Any other mums with AS daughters?

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Hi I am new to all this! ASD, blogs, forums everything!

Having read a lot of info about ASD I have finally found somewhere my daughter fits. She is 11 and awaiting assessment and diagnosis.

I have learned that there are significantly more males with ASD than females and the majority of posts though useful, are focussed on boys.

I would love to talk to mums of ASD girls to find out how they cope with girl specific problems such as puberty, friends, bullying, fashion etc. (I realise these effect boys too but not in the same ways as girls.)

Our biggest wories at the moment are linked with the move up to senior school where girls are notoriously hard on each other at the best of times. How can I help my daughter to fit in? Or is it wrong to try and change her? I want her to be her unique self but I also want to avoid unhappiness caused by bullying for being different! Help!!

Hello.

I'm not a mum but I'm a female with AS and was diagnosed at 14 so I can tell you what I found useful.

After I was diagnosed my mum bought a lot of books about AS and making friends and just left them on the book shelf where I could read them whenever I wanted. For me, being able to read about AS and social skills meant that I started identifying my weaknesses and making friends became easier as I could sometimes spot when I made errors and compensate for them.

http://www.help4aspergers.com/pb/wp_a58 ... 83e339.JPG

http://www.help4aspergers.com/pb/wp_a58 ... 1d2ab3.JPG

It's kinda hard to read, but in my several months of research that's all that I found about how females are affected differently.

Hi Gremmie

Thanks so much for replying. It's great to get some ideas from someone who has been through it themselves. I have been reading 'Freaks, Geeks and Aspergers Syndrome' and I think that it's a great idea to let my daughter read it too.
Were there any books of those you read that you would suggest I get?


Hi SammichEater

Thanks for the links. I will have a read once my daughter is in bed and I have some quiet time!

A

Have now read through the info from SammichEater.

So many points are my daughter through and through! The subtle differences between boys and girls with ASD are fascinating and I am now even more convinced that we are doing the right thing getting assessments.

I'm not diagnosed, but I'm 19 and recently I've been thinking I'm likely an aspie. My mom has also just discovered that she is almost certainly an aspie, and she's worse than me in regards to symptoms and social anxiety, etc. Because of this she has created a lot of grief for me without meaning to, I think because she didn't realize what she was doing.
Anyway, because of my mom having AS as well, and because we just realized it for ourselves, I can't tell you anything as far as what she did for me. But I do have one suggestion looking back, and that's to be as supportive as you can.

Welkome to WrongPlanet.

The WP Kink

"Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome" sounds like a great start. For me, just reading books by people who had been in the same situation and realising that there were others out there like me was a lot of help. If I remember correctly, there's quite a lot of useful advice in there for people of that age group.

The two books I can really remember identifying with are "Martian in the Playground" by Clare Sainsbury, and "Pretending to Be Normal" by Liane Holliday Willey. "Being Happy" and "Making Friends" by Andrew Matthews were my main non-AS-specific books.