Janice - Re: New member with 6 y.o son...Aspergers/PDD

[Guest guest]

Hi Janice. I am new to this group to. My name is Kathy. I live in NY. My son was diagnosed at age 6 with PDD. He is now 16 soon to be 17. I think the first thing you should do is get a note from the doctor stating what your son's diagnosis is and a letter for his recommedations for schooling. Then contact the committee of special education in your school district and have his classification changed. They may already have him down as multiply handicapped or something else. Your son needs to be in a program with trained staff who know how to help your son and who will be able to meet his educational needs and goals.

Have you thought about the gfcf diet too? I have heard some say that it has really helped their children alot. I have my son on a healthy diet and do limit gluten and wheat and keep him away from processed foods and have noticed that he behaves better when I do this. He does not consume dairy due to health reasons.

I remember when I heard those words PDD, Autism. It was very hard on me. Am here if you need to talk.

kathy

-- New member with 6 y.o son...Aspergers/PDD

Hello. I am the mother of three children: Two daughters who are ten and twelve. They are "Easy" children without any diagnoses. Then there is my wonderful, amazing, loving, yet challenging son Elijah who is six years old who was diagnosed at the age of three with Bipolar and ADHD. From the time he was born he had sensory issues. He could not suck his bottle and the nurses had to teach him. When he was one day old they tried about four times to get his newborn picture, but each time they would shine that light over his face he cried loudly. It really bothered him. I told them to just take it anyways so I have a grouchy face newborn picture. Even as an infant he was very easily overstimulated by noise, lights, crowds, cold or hot food, certain clothing, certain foods, etc. All his food to this day needs to be luke warm and bland. When he was a baby he would just scream until it was quiet, the lights were dim, and he was comfortable. He never crawled, but made his own scootch. He talked on time, as well as did most other things on schedule. He has had some minor delays, but nothing that got anyones attention as being concerning. He was very bright too. From the time he was one years old he could undo all the child proof things. He has always loved to take apart his toys and see how they look inside and put them back together again. He was a head banger and rocked back and forth when he was younger. He stopped the banging, but still rocks side to side sometimes. He has always had major issues with understanding facial expressions, when people are upset, and how his actions make others feel. He has always looked very confused in this world he lives in. He has always had major issues with agression and social skills too. When he was one he began to bite and things got worse from there as far as agression goes. When he was three he was kicked out of headstart due to being a safety issue for the other children. We were blessed to find a wonderful daycare for him that he went to from the age of four until he began kindergarten this year. She did an excellent job of accomodating him even getting him a one on one aid through state funding. We were sad to leave her. Once the school year began we realized that not everyone would deal with him as good as she did. I had to fight to get his IEP. He has been suspended five times already this year. The school has diagnosed Elijah with Sensory Processing Disorder. Elijah has been on meds since he was three for his bipolar, and even the professionals (therapists, psychiatrists) do not know what to do with him sometimes. We found a new psychiatrist at a major teaching hospital in our state about two months ago. He was the first to ever mention to me that he believed Elijah has high functioning PDD. Last week there were circumstances that Elijah needed to be admitted to a psychiatric children's unit. There they have diagnosed him with Aspergers. He scored 208 out of 238 on the Sohn Greyson Scale. That is in the very high range. All my life something has brought me to study Autism. Also I worked with Autistic children at a home for medically fragile children in the past for about three years. They were very Autistic though, could not talk etc. Then at a preschool I worked at one of the little boys there was PDD and I saw similarities in how Elijah behaves and this boy when I think back to him. I have researched it alot online and Elijah definetly fits the profile and symptoms, but is definetly high functioning. I am looking for support in this new diagnosis, as well as information about it from the ones who know it best... the parents who raise them. I wonder if he will be entitled to new accomodations at school and in the community with this new diagnosis, and will gladly welcome any advice that others have.

Elijah often is agressive with others, especially the children and adults who he cares about. The children he has always been agressive with are the ones he says are his friends. He clearly does not understand social skills and how his actions make others feel. He often runs out of stores in rages, acts up plus unbuckles in the van, still is very sensitive to sensory stimulation etc.

Janice