Welcome To Autismnotes!! Please introduce yourself!

[Jen]

James-
Of course we remember you! We are so glad you are here with us- you will add so much knowledge!
Please come back often!

[S. Mitchell]

HI my name is Susan and my youngest daughter was diagnosed with AS a few months ago. We live in Canada and it's been hard for me to find support groups. Also I've been on the web looking for books to help our family understand AS better. I purchased Tony Atwoods book "Aperger's Syndrome" but I find it's more clinical than I'd of liked. Like one of the others wrote about how to keep sibling rivalrey down. My older daughter thinks we favor the younger one which is not true. What I am looking for is people in the same boat as I am in to connect with and share stories about our unique children.

[Jen]

Welcome, Susan!
We're glad to have you here. The two books that came to mind when i read your post were 'Starting Points' and 'Finding Our Way', both available at www.asperger.net . You didnt mention how old your daughter is or how much information you were looking for to start with. 'Starting Points is an introductory book that is easy to read. We can help w/ other possibilities if that is not what you are looking for. As for the sibling rivalry thing- we know that one from personal experience at times. Kristi Sakai is a member of this forum and she is the author of 'Finding Our Way'- it gives all sorts of helpful information for families- I definitely recommend it. It won Literary Work of the Year in 2006 from the autism society of america.
Anyway, i need to get my son off to band practice but will check back later, especially if I have thought of anything else.

[SusanSLP]

Hi Jen

I found the site while exploring for local support groups for a parent.  I am a Speech Pathologist and have worked for many years with students everywhere on the Spectrum.   I also have twin sons who are 24 years old now and were diagnosed as high functioning autistic when they were 13.  I had to hound the local pediatric psychiatrist to get them diagnosed even then.  My husband, myself, my sons and a 17-year old daughter live in Northeast Ohio.

Susan

[annamarie]

  Good Morning,

My name is Anna, and I am so very blessed to be the aunt of a ten year old boy with AS.  He is so very blessed with a Mom who takes the time to research, work with him, play, explain things to him, and particularly goes to war with educators, etc.  She is awesome, and he has improved greatly in the past year.  I'm so very thankful for him, just the way he is. 

I visited him last month (on his birthday) and he put his arm around my waist and told me I was the greatest aunt!!!  He's learning how to express so much more.  Hope to visit with you all more later, thank you and blessings to all.

[annlen]

My name is Ann Lentz and my 5 yr old grandson was just diagnosed with PDD/NOS and also has ADHD which was found 2 years ago.  I'm looking for some help in understanding this and what I can do as a grandmother and parent to my daughter and her husband in helping anyway I can.  I also want the best for my grandson so that he may have a productive life. 

[Jen]

Susan, Anna & Ann,  Welcome!
Sorry its taken me abit to welcome you to Autismnotes- we've been out of town w/ our kids in the marching band.
We are so excited to see such different perspectives and hope you will continue to post here often! Feel free to ask questions or share your experiences and wisdom with all of us!!
Jen

[Cindy]

Hi, my name is Cindy and  I live in AZ.  I was fortunate to hear Jen and Eric at the ASA conference last summer and have been an unregistered lurker since then.  Loved hearing you speak!  Decided it was time to register and post.
I am the mom of 2 kids on the spectrum.  Michael is 13 is in the 8th grade, has Asperger's.  He's a wonderful kid and we are so proud of him.  He has had straight A's for the last 4 quarters and should be hearing any time about acceptance in the HS honors program.  Alex is just about to turn 9 and has Autism. He is in ext. resource with some mainstreaming.  We are getting ready for his very first kid birthday party. He's my party boy- a real hoot. He has decided to be the class clown this year and enjoys handing out grades to the other kids, pretending to tie your shoe laces together or hypnotizing you.
I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone.

[Jen]

Hi, Cindy!
Glad you decided to join us- we're glad you've been lurking as well-just being a part of the community.
AZ was a fun trip for us- it was HOT tho! We enjoyed getting to meet so many wonderful people. Thanks for your kind words about our presentation- Eric and i do have fun when we get to work together.
Sounds like our kids are close to the same ages. Please feel free to share all you want- we can all use a fellow traveler!

[tsheets]

Hi, I'm new,, a teacher and married to my husband of 25 years, and I live in LA.  My son is 12 and has been different all his life.  He was dx at 5 with NLD.  He has SI, Anxiety disorders, and his latest dx of Asperger-like characteristics.  We have  had him in therapy with Speech and Occupational therapist since he was 4 years old.  He is very intelligent  and great with computers  but his school and ignorant educators are making him crazy.   While my husband and I have learned to accept our son, his school and teachers haven't.  We don't have school in the area to accommodate him, and the public school is clueless.    The school will not admit or accept any of our doctors and therapists dx because it might mean they will have to put out some money to accommodate my son. I believe that they need to get some expertise with ASD and train teachers about the disorder.  As a teacher, I know that all educators and most health professionals lack knowledge of ASD.  You may ask why don't I just tell his teachers about my son.  Well I do, but they don't believe me.  They think he is spoiled, and I am a terrible parent.  They think my child is manipulating them and me.   So I am going to a due Process hearing hoping to get someone's attention about this.  I understand that the school system will paid more to fight me than it would be to offer services for my son.  It's this a sad commentary.    tsheets

[Kristi Sakai]

As a parent you have the right to request an autism evaluation from your school district---and they have to do it. Assuming their tests are conclusive (and it sounds like it's likely they will), depending on your state, you may ALSO need a medical diagnosis to qualify so you're already covered there.

[PattiS]

HI my name is Patti and I am mom to a beautiful little 5 year old boy. He had been in EC when he was 3 and moved up to a blended class last year they discussed issues with about him but my husband and I asked if he should be testing they said he didn't need to be and we believed them. Now he's in Kindergarten. He was having behavioral issues so much that they called a meeting in October. We through our Ped got him in with a child psychologist and found out that he has very mild Aspergers and ADHD. I knew something wasn't right but couldn't put a finger on it, my nephew has autisum and is severe, but Brandon is very high functioning and the Dr said he will do well. I'm just so devistated I am relieved that we know and can start helping him. But I don't know where to start that's why I"m here. We also have him in a Catholic School right now with no services to speak of we're paying for OT therapy right now through our insurance and the school is willing to do what ever we suggest to help. Advice please

[Jen]

Welcome, Patti!
I'm at a conference right now- just checking email- I want to reply to you but hope its ok if i wait a couple days so I can get my thoughts in order ( I get abit brainfried at these things sometimes- so much great info!!!) I will be right back- I promise. In the meantime- hopefully there will be a few others hop on here.
Take care!
Jen

[Cindy]

Hi Patti-
I have a 13 y/o with mild AS.  I don't have any experience with ADHD, but many of our behavior issues in the early years came from sensory issues, mind blindness and transitional problems.  A good place to start is by asking the school to keep ABC logs of his behaviors.  They need detail- not just that jr. hit, screamed, whatever.  What happened just before the behavior and what the result or consequence was.  They should also include date and time so you can watch for patterns.
OASIS is a great resource.

[PattiS]

What is OASIS.  Actually now that you say that Cindy I have a sensory questionaire to fill out for his OT she wants a bigger picture. I was wondering about that we had him testing for sensory intergration disorder last year and she didn't think he had it. But the girl this year says he craves that "deep input" to get himself grounded so he knows where he is space wise? Does that make sense?
I am learning everything brand new so excuse the silly questions I may ask from time to time.    I can't wait to start posting more this looks like a real nice place to be, I feel that I"m not out there all alone.