Forum home Pregnancy Pregnancy

Has anyone got a child with Autism?

This may be a shot in eth dark but here goes! My little boy has just been diagnosed with Autism, Im ok with it becase Ive been pushing for ages to get him assessed and it isnt severe. Does anyone else have a child with Autism or a similar condition and do you have any other kids or are you worried about when the new baby arrives?

Replies

  • hi there, i work at a college for teens where their is a high number with autism. when i was pg with my daughter 10yrs ago i didnt even think twice about things that could go wrong but i worry about it everyday now. mind you i think if anything like that comes my way ill be well equipped to cope both physically and emotionally. what type of autism does he have some are more severe than others. x
  • He has just been diagnosed with being on the spectrum at the moment, its not severe as he has many positives image
  • do you know i cant work out whether it is more and more common these days or its just that people are treated diferently. my collegeis a beautiful place set in some woods and its sort of like a uni experience for them. they live residentially in one of our 15 houses in the local town and then do courses during the day. i teach art, if your interested you could look at the myspace i did for my guys to display their work some of it is amazing. www.myspace.com/linkagecollegeart
  • That sounds fantastic! Its such a pity they dont have anywhere like that here, or at least not that I know of
  • Hiya.

    Might be able to give a little advice if you'd like ideas as I'm a Speech and Language Therapist working with children with ASD - but will totally understand if you'd rather not.

    When is your new arrival due? I'm due in November so a long way to go yet!!

    Hev
  • hi
    we have a 9 year old son which we are trying to get diagnosed and the specialist says his behaviour shows strong autistic signs.we are quite worried as he does dangerous things like setting fire to his bed whilst hes in it.if you ever want to chat to someone who knows im here take care xx
  • hi
    we have a 9 year old son which we are trying to get diagnosed and the specialist says his behaviour shows strong autistic signs.we are quite worried as he does dangerous things like setting fire to his bed whilst hes in it.if you ever want to chat to someone who knows im here take care xx
  • hi
    we have a 9 year old son which we are trying to get diagnosed and the specialist says his behaviour shows strong autistic signs.we are quite worried as he does dangerous things like setting fire to his bed whilst hes in it.if you ever want to chat to someone who knows im here take care xx
  • Hev - that would be fantastic thanks! I had 31st oct as due date but been having a lot of problems so if things work out ok think I'll be pushed back into November. Is your surname Byrne then? So is mine image

    Claire - I hope your son gets a diagnosis soon hun, of course you're worried, ours is only 4 who knows what he will be like when he gets to 9 I'll be a t my wits end lol!

    zoey - sounds like your cousin is a special little boy, hes lucky to have you x
  • Hi Fran. My half-brother (but he was bought up as my brother, we just have a different mum as my dad re-married) is 10 and he has autism. They think he might have dyspraxia as well. I'm not even sure if he has had an official diagnosis but he sees the special needs dept in his school (hes in mainstream). I have had experience with autistic children before, my mum is a teacher in a special needs school & has been for many years, working with mainly autistic children, so it's pretty obvious to me it's what my brother has.

    Tbh, I don't get on that well with my little brother. My dad and stepmother baby him something awful, so he is turning into a little terror...as he's never been disciplined...and I mean ever. So as all children do he assumes he can do what he likes. Nothing to do with autism though - hes just a git!!! (realise I'm sounding like a right moody older sister - LOL!)

    Anyway I'm ranting lol....my mum teaches 16-18 year olds at a special school in a programme called ASDAN or something, and its brilliant. As your son's mild he may well do brilliant in mainstream though. Anyway ASDAN is like a programme where austistic (mostly moderate/severe) teenagers learn to do stuff for themselves, like go on a bus, order food, and just social situations the rest of us take for granted. Austistic kids can be real worriers and it really builds there confidence to know they can do things. They do work experience once a week in a placement, and of course all the normal stuff like maths and english. My mum has a pool table outside the classroom and she even gets them to play pool to build up their spacial awareness lol (although that could well be a ploy so she gets some time to do marking hehe) Generally they have a great time and its not like school at all.

    Just to say basically....that autisms only a problem if you let it be, loads of kids go on and do fantastically well in life.

    Sorry I have REALLY ranted!!!! xxxx

    http://bd.lilypie.com/IzQX0/.png

  • No you havent ranted at all, its great to hear these stories! He is going into primary school in September and we are sending him to a special learning unit in a mainstream primary school, he will spend most of his time in the unit but part of the day in the mainstream class. He will play outside and eat lunch etc with the other kids in the main school, hopefully it will work well!
  • No problem at all. Let me know if there is anything specific you would like ideas on. Obviously I'm not taking the place of any professional working with your son and I haven't met him but can definitely give some ideas. Like lots of the posts say there are so many positives but know that can be hard to see sometimes.

    My surname is Byrne and we reckon we're due on November 15th but not official yet!!!

    Look forward to hearing from you.

    Hev
  • Zoey, sorry to hear you didnt get good support when you were younger that must have been so hard, but look where you are now! I have a wonderful bond with my little man we are so close he is very affectionate and loving, he has more problems in school really(hes at nursery) His diagnosis wont affect how I feel about him, in all honesty he is what gets me through all the problems with this pregnancy he cheers me up so much and Im very proud of him. I occasionally work with children with autism and its so unfair the stigma that is attached, it really annoys me that people are so negative when they dont even know the child!
  • He should be fine Fran. My brother is the same I think, but he is taught in the mainstream class, he sometimes struggles though especially with maths (odd - as austistic people meant to be brilliant at maths!) but he has quite a few friends, who really seem to look out for him, which is sweet. He will probably go to a special needs secondary school though.

    The fact your son will have a sibling soon, particularly a younger one, is a really positive thing for him IMO. My brother's really struggled being the youngest and having such big gaps between him & his siblings, as he's the baby and hasn't really learned to be responsible and to share if that makes sense?? Which are good things for any child.

    http://bd.lilypie.com/IzQX0/.png

  • Sounds like you and your son are supporting each other - amazing what children can do for you when you're going through tough times. I would imagine the main thing, as for any child, will be to prepare him for the arrival of his little brother or sister. Making presumptions but would expect him to learn the best visually?

    Hev x
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions