Introduce yourself (part one)

Hi,  your scenario is very similar to ours !! My son has also been away- to college but like your son he had an absolutely disaster of a time ! so he returned home. I think because we know intuitively and by experience our sons` needs, we do support them well, and like you I put off the care needs assessment. Unfortunately- or fortunately, I have also been a service manager for support services and know how people can be supported- the whole scale- extremely well by good, dedicated staff- to other end of support- and people really treating it like a job. The old policy `The same as you` really did hit home, we just want our sons`, and daughters to be treated the same as anyone else and to be on an equitable starting point !

Yes, it is hard work even thinking about letting them go - because they come back- despondant about the big wide world ! So, to answer your question- about my son living away from home- in an ideal world it would be great- BUT I can`t see it happening, unless there is an absolutely brilliant , guaranteed support service !

I too worry about something happening and I might not be here for my son, but when I think about needs assessment I also worry !

Sounds like I might have to start a service myself  : )

Hard work, isn`t it !

Hi Nicola, Mike (read your book and thoroughly enjoyed it!) and Looeeze!

Great to see you here - hope you're enjoying the forum.

Sandra

Hi All,

My name is Louise and I am a parent of a 19-year-old daughter with AS.  I've just signed in for the first time on the new Community and it's nice to see it up and running well.

Looking forward to contributing to discussions over the next few weeks.

Louise

Hi everybody.

I am Mike Stanton. I am a parent. My Asperger son Matthew is 25 and doing very well despite an absolutely terrible time in school. I am also a teacher in a school for severe learning difficulties. Most of my pupils are autistic. I give talks on autism. I wrote a book about autism. I blog about autism. I am not autistic but it is my special interest.

Hello

I'm the mother of a 12 year old boy with ASD who has just started mainstream secondary school.  I'm really pleased that this forum has started up, and am looking forward to sharing experiences with others.

I belong to several online forums, but I have a tendancy to lurk instead of making posts, so I'm going to have to be firm with myself on this one, and make myself jump in and make comments!

Hello everyone, I'm another one of the mods here.

I'm really looking forward to the continual development of this supportive community and to getting to know you all.

I'm an adult (female) with HFA and dyspraxia.  I'm currently a full-time mature student and living (fairly independently) in student accommodation.  My brother has severe autism and is in residential care.

I hope I can use my experiences (although of course they're individual to a degree) to help and support others.  

Hi everyone (and especially those who have just joined and not had a personal welcome - sixfoottwo, tibby25731, Lianne, David P - I hope I have not missed anyone out!).

My name is Lee and I am Mum to an 18 year old son with Asperger's.  We have certainly had our challenges since diagnosis at age 11.  There is never a dull moment when he is around and he is great to have on your team when playing Trivial Pursuits! 

I am really excited by the Community and would like to thank everyone at the NAS (especially Jim) for all their hardwork in making it all possible.  I hope that we will be able to help and support families and people on the spectrum.  I am looking forward to working with everyone

Hi all. My son Josh has Asperger's, he is 11 now and was diagnosed - finally! - aged 7. He lives with his mum, and has moved around a bit so his support has been patchy.

He's now back in Lancashire and will ultimately get the support he needs!

 He has his moments - obsession, routine, the usual ASD traits - but he is a lad at heart; Liverpool, PS2, any sport you can shake a stick at, but he also has a much gentler side, he has feelings too! :-)

Josh' older sister doesn't have an ASD, and she needs to learn how to cope with her younger sibling, just as much as the rest of us!

Looking forward to receiving - and occasionally giving! - advice here.

David

Just reposting the message from before, which we had to remove due to a technical glitch causing someone to be signed in under the wrong account.

So, welcome Liane - sorry for the problems - we hope to chat and resolve this soon

Hi, my name is Liane, I am married and have 3 boys, Grant 15, Cameron 13 and Fraser 11.  Cameron has Asperger's and has had a lot of trouble with schooling and meltdowns, due to these Grant has had psychological problems, and my youngest Fraser had Rheumatoid Arthritis at 9 months old and had open heart surgery when he was 3 years old.  I have learnt a lot about ASD through the NAS website and my local family aide worker from the NAS and a HELP! course.  Have had a lot of dealings with Social Services and Education.  Hope to speak to some of you soon.

Hi Liane,

Sorry about the problem you've had with posts turning up under the wrong name - please get in touch at communitymanager@nas.org.uk so we can sort this out.

In the meantime I'm going to delete the posts you've made as 'the dragon', keep a copy so we can easily send them over for you to repost and let's get your account figured out :)

Hi everyone. I'm Laura. I have a 16 year old brother, Robbie, who has Aspergers. I'm very family orientated and have been there right through from getting him a diagnosis, to where he is now - attending school and living what is, for him, a normal life. I'm really happy to help anyone with a teenager on the spectrum and will tell you of our experiences and give any advise I can. At one point, I thought things might never be right for my brother - but now he is doing great and I am so proud of him!

Hi my name is Trevor and myself and my wife are parents to Torin (5) and Niamh (4). Torin was diagnosed mid spectrum 18 months ago, confirming what we had long suspected and Niamh was tested as a sibling and diagnosed last month as on the spectrum/high functioning. We've been lucky in that they've received early diagnosis and therefore early intervention but as with all parents I am worried about both of them leading happy and independant lives and my ability as a parent to make sure that they both are given the greatest opportunity to acheive that whilst we are still here to support them.

We've been through the usual trials of special needs assessment and working with mainstream education to ensure they are on top of supporting them (which is a constant battle).

Hi the dragon, nitoda, Randomgrl and Ruthie,

Great to see you posting and we hope you find the Community really helpful.

And happy birthday for today dragon! :)

I am an adult sibling to a younger brother with autism and I am really intertested in sharing and learning about the community's experiences and discussing autism related issues. 

I am very passionate about raising autism awareness in general as there are so many misconceptions out there, but I also know that my experience with my sibling could be entirely different to another person's experience so I look forward to learning a lot from all of you.

hello, my son is 29 and was diagnosed with Aspergers at the age of 21 after a disastrous time away from home at university. 

I'm 57 and increasingly concerned about enabling him to move out of the family home successfully and struggling to get a care needs assessment sorted out so that he can get the kind of support he needs to be less dependent on me.  I kinda want him to move on before I shuffle off the mortal coil and all that, you know?

I find that I am very conflicted over the whole thing around his assessment - I use every excuse there is to avoid actually doing the work I need to do to progress this, mainly because it makes me anxious and upset to have to think about it all.

Are you keen for your son to live away from home any time soon?

Hi!

My name is Lynn, I am 26 (tomorrow) and I was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome when I was 18 after leaving art college.

One of my strong passions is illustration and writing. I am hoping to eventually get my series of children's books published. 

My other passion is cycling and racing. I love time trialling, where you race a set distance against the clock and hill climbs. I like the 'focus' factor to them and have podium placings in many national events including taking the hill climb title twice. I have had a go at road racing too, though find it quite nerving sitting in the middle of the bunch! A lot to work on there! 

I have a black and white cat called Fignon and I love him to pieces! : ) He even has his own facebook page!!!

Lynn : )

Hi Harrysmum, polly7525, allyd, UK_Aspie and ojqmum!

Really great to see you here and we hope you find the Community helpful. :)

And just to say, if you do see anything you're concerned about polly, or anyone else - the 'Feedback to NAS' option lets you report a comment to the moderation team.

Hi,

I am Mum to a loving 9 year old boy with Aspergers and Dyspraxia and his very tolerant and loving 6 year old brother. My boys are my world, I'm looking forward to learning from you all and having a place to turn to when things get too much.xxx

hello, i have a son (24) with aspergers syndrome, who lives at home with us. He has had many, many problems throughout his 24 years, which has enabled me to support other mums.

I am 48 and only got diagnosis of aspergers last year when I started a full time degree course and found I required support ! I`m looking forward to being part of the new community. I have worked as a community development worker, service manager and community connector and have a real interest in supporting people with ASD`s and families. 

I love baking and find it very therapeutic when essays are due in ! The mince pies are in full swing !

I'm mum to two sons aged 7 & 8 - the eldest has a diagnosis of ASD and ADHD. I'm looking forward to accessing this community for both personal and professional purposes.

I've been concerned recently at some ASD type 'groups' which have appeared on Facebook - largely set up by parents and used by parents. This is useful for basic support but there have been instances of unsafe advice given out - ie how to buy medications online which you might like to try on your child etc.....

As this group is NAS affiliated and moderated I am hopeful that this will be a much safer forum for parents to seek advice and support.