Hi girls

I dont know if anyone can help at all, but i was wondering if anyone had any dealings with Aspergers Syndrome?

My 3 year old son is being referred to a paediatrician due to a few problems.. he has been showing signs of something being "wrong" since he was around 1. At 1st we thought it could be ADHD but have been told this is unlikely, however from what i have been reading he is showing signs of mild AS. I also spoke to a friend who works at a school and they agree the signs are there.

I am due to see my HV soon to sort the forms for the paediatrician and will be talking to her about it a bit more but wondered if anyone has lived with this.

I'm almost 100% sure this is what he has and to be honest i am relieved that we may have found the problem, which means we can get the right help for him. I'm not bothered if he does have it as he is the most adorable little boy in the world and i wouldnt change a thing about him, if it is AS its what makes Ethan Ethan iykwim?!

Thanks if you have read this and thanks if you can offer any advice


Update 10/11/09

Well we are just back from Ethan's 1st appointment with a paediatrician and she has said we are definately going down the Autism route with him, what part of the autism spectrum we dont know yet... we are being refered to our hospital and from there we will get the full diagnosis. I dont know how i feel at the moment as now we know it feels different to saying "maybe"

x

hey hun.,

if they refer Ethan they would get a specialist to see him and usually do a DISCO assesment, if he attends nursery it would take place there, as they like to speak to the teacher aswell as you and Ethan!
When my son was diagonised it took 6 months to get the assesment, and usually they tell you on the day if he is or not, also takes about 2 hours!

i hope this helps a bit x

I don't have any children of my own so I don't know how it is for parents of children with any sort of difficulty. However, my cousin has asperger's syndrome. He's absolutely lovely, if very boisterous and completely unaware of his own size! He's 13 or 14 now and was only diagnosed at the end of primary school and so didn't get any help at all all the way through primary school. He was just treated as though he was naughty and stupid and went through quite a bit of bullying (unfortunately and very sadly often by one of his cousins who went to the same school as him). The bullies were often successful in getting him to lash out in response to what they had done and so getting him into trouble knowing that he would have difficulty communicating what had happened to the teaching staff, meaning that he was punished by the school effectively for being bullied.
So your son will be in a much better situation as he will have all the support right from the start and his education and well being won't suffer through no fault of his own. I agree with you that it's not something to be too worried about as it's what makes them them and it's how things are dealt with once a problem is identified that makes all the difference.

I hope that I wasn't out of place in saying any of this and wish you, your son and the rest of your family all the very best.

Beca

My OH has/had asperger's syndrome. I've heard that it only affects you during childhood, but I've heard the exact opposite, so

It took them ages to diagnose him though, and his mother made him go to therapists and psychologists, and he was on random behavioural drugs for 7 or so years of his life. That's all the exposure I've had to it, and tbh I thought it was a load of bull.

obviously your little ethan is much luckier than my OH, as you seem to be a pretty sane mother.

Thanks for the replies

I have the health visitor out today so will be speaking to her about it, as for drugs NO WAY! my son is adorable just a little challenging at times All i want is a diagnoisis if there is something "wrong" so he can get the correct help at school etc.

Thanks again all replies are very much appreciated.

yeah, see, sane mother. I'm not a huge fan of my MIL. But from what I understand it's mostly a difficulty reading/understanding facial expressions and emotions, and being obsessively good at something. Or something like that. It's on the lower end of the autism scale. You can usually find some decent information on it via google or something, it's been a while since I looked it up.

if its aspergers hun they dont give medication infact there is no medication for asd xx

I didnt think there was for Aspergers thanks for confirming it

My 20 year old nephew has aspergers. Not very good at picking up social cues, interpreting facial expressions etc. Had some problems at school as diagnosis not really understood by teachers. He is now studying law at university and doing very well.

Usually the first red flag is lang. delay, social skills and lack of attention span. I have taught many kids with AS and all have been so wonderful. Once you know, it will be better! You will get the help needed. It just takes forever. Also, I'm sure your state has parents reaching out or some help to get his disability started to help your finances. Good luck!!!