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waiting on diagnosis and need advice

shabby89

Hi there my little brother is 6 and has been sent for assesment for autism,(doctors, school etc are convinced he will be diagnosed with autism) meanwhile my mum is really struggling to cope with his behaviour. Currently he's not eating or drinking? is this quite common? is there any way around this. any tips or tricks would be greatfully received.

  • Hi,

    My son is 12 and has a diagnosis of Aspergers.  If your little brother is in the system, you can ask the Team for access to a parent support advisor.  Mine regularly helped with everything, big or small.  If you don't have access you might consider asking for an urgent referral to CAMHs.  Also I found the NAS staff to be helpful, (the number to contact them is on the home page, they can point you in the direction of help in your area, and also they have useful ideas.

    His not eating is probably due to control (my son did this too), it is normally because the world around them is so chaotic and frightening, this is a way of getting control over something. I know it is difficult not to get angry when a meal is put on  the table, but you need to almost ignore this as it is very rarely about the food and drink.

    If you make sure that he doesn't have any additional outside problems, like being teased and bullied (remember in the eyes of a child with AS they can feel that they are being picked on, when a NT wouldn't see it, their perception is different).  Once you have done this, I found a visual chart very helpful.  I found a picture of a Thomas the tank engine toy (this was his obbssession at the time), then I put it at the end of the chart, then I found some thomas stickers and to start with he got a sticker for just trying a bite of food or a sip of a drink, and after 5 stickers he got his toy (you could even put the toy at the end of the line).

     Also have you tried a visual timetable, so that he can see what he is doing, in what order etc, and you tick each time he has done something on it, you can get the school to implement one aswell, so that he has a routine in place as this is really helpful, they do the same thing at the same time each day, i.e. bath and story, playtime etc.  Brnging routine in really eases alot of anxiety, which may in turn ease the eating problem.  

    Playgrounds are also very difficult for children on the spectrum, as there is no predictability, it is very chaotic, it is the same with a lot of sports.  Is there an option at your brother's achool for an assisstant to be with him at break time?

    A book I found really helpful is Geeks, Freaks and Aspergers, as it is written by a boy of 14 who is on the spectrum, he has some really useful insights and ideas.

    Finally I started my son doing Tae kwondo, at your brothers age, as it really helped with muscle control, ability to concentrate and follow instructions, it also builds their self esteem.

    I hope thiis helps you and your Mum x

    Crazy