new member intro

Hi there

Really pleased to come across this website and forum. I have been home educating my 9 year old since she was 4. She went to a pre school nursery and had a Statement as she is visually impaired. She had a difficult start to life because of intensive medical intervention for her eyes (multiple operations and being restrained for constant eye drops and examinations)so we could not be sure if these experiences plus her visual impairment and painful light sensitivity caused her to display some difficult behaviour, anxiety, obsessions and different development or whether there could be something else going on. ADHD seemed fairly certain and was hinted at, but our concern was whether she had autism. I asked a paediatrician to be straight with me when Harmony was 3 and she said she wasn't autistic, and at the time we were happy to accept this.

But the last couple of years I have been chasing up assessments and she was easily diagnosed with ADHD and sensory processing difficulties by a few diferent professionals/teams. they also agreed she had "autistic type traits" but I was told she did not meet criteria. Some professionals felt she just did not quite meet criteria because she had an 'intent' to communicate socially or had good (though based around her special interest computer game) imagination, other professionals were very negstive about the words autism or aspergers.

With the possibility of being seen a neurotic, I persued one last avenue and she was also diagnosed with autism - asperegers with 'ecentric behaviours' by CAMHS. She may also have tourettes syndrome but so far professionals have not really been interested in the tics. The recent professional did say she might have tourettes syndrome but it could be the autism causing the tics. I suspect she does also have tourettes.

I also have a 3 1/2 yr old and i suspect she has the same conditions as her sister. Unfortunately the CAMHS professional (who seems to really understand about GIRLS with aspergers presenting differently to boys) doesn't see kids that young so we are waiting to see someone else. I am wary about this because of our previous experiences trying to get Harmonys ASD taken seriously. I have heard some good things about this paediatrician, but you just never know. She certainly isn't a withdrawn child (though she will withdraw to act out certain behaviours in social situations and then join in again) and is chatty and smiley, so I can imagine the paed thinking we are mad, so i really hope she will look further for unusual behaviours and communication traits.

Both my girls like to socialise but social stuff is becoming harder for my 9yr old. It is hard watching her struggle at times as her differences become more obvious, its harder for her to maintain friendships. Trying to fit in can also get her into trouble. Because of needing to avoid triggers, I am finding it easier these days to mix mostly with other families where the parents understand about ASD or similar special needs.

We would love to hear from anyone near to Derby who would be interested in getting together. We do go to home ed groups but she can struggle with the lack of routine at some local ones so we need to go further afield to find ones which suit her better and where I also feel supported. I am trying out more adhd/asd type special needs stuff but she is always the only girl so far.

best wishes
Lynsey

My son experienced similar problems when he was 9. The rift between him and his classmates was widening. Attempts at trying to fit in at school usually backfired and he regularly got in trouble as a result.



When I started HE my son we had problems finding suitable HE groups. Many local HE families were from the libertarian mould so were not used to dealing with somebody who was HE primarily for SEN reasons. The local AS support groups were not very knowledgeable about actively HE at the time.