Asperger's Syndrome.

[vikki a]

Hi,
Late last year we were told that my 9yr old son has A.S. I was hoping to chat with other parent's living with a child with A.S. I've been on the net trying to find out as much as i can, but there's so much info out there, that now i'm feeling a little over whelmed! I'm not sure what to do next..... We filled in some paper work for his school, so he can get some help. And when i spoke to his teacher on the first day of school this year, she did'nt even know he had A.S!!!
We live in Mango Hill, Brisbane, and l would like to know what help there is out there of him and us... So if anyone can help that would be great.

[mumoftwoboys2005]

Hi Vikki,

You could try Autism Queensland. I don't know the number but they will be able to point you in the right direction. Neither of my sons has it, but my next door neighbours son had it, so I am a bit familiar with it. Definitely ring Autism Queensland. I just had a look on the Whitepages Internet and found one at Brendale. Their number is 3264 2582. Internet is www.abiq.org This is called the Autism Behavioural Intervention Queensland. Hope this helps you. Pm me if you need anthing else.

Joanne.

[Frazzled]

Vikki, I have taught three girls in the last 3 years with AS, and they are simply amazing kids - but we often find as high school teachers that many children with AS are often not diagnosed till a later stage. Make sure your school provides for your son - does your school have a special needs coordinator? You should get in contact with them.

Our girls at school all see the school counsellor on a weekly basis and also have another trusted person within the school that they can go to when they are having a rough day. They also have their own journals that they keep with them and whenever they feel out of control or sad they pull these out to write or draw in - all our girls are very creative. The biggest thing we have with our girls is the friendship issues and the problem with bullying, your school should have strong bullying policies in place as it is an educational focus at the moment.

As a teacher of these girls i also found it easier for them to have handouts of info rather than having to copy from the board - then i asked them to read thru and highlight or underline the important points.

Your school should also get funding for your son so they can help provide for him, well thats the case in NSW anyway - and as his parents i think you are entitled to some monetary 'help' also.

This is just a bit of ramble - please let me know if there is anything else?
Good luck
Kate

[vikki a]

Hi all,
thanks for the info. You all have given me some think , and find out about. Hope that makes sense!! Were off to the Royal Childrens today to see the pead who gave us the diagnosis, so i will be asking her more about it all.
We move from Vic about 13mths ago, and down there they told me he had mild ID. Which still did'nt quite fit him, but he had lots of help, and so did we... But here nothing so far... The school here (North Lakes State College) tested him at the start of the year and bumped him up two points on his ID test, and then said we do'nt agree with Vic and all of those reports you gave us.(Been having diffrent test since he was 20mths old) So they did'nt help him!! He was Bullied all the time at school and to and from school.(rides his bike with his big sister) So i'm hoping for a much better year. His teacher says that he will be getting help this year, but thats what they told me last year! It does'nt fill me with confidence when she said she did'nt even know of him as yet, not to mention that he has AS! So i think i will be on the phone and down at the school alot more this year. We picked the school because they claimed that they had all these specail classes.....like help a writier, help a reader and so on...
Any enough of my rambling....and thanks again i will let you know how we go.:)

[vikki a]

Hi all,
Well the bulling has started again, They were giving him a hard time on the way home, and myDD tryed to stoped them and was bitten!!:eek: So i've been to the school this morning and i have a appointment with the guidence officer tomorrow. (north lakes is a public school) I'm hoping this will be stopped. I can't just take him out of this school as kids with AS dont like change. It took him long enough to get over the move from Vic!
I'm waiting on Autism QLD (AQ) to get back to me about what help there is for us. So hope fully i will know more soon.
Joeanne thanks for your PM, i do get the CA all ready. You must have your hands full with your boys!!
let you know what happens soon.......Thanks:)

[sam's mum]

Hi Vikki,
I have a daughter, also 9 and in grade 5, who has asperger's syndrome. She was diagnosed just over 2 years ago. She had been at the same primary school since starting grade one. When she started school they skipped her to grade two within a month because they said that she was acting out because she was bored in grade one. (probably partly true, at the parent teacher night the other kids had squiggles and Amelia had a full paragraph story with a picture.) She was diagnosed in Grade 3 and started Grade 5 last year.

The school had been somewhat helpful but then the principal changed and everything went downhill. If she sneezed they would ring me and ask me to take her home. hard because I was working full time then. I was reluctant to change schools because I thought it was better to keep her stable. By Easter last year it was too much and moved to Albany Hills school. They have been incredible with her and apart from a few initial teething problems and one big incident she has been doing really well. We took the opportunity to put her back with her right age group which helped also. I am glad that I bit the bullet and made the change of school because the support that you get makes all the difference in the world to you and the child.

The uni at St Lucia in the psych department has done a few studies on Asperger's too. They have a positive parenting program (triple p) that has been specially tailored for asperger's kids.

Stay strong and advocate for your son, you are the only one who will make him a number one priority.
Jane

[vikki a]

Hi all,
Just to let you know that Nicholas's school is starting to help him, and he has'nt been bullied this week, so fingers crossed!! Thanks to everyone who has PM me, your surport is much appreciated. I have just sent away some papers to AQ, so we will see what happens there as well.....