My son is autistic and hyperlexic. I see a lot of myself in him. We excel in what we are very good at but have little time for that which we find dull/mundane. I never sought diagnosis myself but was very clever, very young but only in matters of interest to me, which did not involve the everyday life skills. My son and I understand each other on a level others don’t and I am helping him to get his head around the bits of life that do not come easily to us, not least the practical side of life. It’s a life’s work but hugely rewarding along the way. I have no doubt that there are many undiagnosed autistic adults doing the best they can without fully understanding their different wiring.
An update- I used the 'Right to Choose' pathway via NHS and completed my assessment on Thursday. Officially autistic! If anyone does want to go down the same route more than happy to answer any questions. Understand myself now better than I ever have
Glad you've got the diagnosis and that it's helpful to you.. That was quick, I understood there to be a long wait time for assessment under the NHS..
If you go via right to choose it can be a lot quicker. I've been quite lucky really but I went via Psychiatry UK and they give you a letter on their website that you can download and give to your GP to set the ball rolling.
My family is convinced that my grandson is autistic but try as we might we can't get a diagnosis. The more I look into autism the more convinced I am that the neurodiverse have the right perspective on things and it's the neuro so-called typical who have it all wrong.
Gentle reminder, as a parent of two autistic kids, that there is a lot of help out there if you fight for it. Disability allowance, EHCPs for education, access theatre tickets, special theme park tickets. Make sure you build a life around the condition rather than meekly suffering with it.
Pretty sure my daughter suffers from it but she doesn't want testing - managed to get a first-class degree in buisness management so it hasn't affected her academically but doesn't cope well in social situations.
I had an employee for a few years who had ADHD (20 or so years younger than me) and through talking to him I realised that it might explain a lot about the issues that I've had throughout my life! When I was a kid, ADHD was still pretty much used as shorthand for general naughtiness, and I was well-behaved and good at school (although with an infuriating tendency to never do my homework). I don't think pursuing a formal diagnosis is worth it for me, but I feel like the little bits of research I've done into it has really helped me to understand myself a bit more. The hard part is controlling the instinct to put down every bout of general Sunday-afternoon laziness to my magical self-diagnosed cause!
This. Grab everything you can. Make use of every resource. For instance, if you can't avoid taking them shopping and it's something they struggle with look for the days that the shops have sensory sessions. The Aldi in Royston turns off the in store music, removes the beeps from the tills and doesn't stock shelves etc for two hours one evening a week. This would have been ideal when my kids were little, removing a few of these things that can cause upset makes the shopping trip just that little bit more bearable. CEA card. Get one. Basically means that when going to the cinema the autistic individual has to purchase their ticket but the carer/adult accompanying them gets in for free. No discount on the popcorn unfortunately. Most theme parks allow access to the fast pass queue for free with proof of diagnosis. There's the lanyards with the sunflowers on them that notify staff in a lot of places (shopping centres, airports etc) to be a little more aware and forgiving of potential behaviour issues. Aside from that build coping mechanisms around things. My son literally couldn't cope with Christmas. He never slept well but in the run up to Christmas he was on a whole other level. One year I literally got him to sleep at 3:30, got the gifts under the tree and crawled into bed at 4am only to be up at 5:15. I spent the day almost comatose while he just carried on as normal. We learned that starting the build up to Christmas earlier and building gently throughout the month (putting decorations up earlier, starting to watch Christmas movies, playing songs in the car etc) normalised it a bit and meant we were able to have a much calmer time when it actually arrived. Similar process for events - going on holiday? Start planning the journey and involve them, make playlists for the car etc Being non-neurotypical shouldn't have to ruin anyone's lives. People just need to be more understanding and accept the differences.
like another poster in this thread I am a father of two Autistic children. This post made me tear up a little- it’s the simple things isn’t it. And may I say absolutely spot on mate!
George is on the Spectrum too. It doesn't matter if he's on the Amiga 500 or Windows Xp. Love is all that matters.
Have realised in the last few years that my mum is autistic. Been really helpful in improving our communication. She's hugely productive, but socially a little awkward and has zero ability to talk about, listen to, or show interest in any concept where she can't relate. I took her to Spain last year and she can't stop talking about it - loves to travel. But if I try and tell her about my trip to Croatia, where she's never visited, she can't even pretend to feign interest. We're quite different, but the older I get, the more I can see myself in her. We are all very much on a spectrum and what a boring world it would be if we weren't.
10 year old son was diagnosed in June 2022, had a nightmare with school trying to accept the diagnosis. Even the senco teacher was of no help, she actually said to my wife why would you want to label your child. Fighting for the EHCP again same teacher, saying it's no point in trying because they keep getting turned down but we've been told it's very easy to overturn. Comes down to money, which is it's granted means they have to give him more one to one and spare a teacher. How do you go about getting the theatre and theme park tickets?
For theatre tickets, just search the website for access tickets/arrangement. You usually have to provide evidence (e.g DLA award) and then you specify what you need (e.g aisle seats, quiet performance). Give the venue a ring if you can find owt. UK theme parks are the same but you often do it on the day and get jump-the-queue privileges. US theme parks don’t require any evidence but don’t advertise the fact so the service isn’t abused. Keep fighting the EHCP
Cheers bud. We won't stop fighting, we want it in place before high school because he will struggle big time if it isn't
