I'd go straight to a Paed that specialises in Spectrum kids. Some of the Sydney babes might be able to give you some names. You will need a referral and most likely have to wait a little while to get in....but it's all good.
I was reading back through chatter section#2 previous to this one, about the time I jumped in here. About page 2-3 are some brilliant posts from saram and lestyrox with reams of info and their thoughts of whereabouts their little ones at the time.
Although I feel right in tune with DS alot of the time, I still need help to understand that lovely little brain. It will help you too - ie as long as everyone understands that every piece of lego, duplo and knex in the universe belongs to Mitch all is well with the world
Anna - get a notepad and write down his little quirk's and see how quickly they add up.
and hey...your DH is going to see for himself this weekend now isnt he ;p
Mario has been upset every day after school this week because his carer has not come to his house for a visit ...she turned up today and he was happy.
he just came in and told me he need's different spray for spray on shoes. What the hell next?!
Oh a teeeeny part of me is cackling with glee that for four whole days he is going to have to be me. If only I could have wished my period on him too (not that I have it but its a part of mummy life so why not give him the full surround sound experience) I bet that it will be no longer than sometime after lunchtime saturday before he is ringing with complaints like I should feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for the boys because he has never had to deal with all 3 for longer than a few hours and he has very little patience.
Hopefully Rip wont suddenly turn into an angel and make a liar out of me.
I have been recommended a behavioural psychologist who is supposed to be excellent at ASD he is in Pennant Hills which may be too far for you- his name is Neil Nichol (not sure of exact sp sorry).
i hope its ok for me to post a link to an article in here, i found it in out local paper, just thought id share as i didnt know if schools for kids with autism existed. i think its wonderful
Freya, the Randwick, Sydney Childrens Hospital has a HUGE!!!! resource for assessments..... If you could get an MCHN or someone in the public sector to refer you, you would be going to a great place. Where in SW Sydney are you? I only know Randwick in that area, I know more on the northside.
Yeah, the one in Wantirna has been there for awhile - long waiting list. The mere fact they have finally given the go ahead for the P-12 is just fantastic.
Hi all,
I hope you don't mind if I jump in to this thread for a while.
Yeah - I once taught at the school in Wantirna. It is an awesome school, although caters for the highish needs kids.
My DS has just been through the assessment stage (and it is still ongoing) He is in EI now and has come along great guns. His assessment has pretty much ruled out autism, and it seems like he also does not have aspergers. He still has a lot of problems with keeping to task and is a little behind in his gross motor skills. So we have started a few things. Firstly we now use boardmaker with "First" and a compic picture and "then" with a compic picture for what he is doing next. We also have a really great timer from Spectronics (expensive but worth it) that counts down the minutes very visually. He has learnt that he has to stick to task till the timer goes.
He had surgery a few months back, and his motor skills have improved since then. (had is tonsils adenoids out, and his nose coitorised) He had blocked ears before the surgery, so hopefully all of that keeps showing improvements.
So now they are not ruling out ADD or ADHD - so we will have to see how things go. If ADD had been a proper "diagnosed condition" when DH was a child he would have been diagnosed. So we have him now have him on a very natural diet, and that really seems to help.
Also if anyone is interested, I have access to Boardmaker (an awesome progam,) and I am happy to print up some pictures and laminate for anyone who is interested (although I can't go too overboard as I will be doing it during work time !!!) He has turned out very successful, so that really helps me put my mind at ease!
Last edited by lilima; June 11th, 2010 at 09:50 PM.
really? Wow - you have been just around the corner from me! (I grew up in that area). At least you have more idea about the spectrum than most of us have before we have been hurled into it all, far out it seems each day brings a new revelation!
Would boardmaker be good for my darling Cyclone that has so many problems with keeping atttention?
I've learnt that the hardest thing about the Aspy kids is alot of the issues come to head about the kinder/school years.....and when you look back there are things (like Spectronics? and Boardmaker?) that might have helped earlier. *sigh - I really understand about Early Intervention but when it takes so long to really know that it's more than just quirkiness *sigh *sigh *sigh
That's why with J it is really uncertain if it is me knowing too much or if there is really something there. Look up spectronics and boardmaker on the computer, and see what you think.. THere are some good boards that i could make you that would assist. I might even photograph a few of mine and send them to anyone who wants to take a look. Unfortunately I can't forward you the boards, as you must have boardmaker to open the document. It is about $900 to buy. Al lot of libraries have it. I have it at work, so have free usage.
Also you could think about looking in to having a DSR written and an ISP asking for support that you need. (for Vic only) or put his name down for casemanagement. Where you are Lu, it would be Care Connect. (I used to work there once upon a time)
I grew up in Mitcham, and worked at Irabina.
Also another good resource is to link in to Interchange. Out East it is Interchange Outer East. They run holiday programs, sibling support groups and mother/father weekends/nights away. They are awesome (Also volunteered with them for a number of years)
If you have any more questions Lulu, please just let me know.
I did story boards with Matilda last year. We used some of the boardmaker stuff & I incorporated it to work for us. I had a huge piece of cardboard and divided it into "Morning until lunch" Lunch to dinner and dinner to bed. I had pictures of what happened next and at night we "posted" the pictures back into the box. She settled a lot knowing what was happening next.
I also had a weekly calender where she could see what was happening the next day. It helped tremendously for her. We were pretty strict with it for a while, and I told all our friends that we couldn't plan things and then cancel for a month... because cancelling something is worse than having a short amount of lead up time.
Now we don't use it anymore, but we have a calender in her room with reminders of regular activities, i.e speech, OT, Swimming, church... etc etc.... I have when I work down for her because she struggles with my lack of routine.
Do you know what I hate?? (and I say this as a vent, because I know its not the most PC thing to say..... so please let me get it out).
I HATE the fact that I can't just throw my child a birthday party and let them be excited and happy and watch them have the joy associated with it. I HATE that the weeks leading up to it are full of anxiety and stress and the poor child is besides herself most of the time. I HATE that the party itself becomes trying to keep her together and then the few days afterwards are full of meltdowns. No matter how much OT we do, no matter how much preparation, how much talking about how it is going to happen, no matter....
She has thanked me for an awesome party, and that is what is most important, that she had fun. But I am grieving the fact that its that much more difficult for her to enjoy fun things that are especially for her. our poor kids... the anxiety they have to go through to do anything special...
I hear you babe, I wanted Riley to have a maccas party- then I weighed up the fact that he couldn't have the fries and that he would no doubt lose it completely and decided to have 2 friends at the park.
I think you are allowed to grieve what might have been.
mrsmac - I just had Mitchells at maccas at 10am Sat morning. He had 3 friends and the entire playground to themselves. Are the brekky dishes ok for Riley?
We still had 2 days of 'coming down' from it though
just popping in for the first time with the encouragement of lulu...
i still firmly have my head in the sand regarding DDs "quirks" but i wanted to ask
how do you prepare your children for changes in their obsessive behaviours that go with developmental changes? ITMS?
DD HAS to wear a nappy to bed not because she needs it(not all the time any way) but can not cope with just her jammie pants, we have tried going with knickers and jammies but that still is a NO GO and we end in a MASSIVE meltdown for a nappy. im not sure if this is a quirk we should just ride with.. or actively encourage getting rid of the nappy??
Yeah, we had a few hours of screaming today because I bought Jovie a pair of boots from St Vinnies!!!! ARGHHHHH!!! I even asked M beforehand if I should and she said "Yes" so I did, and then we got in the car and she said "Now we can go to the mall and get me some boots" I just bought her two pairs of shoes 2 weeks ago!!!! I don't have that sort of money to throw around when its not NECESSARY. She then pulled my hair while I was driving. So I pulled over and just sat in the car *busy street* and waited while she thrashed around. I sat there 30 minutes before I drove home. I didn't say a word, I just sat there. Then when we got home she refused to get out of the car , so I stood there and waited for her. Finally, FINALLY I got her inside the house & I needed a wine at midday, but I waited!!!
I am so angry, I hate the fact that she thinks she can get anything she wants, she's such a consumerist and it drives me nuts! Then, she looses it because I refuse her something. Her fricken birthday was YESTERDAY, she got toys from her party and from us. She got fed FFS... other kids don't even get that!
*breath* I think the wine has loosened me up a bit lol...
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
...she turned up today and he was happy.
I bet that it will be no longer than sometime after lunchtime saturday before he is ringing with complaints like I should feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for the boys because he has never had to deal with all 3 for longer than a few hours and he has very little patience.
our poor kids... the anxiety they have to go through to do anything special...
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