Mum to 15 year old boy with Aspergers, from Luton

Support for teenagers with high-functioning AS is very much hit and miss depending on where you live. Most local support groups are biased towards younger children or traditional autism including speech and language difficulties. The local NAS were not very helpful towards me and my family when I was a teenager as they just weren't geared towards people who could do A Level maths and program microcontrollers in C at the age of 15. I was home educated at the time which complicated matters further because the NAS was geared towards delivering services through schools. Thankfully I managed to find support from various sources back then.

i have waited such a long time to receive a message like yours. For a very long time (over 12 years) we have appeared to be a very dysfunctional family. Dan has handled the diagnosis well. He is part of a group that accepts him now and he has made friends in the last few months which has meant the world to him as he has never had any before. i also agree with you about the whole "stubborn teenager" situation. He has been branded a yob and a thug and a bully for so long and it has been such a painful journey to get to where we are now.

thank you so much for responding to me

it is very scarey and lonely. All i can say is that i have shown Dan everything i have received in the post and discussed it together. We have no secrets. the relief he felt when he was diagnosed was enormous.  I actually think he feels more normal now he can put a name to how he feels/his temper/emotions etc. He is proud to have a card in his wallet to say that there is something a bit different about him. He is not ashamed. He is not sad. And, if he's not sad, then i'm not either. When he takes things out on me, that's when i struggle.  it is such a hard learning curve for us all....

Dan is studying his GCSE's at the moment. We are having trouble with the school and exam conditions. Also Dan's temper and language towards me. His Dad is older than me and doesn't accept he has AS. Not much help to me. I have been told i am a model parent, totally committed and dedicated, however that's not much help when i'm falling apart....

My son is 12 and half and its only now that we are going down the route that he is showing signs of aspergers. getting here has made a total difference to my son who starting comprehensive school was so lost and scared i cried my self to sleep every night but since this wod has been mentioned in our house ive finally got my lovely son back.We have agreed to go for a diagnoses and on the waiting list,i know with all my heart this is the right thing to do for my son but have no idea what to expect !

hi my son was 17 when he was finally diagnosed. It has made things a lot easier ffor him as now  he knows its not his fault he is how he is. We now accept he needs to be treated differently to take some on the axiety out of his world and he is not just being a stubborn teenager.

Hi DansMum73,

My Daughter 14yrs has an appointment for assesment. I have 2 other children Dignosed ASC quite early on and a third younger child also under assesment. Others in my family are also diagnosed ASC.

My daughter isnt too happy about going to the appointments, did your son want to go to them? From what i can understand of it all the assesment is different when they are older, can you enlighten me about the whole process a bit more, how did it go for you guys?