Autism Spectrum Disorder

i know what you mean about the tests!!!

i remember we were worried when enson had an appt at the audiologists to test his hearing ( dont worry if your child isnt, we just thought it might have been his hearing that was the issue at first)
it wasnt so much his ability to do the testing it was more the explaining to him about what he had to do!!!

but i tell you what, they had it sorted, and he passed all tests with flying colours...( no surprise really as i knew he could hear and that the problem was much more deeper than that)
bottom line is...the professionals usally have an idea as to what they could be dealing with. and we have always thought...geez, enson never gonna cooperate with any form of testing, but that really explains why we are doing it in the first place..

Hi there. Thanks for your advice. My sister was up visiting in the weekend with her DH and 2 boys. Luckily the weather was crap and I had a chance to float a few ideas with her before coming out and saying anything. She has had a few thoughts recently so was really good timing. I have done a bit of research and could share some info with her and even had 2 dvd's here that we could watch if the chance came up. It had to have been one of the hardest things I have done and even now am getting a bit teary thinking about it (am just a big wuss really). Luckily over the weekend we had a few chances to chat about it and she went home with a list of behaviours and a plan of what to do tomorrow. Am so glad we had the chance to do this and I hope that things start to make a bit more sense for them soon. Thanks for all your support and advice. I will come asking again if that's ok

Wooohooooo going back to the beginning of this thread...we are finally seeing the psychologist on Monday at the hospital..will report back as to whether we got a diagnosis or not

Really just hope we get some help...Ben is having some terrible days ( and some awesome days to be fair) but the terrible ones are TERRIBLE!! Not eating much at all, major tantrums if something does not go as he thinks it should worse is the confusion and crying if he just doesn't get something in a social context ( that breaks my heart) lots of headbanging...roll on Monday..wish us luck!

yep big good luck here to all fingers and toes crossed you get some answers

Thanks guys ( and kellz how did you suddenly get 14 weeks pregnant thought you were about 8...ekkk..arrr the year is going too fast!!! )

Appointment was a bit weird...we were in this little room with like 2 toys and I guess they expected ben to sit on this chair for an hour while we talked about him..well he sat and played for 10 minutes then he went and explored the room which didn't go down too well and sit on her chair and stuff..

Hmm at one point he went over and jumped on these scales and then sat on her chair one of those which goes round and round , so he played with that for 2 minutes then tried to leave and then went back to playing with this toy.

Anyway the point of this..! is the psychiologist said that his jumping on the scales was a sign on flapping and he took comfort from the twirling of the chair...she looked very very deeply into things which i thought were quite normal for a 3 year old....

BUT all in all was fine we repeated what we had to said to the nurse about his eating, head banging and sensory issues and she gave him a diagnosis of autism which we expected.

We all sat there going hmmm what next she was quiet we were like ok so now tell us what to do...anyway she said we have to see a dietician and another psychologist ( can't remember their title nuro something) at the hospital but with no time frame at all

anyway i rang autism nz and they are sending me a pack and i emailed the gisborne group so we'll see what happens next really just want to know how to help him, seemed at the hospital it was like yes this is what he has but then that was that..hmm

What did you guys out there do after your diagnosis?? was there much a delay in getting help?

at least we have the diagnosis i guess thats the first step! jeez i needed a wine after that day yesterday hee!

I am glad you got your diagnosis too,
hope things go well from here on in

pretty much play with kids they play with them working on co-ordanation fine and gross moter skills ect ect james as one sisson a week he loves being there but hates the walk there lol. Hang in there hun its horrable when you feel like theres nothing you can do i would ring stright away it can be a long wait to get help and sometimes they need a little push

Thanks susie will email them now x

What a great new thread!

Hi to everyone with *extra* special kids (cos all kids are special). Best wishes to anyone waiting on diagnosies for their children.

My sister has two sons and a daughter. Her eldest (DS) was very 'normal' in everyway from birth.

Her daughter was very 'difficult' from the very moment she emerged from the womb. Much more difficult than any stubborn child. The only emotion she showed was anger, no eye contact, communication or social interaction, would go on hunger strikes at will and slept no more than a couple of hours each and every night from birth. She was big on self destruction, particularly headbanging and throwing herself at walls and doors. She was assessed over an 18mth period and was finally *diagnosed* at 3.5yrs as a 'difficult, strong-willed' but completely 'normal' individual. She is now nearing 5 and has come out of her shell and is exactly as the doctors finally labelled her

My youngest nephew (now 3.5yrs) however, has just been diagnosed as autistic after just a few months of investigation. We are still waiting to hear where he sits on the spectrum. He has a vocab of half a dozen words at max, no eye contact, no physical or emotional interaction and is almost totally 'absent' to everyone and everything. He eats and sleeps like a dream and doesn't show any anger or self-harm at all (so very different from his sister's 'symptoms'). He is the sweetest little boy but is entirely in his own world.

I'm sure I'll be popping in from time to time to ask questions, let out my worries and fears and generally learn how to be a good aunt to my special wee guy. Thanks for listening to my babble

I came by this thread looking at Dyspraxia. Having read through all the posts its nice to know that as parents of our beautiful children with special needs we are not alone. Im a mum to four children the youngest who is 8 months old. I found out very late that I was pregnant as DH had a vasectomy. It was quite a shock when we discovered we were expecting number 4 but also there was a huge worry as I had consumed quite a nice amount of alcohol during the first 5 months. As someone who never had regular monthly cycles we didnt think anything till i started to grow! When my little boy was a few months old i started to notice he was different than my three other children. I could never get him into a proper sleep pattern, his attention span is 10 minutes, reacts to noise and change.l At 4 months he displayed unusual limb positions with his arms (hyperextension) and wasnt on track with rolling, laughing baby babble etc. We finally saw a Paed a month ago. Baby has low muscle tone, gross motor delays, hyperextension, increased tensor tone (not sure what that is). We have neuro therapist coming in a few days as he doesnt sit up at all and has a head tilt. Paed said that he cannot say if alcohol has had an effect but suspects that it has (he has one mild facial feature consistent with alcohol effect). Aside from constant worry and guilt i feel so alone and would love to talk with other Mums of children with any special needs as i understand the feelings of helplessness and frustration are possibly the same. Im a 38 year old Mum who works fulltime (dad stays at home). Unfortunately Dad has his blinkers on and thinks everything is fine) but its not. I do know that my son is beautiful and is my world. would love to chat with other Mums especially about autism as Paed says that alcohol effects can mimic autism. Sorry feeling very lost