Lunacie and Others: Enzymes and Autism

[SphinYote]

I've been finding this site to be very interesting:

I linked it to the page concerning dairy, as apparently there's a political slant to all the new info about casein, with economic stakes on either side, but there are a lot of other intersting things on the site, too.

http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtcowmilktypes.htm

[Lunacie]

Interesting. It does make me wonder whether the US sells milk with primarily one kind of casein or the other - or if it's mostly a mix of the two. And what about infant formula - which kind of casein is it mostly?

I'm seeing where this could be an issue because I have ADHD and was breast fed as an infant, my daughter has ADHD (to a lesser extent) and she was breast fed for over a year, her oldest daughter has AHDH and was breast fed for over two years - and her youngest daughter is Autistic and got a mixture of breast milk and formula. So... is it possible that she might have simply been diagnosed with ADHD rather than Autism if she had not been given infant formula?

We don't drink a whole lot of milk, in fact I stopped drinking milk when I was in high school, but we do eat a lot of cheese, and so I am curious as to which kind of casein is primarily in cheeses?

[WitchOfEndor]

Both my girls are Autistic so I find any info on the subject very interesting. Thanks for sharing the info. :)

[Lunacie]

Both my girls are Autistic so I find any info on the subject very interesting. Thanks for sharing the info. :)

Hi WoE, wow, two girls with Autism. I'm sure you have your hands full. We have one with Autism and one with ADHD and it can be a real challenge at times.

My daughter, the girl's mother, has somehow hooked up with some other moms of special needs kids to create a talk radio show online. The show airs every Tuesday afternoon. If you'd be interested in listening in, you can listen to all of the past shows on tape. And they are always looking for other moms and experts on special needs kids to call in and talk on the air.

Here's the linkie: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Special-Needs-Kids

[WitchOfEndor]

Thank you for the link Lunacie. :) It's been rough but my girls are so worth it. My eldest is 13 & she is Aspergers Syndrome. Genius level IQ but her social skills need work. She has a hard time "reading" social cues & has a hard time fitting in & kids at this age can be so damn mean. :( My youngest is 9 & she is PDD-NOS, she is so shy. I'm so thankful that they are high functioning. My youngest goes to a school that is special for Autistic kids. It can be heartbreaking going to visit the school some times.

Here's pics of my girls. :)

[Lunacie]

I've only listened to (and actually participated in) one show so far, but I'm looking forward to reading some of the archived blogs from the show. Looks like lots of good information. The guest this week was a mother of a couple of deaf kiddoes, and it brought back the questions we had about teaching sign language to our little one (dx w/Autism) when she waited until she was 4 to begin talking. Maybe someone listening to/reading that show will get help for their little one sooner than we did.

Our oldest is 10 going on 13, and has been dx with ADHD. Like your oldest she has trouble with social cues and feels like she doesn't have any real friends at school. But then I'm the same way, only they used to call it shy and inappropriate. Bah. I still have trouble and have recently been butting heads with one of our Grove members who has her own ideas of what a group leader should be like - and I don't match her expectations. Everyone else is fine with me and we work together instead of expecting me to do everything on my own. I've already shown this person the door but she keeps emailing, telling me what a piss-poor person I am and that I give Paganism a bad name. Guess it's time to write it off as hopeless and block her from my email as well.

One thing we social misfits do is give everyone too many chances, hoping they will end up liking us. :(

I'm not aware of any special schools for Autistic kids in our area. Not really sure that's what our little one needs at this point. When they are high-functioning it's such a hard call. Leave them in a regular class where they may feel too stressed or put them in special ed where they might not get as much opportunity to learn? Ours will be in 1st grade next year and is going mainstream, no more time in the special ed room. Although I insisted that the IEP include her being able to go to the special ed room or to the counselor when she gets overwhelmed and needs some quiet time to get back into her zone.

Our family therapist can't decide what to think about me. On one hand I have done a great deal of research into reurological disorders in the last 4 years - probably know more than he does actually. But on the other hand I have bad ADHD (possibly something worse, have never been dx) and I drive him batty. ;) On top of that I have (un-dx) SID and go ballistic when too much noise drives me over the edge. Which can be scary for anyone within 3 blocks of me. :weirdsmil

Although he has been very understanding of the problems I have with the stinky candles they burn in the office he uses in our town (he actually lives and works most of the week about 25 miles from here).

[WitchOfEndor]

This year has been very difficult for us. Poor Katie has been so badly treated by her peers & under so much pressure socially that she's started coming home, putting on her PJs & refusing to go anywhere. No amount of begging or bribing will change her mind. I'm trying to get her moved to the Autistic school for her mental health's sake. I thought Katie may be SID when she was younger. They say that if one has a Neuro issue, they more than likely have other issues as well. She's also has Anxiety disorder. I guess these problems tend to go hand in hand.
I am thinking of homeschooling Katie if I can't get her into the Autistic school. There is no way in hell she is attending the High School here. It's far too crowded & a very bad gang element has reared it's head there & we live in the suburbs. Just goes to show you, the gang,ghetto violent culture has become the "in thing". I moved out of Detroit to get away from it & it followed me. :(

[GEBS]

I'm not aware of any special schools for Autistic kids in our area. Not really sure that's what our little one needs at this point. When they are high-functioning it's such a hard call. Leave them in a regular class where they may feel too stressed or put them in special ed where they might not get as much opportunity to learn? Ours will be in 1st grade next year and is going mainstream, no more time in the special ed room. Although I insisted that the IEP include her being able to go to the special ed room or to the counselor when she gets overwhelmed and needs some quiet time to get back into her zone.


We have Trey in normal school. He has a resource class at the start of the day. It is only 5 or 6 kids. They work on learning how to make and keep friends. The rest of the day is spent in classes that give extra direction and redirection. He is in 6th grade but he scores 80% on a 4th grade level. We have an agreement with the school that he can leave class at any time to go to the resource teacher if he needs to. He gets very angry at times. The resource teacher works with him to control his emotions. The resource teacher also is in contact with Trey's therapist to make sure that everyone is aware of his emotions and actions.

We have a pretty good plan with the school to make Trey comfortable. I am very pleased with them.

Trey has Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD.

[WitchOfEndor]

I've had to fight with the middle school to even get the ball rolling on getting help for Katie. Aspie girls usually act totally opposite to Boy Aspies. Girls are very passive, put on a happy face & suffer in silence. The head of special ed in our city was baffled about my request to get katie tested & put into the special school because she does excellent in academics & does'nt "act out". As long as it was'nt a bother to them, they did'nt see the need to help her. The poor girl is sinking into depression & retreating into herself but it's not a bother to them. Grrrrr This woman is so abrasive & sure does'nt seem to have clue . I have to meet her in a few weeks at my other daughter's IEP. Gonna have to put my mind in a happy place or it may not end pretty. LOL Even the teachers,councellors & therapists were taken aback by this womans behaviour. Gods give me strength!

[GEBS]

Wow. I definitely feel for you. That makes me even more grateful that we are in the district we are in. Trey doesn't have many friends (only 1) but he has a lot of support and resources. I'm very sorry Katie isn't getting what she needs.

[Lunacie]

I really don't know whether there is a lot of overlap between different neurologic disorders, or whether it's one all-compassing disorder with different labels for the different symptoms.

Kinda like when you have the flu you may have a fever, body ache, and a cough - what if all those things had their own diagnosis instead of someone realizing that they all symptoms of the same virus?

I'm hoping when Nove'Mber is older she'll be able to realize that she's getting frustrated and angry and needs to take a break herself, instead - no as well as having the teacher or the para notice she's getting overwhelmed and is heading for a meltdown. But I still don't realize I'm on that path myself until my volcano blows, so I don't know how Trey manages to know himself well enough to know when to take a break. But good on him!

We were really pleased with our school last year and the way they stepped up to getting Nove an IEP, even before she had a diagnosis. But this year we have a new principal and she's not as good at providing for the special needs kids. Fortunately we have an excellent special ed teacher who is is planning to follow Nove next year and work with her inside the classroom, she's been a marvelous help to all of us.

It's so frustrating getting help for Katlin though. She's a gifted child and also scores ahead of her class in several subjects - but struggles really hard in a couple of others. And she tries so damn hard to please that none of her teachers really see what a struggle it is for her at times.

WoE, it sounds like our Katlin and your Katie are very much alike, eh?

You may want to look into getting some support in getting help from the school for your Katie. Here in Kansas we have a group called Families Together that has volunteers who can stay neutral and calm and help to explain to the schools that these kids do need special testing, do need an IEP, and are working twice as hard to keep up as the rest of the kids in the class - all the while feeling like social outcasts. Good luck WoE. :hugz:

And check out the link - there is some good information being shared, and some wonderfully supportive people running this radio program.

[GEBS]

I'm hoping when Nove'Mber is older she'll be able to realize that she's getting frustrated and angry and needs to take a break herself, instead - no as well as having the teacher or the para notice she's getting overwhelmed and is heading for a meltdown. But I still don't realize I'm on that path myself until my volcano blows, so I don't know how Trey manages to know himself well enough to know when to take a break. But good on him!

We talk a lot. When he is acting a certain way we ask him how he is feeling. We tell him to remember that feeling. When he tells us we explain to him that when he is feeling that way it is time for a break. We point out things to him all the time. When he says or does something inappropriate we tell him "Trey, that's something you should not do in school or outside of our house. Other people will think/react this way." We also tell him "Trey, when you do/say that people will think this. We are your family. We know and love you. We know you don't mean that. Other people do not. So keep that comment/behavior in our house." It feels like we are always identifying behavior for him. It's gotten easier over time but we do still have to reinforce it.

Because Trey has such a love of computers I relate everything to them. It sounds weird but it's how I make him understand. When he is angry or acting out I tell him he needs to run his spyware program. It triggers him to stop what he's doing and think about how he is acting. When he has a total meltdown I tell him he's got the Blue Screen of Death. He knows that means he needs to reboot. He goes to him room and calms down. It's odd but it works for us :)

[Lunacie]

We talk a lot. When he is acting a certain way we ask him how he is feeling. We tell him to remember that feeling. When he tells us we explain to him that when he is feeling that way it is time for a break. We point out things to him all the time. When he says or does something inappropriate we tell him "Trey, that's something you should not do in school or outside of our house. Other people will think/react this way." We also tell him "Trey, when you do/say that people will think this. We are your family. We know and love you. We know you don't mean that. Other people do not. So keep that comment/behavior in our house." It feels like we are always identifying behavior for him. It's gotten easier over time but we do still have to reinforce it.

Because Trey has such a love of computers I relate everything to them. It sounds weird but it's how I make him understand. When he is angry or acting out I tell him he needs to run his spyware program. It triggers him to stop what he's doing and think about how he is acting. When he has a total meltdown I tell him he's got the Blue Screen of Death. He knows that means he needs to reboot. He goes to him room and calms down. It's odd but it works for us :)

That's awesome, glad that works for you. I don't think at this point that Nove would be able to make that connection between how she is feeling and how she is behaving. I forget what the therapist calls it, but she tends to mix several things together that have no apparent connection at all.

Nove is really starting to enjoy her computer time, but she's only 6 and she doesn't really understand about rebooting - but I love that explanation.

She was starting a meltdown the other night as her mom was fixing supper. She insisted she wanted a certain snack instead of waiting for maybe 10 minutes until supper was ready. She was really loosing it. I told her she needed to go outside and let mom finish cooking. She didn't like that, but she knows there is no arguing with Gramma. I told her she could come back inside when she was feeling calmer.

She walked around the side of the house and pouted for maybe a minute, then walked back past me saying, "Okay, I'm calm now." Didn't look very calm to me, so I told her to wait a few more minutes. Which of course made her very upset all over again. At the time I thought that was proof that she wasn't really feeling calm yet, but thinking about it later I realized I should have said, "I'm glad you're feeling calmer" and let her go back in the house.

If she had started throwing a fit over wanting that snack again, I could have quietly said, "I guess you need a little more time outside to get calm. Come on, let's go outside." Doing that three or four times would probably have helped her learn more about calming herself than my making her wait and just getting more frustrated and unhappy. Live and learn, eh?



Did your schools let everyone who comes in contact with your kiddo know that he/she was a special needs kid and might need a little extra help at times?

We didn't realize until last week that our bus driver had not been told, even though I made of point of letting the principal know at the beginning of the school year that we didn't want to see a repeat of the mixup from last year - substitute teacher put her on the wrong bus, which had a substitute driver that day, so the driver didn't catch the mix up either. Not the first time there had been a substitute driver, so Nove wasn't too worried about that. Don't know if she realized that it was a different bunch of kids on the bus or not? Her big sister thought maybe she had gotten sick and we'd taken her out of school early.

Scared the bejeebers out of all of us, but the new principal didn't seem to think it was anything to be concerned about. Our bus driver is retiring next month, so next year we will make a point of talking to the new bus driver and making sure that she or he understands the issues that are involved.

[WitchOfEndor]

My girl is the total opposite, she's so passive, takes everything in & lets it just fester. I do wish sometimes she would act out, just to relieve some of the pressure. I worry so much that she is so injured emotionally but she hardly complains & does'nt want to worry anybody.

[GEBS]

I don't think at this point that Nove would be able to make that connection between how she is feeling and how she is behaving.

She is quite a bit younger than Trey so I am not surprised that she couldn't make the connection yet. It is something to keep in mind for when she is a little older though. Identifying the feelings and actions for him instead of expecting him to know what they are was one of the best things we did for him. It helps him understand when the teachers says that something is not appropriate for school. Before he was thinking she meant some other behavior because that's the part that caught his attention.


If she had started throwing a fit over wanting that snack again, I could have quietly said, "I guess you need a little more time outside to get calm. Come on, let's go outside." Doing that three or four times would probably have helped her learn more about calming herself than my making her wait and just getting more frustrated and unhappy. Live and learn, eh?

That sounds like a great way to handle it. Live and Learn - absolutely. I never know what to expect from a situation. I usually find four or five ways NOT to handle a situation before I figure out what works best for us. :)

I remind myself that we are learning just as much as Trey is. I can't expect myself to know what to do in every situation the same way I can't expect any of the kids to know. We learn together. :smile:



substitute teacher put her on the wrong bus, which had a substitute driver that day, so the driver didn't catch the mix up either.

I don't know if it's possible in their school but I have Brando meet Trey in a designated spot every day after school so that Trey never gets on the wrong bus. Even though I love the school I don't trust them with everything. I feel better knowing that Trey has a big brother waiting for him, guiding him. It also helps Trey with being picked on. He gets picked on a lot. When it happens after school Brando is there to take up for him. It doesn't happen anymore.

[GEBS]

My girl is the total opposite, she's so passive, takes everything in & lets it just fester. I do wish sometimes she would act out, just to relieve some of the pressure. I worry so much that she is so injured emotionally but she hardly complains & does'nt want to worry anybody.


That makes me sad for her. :hugz:


How come we don't have a special needs subforum somewhere? Do we have enough parents of special needs kids to have one? I must investigate!

[SphinYote]

...but she tends to mix several things together that have no apparent connection at all.

This is interesting. I don't know if for her it might be similar, but for me my thoughts race, and things occasionally get oddly connected.

In other instances I've read, when they talk about sensory distortions and cascade reactions, its like a switch that is turned on and off, for some of us, and there's no in between. Moodwise and sensory wise it makes a kind of sense, but I wonder if the same can be said for certain types of brain activity in general--filtering doesn't work right for mood or senses, what about certain types of thought processes, categorizations, correspondances?

Also, what about metaphoric connections? There's a weird disjoining in the literature that talks about people with autism and aspergers on the one hand being extremely literal in interpretations and meaning, but on the other hand sometmes in the same case study of the same person, they talk about the person using metaphors, the specific examples I'm thinking of are memorized lines from films or lyrics from songs, to refer to specific moods, desires, feelings. In a lot of cases these things were initially thought to be random, not really connected to the kid's reality because the parent, psychologist, caretaker wasn't seeing the pattern.

On a possibly related and possibly entirely different note, and also more extreme form, when my grandma kept having mini-strokes, we often had to listen to what she said, but think of parellel/associational meanings to carry on a conversation. It wasn't that she was getting senile and forgetting who and where she was, but rather that the correct words wouldn't be getting through. For example she was in the nursing home and she'd keep referring to the "alley" that she'd go down to get to the dining area and other people's "houses". This was true when she was living in her house, and her house didn't have a hallway so it wasn't a word she had frequently used before. She knew perfectly well where she was (in the nursing home), she just couldn't generate the right words--"Hallway" as opposed to "alley" and "room" as opposed to "house". In refering to one of her daughters on the phone she'd say "mother" not because she really thought her daughter was her mother, but if you actually knew the ritual of the phone call, the daughter she was talking to would alwats refer to her as mother when she answered. SO when grandma called her, it was the first word that popped into her head.

I know that sometimes, especially with more subtle things, I'm the same way. A related word, but one not quite conveyin what I'm trying to say, will pop into my head and all too often out of my mouth. I'm known to say "Yesterday I will do this" instead of "tomorrow I will do this..."

Weirdly, I've occasionally done the pronoun reversal thing when I'm really phased out, too, even though I've never had any chronic problems...I'm still not sure in my case that's anything other than a freudian slip of some sort, but it is interesting to read of how common that language issue is in people with higher functioning autism....

Might be worth it to try thinking laterally to see if there's a pattern to the way she puts seemingly unrelated things together.

Yote

[WitchOfEndor]

Good idea Gebs! :) Especially since the rate of dx of Autism & other diabilities, it could be quite a service to Parents new to all this. I know I felt horribly alone & frustrated when we had dx's for Katie & then Charlotte.

[Lunacie]

She is quite a bit younger than Trey so I am not surprised that she couldn't make the connection yet. It is something to keep in mind for when she is a little older though. Identifying the feelings and actions for him instead of expecting him to know what they are was one of the best things we did for him. It helps him understand when the teachers says that something is not appropriate for school. Before he was thinking she meant some other behavior because that's the part that caught his attention.

Yep, time can be very disjointed for us, and if we are distracted by something we can lose track of what we were doing or talking about before. So to get in trouble for something, we naturally think of the last thing we just did.




That sounds like a great way to handle it. Live and Learn - absolutely. I never know what to expect from a situation. I usually find four or five ways NOT to handle a situation before I figure out what works best for us. :)

I remind myself that we are learning just as much as Trey is. I can't expect myself to know what to do in every situation the same way I can't expect any of the kids to know. We learn together. :smile:

Sometimes I beat myself up because I've already raised one kid, and did a pretty good job at it, but these girls are each different from their mom and from each other, so there's not a lot that worked before that works now.

And with their mom, I was the one who raised her. Her dad worked night shift so nearly everything around the house was up to me. But now we are trying to work together (my daughter and I) and we don't always agree on how to handle them. And of course, I never got any practice at discussing it before just laying down my law so I just automatically go into "parent mode" all by msyelf.




I don't know if it's possible in their school but I have Brando meet Trey in a designated spot every day after school so that Trey never gets on the wrong bus. Even though I love the school I don't trust them with everything. I feel better knowing that Trey has a big brother waiting for him, guiding him. It also helps Trey with being picked on. He gets picked on a lot. When it happens after school Brando is there to take up for him. It doesn't happen anymore.

I don't know if that is possible either. The little kids get out of class first and line up for the bus or go ahead and get on the bus before the older kids get out of class and head for the door. Nove'Mber is in Kindergarten and Katlin is in 4th grade. Only one more year togethr before Katlin goes off to middle school, and then Nove will really be on her own.

[Lunacie]

That makes me sad for her. :hugz:


How come we don't have a special needs subforum somewhere? Do we have enough parents of special needs kids to have one? I must investigate!

Love the idea! :boing:

Not just parents of special needs kids, but people who have neuro issues themselves. I've talked to a lot of members who also have ADHD, or BiPolar, or Anxiety disorder...

[Lunacie]

This is interesting. I don't know if for her it might be similar, but for me my thoughts race, and things occasionally get oddly connected.

In other instances I've read, when they talk about sensory distortions and cascade reactions, its like a switch that is turned on and off, for some of us, and there's no in between. Moodwise and sensory wise it makes a kind of sense, but I wonder if the same can be said for certain types of brain activity in general--filtering doesn't work right for mood or senses, what about certain types of thought processes, categorizations, correspondances?

Also, what about metaphoric connections? There's a weird disjoining in the literature that talks about people with autism and aspergers on the one hand being extremely literal in interpretations and meaning, but on the other hand sometmes in the same case study of the same person, they talk about the person using metaphors, the specific examples I'm thinking of are memorized lines from films or lyrics from songs, to refer to specific moods, desires, feelings. In a lot of cases these things were initially thought to be random, not really connected to the kid's reality because the parent, psychologist, caretaker wasn't seeing the pattern.

On a possibly related and possibly entirely different note, and also more extreme form, when my grandma kept having mini-strokes, we often had to listen to what she said, but think of parellel/associational meanings to carry on a conversation. It wasn't that she was getting senile and forgetting who and where she was, but rather that the correct words wouldn't be getting through. For example she was in the nursing home and she'd keep referring to the "alley" that she'd go down to get to the dining area and other people's "houses". This was true when she was living in her house, and her house didn't have a hallway so it wasn't a word she had frequently used before. She knew perfectly well where she was (in the nursing home), she just couldn't generate the right words--"Hallway" as opposed to "alley" and "room" as opposed to "house". In refering to one of her daughters on the phone she'd say "mother" not because she really thought her daughter was her mother, but if you actually knew the ritual of the phone call, the daughter she was talking to would alwats refer to her as mother when she answered. SO when grandma called her, it was the first word that popped into her head.

I know that sometimes, especially with more subtle things, I'm the same way. A related word, but one not quite conveyin what I'm trying to say, will pop into my head and all too often out of my mouth. I'm known to say "Yesterday I will do this" instead of "tomorrow I will do this..."

Weirdly, I've occasionally done the pronoun reversal thing when I'm really phased out, too, even though I've never had any chronic problems...I'm still not sure in my case that's anything other than a freudian slip of some sort, but it is interesting to read of how common that language issue is in people with higher functioning autism....

Might be worth it to try thinking laterally to see if there's a pattern to the way she puts seemingly unrelated things together.

Yote

Oooh, interesting thoughts. I know that Katlin (the oldest) is very literal, as I tend to be myself. But Nove is young enough that make believe is still pretty real to her at times. And as I mentioned in my last post - time is often a jumble for us, so it can be difficult to explain that something we connect with what happened today actually happened three days ago. To us there is a clear connection, but to others...

I think I have read about some Autists having that parallel connection thing, but that doesn't seem to be what's happening with Nove. Perhaps in time we will be able to communicate with her better, and she'll be able to communicate with us. Seems strange that this is even an issues when some Autists don't talk at all, and at least she talks.

She is finally starting to be able to tell us when she is hurting or feels sick. We never knew before if she wasn't even aware of it on a conscious level herself, or if she just didn't know how to tell us. A lot of it is still guesswork and I hope we don't give her too much tylenol just because she's cranky and seems to be hurting. But with the family history of migraines and the fact that she seems to get cranky on the same days I have a headache, I gotta wonder.

[cheddarsox]

Hugs, I have a son with Asperger's, and wish I'd had an online group like this when I was raising him

He's 21 now, and married. He has a full time job at an auto factory, and is planning to return to college to study biology in one year.

But I SOOOO relate to the things I read here.

The middle school years were the hardest.

cheddar

[Lunacie]

Hugs, I have a son with Asperger's, and wish I'd had an online group like this when I was raising him

He's 21 now, and married. He has a full time job at an auto factory, and is planning to return to college to study biology in one year.

But I SOOOO relate to the things I read here.

The middle school years were the hardest.

cheddar

Congratulations on giving your son the stability to finish school, go on to college, and hold a full time job. That's awesome. :thumbsup:

That middle school is hardest fits with what I've been reading. It's when kids really begin to be social critters and start looking for their own kind - and often being mean to those who seem different to them. And when things get really confusing with transitioning from one classroom to another, from one teacher and teaching style to another.

My oldest granddaughter (ADHD) only has one more year in the lower grades, and then she will switch to middle school. She already feels like she doesn't have any friends and like some of the kids (mostly boys) make fun of her. She is taking TaeKwanDo so she can deal with it if someone is physically mean to her, but how does she learn to deal with the emotional blows?

Also worried about the younger one (Autistic) who will be switching from half-day kindergarten to full-day first grade in the fall. Yesterday was Visitation Day at kindergarten so the kindergarten kids stayed home while the younger ones had a chance to see what school will be like. So the mommy and I took the 6 year old out for the day and were really able to watch her go from being "on" and connected and interacting during the morning to getting tired or overloaded by lunch time and back to whining and talking baby talk to herself instead of interacting and making conversation. What will all day school be like for her if she "crashes" in the afternoon?

[WitchOfEndor]

How wonderful cheddarsox & thank you for sharing , you give me hope for my girls. My 13 year old daughter is Aspergers & Middle school has been nightmarish. She's doing wonderfully academically but socially, she does'nt "get" the other kids & feels so pressured by all the social stuff & kids at this age are so damn cruel. She's taken to coming home puttin on her PJs & refusing to go anywhere. ~sigh~ I feel so bad for her.

Thanks again for giving me some hope. Your son sounds like he's done wonderfully. :hugz:

[cheddarsox]

Do you have much of a home school network in your area?

I didn't homeschool mine, but I taught home schoolers science for 16 years and worked with a number of co-ops. Over the years I had some Aspergers kids, well, kids of all types and learning styles. The smaller classes, and fact that there were other "quirky" families, I think helped a bit.

I rarely had a child that didn't somehow get worked into a group of friends. And because of some Asperger quirks, they usually had a chance to shine from time to time.

My son actually liked high school, because by the time they get that age, being unique and having skill and expertise in an area is "cool", not so nerdy. His high school was large, and he found some kids to hang with. Also his high school did "block" style scheduling, where they'd only have two or three classes a day, but very long classes. Less changes and a chance to focus on one subject. I think that suited him well.

But looking back, I seriously wish I'd done home school with him for middle school.

My son's wife is a strong personality, which is good for him. She takes care of the family budget, and some of the areas that he is lackadaisical in.

Funny thing, he is very sensitive. Which people think autistic people are not, but they are. Hypersensitive to stimuli, of course, but also very sensitive as people. They might not express it like most, but they feel it. And their hypersensitivity to other stimuli really exhausts them. Middle school years, they have so much stimuli coming from both inside and outside...I completely understand your daughter coming home, pj on, and hiding for the rest of the day. I want to do that myself so many days!

cheddar

[WitchOfEndor]

My daughter does'nt show her emotions, she keeps them to herself but I know she's very sensitive too. I was thinking of homeschooling in High School as our school is incredibly over crowded & next year they move to a tri mester system. I fear that may be way too much pressure on my Katie.