Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi Everyone,
I have recently been diagnosed with A.S.C. at my diagnosis I was told to look for literature on high functioning autism and Aspergers.
I am a mum to two boys 3 & 3 months and am trying to come to terms with my diagnosis and how to parent two children to the best of my abilities. I dont know many other parents who are in the same situation and haven't had a chance to come to terms with my diagnosis before the premature birth of my second child. Sleep depravation kicking in and I have so much to learn.
I don't fit in with other parents and am dreading playgroup and school. it was bad enough the first time around!
Thank you for reading, I look forward to looking through the discussions and hope I can be support to people too.
I'm an Aspie Mum to three (2 with ASD). I also had a very hard time when my last two children were born as they were only 14 months apart, and the youngest has ASD, Proprioceptive sensory disorder, verbal processing disorder, sensory issues, complex communication disorder and dyspraxia!!(He did nothing but cry and scream till he was 3!!) By the time he was twelve months old I had been hospitalised once with sleep deprivation induced psychosis! (I slept for 36 hours straight and that sorted me out!) I found that my local health visitor team were really helpful. Social services got involved through because I have high functioning Autism! I suppose I should have expected social services as many people don't understand autism. They didn't do anything, they just rang me now and then. The health visitor was great though, she put me in touch with a local sure start service, got me going to baby clubs and accessed free nursery places for my two littlest so that I could have some respite. I don't know how I would have managed without her. Your GP should be able to point you in the direction of services you can access, if not try your local council. Every local authority has a Parent Partnership or SENDIASs service which should be able to give you information of local services. You may not find any help directly for Adult Autism but any kind of support group may be beneficial.
As for the 'playground', why worry. You're there to drop off and collect your child, it's not a social event. Put your earphones in and hang around at the back! I do! It won't be too long until you make a friend or two. My littlest are 8 and 10 now and I have three amazing friends from the playground, something I would never have expected. They are totally fine with my Autism and have really been supportive of me and my bizarre social anxiety! I also have a really hard time with 'people', and I'll completely withdraw and isolate myself if I'm allowed to. But when you have children that's not really an option, and it's probably not that health either tbf. I found that craft clubs, aimed for older retired people were better for me as I'm much more anxious with people my own age (I'm not sure why). I also found older people more patient and understanding, also when you turn up somewhere 'to do something' you can avoid social chatter by focussing on 'the thing' instead.
'Your' diagnosis is exactly that, its yours. No one can look at you and see your Autism, trust me, people are not that astute. In 44 years (and I work in SEN) I've only had 2 people ask me diirectly if I'm Aspergers! It's a word, it doesn't change who you are. You're the same person you were before someone put a label on you. Use your diagnosis to gather information to help yourself, don't use it as a reason to limit yourself. (says me...who will totally isolate myself in a heartbeat!!) If you're feeling down, just think about all the good qualities you have that a neaurotypical person might not have.
I think you're doing amazingly already. After all you can type out stuff legibly and you've probably had 3 hours sleep. That practically makes you a superhero!
Take care.