My LO is just like this, she met a little girl on hols in August for literally 2 mins as she was paddling in the sea. This little girl told Ellie that she was 6 and her name is Emma and off she went. Ellie still talks about her *friend* 6 mths later.

Having friends over 4 tea is also a nightmare cos its a change to her routine, although not as bad as going to others for tea as she thinks i have *given her* to the other childs family *to keep*

I am having this exact problem at the moment.I dread my son going anywhere else for tea (because he is so fussy) So I invite them here but its not always possible. Its hard.

Hi hun. For me, one of the hardest things about ASD is that not a lot of people understand that sensory processing disorders (hypersensitivity to light, sound, etc.) is very real and we can't just "tune it out"! My mom- who is in all ways a wonderful mom- is forever telling me to just ignore things that are bothering me, like the sound of the dog drinking water which drives me nuts. Some things may seem crazy or so insignificant that other people wouldn't even notice, but being taken seriously means a lot to people on the spectrum.

If there are times when your child is having a really bad day, seems on edge, is misbehaving a lot or not paying attention, something may be bothering his senses and he may not even be able to pinpoint what it is. That is the time to make sure his clothes are comfortable (even if he has to bring his favourite comfortable pajamas or something to change into when out of the house), see if there are any repetitive noises, loud noises or buzzing sounds that may be bothering him, or anything else that tends to overstimulate him. Noise-cancelling headphones are a blessing.

As for social issues, I can't offer much advice as I've never quite got the hang of it either (I get flamed a lot here for wording things badly- go figure!). But I do have friends, and they accept me for my quirks. This forum: http://wrongplanet.net is an excellent resource, it is run and populated almost completely by people who themselves are on the spectrum and they can offer loads more insight.

THe above I have to say really seems to ring a bell with my son, we're still waiting on a diagnosis as to what if anything he could have but sunds definately affect him and always have, I never thought a background noise or just something uncomfortable might affect him so much but it sounds very familiar, could be why he hates his hair cut so much, as it's the itchiness that seems to 'scare' him, and he goes crazy with slightly ithcy things. s this kinda the same thing?

Yup. Tactile sensations can be very extreme for kids anywhere on the spectrum, from ADD to full-blown autism.

By the way a website I value a lot is also this one, it might not be as important today but it is very useful on later on especially.

http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~alistair/survival/

It is a private user website, about an aspie who wrote a survival guide for other aspies. it is from 1997 so it is not including any social networks etc advice but yu can go figure from all the other advice.

another personal website is this one :
http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/aut/links.html the next being the new blog of the person.
http://kaspieman.blogspot.com/

and another good board I thinkmk although it may read alienating sometimes is this one.
http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/index.php

Thanks so much for this! My son changes into his pyjamas as SOON as he gets thru the door, He hates clothes but he now understands he has to wear them out but can wear pjs when in house. x

So do I.

Its a buzz lightyear fleece thing, we had to buy 2 as he wants it on every day and it gets filthy lol. x