between her dx and leaving school, we noticed a gradual decline in her ability to express herself, almost like the grammatical "glue" in her sentences had become unstuck - no plurals, no past tenses etc. It was almost like language acquisition in reverse - so she'd talk in two word sentences eg "no more game" meaning "I don't want to play this game and "want dinner" etc. This was worrying as she had always been articulate and precise, well above average in her speaking and writing skills.

 

Two years on, she is much happier (due to the educational issues having mostly resolved), but there are still some very complex things going on with her language. She still appears to struggle, almost as though she's speaking a foreign language and has to think about it. She says things like, "can I have the dinner?" and "I haven't got many money". and I'll find myself explaining the rules of English grammar to her, which feels strange. Coincidentally I teach students of English as a second language and she reminds me of them - she seems to have the same lack of intuition that they have. She has had two lengthy periods of not speaking at all, but has been able to communicate via a keyboard.

 

I've also noticed the word substitution you describe - I remember her saying "I've painted (i.e. buttered) the toast" for example.

 

She has always been a voracious reader and read very quickly, and we assumed, with understanding, although with hindsight we realised this was not the case.

 

I have loads of questions myself about what's going on here with this reversal of skills. My daughter has herself said that she doesn't think in words and that language is not a natural means of expression for her and she had to work hard to acquire it in the first place (rather like learning a foreign language). Could this be why this is one of the areas that fell apart under stress? (Incidentally she also experienced a loss of mobility and coordination which parallelled the language deterioration).

 

Sorry I can't provide many answers - still looking for them myself! I don't want to add to the length of this post now, but I'm happy to talk some more about this if you want to.

 

K x

Edited July 20, 2006 by Kathryn

[joshanddanfans]

not sure about adolesents(cant spell) but my two boys were hypo but fine until the age of 3, good communication happy confident little boys, almost overnight at three they lost learned sppech all eye contact, lined objects up, hand flapped,etc it was a complete regression and my youngest hasnt stopped regressing yet he even became doubly incontinent at 5 after being toilet trained for 2 years.