Autism

I have concerns with my toddler son, he's 2 and a half & he's obsessed with letters, numbers , shapes & colours. He can count into the hundreds (until he gets bored), spell to to ten, knows shapes and how many sides they have, Dodecagon has 12 sides...apparently. He won't feed himself, finger food is ok, but he's still spoonfed his main meal, he's very picky with food. We saw a specialist at Bishop, she was a bit concerned that he 'parrots', but she said he was still young
 


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 :cry:. 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.

My daughter went to a big Newcastle Comp and there were radgies in it but I was surprised how the different kids coped and supported each other. Kids are much more aware of people who are "different" in comparison to a generation ago.

Don't worry about it until it happens (if it happens), then deal with it with the teachers.
 
I have concerns with my toddler son, he's 2 and a half & he's obsessed with letters, numbers , shapes & colours. He can count into the hundreds (until he gets bored), spell to to ten, knows shapes and how many sides they have, Dodecagon has 12 sides...apparently. He won't feed himself, finger food is ok, but he's still spoonfed his main meal, he's very picky with food. We saw a specialist at Bishop, she was a bit concerned that he 'parrots', but she said he was still young
I'm no expert but that sounds right to me, they could be autistic traits or traits of a bright 2 1/2 year old.
 
I know finding out you have a child with autism can be overwhelming, but it really isn't the end of the world.

Ignore people saying oh they all do this, or they can't do that because every child whether autistic or not have a wide range of abilities and difficulties. There won't be many things they can't do when things are well planned.
 
my nephew has it, mid 20's now and holds down a good job etc. Would love to see him get married/kids etc. There's been ups and downs for my brother along the way but the way he has coped and nurtured the boy along the years has been quite simply brilliant.
As for the nephew I can only say what a lovely trustworthy individual he is and if that's a trait of having Asperger's then I wouldn't hesitate to employ anyone who has it.
 
Please read a book called A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart. If you want to understand Autism its effect on family and friends. It will leave you laughing and crying within minutes. An amazing book.
 
I have concerns with my toddler son, he's 2 and a half & he's obsessed with letters, numbers , shapes & colours. He can count into the hundreds (until he gets bored), spell to to ten, knows shapes and how many sides they have, Dodecagon has 12 sides...apparently. He won't feed himself, finger food is ok, but he's still spoonfed his main meal, he's very picky with food. We saw a specialist at Bishop, she was a bit concerned that he 'parrots', but she said he was still young

That sounds exactly what my little boy was like who has Aspergers (High Functioning Autism). He learnt to read before he was 3 and like your son he knew all his shapes and could count easily when he was only 2, even now he is probably the cleverest in his class. He loves maths and science and can spell almost any word you ask him. He is better at using a computer than me. The only thing he struggles with is writing and thats because he has also got Dyspraxia and struggles with fine motor skills.
He has also always had obsessions. His first was Thomas & Friends, he had a poster with about 200 trains on and before he was 2 he could tell you the name of every train. Then it was Disney Cars, he could also name every one of them. Now he is older it is games on his laptop. I know all kids enjoy computer games but he really does get obsessed with them. Also when he was younger he had different boxes for his wooden trains, metal trains, big cars, little cars etc and would check constantly that they were all in their right boxes.
Food is one of his major problems, the only things he has ever ate (since he came off baby food mush) is Cod Fish Fingers, potato things (like mash, chips, smilies, waffles etc) dry bread and toast, chocolate (but only Cadburys Dairy Milk, Wispa and Buttons), bread sticks, Ready Salted crisps and rice cakes. His diet is so bland but he totally refuses to eat anything else. Saying that he is very healthy and rarely gets poorly but I worry what it will do to him in the long run.
I would get your son checked out if I was you even if just to get peace of mind. I know now I missed a load of the signs from when my boy was younger and its always best to get them diagnosed as early as possible if thats what it is. Good luck xx

Please read a book called A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart. If you want to understand Autism its effect on family and friends. It will leave you laughing and crying within minutes. An amazing book.

I have never heard of this book before, just looked it up on Amazon and it has brilliant reviews. I am just about to order it. My little boy is 8 like the boy in the book and he also loves Minecraft. He has not long been diagnosed so hope this book will give me some ideas into how he feels and what his world is like for him.
 
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One of the biggest problems we faced with my daughter was her well meaning grandparents.

"You just need to...., you need to send her too....., you molly coddle her" etc.

They have never seemed to get that she is different and that there is no cure as such, just management of the condition as best as possible.

"you didn't hear of it in my day" etc.

Without meaning to they made me and my wife feel somehow inadequate.

I believe in talking about it. It may help to educate others about mental health. It may help support someone whose kids have similar problems. If someone asks how the kids are I tell them the truth.
 
One of the biggest problems we faced with my daughter was her well meaning grandparents.

"You just need to...., you need to send her too....., you molly coddle her" etc.

They have never seemed to get that she is different and that there is no cure as such, just management of the condition as best as possible.

"you didn't hear of it in my day" etc.

Without meaning to they made me and my wife feel somehow inadequate.

I believe in talking about it. It may help to educate others about mental health. It may help support someone whose kids have similar problems. If someone asks how the kids are I tell them the truth.

Did you tell your daughter she has Autism and if so what age was she when you told her? Did she understand?
I haven't told my son but he has had a lot of hospital appointments and he has obviously heard us talking about it. With him only being 8 I am unsure if I should try to explain to him yet or not. He was on the laptop the other day and he was on a site where you can type in questions and they give answers that kids can understand. He told me he was reading about Autism and that it was a disorder of the brain so he must have been thinking about it. But at the same time I don't want him thinking he is any different to his friends (even though in some ways he is - but in others ways he is just like them).
 
Did you tell your daughter she has Autism and if so what age was she when you told her? Did she understand?
I haven't told my son but he has had a lot of hospital appointments and he has obviously heard us talking about it. With him only being 8 I am unsure if I should try to explain to him yet or not. He was on the laptop the other day and he was on a site where you can type in questions and they give answers that kids can understand. He told me he was reading about Autism and that it was a disorder of the brain so he must have been thinking about it. But at the same time I don't want him thinking he is any different to his friends (even though in some ways he is - but in others ways he is just like them).

If he's that age and has been in the meetings he'll probably know something's up.
 
I have concerns with my toddler son, he's 2 and a half & he's obsessed with letters, numbers , shapes & colours. He can count into the hundreds (until he gets bored), spell to to ten, knows shapes and how many sides they have, Dodecagon has 12 sides...apparently. He won't feed himself, finger food is ok, but he's still spoonfed his main meal, he's very picky with food. We saw a specialist at Bishop, she was a bit concerned that he 'parrots', but she said he was still young

Do a search for Daniel Tammet - you may see similarities. Like you said, 2 1/2 is still very young.
 
Did you tell your daughter she has Autism and if so what age was she when you told her? Did she understand?
I haven't told my son but he has had a lot of hospital appointments and he has obviously heard us talking about it. With him only being 8 I am unsure if I should try to explain to him yet or not. He was on the laptop the other day and he was on a site where you can type in questions and they give answers that kids can understand. He told me he was reading about Autism and that it was a disorder of the brain so he must have been thinking about it. But at the same time I don't want him thinking he is any different to his friends (even though in some ways he is - but in others ways he is just like them).

Our 7-year old has recently been diagnosed as on the spectrum and his mum explained it to him and he said he was happy she told him as it made him understand a bit more why he struggled with certain aspects of life that he saw his friends at school cope with.

I think if he is as that age, and actual reading such things I think it would be good to talk to him about it. He might just benefit from that little bit of knowledge as to why he might do certain things differently to those around him.
 
Our 7-year old has recently been diagnosed as on the spectrum and his mum explained it to him and he said he was happy she told him as it made him understand a bit more why he struggled with certain aspects of life that he saw his friends at school cope with.

I think if he is as that age, and actual reading such things I think it would be good to talk to him about it. He might just benefit from that little bit of knowledge as to why he might do certain things differently to those around him.

great advice.
 
I first posted on page 3 of this thread about my idea for the Sensory Room at the Sol, for my son and others who have sensory needs. I also gave an update on my progress about getting the idea nationwide. I can now very proudly announce that BT, the Premier League & Lords Taverners have joined up with me, the Shippey Campaign, to help me get my idea nationwide. I have now contacted all clubs in the EFL, SPL & national stadiums as well. At the launch in London on tues last week, I was approached by people from Qatar, USA & Hong Kong interested in taking the idea out there!! Who knows what the future holds!! I must again say thank you to Sunderland AFC and all the staff there, for helping me get the first Sensory room in at the Sol. Please see the following: https://theshippeycampaign.com/2016/10/18/our-big-announcement/
 
I'm very sceptical of that. There is a long history of scares of epidemics in autism and recovering from symptoms. This just seems like another attempt to blame parents and promise a cure instead of accepting people for who they are.

Ive a good friend Ben who has been fully qualified child psychologist for about 30 years and most of people he sees have been referred to him by CAMHS he says the increase in their work over the past 15 years has been phenomenal. Devices, gaming and social media he says is a real problem for many of the kids he deals with. He also says many kids are not eating a healthy diet due to energy drinks and a high sugar diet.
 
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.

You are an amazing parent. Keep up the good work!
 
Ive a good friend Ben who has been fully qualified child psychologist for about 30 years and most of people he sees have been referred to him by CAMHS he says the increase in their work over the past 15 years has been phenomenal. Devices, gaming and social media he says is a real problem for many of the kids he deals with. He also says many kids are not eating a healthy diet due to energy drinks and a high sugar diet.

I'm not saying it's not a problem just that article seemed too suggest that screen time causes autism and reducing screen time can resolve symptoms. I would say it is very difficult to separate the cause and effect for this as autistic children may well be drawn to using electronic devices and it become a repetitive behaviour. They can also be an excellent way for autistic people to communicate and have social interaction. But because autism involves delay in social development and difficulties in social communication autistic children need opportunities that promote their social development and using devices too much could detract from that. So yes I can see how reducing screen time could help social development but not that screen time causes autism or that reducing screen time will make autism go away and also appropriate use of devices can help autistic people.
 

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