Introduce yourself (part one)

Hallo my name is rachel i am 3o years old I am a mother of three children my son has high functioning autism  and he is 9  and only been diagnosed since last july 2010.

my daughters are 3 and 6 years old, and i am so hAppy about this forum will be great to talk to other people xx

I look forward to it x

Hello, I'm new and just saying hello to everyone. I have 1 son aged 13 who is autistic and has learning difficulties (can't read or write) and severe Speech and Language disability.

Thanks Jim V - mod

Will start a discussion tomorrow (Monday) as you suggest in 'General discussions'.

Many thanks.

Hi everyone,

I am mumcook, I have 3 children, 2 of which are autistic!

I am new to discussion forums so please bear with me!!

Actually, sorry for my mistake.

Thinking about it more I think General discussions would be the best area, as the issues with the reforms affect so many people and it's good to have it as visible as possible.

Hi Simon's Dad - best would probably be Parents & Carers rather than General discussions - which is a bit more of a place for discussions that couldn't fit in elsewhere.

Thanks Alex

Will do, where best to put the discussion please? - 'General' or 'Parents & carers'?

Hello

I am the father of a 27 year old autistic son who despite his many communication and learning difficulties, has maintained a full time job at a supermarker and for the last 3 years has lived by himself in a flat.  He is extremely independent.  However, he showed me a letter form his employers last week which stated he had been suspended and had to attend a meeting the folowing day.  I was astounded and was not aware of any difficulties he was having at work. At the meeting the employer told me of various incidents over the last 18 months or so.  They had requested my son to tell me but he told them he was not going to.  They said they had to respect his wishes.  They had involved the Shaw Trust who in turn had called in the Speech and Therapy dept from the council.  But my son had refused simple solutions such as wearing a badge or carrying cue cards explaining his difficulty.  The real problem is that he gets into extreme frustration fits in which he will hit himself, stamp his feet, bang things and talk very loudly. When he is experiencing this he is not aware of what he is doing.  Is there anything I can do mecially to reduce these 'fits'?  He did go to the doctor a few weeks ago but has been referred to Speech Therapy - but that is not the solution.

Just to let you know I am Paul and new to the site.  Was diagnosed at the age of 14 with Asperger's Syndrome, favourite programme is Strictly Come Dancing and favourite football team of Charlton Athletic.

Hiya,  My son will be 3 in April and we're waiting for him to be assessed (appointment's next month after a 10 month waiting list). I've had suspicions for some time he may be on the Autism spectrum and I've gained an interest in the condition and services available. So happy to see the community up and running :-)

Hi - my 12 year old aspie daughter and moved back to the UK in August 2010 after 10 years in Australia.  

Oz is a fabulous country - except it has no provision for secondary schooling for children with ASD if they have an IQ above 70.  So - once I realised I was bashing my head against the proverbial brick wall, I threw in the towel and returned to the UK.

It is great to be back - despite the awful winter - and the UK is LIGHT YEARS ahead of Australia in terms of ASD education.

The getting the statement was tough-going, but fair.  Now that we are over that, hopefully we can get on with getting an education....

My daughter is still reeling from the upheaval of the move (as am I, but I've done big moves before and I am neurotypical) and she hates me for having moved her.  Joys of single parenting.  Have to keep a sense of humour about it - all character-building stuff etc.

Fabulous resource this discussion group.  Well done NAS.

hiya all,

i am a mum of a beautifully cute 7 yr old boy with ASD, and a 13 yr old girl whos just, well a typical forgetful,messy teen * rolls eyes.*  i am married to a lovely ( well sometimes, aint they all when they want something) guy, and we live in lincolnshire. you'#ll all have to bare with me on the dicussion boards ( do you hand out maps?),, i am used to faster moving chat rooms.

its great to finally have somewhere to run to with questions, and to help others out if we think we can..looking forward to chatting with others on here,, cos sometimes being a parent of an autistic child can be a lonely scary world x

wow, I just realised I've been on here 10 weeks and never introduced myself..

I'm an american born (living here in the UK for over 19 years now) happily married Mum of 2 boys. eldest is 12 and Neuro-typical as they say.. my youngest is soon to be 10 and diagnosed with HF Autistic spectrum Condition, ADHD, Post traumatic stress disorder, OCD and a genetic condition ( I also have more severely) called EDS.

I work in a local mainstream infants as a one to one specifically with children on the Spectrum, now and love every minute of it though it is Very challanging and can be hard work. To me it's "easier" then my previous profession as a professional makeup artist dealing with very priviledged younger and younger models!!!

I also consider myself an advocate for my son and have fought and will continue to fight for his rights to support and to lead a "normal" happy, fulfilled life with the same access as anyone else.

I'm here to learn more- as i believe we never stop learning, share and possibly help if i can in any way....

I am 57, diagnosed with infantile autism in the 1950s, not a nice childhood ( happy to talk about it but not relavent here).

Served in the army for 12 years, owned 3 businesses, started and ran a co-operative, founded and ran a charitable company and been director of a housing association.

2003 diagnosed as also having Asperger's.

Apart from those I wear a powerchair due to back injuries sustained in the army and have ankylosing spondylitis in my spine and am fused from mid-dorsal to coccyx and half of my neck. also osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis in most joints and system arthritis in my organs and skin. Eczema and psoriasis for added fun.

In acute and chronic pain and have reactive depression.

My autism is classed as severe and I shall do a separate topic on that.

Nowadays I am retired from business but heavily involved with being an author, performance poet, artist, researcher, work with local groups and am a consultant on local planning and access issues, member of the Royal British Legion and have responsibility for researching and updating the names on our local war memorial.

My special interests are making soft toys, building miniature railway models and the small print on contracts.

I am the mother of a son who is 21 years of age and who was diagnosed with 'High Functioning Autism' when he was 9 yrs old.  Having that label helped quite a lot until he left college nearly two years ago.  Now it is just one long hard fight trying to find help for him.

In the last two years I've tried Social Services, - that was a complete waste of time because after a year I was informed that "he wasn't at risk."  No of course he wasn't because he has me!  Obviously, there is no risk to a person who is up all night and sleeps all day and is unable to initiate or sustain personal action; who has no social life and who is just being left to rot behind closed doors...  It begs the question: what was the point of him passing five GCSEs and completing three years of college for a BTEC Level 3 in Business Studies?

I'm afraid it just gets harder once a person hits that magic age (18).  We now also have the difficult task to trying to pass the ESA test and the DLA questionnaires.  In saying that, I was successful in managing to get LRM and LRC for my son for an indefinite period just recently but I had to appeal their decision when they took away his LRM and MRC in November, 2010.  As for ESA, in June 2010, at the Appeal Tribunal, my son was placed in the support group (given 34 points) but two weeks later he had to attend another ESA medical and was placed in the Work Related Group.  We have decided to appeal this decision because this whole ESA business is just a nonsense!

I know many people are experiencing the same difficulties and it can be so hard to keep trying.  I'm feeling ok at the moment but sometimes I have wept because of the sheer drudgery of it all.

hello everyone

so happy to see the community up and running.  I am mum to two girls one with aspergers syndrome and adhd.  My other child is waiting on assessment.

We are parents of a 4 years old Autistic child. Our son is going to a Pre School and a dedicated teacher for special need children is helping our child. We are looking forward to use this forum to exchange helpful information with the people in the similiar situation. 

Hello! :D I'm Rhiannon (or Tantopat if you prefer using usernames), I'm 24, and I was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome when I was 10.  I'm a huge fan of animation history and musical theatre, and I hope to join a college course in games design in September.  I'm usually quite shy with joining forums, but I thought I'd try this one after receiving an email about it.  I can't wait to chat with others here, and get to know the community!

Hello and welcome to all the new members who have introduced themselves here.  It's lovely to see so many new people and we look forward to your further involvement in our discussions.

Simon's Dad - you might like to start a new discussion about welfare reforms as I'm sure this would be of interest to a lot of members, but may get lost within the introductions thread.

Hi all,

I am a mum of 4 great kids. My third is aged 9 and was diagnosed (eventually) with Aspergers Syndrome last May. He is is mainstream education and is top of the class despite being the youngest, although he has a lot of issues the other pupils don't. (You can't have it all, I suppose).

Just heard about this community today and I welcome it greatly as the best advice comes from people who have experience of what you are going through.

Looking forward to being an active member.