Laurie - posted on 08/20/2011 ( 8 moms have responded )
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My son was not diagnosed with Aspergers until he was thirteen he was told in school starting in kindergarten that he just had learning disabilities in reading. It was so frustrating dealing with the school system and how when he was with me that he would do very well with all his schoolwork then go to school and just totally withdraw. I would ask and ask the teachers what was going on and they would tell me he participate when he wanted to but not when asked and he would constantly interupt when it was certain things. He would sit alone at recess and play by himself but at famlily functions his older cousins( who are at least 8-10 years older) he would interact with just fine. It was so frustrating finally after my son was in middle school we had an incident that made us open our eyes to more serious things. He locked himself in the elevator for two hours and all the administors could not find him. He stopped it between the floors and would not answer anyone when the called into him. when they got it open, he was sitting cross legged with his shoes off banging his head against the wall. This did not even get the school to do anything. They acted as though it was our fault!. Actually after telling me I was lucky they found him and suspending him for three days and telling me he should be committed. It did not stop at this incident the next year in the very same school and the very same administrators another incident occured. In the mean time I had been working on finding doctors to try to help me find what caused him to do this. I had taken him to specialist he was in therapy sessions. I was getting calls from the school on a daily basis telling me my son was missing his classes to sit in the counselors ofiice and he was sick to come get him. He would get sick right before the bus came in the morning and then be fine the rest of the day when he stayed home. Finally, the call came that shook up everything. They told me that my son was in the bathroom at school and that he had taken a pair of scissors and had tried to slit his throat due to all of the kids in his gym class making fun of the way he was talking and they way he rocked back and forth.All signs of autistic behavors. I had finally had enough with this school and I went in there and told them things had to stop. I found a psychologist who evaluated my son and finally told me he saw these autistic tendencies in him and it seemed like a huge weight had been lifted. There was a real reason my son was doing these things. The interupptions with these enormous facts but not knowing which way to write a b and a d. How to hold a conversation with all these adults, and never even notice that there were kids his age in the building, rocking back and forth. and so many other things finally it all made sense. The psychologist also said that they had a program which was a partial hospitalization program that my son would fit so well into because of the suicide attempt that he thought we should send him to. I can tell you now my son is 15 and will be entering into the 10th grade. He won an award for the highest grades and won a $250 gift certificate last year. We are working on this year transitioning him back to public school. He has learned so much and has developed the coping skills and His most prized possesion and time was we got to meet and talk to Temple Grandin and she signed his book. So everyone out there with autistic children, just be there for them and give them as much love and help as you can. Even if it gets frustrating never give up. Don't fall into the trap of not pushing them because they have autism because they need that to keep them reaching farther and farther. And by all means watch or read something by Temple Grandin she puts things in to perspective. It is not an easy journey but it is so worth they ride!
Thanks for listening!
Laurie Holmberg
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