My Story

On the 21st of December 2011, I received a letter that I had ben waiting a long time to receive. A letter from a doctor, confirming a diagnosis of ASD, Austistic Spectrum Disorder, for my son. ASD covers a wide variety of learning difficulties, from very severe autism to the higher functioning type, and people with ASD can range from the completely incapacitated through to people who lead normal lives, have families and hold down a regular job.

My son has a high functioning type of autism. He is academically bright, but has many interesting "quirks" in his personality which mark him out as different from other children his age.

I knew there was something different about him when he was about 3. Up until then, he had hit all of his milestones and we had no concerns. When I took him to the local cradle club, however, I noticed that he didn't really want to play with the other children or get involved with the activities. When the children had snack time, he would be very messy and was unable to drink from a cup without spilling it.

Naturally, I wanted to put doubts to the back of my mind. I made an appointment to see the health visitor, but cancelled, reasoning that I was just being silly. Thankfully, however, she called me back and asked me why I cancelled, reasoning that it wouldn't do any harm to take a look at him.

Initial tests showed that age 3 his language skills were highly advanced, yet his cognitive and motor skills were very basic, comparable to that of a baby. Following this initial result, we were referred to other departments, for more detailed analysis and therapy sessions, although we were never asked if we would like a diagnosis.

He started school as normal, but in reception was still struggling with fine motor control skills, despite his high intelligence. He was put on what is called "school action plus" which means that the school class him as having special needs and can access help from outside agencies, although he would not qualify to attend a special school, as academically, he is doing quite well. The biggest problem at school is social. he does not find it easy to interact with other kids, and gets bullied frequently.

Last year, we were referred to a new doctor, who specialises in this area. She was the first person to ask me if I wanted a diagnosis.

OF COURSE I DID!

I was fed up of trying to explain to everyone what was wrong with him, as I didn't have a "label" for his disorder.

After doing a questionnaire with the school SENCO, the result finally cam back that he has ASD, primarily Aspergers.

This, for me, is the start, and the reason I am writing this blog.

*UPDATE I have restarted this blog after discontinuing it for a few years. My son is now a teenager and in a special school that is perfect for his needs. During this time, my daughter was also diagnosed as autistic, so I will hopefully be touching on a variety of new and interesting topics now that the blog is up and running again.