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New and Needs Advice Please

Ballerina

Hi, My 8 year old son has just been diagnosed as having "mild" Aspergers, if there is such a thing as "mild".  He "twiddles" quite obsessively and struggles with his school work (mainly his spelling and scentance writing), but is generally clever and has brilliant vocab.  He doesnt really show any other obvious signs.  (He does like to play with teddies a lot and can sometimes seem a little babyish in comparison to his peers).

We had suspected this for a few years, so in someways was pleased to have the diagnosis so that he can get the help he needs at school.

I was just wondering if there was any similar people out there, whos symptoms are so mild and how it affected you/your child throughout school, socially, etc, and any advise you can give to help improve his concentration on his school work.

I am hoping to get things sorted with his new teacher before the end of school in July, ready for the new school term in Sept, so at last we can move forward with some proper help that is needed specifically for him.  Again, any advice welcome. 

Parents

  • Hi Ballerina,

    I was diagnosed at 8, and am now 23.  Like your son, my Aspergers is pretty mild - mum's always said if there was a scale from A to Z with A being the mildest and Z the most severe, I would be a B or a C.  I never really struggled too badly academically at school - it was socially I struggled, and my teachers never really seemed to understand quite how hard I found the teasing, and how stuff that would go over most kids' heads was torture for me - but one thing I would say is that if you feel he is able to cope with it, it might help to tell your son about his diagnosis sooner rather than later.

    My mum told me when I was 13, and although I totally understand why she felt I wouldn't have been able to process it at 8, I wish I had known before I went to secondary school.  It wouldn't have prevented the teasing, but it would have helped me cope with understanding why I sometimes did things that once I'd had time to think about it, I didn't really want to do - I'm a stickler for rules and hated that I couldn't stop myself breaking them sometimes.  I also found that once I knew, I was able to manage my thought processes and although my problems didn't disappear, I was able to manage them better, and learn to control my feelings more.

    Obviously you know your child and will be able to judge when the time is right, but I just thought I'd let you know my experience, especially as I was diagnosed at the same age.

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  • Hi Ballerina,

    I was diagnosed at 8, and am now 23.  Like your son, my Aspergers is pretty mild - mum's always said if there was a scale from A to Z with A being the mildest and Z the most severe, I would be a B or a C.  I never really struggled too badly academically at school - it was socially I struggled, and my teachers never really seemed to understand quite how hard I found the teasing, and how stuff that would go over most kids' heads was torture for me - but one thing I would say is that if you feel he is able to cope with it, it might help to tell your son about his diagnosis sooner rather than later.

    My mum told me when I was 13, and although I totally understand why she felt I wouldn't have been able to process it at 8, I wish I had known before I went to secondary school.  It wouldn't have prevented the teasing, but it would have helped me cope with understanding why I sometimes did things that once I'd had time to think about it, I didn't really want to do - I'm a stickler for rules and hated that I couldn't stop myself breaking them sometimes.  I also found that once I knew, I was able to manage my thought processes and although my problems didn't disappear, I was able to manage them better, and learn to control my feelings more.

    Obviously you know your child and will be able to judge when the time is right, but I just thought I'd let you know my experience, especially as I was diagnosed at the same age.

Children
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