That is wonderful. I really wish I had gotten that kind of help. I got respect for my strengths, and my parents helped me with the social issues, but there were other things that I never got help for (or even affirmation that there WAS something wrong) at all.
Do the people who work with him on the physical and sensory stuff work with adults as well? Are they in Toronto? My physical coordination issues and my messed-up sense of taste have never been treated. I think I also have problems with visual perception of moving objects which make my problems in sports worse--I can't hit a baseball, for instance, and it's one of the reasons I have trouble driving. I finally got my formal diagnosis (ADHD (inattentive) plus AS) a little over a year ago, so I want to get all the help I should have gotten twenty years ago.
They do work with adults, and they even work informally with me. I have some oral issues, and some processing verbal stuff. At least we know where my kid got his stuff!
Unfortunately, they're in Dubuque, IA. They have a great approach, they work as a team. The PT/OT/Speech people. Some sessions even overlap.
FInbar had baseball trouble, and they worked on it. I'm not sure if they're done yet.
I do hope you find some place to get help, because I see my son in a whole new light. He was anxious, and cried a lot, and couldn't face people, and had anger outbursts, was afraid of everything and everyone, and could only talk about tornadoes. He ate hardly anything, and noises bothered him way more than average. He still has problems, but his quality of life is so much better. People deserve that, I think. The therapies are so unobtrusive, which we LOVE. It's things he can do in his every day life. (For example, they have a giant rubber band around the front two legs of his chair. When he needs that 'sensory input' to regulate himself, he can quietly fiddle with the rubber band. Beats being restless and disrupting a class, you know?
That centre really does sound wonderful. I love your attitude toward your son as well! And I agree with you totally, that unobtrusive therapies that improve quality of life are wonderful.
I can pass for neurotypical easily in most social interactions, since my parents caught on early to the fact that I had social skills problems and needed to be explicitly taught the unwritten rules of social behaviour (e.g. eye contact). However, I have major problems with executive functioning that are seriously compromising my university work, and my physical and sensory issues never got treated. I'm in therapy for the school issues and for the emotional issues that going undiagnosed for so long caused, but I don't have anyone helping me with the coordination problems or the sensory problems. Fortunately, my only major sensory problem is oversensitivity to taste--I eat a fairly small selection of foods, with almost no fresh fruits or vegetables. I am also under-sensitive to light and colour, but I deal with that by surrounding myself with rainbow things and bright yellow things :).
Yes, executive functioning is hard for me and I am at a loss to how to deal with that. Besides my aspie son, I have a non verbal son with PDD-NOS so I am jsut kind of not doing stuff for myself, which isn't good.
Yeah, I haven't really been able to improve my executive functioning at all, just to get to know my brain a bit better to see what will help and hurt.
And no, not doing stuff for yourself isn't good, but it sounds to me like you are at least doing right by your kids, which is a lot more than a lot of parents can say.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-13 03:31 am (UTC)Do the people who work with him on the physical and sensory stuff work with adults as well? Are they in Toronto? My physical coordination issues and my messed-up sense of taste have never been treated. I think I also have problems with visual perception of moving objects which make my problems in sports worse--I can't hit a baseball, for instance, and it's one of the reasons I have trouble driving. I finally got my formal diagnosis (ADHD (inattentive) plus AS) a little over a year ago, so I want to get all the help I should have gotten twenty years ago.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-13 03:43 am (UTC)Unfortunately, they're in Dubuque, IA. They have a great approach, they work as a team. The PT/OT/Speech people. Some sessions even overlap.
FInbar had baseball trouble, and they worked on it. I'm not sure if they're done yet.
I do hope you find some place to get help, because I see my son in a whole new light. He was anxious, and cried a lot, and couldn't face people, and had anger outbursts, was afraid of everything and everyone, and could only talk about tornadoes. He ate hardly anything, and noises bothered him way more than average. He still has problems, but his quality of life is so much better. People deserve that, I think. The therapies are so unobtrusive, which we LOVE. It's things he can do in his every day life. (For example, they have a giant rubber band around the front two legs of his chair. When he needs that 'sensory input' to regulate himself, he can quietly fiddle with the rubber band. Beats being restless and disrupting a class, you know?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-13 03:54 am (UTC)I can pass for neurotypical easily in most social interactions, since my parents caught on early to the fact that I had social skills problems and needed to be explicitly taught the unwritten rules of social behaviour (e.g. eye contact). However, I have major problems with executive functioning that are seriously compromising my university work, and my physical and sensory issues never got treated. I'm in therapy for the school issues and for the emotional issues that going undiagnosed for so long caused, but I don't have anyone helping me with the coordination problems or the sensory problems. Fortunately, my only major sensory problem is oversensitivity to taste--I eat a fairly small selection of foods, with almost no fresh fruits or vegetables. I am also under-sensitive to light and colour, but I deal with that by surrounding myself with rainbow things and bright yellow things :).
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-13 04:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-13 04:24 am (UTC)And no, not doing stuff for yourself isn't good, but it sounds to me like you are at least doing right by your kids, which is a lot more than a lot of parents can say.