Autism

[CornedBeefIsland]

Kians school has been brilliant up until now. He is just finishing Year 2 and they are supporting him well. They have bought him chew buddies (as he chews his clothes) and a rubber ball thing with strings for him to play with in class to help him concentrate. He loses concentration easily and fidgets a lot. The only time he sits still is when he is on his laptop and he is in his own world then.

My son has an ASD diagnosis. He's nearly 6.

It was shit going through the process. At first it felt really harsh as some of specialists had zero people skills. And the one who broke it to us that he might be autistic was very matter of fact. My wife didn't sleep for a month. He was having meltdowns all the time at nursery, had too much frustration, was head banging because he couldn't talk, didn't sleep etc.

Then we were sent to Dr Barrett at Durham childrens center. I'm not sure the outcome would be any different but she was brilliant for us. She was compassionate through the full process, and was more concerned about making sure we knew what was going on and how we were coping rather than simply getting a diagnosis and moving him on.

Since his diagnosis, he is coping a lot better. Mainly due to his language development. It's not great. But he can communicate his feelings better. And he's a right little cheeky git. But the best thing you can do is make allowances, not excuses.

He is in mainstream school, and that's where i want to keep him. I think the varied social interactions are the best thing for him. He has a few friends. And is the most loving caring kid I know. Loves hugs.

If you do nothing else buy a book called Uniquely Human. By Barry Prizant. This completely changed my outlook on how we deal with things.

 

[The Innovator]

Spoken to you before about it, think it's a brilliant idea and I'm proud of our club for going along with it. Congrats on the award.

Thanks Dredd. The club took a lot of persuading to get on board, but once they did they have been great. I've suggested a couple of improvements for next season, so hopefully we'll get them. On a side note, give me a clue as to where I have spoken to you mate? Your identity intrigues me! Haha

 

[CornedBeefIsland]

Thanks Dredd. The club took a lot of persuading to get on board, but once they did they have been great. I've suggested a couple of improvements for next season, so hopefully we'll get them. On a side note, give me a clue as to where I have spoken to you mate? Your identity intrigues me! Haha

I think what you have done at the club with the sensory room is amazing.
However it is worth pointing out that not all people on the spectrum suffer with noise sensory issues, just as not all suffer from language difficulties.

my boy isn't fussed with noises and crowds, but struggles with emotional self regulation and communication.

To most he looks "normal" which pisses me off when family quote that. But he can have a meltdown over the smallest of things. From the colour of the tshirt we want him to wear or a paper cut on his finger.

You can see the meltdowns coming. Like i imagine most spot the change in a person with epilepsy before they have a seizure.

 

[TimBirch]

I think what you have done at the club with the sensory room is amazing.
However it is worth pointing out that not all people on the spectrum suffer with noise sensory issues, just as not all suffer from language difficulties.

my boy isn't fussed with noises and crowds, but struggles with emotional self regulation and communication.

To most he looks "normal" which pisses me off when family quote that. But he can have a meltdown over the smallest of things. From the colour of the tshirt we want him to wear or a paper cut on his finger.

You can see the meltdowns coming. Like i imagine most spot the change in a person with epilepsy before they have a seizure.

My boy's the same, intelligent and popular, but if his routine changes, BOOM! Meltdown.

 

[The Innovator]

I think what you have done at the club with the sensory room is amazing.
However it is worth pointing out that not all people on the spectrum suffer with noise sensory issues, just as not all suffer from language difficulties.

my boy isn't fussed with noises and crowds, but struggles with emotional self regulation and communication.

To most he looks "normal" which pisses me off when family quote that. But he can have a meltdown over the smallest of things. From the colour of the tshirt we want him to wear or a paper cut on his finger.

You can see the meltdowns coming. Like i imagine most spot the change in a person with epilepsy before they have a seizure.

Thanks mate. Yes I agree, not everyone who has asd will suffer with noise issues, but Nathan & an awful lot do. The room was full to capacity all season & had a waiting list towards the end of the season when awareness of it increased. About 1 in every 100 people are somewhere on the autism spectrum, so with the Sol holding 49,000 fans it could potentially benefit 490 per match. Not all would need the room, but the vast majority would benefit from it. We had 3 adults with asd & 2 away fans (Watford & Newcastle) in there at various points last season.

I fully understand & appreciate the difficulties of a hidden disability as society is so judgemental. People are so quick to judge if they have a meltdown, instead of showing patience & understanding. Hopefully with increased awareness this might improve.

 

[pillars of hercules]

I am at the children's centre on Durham Road and my 7 year old son has just gone down with the doctor for his ADOS assesment. It is looking highly likely he has what used to be known as Aspergers Syndrome, but it all just come under ASD now. He is very very clever, probably the cleverest in his class at school and could read perfectly when he was 3. However he struggles with social skills, has always had obsessions which he can talk none stop about, but cant have a conversation about anything that doesn't interest him. He also has poor fine motor skills and is receiving occupational therapy. He cant use cutlery very well, ride a bike, catch a ball, do buttons, zips etc. As i am sitting here bored while he is assessed i just wondered if anyone elses kids on here have been diagnosed with autism, and how are they getting on now? I already have a disabled 16 year old daughter and am a single mam so its a bit daunting thinking of the future.

I've got two kids diagnosed both in their 20s. My son is profoundly autistic with learning difficulties and was diagnosed as a 2 year old. My daughter has aspergers but was only diagnosed when she decided to see a doctor herself. Sometimes it's too easy to think a child is just a little bit odd without looking into reasons why.

 

[Scorer]

Check out an organisation called Autistic Intelligence", I've been to a couple of their events and they have some really inspiring accounts of people with autism doing fantastically well. I've supported a lot of people on the spectrum over twenty odd years and what I can say for sure is that none are quite like the stereotype and all have different skills and abilities. Some have been challenging in one way or another and can take a long time to really understand or communicate with but its worth the effort and more often than not relatively small changes to environment and communication can make life much easier both for them and families/ friends/ colleagues. The biggest issue really is society expecting people to adapt that may simply not be able to, thankfully that's changing gradually with the wider understanding of autism and with fantastic initiatives like the sensory room at the SoL mentioned earlier in the thread.
Best of luck, their will be tough times but great ones too which is pretty much true for all of us!

 

[The Innovator]

Check out an organisation called Autistic Intelligence", I've been to a couple of their events and they have some really inspiring accounts of people with autism doing fantastically well. I've supported a lot of people on the spectrum over twenty odd years and what I can say for sure is that none are quite like the stereotype and all have different skills and abilities. Some have been challenging in one way or another and can take a long time to really understand or communicate with but its worth the effort and more often than not relatively small changes to environment and communication can make life much easier both for them and families/ friends/ colleagues. The biggest issue really is society expecting people to adapt that may simply not be able to, thankfully that's changing gradually with the wider understanding of autism and with fantastic initiatives like the sensory room at the SoL mentioned earlier in the thread.
Best of luck, their will be tough times but great ones too which is pretty much true for all of us!

Really well put. Totally agree with all of that.

 

[Dredd]

Thanks mate. Yes I agree, not everyone who has asd will suffer with noise issues, but Nathan & an awful lot do. The room was full to capacity all season & had a waiting list towards the end of the season when awareness of it increased. About 1 in every 100 people are somewhere on the autism spectrum, so with the Sol holding 49,000 fans it could potentially benefit 490 per match. Not all would need the room, but the vast majority would benefit from it. We had 3 adults with asd & 2 away fans (Watford & Newcastle) in there at various points last season.

I fully understand & appreciate the difficulties of a hidden disability as society is so judgemental. People are so quick to judge if they have a meltdown, instead of showing patience & understanding. Hopefully with increased awaeness this might improve.

Yeah I have a couple of mates who have it for example onr n't like talking to people much and likes have everything in order. So his video games are all alphabetically in order and are all in a straight line and if one of them is out of line he puts it back straight away for example.

 

[PallionPeasant]

Christ reading the OP makes me feeling like I'm looking back in the mirror as myself as a 7 year old.

I was diagnosed autistic at the age of 5. Naturally, it was devastating for my parents, but I was also very lucky. The way you've described your lad is exactly how I was at his age, I was easily led, I had majorly obsessive behaviours and could be unintentionally rude or abrupt. In fact I was probably alot worse than you lad as I couldn't hack changes to routine or understand any way of thinking other than my own and I was also poor academically but my parents were unbelievable with me and this combined with my own efforts and the support from teachers at school I ended up with 10 GCSE's at C and above, got good A level results and am now at University. I also developed socially as I got older by the time I left secondary school the Special Educational Needs Officer said I no longer needed to attend annual reviews and now people who don't know I have the diagnosis wouldn't know.

I'm not saying it's an easy thing to cope with, and I still to this day get anxious because of the stigma of being diagnosed as being "different" and I worry that any kind of emotion I have no matter how justified is proof that my autistic tendencies are "coming back" but honestly with the right help and support it is perfectly possible to lead a normal life. He can still be happy, get a job, make friends and have proper relationships in the future it's far from something to be ashamed of. I wish him the best of luck for his future and hope he gets the very best support available.

 

[xmfd]

I often wonder how many people go undiagnosed, must be a fair few.
Few kids in my school lookin back definitely had aspergers. Got me wondering if I have it myself to some degree!

 

[CornedBeefIsland]

I often wonder how many people go undiagnosed, must be a fair few.
Few kids in my school lookin back definitely had aspergers. Got me wondering if I have it myself to some degree!

One thing that I have become more aware of is that autistic behaviours are just human behaviour but just poorly regulated.

How many people do you know that go to pot when thier routine is disrupted. Or tap there hands when frustrated, or have obsessesive hobbies? It's just all about how self regulated you are.

Granted there are the neurological imparements as well, but if you are talking the classic behaviours of stimming and obsessesive behaviours then I know neurotypical people with worse situations than my son.

 

[becs]

so its a bit daunting thinking of the future.

Just saw this on Facebook and thought of you.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1251584874873829

 

[Joe-B]

My little boy is amazing with computers too. He does things on it that I have no clue how to do. For example he goes into game files and changes the text so he can get cheats and power ups for his games without having to earn them through playing. I have no idea how he knows how to do it.
He is also very literal. If I want to get a photo of him and he is looking down & I tell him to look up (really meaning look straight ahead at the camera) he literally looks right up at the sky.
He has 2 sisters, his oldest is 18 and his best friend, they adore each other and I know she will always look out for him. His other sister is 16 but has severe mental and physical disabilities due to a chromosome disorder but he still loves her to bits. She will need 24 hour care all her life so it would be nice to think my little boy could grow up and live independantly one day. Your post gives me some hope of that at least.

My Younger Brother has Aperger's, he's 20. He's back home now from Teeside Uni where he does Video Game Design which is what he's wanted to do for as long as I can remember. He's always been drawn to gaming and it's great to see him using it as a career path. He's had a lot of struggles with education and peers from a young age but thankfully my Mam was a carer for children and adults with learning difficulties so he's always had a fantastic support network. I adore my brother dearly and can't describe how proud I am of him and how much he's developed even in this last year. His biggest struggle is still social interaction, he's a little stuck for accommodation for when he goes back as he's not really made any friends that he'd feel comfortable living with but i'm sure he'll get there eventually. I always feel bad as social skills seems to be one of the things that comes so easily to me and it's a shame to see him struggle in that aspect but he's definitely getting better at it, it's just taking him a bit longer.

 

[AB22 Easy Tiger]

I f***ing love this place sometimes.

 

[Scorer]

I f***ing love this place sometimes.

I scanned through the depression thread yesterday and thought just the same, some top people on here regardless of the different politics and views of SAFC.

 

[MakemX]

I f***ing love this place sometimes.

Me too.

Currently going through ASD diagnosis for my ten year old daughter and it's been very stressful. The school she's been at have been next to useless, I've had my suspicions since she was a toddler, so much so we used to jokingly nickname her OC (obsessive compulsive). I once asked to tidy her room and came back to find lines of toys in size and shades of colour. She's a brilliant little thing who plays brilliantly in small groups or one in one but has always hated large groups, which made birthday parties over the years a dreadful experience. We're moving schools next week to a school which has the expertise and facilities to support her, so fingers crossed.

Thank you to everyone who has posted on here, I don't feel so alone this morning (and the screens a bit blurry now).

Just saw this on Facebook and thought of you.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1251584874873829

Would you be able to direct me to this again please Becs, cheers.

 

[becs]

Would you be able to direct me to this again please Becs, cheers.

It seems to have been taken down and doesn't seem to be online any more - sorry

Hope the bairn settles in the new school xx

 

[MakemX]

Thanks Becs

 

[ATS]

Me too.

Currently going through ASD diagnosis for my ten year old daughter and it's been very stressful. The school she's been at have been next to useless, I've had my suspicions since she was a toddler, so much so we used to jokingly nickname her OC (obsessive compulsive). I once asked to tidy her room and came back to find lines of toys in size and shades of colour. She's a brilliant little thing who plays brilliantly in small groups or one in one but has always hated large groups, which made birthday parties over the years a dreadful experience. We're moving schools next week to a school which has the expertise and facilities to support her, so fingers crossed.

Thank you to everyone who has posted on here, I don't feel so alone this morning (and the screens a bit blurry now).
.

Good luck to your daughter, hope she gets all the help she needs xx

Just an update on my little lad. He was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (Aspergers), as I expected, and also Dyspraxia. He is 8 and very clever, flying at school with his school work. However I really worry about him getting older and going in the comp. His social skills are really poor and kids with Aspergers are often bullied. He is so lovely & the thoughts of him being bullied just terrifies me . He has loads of friends at the minute but at his age its all just about running around in the playground having a laugh, I dread when he is old enough for friendship to mean having conversations.