Aspergers/Autism/Sensory Integration Chatter

oh Saram :hug: how sad for the poor tyke. He is such a beautiful boy.... that breaks my heart, it must destroy yours. I was reading somewhere about how some of these kids have such low self esteem. There is another boy at Matilda's school with Asperger's who has said that no one likes him and it makes him sad at a school presentation :( its not totally true its just that he can't work out the social things but it doesn't matter about the truth its that he thinks that and it makes him sad.

We've done a few playdates with him and Matilda to try and build a friendship so the quirky kids get to stick together and have friends... its hard.

Okay... today I officially became a super mummy. Seriously... I did something I'm so fricken proud of. Matilda likes to sleep with weight on her chest, but she hates her feet being covered, so it means weighted blankets won't work etc.... but she loves her wheat bag to sleep with unfortunately its not big enough and falls off. The last week, everytime its fallen off, she's woken up and started crying and wakes the whole house. So in my sleep deprived state, I went to Spotlight and picked up some stuff and to the health food shop and I have sewn together a wheat bag "cuddle buddy" for Matilda. Its about an A3 sized wheat bag that I've put a face on and arms & legs!!! Its so amazingly cute and I filled it with 1.5kg of wheat, 5 drops of lavender oil and stuffing... (the stuffed animal sort). Its gorgeous and I will put it up on facebook as soon as I can find the USB cable :wall:

Found it!!! https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...hp?photo=12890

Has anyone here heard of DAN doctors? I'm just a bit curious and my curiosty has got the better of me.

I love the cuddle buddy! Where did you get the wheat from, the health food shop??? I have made a quilt for Xan that I want to weight and I'm looking for the easiest alternative. He likes his wheat bag so this seems lke a great idea!!!!

Never heard of DAN doctors - what are they?

Yes it is breaking my heart! He tells me today kids are making fun of him in the toilets and pulling his pants down! I'm guessing this has got something to do with the way he is dressing himself or getting organised after going to the toilet so Monday morning I'm going up to the school AGAIN! Grrrr - kids are nasty!

I got the wheat from the organic shop for $2.50 a kg.

DAN is "Defeat Autism Now" and I first read it from Jenny McCarthy's book... she's Jim Carrey's girlfriend and has written 2 books about her & her son's journey with autism.

Then this week I went to a doctor who is a medical practitioner who also does the wholeness/wellbeing type thing. I went because I'm exhausted most of the time and I wanted to make sure there wasn't something other than life causing it. I was telling him about life and mentioned Matilda. He said "why aren't you bringing her to me?" and I said "ummm.... why?" and he said he was the head of DAN in NSW. So I've done a bit of reading... apparently these Dr's go through complete biochemistrys and try to find chemical reasons why these kids brains are a bit different. Some kids have heavy yeast issues or stuff like that and changing their chemical make up the ASD traits lessen. I don't know how I feel about it or if I believe it entirely, but I'm thinking about making an appointment for Matilda anyway. Jenny McCarthy's son went from having seizures and rocking in the corner to playing on a baseball team... so its interesting but apparently hard hard work. I don't know if I have it in me!!

Hmm sounds interesting. Is it a lot of work or a lot of money??? I've heard there are quite a few "agencies" out there making a mint out of "curing" autism so maybe be a little cautious but wow if it can turn things around....

Sarah, that is awful about Xander being teased - I cann't stand cruel children!!

Bought the sweetest picture book for Jackson and Leo today, I think it is called "My Mummy Has A House Inside Her. Is all about the mummy being pregnant and how she can get sick and tired etc. I read it to him and all he could say was "mummy, can we make snow cones?"
Also bought an updated week by week pregnancy book to have open on my dresser for the corresponding week with real pictures of a naked lady and her bump with a superimposed baby inside her tummy at all the stages so he can really understand it all. Now I just have to get DH to stop looking at the nudy pictures - sooooo mature!!

Bit tired this week - Jackson is going through such a cheeky/naughty/precocious stage and I just don't know how to deal with it! He has always been so well behaved (aside from the obvious behavioural issues like tantrums, mainly out of frustration etc) and now he is constantly yelling, answering back, telling people to shut up and go away. I just can't seem to get through to him. I have pulled him out of creche to start 3 yo kinder next term, along with joining a new social group and continuing his swimming lessons. I think he needs a change, his improvement seems to have plateued where he was and I am freaking out about him starting 4yo kinder next year and then school the year after that, it just doesn't seem like he is ever going to be ready, or is it just that I am never going to be ready?

Well girls long time no chat. For those that don't know, we've been in hospital since Friday with Matilda with probable viral meningitis. To say its scary would be to say the least. She was quite crook on Friday and most of Saturday. When we got to the hospital she was completely unresponsive to anyone and her blood tests were very scary. As we were waiting for the CT scan and lumbar puncture though, she perked up and was sitting up in bed telling us knock knock jokes. The paediatrician decided not to do a lumbar puncture or CT because she was so bright and they didn't want to put her under a GA while her bloods were so messy.

Anyway I've posted in the boo hoo room under the croup thing.

One good thing was the paediatrician on the ward talked with us yesterday about her. He's convinced she has Asperger's as he works with kids with it at an assessment centre in Chatswood. I told him our issues with diagnosis and the public paed we were assigned. He put a list together for me of paeds and wrote me a referral to them. He also told me if I know someone who lives in the Chatswood catchment than I could use their address and see him!!! He's our age with a 2 yr old, so now I'm off to find a friend in that area....

So now the benefit of viral meningitis is that we may be closer to help for M's "issues". The head paediatrician agreed with the resident when he came to see M. In fact he was shocked that she hasn't had the diagnosis made earlier. So, hopefully we will get closer to this!

:hug: Oh Christy, that's great news. I am so glad that something helpful has happened for you during this awful time.I hope you can find someone in Chatswood.

I cant believe I just found this thread...

Well DS is at the very begining of all the testing :rolleyes: boy o boy do they like to hit you with the $$$....

he has finish all the test now we just have to wait for the doctor to finish his hols :rolleyes: before we get to see what it all means...

At this stage ( I think ) they are testing for ADD, Aspergers and dislexa ( sp?) Ds is my first baby and he is 9 I didnt really think he had any of these, but after the doctor expanded ADD a bit better I though well yeah maybe...

DS cant spell or write his hand eye was tested and he is below Average for his age, phyic test was below average for his age... hearing is sound depervation ( or something like that ) doesnt take in whats been said if there is alot of noise in the the room...

So now that we have done all the test can anyone tell me how long I would now have to wait for a dignonse? I just want to know if there is anything wrong with Ds... Feel bad as I kinda hope there is so that he can get the help he needs in school instead of it been just swepted under the run all the time...

Hasn't helped I know that we have moved around alot so DS has had to change schools and has to again soon :doh: but at least this time we will be able to go to the new school and show them all the reports so they would know straight away... even though I have told every school that he is behind...

Still hard for me to get my head around all of this... still doesnt feel like its happening to my boy... I just dont see it... but then again I am his mum and we all think our little darlings are just that....

well anyway I will pop back in after we have been to the doctors on the 30th and let you all know what he has ( if anything)

OH Christy honey......I always believe that a positive comes out of a negetive. Im so happy that you have finally gotten someone who has listened to you and seen first hand what you experience every day. :hug: babe....I feel how scared you are at the moment....having been down the same road :( with Mateauz and those dame lumbar punctures....:cry: thankfully you got to it in time.

How has she been reacting with the med's????? have they calmed her or hyped her up?

On a different note I went to a plant nursery on friday and the sales girl was on the spectrum :o...and i never even guessed! She spotted that Wilhelm was and gave me her email addy so I could get into contact with her and some forums. She said that she controlled it with diet..eg no diary, no wheat no this no that but she was unreal!!!!! The probelm we have with diet is that Wilhelm is a white foods kid.....potatoes, cauliflower, egg chesse, milk....if i dont give it to him he wont eat :think: so do I starve him until he eats it or just keep going?????

OH and he actually l et me cut his hair last week :dance: with scissors. I put in come conditioner into his hair so when we were cutting it it didnt get in his face...so much easier and he almsot feel asleep.

best be off...doing some spectrum cleaning atm :ROFL:

ETA - Tali hon....you should have your results on the 30th babe..i got mine on the spot. A mother only see's the child that we nurture and love...we dont like to see the 'bad' side so to speak. :hug: babe...kepe breathing and doing what you do best....being a mum

So sorry Christy I toltally missed your post :redface: just read the 1st page then hit post reply....

wow that really is a siliver lining in everything isnt there... Glad you are getting over the worst of it....

Thanks Maz... I know he proberly does have something ( seeing as you picked it up when we meet ) but like you said you only see the good in your kids...

Have to say though he is becoming really nasty with DD1 hits her so hard and if starting in on DD2 if she " annoys " him :doh: dont know what to do about that... So dont know if its just coz he is 9 and now a tween with hormons and all or something else....

Don't worry Tali ;) its all good.

Unlike you, I always saw something different about M than other kids her age that were my friends children. She's always been explosive and hard work so I always thought something was wrong. I tried to think that it was all normal, and I didn't live worrying about it. I just knew "something" wasn't right in the back of my mind. We explored different things like parenting courses, allergy testing, and sleep school, paediatric appointments.... etc etc etc. We got stuff out of all of it, but nothing that was "it". When I first read about Asperger's and Sensory Processing Disorder it was like a lightbulb for me, or a puzzle piece that just fit that question in the back of my head.

At hospital, she refused to look at, or talk to any Dr or nurse that came in the room. She screamed when they touched her. She also wouldn't eat the food at all.

I don't even want to go into what it was like to put a drip in her arm.... I actually have blocked it entirely from my mind. Maybe I was sick with worry... I can't remember, but all I know is that it was loud.

The thing with DS is he has played well with others and can be quite silly, seam a bit " young " for his age I have been just taking this as him been the oldest and only having younger sisters to play with...

It was school who has said something he plays better with the younger years than his peers coz he is now to silly for them while they been 9 have step up a bit in the things he still finds funny...

It really hit home last term when he went to camp for the first time, both BHL and I where there to see him off... we noticed that all the other kids where sitting in groups and just talking... DS would go up to them shyly ( which I am shy so didnt think to much off it ) but hen while they were talking he would get in there face and make this weird chicken sound and flap his arms Z( sound funny now that I type it ) but the other kids just looked at hi like he had two heads and to be honest I didnt blame them... Even after BHL told him that we know he is excited but maybe making a chicken sound isnt the bets way he could show it... he still did it... the hardest part was when he got on the bus... he was one of the first on sat down and not one child chose to sit next to him not one.... it broke my heart still makes me cry now... the doctor ashored me that kids like DS dont notice thing like that... the way we do, that it wouldnt have bothered him like it did me...

Just hard to see...

Christy - gosh, i'm so pleased Matilda is on the mend and wow at finding those awesome paeds at the hospital!

Tali :hug: it is so incredibly hard isn't it! We use social stories or rules to help DS out with situations like that. He responds really well to rules so we might say. Xander we don't flap our arms and make that noise when we talk to other kids or adults. You can do it when you are at home with us. You should say "hello, can I sit with you please"

this isn't perfect as he often gets stuck here and that's all he can think of even if it's not apropriate but we work the kinks out as we go. Some kids need pictures or an actual story but Ds oral comprehension is quite good if you know how to talk to him.

Maz - woohoo on making some contacts! We found DS ate more on our elimination diet then he did on normal food but we haven't done the gluten thing only dairy and all artifical colours/flavours/preservatives etc. He also reacts to amines in bananas and some meat products

I have to review Xanders IEP again before our meeting on Monday and I hate them. I know they are designed to help but everytime I read them I struggle with his "goals". Is it right to be forcing him to do things he doesn't want to do??? I mean I know the idea is to "teach" him skills so that he appears to fit in more and that the aspergers isn't as obvious but at the same time I sort of feel like this is him, Xander and his aspergers are him??? This time they want to work on his stutter by telling him to stop, think and speak slowly which is going to frustrate him and make him super mad all te time, they also want to force him to play with others interactively for 15 mins at each lunch break.

I know this is all going to help, it just feels like I'm forcing him to change who he is??? Bugger, I just hate it

Thanks for listening :-(

Oh Sarah, IKWYM. I told the paediatrician that I didn't want to "fix" M, I just want to help her survive. I said that if we lived in Silicone Valley in the US there wouldn't be a problem because the majority of the population has Asperger's and she wouldn't have to worry about being quirky or not fitting in. She could be herself without worry....

It's so hard isn't it. DS has been to sick bay nearly every day it seems since school started as he keeps getting hurt by others kids "accidently". So I know what you mean about surviving and part of me would love to transform him into the model child so he skims through school and everyone says "autism X doesn't have autism" but them I remember this poem

HE ALWAYS

He always wanted to say things. But no one understood.
He always wanted to explain things. But no one cared.

So he drew.

Sometimes he would draw and it wasn't anything. He wanted to carve it in stone, or write it in the sky.
He would lie out on the grass, and look up in the sky, and it would only be him, and the sky, and the things inside that needed saying.

And it was after that, that he drew the picture. It was a very beautiful picture.
And when it was dark, and his eyes were closed, he could still see it.
And it was all of him, and he loved it.
When he started school, he brought it with him. Not to show anyone, just to have with him like a friend.

It was funny about school.

He sat in a square brown desk like all the other square desks. And he thought it should be red.
And his room was a square brown room. Like all of the other rooms.
And it was tight, and close, and stiff.

He hated to hold the pencil and the chalk, with his arms stiff and his feet flat on the floor, stiff, with the teacher watching and watching.
And then he had to write the numbers. And they weren't anything.
They were worse than the letters that could be something when you put them all together.
And the numbers were tight and square, and he hated the whole thing.

The teacher came and spoke to him. She told him to wear a tie like all of the other little boys.
He said he didn't like them. She said it didn't matter.

After that they drew.

And he drew all yellow, and it was the way he felt about morning, and it was beautiful.
The teacher came again and smiled down at him. What's this, she asked?
Why don't you draw something like your friend's drawing? Isn't that beautiful? It was all questions.
After that his mother bought him a tie.
And he always drew airplanes and rocket ships like everyone else.

And he threw the old picture away.

And when he lay out alone looking at the sky, it was big, and blue, and all of everything.

But he wasn't anymore.

He was square and brown inside, and his hands were stiff, and he was like everyone else.
And all the things inside him that needed saying didn't need it anymore.

It had stopped pushing.

It was crushed.

Stiff.

Like everything else.

We were given this at a staff meeting one day and it has stayed with me always and just speaks to me when I look at X

Hi Ladies it's just lil-o-me .. Sorry i have been MIA, but it has been a busy few months. K is not seeing an OT and also doing speech therapy, he has had an assessment by a psychologist. She has put him in the autism spectrum. We had 1st pead appointment back in April. This pead was unable to diagnose as he wasn't qualified in this field, he also said he does have signs of autism, he referred me for K to have a MRI, but that can take up to three months, i will get two weeks notice. I was then refered on to a diagnose pead, that appointment is in May (3wks away) K seems to be doing well at kindy and they are putting in an application for an aide teacher. He seems to have good days if he has a one one person with him.
I think K is getting worse with age, he now has a time issue. He has to know what time of day it is, he will ask "What time" and i have to reply with what time of day it is, be that morning time, breakfast time, shower time, lunch time, rest time, t.v time, te time, bed time etc, everything has to have a time.

So i am hoping we get some answers soon.
Thanks for letting me chat with you all. xox

MBP - DS went through a time stage there for a while, it got better when he could read the clock himself. He still stresses about how much time is left in the day and if he will be able to get things done. We found having a little plan of the day that we would just draw up like

Morning
get up
breakfast
get dressed
drive to....

I didn't use "time" in case we got held up and we also had a signal for if we needed to swap or add something. DS was in charge of the timetable and would add the swap etc.

It also helped me get organised :-) and also made me aware of how many times I would change plans like I would go out to do groceries and then decide to do x,y,z on the way home which upset DS as he assumed if I said we are going to do ... than we would do that and come home. we are now able to do the going places verbally and he is fine with the rest of the daily routine.

I have heard of the MRI for dx but haven't had one done - apparently it is to check for a type of epilepsy which triggers autism behaviours. Hope all goes well for you

The OT got me onto boardmakers and I have one for the day which I try to do in the mornings. I'll put up the general rhythm of the day for her. And on the calender I put events like swimming, C work for the days I work etc etc so she can sort of plan ahead iykwim?

ETA girls we are back in hospital atm. Matilda had a UTI and a febrile convulsion. They did an ultrasound which showed something abnormal, but I'm waiting for the urologist to tell me how scary before I totally freak out... can't sleep though.

BLoody nora Christy hon :( all my prays will be for you guys until er here good news.

I refuse to do any boarding,menu's or postings for WIlhelm! I have always argued with the 'professionals' that we dont treat Wilhelm any different to our other children. They got really ****ed with me but I am with them. i know he doesnt need them cause he is very verbal so I cue him up verbally....I also dont follow a straight routine so he cant get to comfortable with it. He needs to know things change and that its healthy to be able to do what you want when you want...not when a list tell's you to. I get so annoyed that I have to 'reprogram' him to conform to 'societies' expectations of how we as humans should behave.......really urkes me big time! Iknow when he is wigging out...I dont need a piece of paper to tell me...I dont need a stupid teacher to look down at me or talk to me like an idiot cause I AM HIS MOTHER I know how his clock ticks!!!!

I do and did repeat myself 100 times a day...and no he didnt respond to my voice in the early years but I kept repeating myself until one day 5 months after starting it he looked at me and smiled...I had gotten through. He was 3 1/2 years old. God...you know it feels like so long ago now...it was a hard time in our lives......but we got through it and here we are still alive and farting :ROFL:

better go to bed......tomorrow is the mothers day stall at school and he cant wait to go and buy me something.....i am so going to cry sunday

Christy hugs to you, hope it all works out OK!

Maz sounds like you have had a rough time with teachers/professionals lately :-) hope all is OK.

We had DS IEP meeting the other day - it was dreadful. he wandered off and took us 20min to find him then he had to sit in with us while we did the IEp and the damn teacher kept saying his name all the time - like we couldn't have left it out so maybe he wouldn't be reminded all the time that we were talking about him! His teacher has NO IDEA how to work with kids on the spectrum. I asked for the IEp to include use his sensory stuff, she says it isn't necessary. I also asked for him to have a time out signal so he can go somewhere "safe" if he is upset. This was after he had his lip split open after a kid kicked him until he got out from hiding under a table. I tried to explain to her that hiding under tables/making loud noises/flapping etc was his way of telling her he was stressed. She kept telling me no he's not stressed - she just didn't get it!

Last week he started running again and on the weekend I found him outside the front gate - so scary! I fear we are coming up to a major major meltdown and I am stuck as to what to do.

Anyway sorry for the whinge got a bit sidetracked. Oh going for a job with autism QLD fingers crossed!

Oh Sarah!!! How frustrating. M's teacher has just read "The Out of Sync Child" to help herself become more aware of things... God I love her. The hospital has had heaps of issues in dealing with her.... we are in a room of 4 beds and there has been lots of noise and stuff happening, lights on late at night etc etc...

I nearly wrung one of their necks yesterday when I said we needed the OT to come as I was watching Matilda flapping and carrying on in frustration at being connected to the drip. The nurse had no idea about sensory integration and made me write it down :rolleyes: than the play therapist came and went to the OT's office (who was away sick the past 2 days) and grabbed us a brush. Its helped.... She's still on the edge, but its helped keep us on the edge rather than messy.

OH no Sarah!!! Maybe you need to go over this 'teachers' head. Honestly I had so many issues with WIlhelm and ive justlearnt if the teacher doesnt listen that I go straight to the principal. I demanded, not asked and things got done. If that doesnt work use the word...education department...they run as soon as you snap your fingers then.

CHristy - what the!!!! OH I hate professionals.....some are jswut the biggest know alls.....yeah they know M...they live with her dont they...grrrr

finally Wilhelm is happy to go to school :dance: He even wears long tops :o and pants :o:o... its been the biggest step for us. He got out a long sleeved top today to wear under his school t-shirt...we cant get over it :)

Hi ladies and thanks for your replies, i forgot to add in my last post that twin2 (J) is now going through the assessments too, he speech is a lot better than twin 1 (K) but he is still showing signs.
So the phyc is going to assess him soon, then we will go from there.

What happens with diagnosing A. How was your child diagnosed?

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ETA girls we are back in hospital atm. Matilda had a UTI and a febrile convulsion. They did an ultrasound which showed something abnormal, but I'm waiting for the urologist to tell me how scary before I totally freak out... can't sleep though.

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Oh hun i am sorry to hear about this, My littlest one had a febrile convulsion late last year when we where out it was the scariest thing i have ever been through. Another twin mummy on my twin forum her little daughter was in hospital recently to because she had a UTI.
Hope all goes well. xox

P.S Does anyone know when i will stop typing in the Image verification?

Christy - can I share your teacher please :-) Hope you can get a hold of the OT. I was wondering how you were coping in there.

Maz - thanks! It is such hard situation. I have given her some books to read and we are writing a letter to the parents to explain aspergers etc and I have asked the teacher to read "all cats have aspergers" with the class as part of autism awareness month. I am hoping that once she learns a little more about what autism is she will see what she is doing.

Poor little man bought a playstation game off ebay with his pocket money - saved for ages and the bloody thing doesn't work, he was so heart broken today. On the upside he has found a 'friend' apparently they are having a play date this weekend and then he is sleeping over at her house - in her bed no less PMSL. Not sure if I approve of his choice she has always seemed like a little witch to me but he was so happy telling me he had a friend to play with today who shared her umbrella with him.

I am feeling so guilty. I just love him so much but he is driving me so batty at the moment I just want to scream. :wall:

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I am feeling so guilty. I just love him so much but he is driving me so batty at the moment I just want to scream.

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I totally know that. I SO KNOW that feeling. You spend every breath trying to fight for your child & help them survive this world and then you just want to wring their necks at the same time.

Well the OT came by on Wednesday thank GOD! She brought up some fidget stuff and bubbles and sandbags to play with. Then we found out we were going to the nuclear scan and I nearly shat myself.

The nuclear scan was her laying on a small table with a huge piece of equipment over her trunk of her body, like 5 cm to spare up to her nose. She was so good. When we got there, there was a lead blanket sitting next to the machine & I grabbed it & put it over her legs. The guys there were like "Its too heavy! She'll hate it" but she went very calm and still with it on, so we left it ;) something about Mother knows best.... So then she was taped to the table and couldn't move her trunk for 25 minutes. They let her go and then we had to go back and do it again for 20 minutes, and then another break before a 10 minute session. She was very brave, but she also stayed still. She complained at one point and tears were going down her face, but :o she stayed still. She had some fidgets in her hand and I was stroking her head.

The thing is... she's changed. Since she's come out of the machine...she's different. She's so much more clear?? I don't know... I feel like she changed. Its weird. Today she was absolutely beautiful. The most amazing creature in the world.... gorgeous, sweet, and lovely. She listened when I asked her not to do something, no meltdowns (unlike the scenes of late) and no fighting with Jovie. She's been atrocious with Jovie lately, screaming and pushing and horrible... today she played with her, and tickled her and chased her.... and played games to keep Jovie amused. ???? :o ???? WT? I don't know what is going on?? Maybe the dye they put into her changed her? Maybe strapping her to a bed with a lead blanket over her?? What happened? Before the scan she was flapping and freaking out and I couldn't handle it. I walked out of the hospital room and told the nurses I would be back in 5 minutes, I needed to go to the toilet just to get away from her for a minute.... And since the scan she's been amazing. ????? Dare I say?? Normal???? I don't know... I keep looking at her & she is looking straight at me, and smiling at me, and talking with me, not screaming, not whinging, just talking. I'm freaking out about it. DH doesn't see it yet, but I do.... will this last?? Is this just a window into what she would be like? will be like? God it freaks me out....

Christy - wow!!! We have moments of clarity like that too and they are so beautiful. Could it have been the squisy tube - Xander loves being inside small places and finds them very calming he practically lives in his body sox at the moment when he is at home even wore it in the car to school today. I hope you find out what it was and that it continues for you! Have you tried asking her what made her feel good?

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The thing is... she's changed. Since she's come out of the machine...she's different. She's so much more clear??...

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We had the exact same thing happen to us when Wilhelm had a cat scan. It was like he was 'normal'......he hasnt gone back to the way he was either :) yes we do have our moments still but NOTHING compared towhat he was like pre scan.
I told our Pad and he said he has heard that quiet a bit from spectrum mums..so me being me I aske dif he could have another one in a years time :ROFL:

sammi read me some pages of that cat book.....I think I mght take a leaf out of your book Sarah and buy it so Wilhelms class can read it with him there. The kids know he's different and except him...they all seem to love him at school...he continuously gets high 5's and HI or bye Wilhelm. I remember being so scared of him starting primary school now im scaredofhim starting high school later. There is a high school in Dookie just for spectrum kids...but its $3000 a term and that is something we just cant afford

Took K to kindy this morning and his teacher approached me and said the speech pathologist (Kate) rang her and asked to sit in with a class session with K. The teacher then told me that Kate told her she personally thinks there is nothing wrong with K more than a speech delay. How the heck would she knows she see's him for 45 min max and has him playing games, she has seen him 5 times for 45 mins over the past 4 or so months. And she is fresh out of school. I so pee'ed off with her saying she thinks there is nothing wrong with him other than a speech delay, she doesn't live with him, she doesn't see the "real" him. She mentioned to me in our appointment on Wednesday that she doesn't think he has Autism cause he made eye contact with her twice, he made eye contact with her because he wanted what she was offering him (bubbles to blow) And yet in the same breathe she says to me i am not qualified to diagnose ..

Sorry if i have rambled on i am just so jacked off she thinks she knows K & what he is like.

MBP_Mum... yeah we've gotten that during assessments. Just let them have their say and know what you know. What I mean is say "Um thats interesting in the short time you've spent with K that you would think that, I have had different experiences"

WOW... maybe something with nuclear imaging changes something??? Weird!!! But she's still connecting today! She's getting frustrated, but its normal kid frustration.... but she's playing games with Jovie today. The first time she's initiated playing with Jovie without me.... I got a bit teary over it too.

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And yet in the same breathe she says to me i am not qualified to diagnose ..
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OMG that make sme so MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!

go to your gp hon and tell him what is going on......mothers gut is right...not a dame text book wanna be!!!!!

Chrissy :hug: take some pics hon....you can reflect on today for ever then

Christy and Maz - someone needs to do some sort of study in to this - I wonder what it is!!!!!!

MBP mum - hugs! We have heard that too it peeves me off so much! We even had a paed tell us that there was nothing wrong, he had some "traits" but felt my DH had more traits then DS and spent the next 10 min interrogating hubby. 3 mth later we were back with a written letter from his teacher, a report from his OT and 'luckily' he was having a horrible day. The paed couldn't tick the boxes quick enough to get us out of there. Persist, write EVERYTHING down, every strange quirk or thing that strikes you as not right and be prepared to fight. Not that we want something to be wrong but that we want acknowledgement that not everything is right and we want HELP! Why is is so hard for dr/professionals to understand that we don't want there to be something wrong that we want to help make it better/easier for them. Sorry this turned into a bit of a rant - just annoys me so much.

Thank you ladies for all your advice and support :grouphug:

Saram i have a list happening, i would love to PM it to you but i don't have PM privlages.

What annoys me is that they think they can judge them in the short time that they see them. They really have no idea.:rolleyes:
Even when she spoke to his teacher, the teacher was thinking this Speech Thearapist has no idea.

Make sure you get the teacher to write down her observations/opinions as well that will help. Feel free to email or msn sarah@naturalparent.com.au

@MBP_Mum

its so rude of them for being judgmental, what they really need to show is love and caring for these special angels..

YouTube - A Way of Describing Autism
I was sent this and thought what a uniquie way of describing autism

CRAP day.... Crappola.... Crap Crap Crappity day. Not even M's issues.... just being a mum who has had to sit in hospital with her child for days on end & then be expected to just get back into life and be okay....

HUGE ((HUGS)) Christy!!
I hope things look up soon.

Thanks... its like I've lost my ability to cope. Today I picked the girls up after work... I came home and made them their chocolate rice milks, gave them each a homemade zucchini muffin. I put on their favourite TV program... and yet they screamed for the first hour... both of them wanted everything NOW and wanted all of my undivided attention, but since 6am everything has been, get up early to shower & get dressed, pack the kids bags, get the kids fed, dressed, and in the car, to day care & school. Than go straight to work, have a full on time at work and have to leave in the middle of surgery.... because I have to go pick up kids and come home to this.

I'm feeling unappreciated, tired and exhausted. AND I still haven't come close to figuring out our budget and whether or not I can keep the appointment for Matilda's assessment in July.