Autism Awareness Week 2018

I have Aspergers. My son is 10 months old so it’s a case of wait and see with him to see if he has inherited it from me or not. I feel so proud that I managed to become a mum as nobody thought I’d be able to cope with looking after a baby but 10 months in and I’m actually coping really well! I wouldn’t be without my son now! Xx

Hi, I’ve got 4 children altogether and my eldest who is now 12 has a diagnosis of autism, hypermobility, POTS syndrome and sleep apnoea, I noticed from a very young age that my son wasn’t doing things quite right but was passed off as first time mum worries until he went to playgroup at the age of 2 1/2, it was then noticeable by the staff that worked there that he was different to his peers. He was referred straight away to paediatricians and was diagnosed at age 3 1/2 years old, he started high school last September. He is a ASD base who have been fantastic and is doing really well. It then skipped my second son who is 10 years old now, then my 3rd son came along and I noticed behaviours again that were not quite right, he is 7 years old and has been under paediatricians since the age of 3 and I’m hoping to get a diagnosis this year. He has a multiple suspected diagnosis of autism, ADHD, sensory processing disorder, hypermobility, pica (eating disorder of eating non foods). Then on to my 4th son who is now 17 months old, he has been delayed in milestones and health visitors and doctors are keeping a close eye on his progression and if they aren’t happy by the age of two they will also be referring him to paediatricians. He has already has multiple allergies to foods and products. We are undergoing genetics testing to see if it’s genetic as we are convinced my partner has autism as he already has OCD. It’s become more apparent the last few years so will be interesting to see the outcome.

This is my Grace aged 4. Diagnosed with autism. She’s my whole world along with her two younger sisters. Everyday is a challenge because we never know what mood she’s going to be in. Sometimes I can’t take her to school because she won’t leave the house, other days she can’t stay in the house because she feels closed in. She has no filter with her mouth.. When something stands out to her on a person she will point it out but she dosen’t understand that will upset someone. She’s a whole bag of emotions most days but when she has a good day I love it! We bake cakes, go to the park, feed the ducks, do some painting and play-doh. I would never change her for love nor money, she’s my everything! When she started reception in September she really did struggle to handle her emotions due to the change and would often cry when we walked past her nursery because she wanted to go back there. Luckily a few months in and she settled in nicely and made some lovely little friends! She really enjoys school now on her good days and comes home with lovely pictures for me that we keep in her keepsake box so she can look back when she’s older.

My son is nearly 12 years old and has autism spectrum disorder. I didn’t notice til around 2 and a half years old, he was very slow with his milestones and couldn’t speak. The nursery he attended also picked up on things too, he turned very aggressive from the age of 3. We went from appointment to appointment to be fobbed off, it took me til he was 6 years old to get a diagnosis from Allens Croft to CAMHS via Ados assessment. He eventually started to get a bit of help at school, he still struggles day to day but Im so proud of him! He’s now in a mainstream senior school, something I’d never thought he be able to do!

This is my beautiful Ella. She is my middle child of 3 girls . She’s now 2.5 years old. She was diagnosed with autism in Jan just gone. She was under physio from 10 months for really hypermobile joints . They referred her for speech and language at 18 months as they thought she had weak muscles in her mouth as she still couldn’t drink out of anything other than a size 1 teat without it pouring out her mouth.  As soon as SALT came they said she had numerous ‘red flags’ such as no eye contact not noticing who’s in the room and not responding to her name, so referred us to the paediatrician and also a team called portage. We saw the paediatrician just after Ella’s 2nd birthday in September who said she thought it was autism but we have to go through a multi disciplinary panel. So that happened in January and she got her diagnosis. There were a lot of appointments in between. We are just waiting for an ASD nurse to be assigned to us now. We are on the waiting list. She has taught me to be a better person. I’m more understanding, patient and I don’t take the little things for granted. She’s completely non verbal so we are learning Makaton and using PECS . She is perfect in my eyes, I just wish the world was more understanding of autism.