Angela - posted on 08/13/2010 ( 10 moms have responded )
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My son is 8 years old, has a twin sister and an older sister of 10. My son was only diagnosed as having an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in January of this year! I knew it was Autism several years before this after reading a book that reduced me to tears as it was as if someone had written all about my son!!! I could not believe that here was a book explaining everything about my son, from not answering to his name, lining objects up, his profound obsession with Thomas the tank enjine, his over mobility and flat feet, his sudden screaming, running around, constant climbing, flipping and flapping, his irrational fears,his inability to understand his own emotions or voice his needs and his unbelievable distressed, violent tantrums that last for hours, the list goes on! But so called proffessionals refused to listen to my concerns telling me he was a perfectly 'normal' little boy as his reading ability was well above average and probably just needed more 1-1 attention!!! After continually pushing, they then said they thought it could possibly be ADHD! I disagreed and after finally being referred to the relevant proffessionals was proved right yet again, there have been several other health problems that i have had to fight equally as hard for ( including much needed operations!) to get my son seen by the appropriate people and recieve the appropriate treatment. In fact i am still fighting for many and don't know how much longer i can go on like this for. I feel angry that most 'proffessionals' still don't seem to have a clue about Autism! I was struggling with my son from when he was a baby and raised several concerns with my health visitor. I think that because i had twins and a 2 year old they put my concerns and feelings of inability to keep Adam safe ( i used to sarcastically joke that we needed a padded room for him! in fact i now know that could'nt have been more true!)down to exhaustion and post-natal depression! I was just told over and over by the childrens nurse that was coming round weekly and observing my sons difficult behaviour at such a young age, that i was a very good mum and was doing everything right and that he would soon learn not to do certain things the more he hurt himself!!! He of coarse did not learn from hurting himself and we recieved no help!!! All of his accidents including concussion and a broken collar bone aged 16 months still break my heart!!! I just want to be able to help my son in any way possible, is that really to much to ask for when you scream for help?
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