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I just found this forum today and I am so glad I did. I'm a mom to 4 children, one of which has suspected AS. Her original ped said she wasn't autistic when we originally talked to him about EI, due to her being non-verbal. That was back when she was 2, now she is going to be 5 in april. His excuse was that she was too friendly.

Since then, Ambi has been through EI and went to a special school program at 3 until now. She is currently in a Head Start 'immersion' program. Ambi has been treated as if she is only a sensory integration needs child, not AS. The reason I am convinced she is AS is because her 9 year old uncle was diagnosed AS and her behaviors are exactly like his. Ambi has sensory issues, toilet issues, speech issues and well, is pretty much the typical AS child from everything I had read. Which is quite a bit by now...lol, I'm near an expert on it in this house! [though i have no clue on it, really]

I am so glad to have found this site and be able to talk with other parents and with other people who are AS. I mentioned above that I have read much about AS and autism, but it is so hard to put everything that I should be doing into practice. Hubby and I have Ambi-almost 5 and her little 2 year old sister, plus the 4 month old baby brother living with us. It's a struggle just to get everyone ready in the morning, much less try and do total diet/lifestyle changes that many websites tout. Though we are eating more fish, nuts and going to buy flaxseeds to try and get much more omega 3s in our diet.

Well, I'm not going to go on and on like I would love to, just to get my daughter's story out. But, this site was such a wonderful idea!

I was an aspie kid long ago, when aspie was no known. One thing to watch out for. I notice the postings of younguns on this site talk much about meds. they speak little of life lessons. Truly an aspie needs a specialized handbook - how to live in the real world well enough to get along, while being yourself. I see no evidence that such is being handed out with the pills. Wisdon from aspies who have lived a while and know what did - or mostly did not work, within reality would be useful.


Good luck and welcome to WP!

As for the meds thing...I'm glad you mentioned it. Dad and me refuse to use meds on Ambi. We don't belive that she needs to be 'strung out' like many kids we've seen on adhd meds. That's all they prescribe here for AS and HFA. We think a better diet is more beneficial, even if it's not perfect as a treatment.

Thanks for the welcome!

Welcome to WP!

Tim

Hi Ambismom,

I am new here too. Before I introduce myself, I wanted to say--I agree with "nutbag," more wisdom from Aspies is needed! My daughter is also AS (dxed at age 8, homeschooled starting age 11--she's 13 now). I may be an Aspie, too. I really had to think about it on the login page, do I check "family member dxed" or "not sure if I'm AS or not"? There is a new book ed. by Tony Atwood, called Asperger's and Girls. The very best chapters in it are by Aspies. I am just socially inept enough that I miss a lot of things myself. The Aspies who contribute to this book give the information in a really straight-forward, useful way. I couldn't help but think "More! We need more!" Especially for girls, who often appear social, but struggle with all that inter-social communication detail.

In our house, we don't do any special diets (unless you count "eat only what we like" as a diet! . I can't imagine how we could; my dd was very limited in food choice when younger, and, though she is expanding her choices, is still very selective. Lots of texture issues; she's a sensory seeker, but not in that particular way. We have a gym of sorts for her in the basement. She has a hammock swing chair, dizzy disk, weighted balls and lots of weighted objects, large therapy balls, etc. As she gets older, she uses all but the hammock swing less and less.

Meds--she is on one for extreme anxiety. We tried to wean off of it a few months after leaving school, figuring that she may not need it so much anymore, but she chewed her fingers to bloody nubs and we put her back on. It's a very low dose, and if that's what she needs, that's what she needs. She may want to try weaning off again if we can get a good bio-feedback program going, or something else that will help her to control her anxiety. It will all depend on what works for her. Every person is different.
best wishes!

Cheryl

Thanks for the info and the welcomes.

I know it sounds pretty stupid about the ADHD meds, but that's our choices. It's like AS isn't even considered a syndrome, or maybe I just need to start searching for doctors again.

Well, I'm off to ask 20 million questions in some other parts of the site!

Hello there, and welcome to the community!