confused and scared

[Guest guest]

It does get better!! if that teacher does not understand aspergers, When you go

to the CSE meeting. Ask them to train her, or asked for someone that is already

trained with aspergers. Some schools have a parent support group. See if your

school has one. The more you understand about aspergers, the easier it would be

for you to understand it, and you can teach him better. you are already doing

a lot. you already took him for testing, and that's the first step. like

others had said, take baby steps. When you talk to others, sometimes their

advice helps alot. some states have a support group that you can go to. Keep

asking questions. I always ask a lot of questions and I drive the people crazy,

trying to find out about aspergers. lol. I'm still trying to learn more. I

bet in a few weeks, you would be giving us advice. I was also confused, because

when I read a book on aspergers, not everything applied to my son. teachers

would tell me he's a boy, all boys act like that.

some doctors didn't even know what aspergers was. I woundered if it was

aspergers. was it from moving? was he just being a boy? Now after asking

questions and speaking to a lot of people, I know he has aspergers. Good luck.

justdanecrazy00 <JustDaneCrazy@...> wrote: We recently received a tentative

diagnosis of Aspergers for our 7

year old son. I had never heard of it before. I have scoured online

for information about the syndrome and some of it seems to fit my

child but some of it does not.

He has always been an introvert in a family of extroverts. He is

quite and shy. He has done odd things socially and occasionally

blurts out inappropriate things at inappropriate times. He wants to

play with children but ends up being cast aside which leads to more

isolation and lonliness. He plays on the outside of the group of

children or along side a single child. He was described by his

current teacher as " wierd " and she also stated that he baffles her.

She stated she has never met a child like him. He is fixated on

cars/trucks and will play with them for hours on end. He is fixated

with video games. He has a hard time holding a conversation without

talking about one of these two things.

He does not however have outbursts that some describe. He is quiet

and sensitive. He recently started slamming his door when he is

angry and I have let him do this because some emotion out of this

child was better than none but I do not consider this a melt down or

an outburst. He makes fair eye contact, not great to strangers but

good to his family. We are a gypsy type of family (military) and we

move a lot and he seems to adjust to it fairly well. We moved three

months ago and he did sob for about an hour when we told him but I

thought this was normal. It takes him a long time to find friends

and we thought he was upset about this aspect. His father is

deployed a lot and is currently out of the country and has been for

5 months. He seems to do okay with this as long as he has me.

I have always been told by family and friends that I babied him to

much and I thought maybe he acted this way because I did that. I

thought maybe I did not socialize him enough. I thought maybe that

because he was the youngest of four children and quiet that I

overlooked him to much. His sisters are loud and demanding and he is

quiet and in the background and the loud gets the attention first

around here. There was always a sneaking feeling in the back that

something was not right with our son but I would tell myself that I

need to get him out more. That I need to not let him spend so much

time in his room, that once I buckled down and found the time that I

would lift him up out of that world he lived in.

I bought The Asperger Syndrome book that was recommended to me by

the psychiatrist. That was hard to do. It still sits on my passenger

seat of my van. As if reading it will make it real and right now I

just want to delay facing any fact that our son may be different,

just for a moment or two. I feel like I planned a trip to Hawaii

and got on the plane and someone diverted it to the North Pole and

forgot to tell me.

I have teachers and school counselors talking about IEP's and

testing and special education classrooms and I am frozen with fear.

I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what steps to take for the

sake of my child. If his teacher has never seen a child like my son

how in the world will they help him at school? How do I know they

are doing the right thing by him? How will they establish anything

when a difinitive diagnosis has yet to be made?

I am a little worried that I may be posting to the wrong group. I

read a couple posts last night and one said something about

Asperger's being a gift from God and I don't feel this way. I am

devestated that he might struggle through his life. So if I am in

the wrong spot would someone please tell me so and maybe where I

should be?

I am overwhelmed, I am scared and I am so sad that he may be an

Asperger child.

Sorry to ramble on but I do feel a little better. Maybe I will go

get the book off the front seat of the car and bring it inside and

put it on the table.

Thank you for having a place that allowed me to say all this.

[Guest guest]

Hi all, It's really normal for you for be confused in WI. Thanks,

Re: ( ) Confused and Scared

It does get better!! if that teacher does not understand aspergers, When you

go to the CSE meeting. Ask them to train her, or asked for someone that is

already trained with aspergers. Some schools have a parent support group. See

if your school has one. The more you understand about aspergers, the easier it

would be for you to understand it, and you can teach him better. you are

already doing a lot. you already took him for testing, and that's the first

step. like others had said, take baby steps. When you talk to others,

sometimes their advice helps alot. some states have a support group that you

can go to. Keep asking questions. I always ask a lot of questions and I drive

the people crazy, trying to find out about aspergers. lol. I'm still trying to

learn more. I bet in a few weeks, you would be giving us advice. I was also

confused, because when I read a book on aspergers, not everythin some doctors

didn't even know what aspergers was. I woundered if it was aspergers. was it

from moving? was he just being a boy? Now after asking questions and speaking to

a lot of people, I know he has aspergers. Good luck. justdanecrazy00

<JustDaneCrazy@...> wrote: We recently received a tentative diagnosis of

Aspergers for our 7

year old son. I had never heard of it before. I have scoured online

for information about the syndrome and some of it seems to fit my

child but some of it does not.

He has always been an introvert in a family of extroverts. He is

quite and shy. He has done odd things socially and occasionally

blurts out inappropriate things at inappropriate times. He wants to

play with children but ends up being cast aside which leads to more

isolation and lonliness. He plays on the outside of the group of

children or along side a single child. He was described by his

current teacher as " wierd " and she also stated that he baffles her.

She stated she has never met a child like him. He is fixated on

cars/trucks and will play with them for hours on end. He is fixated

with video games. He has a hard time holding a conversation without

talking about one of these two things.

He does not however have outbursts that some describe. He is quiet

and sensitive. He recently started slamming his door when he is

angry and I have let him do this because some emotion out of this

child was better than none but I do not consider this a melt down or

an outburst. He makes fair eye contact, not great to strangers but

good to his family. We are a gypsy type of family (military) and we

move a lot and he seems to adjust to it fairly well. We moved three

months ago and he did sob for about an hour when we told him but I

thought this was normal. It takes him a long time to find friends

and we thought he was upset about this aspect. His father is

deployed a lot and is currently out of the country and has been for

5 months. He seems to do okay with this as long as he has me.

I have always been told by family and friends that I babied him to

much and I thought maybe he acted this way because I did that. I

thought maybe I did not socialize him enough. I thought maybe that

because he was the youngest of four children and quiet that I

overlooked him to much. His sisters are loud and demanding and he is

quiet and in the background and the loud gets the attention first

around here. There was always a sneaking feeling in the back that

something was not right with our son but I would tell myself that I

need to get him out more. That I need to not let him spend so much

time in his room, that once I buckled down and found the time that I

would lift him up out of that world he lived in.

I bought The Asperger Syndrome book that was recommended to me by

the psychiatrist. That was hard to do. It still sits on my passenger

seat of my van. As if reading it will make it real and right now I

just want to delay facing any fact that our son may be different,

just for a moment or two. I feel like I planned a trip to Hawaii

and got on the plane and someone diverted it to the North Pole and

forgot to tell me.

I have teachers and school counselors talking about IEP's and

testing and special education classrooms and I am frozen with fear.

I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what steps to take for the

sake of my child. If his teacher has never seen a child like my son

how in the world will they help him at school? How do I know they

are doing the right thing by him? How will they establish anything

when a difinitive diagnosis has yet to be made?

I am a little worried that I may be posting to the wrong group. I

read a couple posts last night and one said something about

Asperger's being a gift from God and I don't feel this way. I am

devestated that he might struggle through his life. So if I am in

the wrong spot would someone please tell me so and maybe where I

should be?

I am overwhelmed, I am scared and I am so sad that he may be an

Asperger child.

Sorry to ramble on but I do feel a little better. Maybe I will go

get the book off the front seat of the car and bring it inside and

put it on the table.

Thank you for having a place that allowed me to say all this.

[Guest guest]

Oh, yes, you put this so well! Exactly! We all have theories of why

differences originate - be it genetic predisposition, environmental,

medically induced, predispositions combined with environment, etc. -

the causes may be many, accumulative, or otherwise, but foremost, a

child is a child. What I have learned to hold on to as the most

important tool were the musings of someone who wrote, " never let the

affliction become more important than the child. He/she is still the

same child that they were before the diagnosis. "

there is a real danger of reading so much out of love and the desire

to understand your child, that he/she becomes a diagnosis no longer a

child. We all do it. In fact, I minored in Autism Spectrum

Disorders (Aspergers, Autism, NLD, PDD etc.) in college way before he

was a glimmer in the eye. I can spout all the clinical stuff and all

the methods of instruction in my sleep. Then I had and I can

tell you that everything important I learned about Asperger's I

learned from my son.

>

> He is my son first and a diagnosis once a year at most.

[Guest guest]

Hi , my name is and I am just recently

facing the same things as you with my 5 year old son.

We are trying to get an IEP because his teacher just

cannot handle him in the classroom. My son does have

outburst that can sometimes be very emotional and

angry. I've been volunteering in the classroom the

last few weeks and it breaks my heart to see. It

breaks my heart to see that my son cannot function in

the classroom. He is so smart and is a wonderful boy,

he just has trouble with things in the classroom that

other children can handle with no problems. He

doesn't have many friends and gets teased alot. He's

the opposite, very aggressive, very loud and gets

fixated on things that the other children don't want

to talk about. His fixation right now are Pokemon.

He drives us crazy because that's all he wants to talk

about and it's kind of hard when you have no idea what

he's talking about. Not only am I a little scared for

him, but I am emotionally exhauseted. Sometimes I

wonder how many more of his outbursts I can take. I

also ordered some books my self to read. Maybe we can

learn together about this. I just think it can't get

any worse as long as we educate ourselves and stand by

our children.

--- Trzecinski <MTrez@...> wrote:

> Hi all, It's really normal for you for be confused

> in WI. Thanks,

> Re: ( ) Confused and

> Scared

>

>

> It does get better!! if that teacher does not

> understand aspergers, When you go to the CSE

> meeting. Ask them to train her, or asked for

> someone that is already trained with aspergers.

> Some schools have a parent support group. See if

> your school has one. The more you understand about

> aspergers, the easier it would be for you to

> understand it, and you can teach him better. you

> are already doing a lot. you already took him for

> testing, and that's the first step. like others had

> said, take baby steps. When you talk to others,

> sometimes their advice helps alot. some states have

> a support group that you can go to. Keep asking

> questions. I always ask a lot of questions and I

> drive the people crazy, trying to find out about

> aspergers. lol. I'm still trying to learn more. I

> bet in a few weeks, you would be giving us advice.

> I was also confused, because when I read a book on

> aspergers, not everythin some doctors didn't even

> know what aspergers was. I woundered if it was

> aspergers. was it from moving? was he just being a

> boy? Now after asking questions and speaking to a

> lot of people, I know he has aspergers. Good luck.

> justdanecrazy00 <JustDaneCrazy@...> wrote: We

> recently received a tentative diagnosis of Aspergers

> for our 7

> year old son. I had never heard of it before. I

> have scoured online

> for information about the syndrome and some of it

> seems to fit my

> child but some of it does not.

>

> He has always been an introvert in a family of

> extroverts. He is

> quite and shy. He has done odd things socially and

> occasionally

> blurts out inappropriate things at inappropriate

> times. He wants to

> play with children but ends up being cast aside

> which leads to more

> isolation and lonliness. He plays on the outside

> of the group of

> children or along side a single child. He was

> described by his

> current teacher as " wierd " and she also stated

> that he baffles her.

> She stated she has never met a child like him. He

> is fixated on

> cars/trucks and will play with them for hours on

> end. He is fixated

> with video games. He has a hard time holding a

> conversation without

> talking about one of these two things.

>

> He does not however have outbursts that some

> describe. He is quiet

> and sensitive. He recently started slamming his

> door when he is

> angry and I have let him do this because some

> emotion out of this

> child was better than none but I do not consider

> this a melt down or

> an outburst. He makes fair eye contact, not great

> to strangers but

> good to his family. We are a gypsy type of family

> (military) and we

> move a lot and he seems to adjust to it fairly

> well. We moved three

> months ago and he did sob for about an hour when

> we told him but I

> thought this was normal. It takes him a long time

> to find friends

> and we thought he was upset about this aspect. His

> father is

> deployed a lot and is currently out of the country

> and has been for

> 5 months. He seems to do okay with this as long as

> he has me.

>

> I have always been told by family and friends that

> I babied him to

> much and I thought maybe he acted this way because

> I did that. I

> thought maybe I did not socialize him enough. I

> thought maybe that

> because he was the youngest of four children and

> quiet that I

> overlooked him to much. His sisters are loud and

> demanding and he is

> quiet and in the background and the loud gets the

> attention first

> around here. There was always a sneaking feeling

> in the back that

> something was not right with our son but I would

> tell myself that I

> need to get him out more. That I need to not let

> him spend so much

> time in his room, that once I buckled down and

> found the time that I

> would lift him up out of that world he lived in.

>

>

> I bought The Asperger Syndrome book that was

> recommended to me by

> the psychiatrist. That was hard to do. It still

> sits on my passenger

> seat of my van. As if reading it will make it real

> and right now I

> just want to delay facing any fact that our son

> may be different,

> just for a moment or two. I feel like I planned a

> trip to Hawaii

> and got on the plane and someone diverted it to

> the North Pole and

> forgot to tell me.

>

> I have teachers and school counselors talking

> about IEP's and

> testing and special education classrooms and I am

> frozen with fear.

> I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what

> steps to take for the

> sake of my child. If his teacher has never seen a

> child like my son

> how in the world will they help him at school? How

> do I know they

> are doing the right thing by him? How will they

> establish anything

> when a difinitive diagnosis has yet to be made?

>

> I am a little worried that I may be posting to the

> wrong group. I

> read a couple posts last night and one said

> something about

> Asperger's being a gift from God and I don't feel

> this way. I am

> devestated that he might struggle through his

> life. So if I am in

> the wrong spot would someone please tell me so and

> maybe where I

> should be?

>

> I am overwhelmed, I am scared and I am so sad that

> he may be an

> Asperger child.

>

> Sorry to ramble on but I do feel a little better.

> Maybe I will go

> get the book off the front seat of the car and

> bring it inside and

> put it on the table.

>

> Thank you for having a place that allowed me to

> say all this.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Our children can have many different ways of being, so

the fact that your son doesn't fit all the usual symptoms

doesn't necessarily mean much. My little boy

is so outgoing and friendly and curious! Alas, mostly

with adults. :-\

Your son may or many not have Aspergers, but you

are perfectly welcome to join in the talk here while

you're figuring it all out. Perhaps we can help you

work through some of the hard feelings you're going

through now.

Bam's mom

[Guest guest]

Here are a few links you may find helpful:

_HS - Special Needs / IEP Preparation, - PageIt/Ver. 1.1_

(http://www.lcc.ctc.edu/pages/561.xtm)

_How to Request a One-to-One Aide for Your Child by Wayne Steedman, Esq. -

Wrig_ (http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/relsvc.aide.steedman.htm)

_IEP Information and Tips_

(http://www.parentsinc.org/newsletter/fall98/ieptips.html)

_Asperger Info: moreno_tips_for_teaching_

(http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/moreno_tips_for_teaching.html)

_Supporting Students with Asperger's Syndrome Who Present Behavioral

Challenges, IRCA Articles, Access Autism_

(http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/behavior/supportiASP.html)

[Guest guest]

Hi

My 7 year old son was just diagnosed with aspergers. Although I new

that there was a possiblity of it for a while. I'm still in denial

to some extent because although my son is unique, he doesn't have

the behavorial issues that alot of the kids have. The thing I

noticed from the time he was about 18 months was that he played with

other children differently. I get really scared for his future when

I spend to much time listening professionals but when I get away

from that,He truly seems just like many other children just socially

illiterate in his own peer group. In school he is functioning very

well,the school says he has developed good coping skills,but don't

we all have to do that.He has an aid .4 to help with instructions.

Where he has a tougher time with change is if it is a new sport or

interactive group.But once we get through it the first time he's fine

very hard on me and him emotionally to start but within 15 min. he's

fine and is usually having a great time,and is excited to go again.

Anyway where I'm going with this is that your child is the same

child he was before diagnoses and the Dr.s don't know everything

just because our children's thought patterns aren't exactly the same

as everyone else's doesn't mean the can't adapt and function in the

real world.Don't forget aspergers is in the genes so if you look

closely theres probably some one in your family that shows traits of

it.They just weren't tested like they are today and those adults for

the most part have done fine. I know mine have. Sharon

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Welcome...

It is never easy to accept that your child may have to

face challenges that most of his peers will not.

These challenges have different meanings to different

parents, children, family, and teachers...Although

there is no " cure " per say for Asperger's, most of the

difficulties these children face can be treated. For

example... If he has social skill problems (let's say

making friends, etc...) there are counseling programs

in school and within the community that can be very

helpful. Educating oneself really is the key. The

school system can be quite helpful and supportive (of

course some districts are the pits). Teachers really

shouldn't be labeling our children as " weird " , there

are other, more appropriate, words to identify

behaviors. Every child is unique and every child has

strengths and weaknesses. Your son appears to have

some wonderful qualities (and he has a very loving mom

too!) I hope that we can offer some support for you

during this difficult time. PS: I've learned not to

take others comments personally - it seems that others

are more likely to focus on the negative versus the

positive attributes of others.

--- justdanecrazy00 <JustDaneCrazy@...> wrote:

> We recently received a tentative diagnosis of

> Aspergers for our 7

> year old son. I had never heard of it before. I have

> scoured online

> for information about the syndrome and some of it

> seems to fit my

> child but some of it does not.

>

> He has always been an introvert in a family of

> extroverts. He is

> quite and shy. He has done odd things socially and

> occasionally

> blurts out inappropriate things at inappropriate

> times. He wants to

> play with children but ends up being cast aside

> which leads to more

> isolation and lonliness. He plays on the outside of

> the group of

> children or along side a single child. He was

> described by his

> current teacher as " wierd " and she also stated that

> he baffles her.

> She stated she has never met a child like him. He is

> fixated on

> cars/trucks and will play with them for hours on

> end. He is fixated

> with video games. He has a hard time holding a

> conversation without

> talking about one of these two things.

>

> He does not however have outbursts that some

> describe. He is quiet

> and sensitive. He recently started slamming his door

> when he is

> angry and I have let him do this because some

> emotion out of this

> child was better than none but I do not consider

> this a melt down or

> an outburst. He makes fair eye contact, not great to

> strangers but

> good to his family. We are a gypsy type of family

> (military) and we

> move a lot and he seems to adjust to it fairly well.

> We moved three

> months ago and he did sob for about an hour when we

> told him but I

> thought this was normal. It takes him a long time to

> find friends

> and we thought he was upset about this aspect. His

> father is

> deployed a lot and is currently out of the country

> and has been for

> 5 months. He seems to do okay with this as long as

> he has me.

>

> I have always been told by family and friends that I

> babied him to

> much and I thought maybe he acted this way because I

> did that. I

> thought maybe I did not socialize him enough. I

> thought maybe that

> because he was the youngest of four children and

> quiet that I

> overlooked him to much. His sisters are loud and

> demanding and he is

> quiet and in the background and the loud gets the

> attention first

> around here. There was always a sneaking feeling in

> the back that

> something was not right with our son but I would

> tell myself that I

> need to get him out more. That I need to not let him

> spend so much

> time in his room, that once I buckled down and found

> the time that I

> would lift him up out of that world he lived in.

>

>

> I bought The Asperger Syndrome book that was

> recommended to me by

> the psychiatrist. That was hard to do. It still sits

> on my passenger

> seat of my van. As if reading it will make it real

> and right now I

> just want to delay facing any fact that our son may

> be different,

> just for a moment or two. I feel like I planned a

> trip to Hawaii

> and got on the plane and someone diverted it to the

> North Pole and

> forgot to tell me.

>

> I have teachers and school counselors talking about

> IEP's and

> testing and special education classrooms and I am

> frozen with fear.

> I have no idea what to do. I have no idea what steps

> to take for the

> sake of my child. If his teacher has never seen a

> child like my son

> how in the world will they help him at school? How

> do I know they

> are doing the right thing by him? How will they

> establish anything

> when a difinitive diagnosis has yet to be made?

>

> I am a little worried that I may be posting to the

> wrong group. I

> read a couple posts last night and one said

> something about

> Asperger's being a gift from God and I don't feel

> this way. I am

> devestated that he might struggle through his life.

> So if I am in

> the wrong spot would someone please tell me so and

> maybe where I

> should be?

>

> I am overwhelmed, I am scared and I am so sad that

> he may be an

> Asperger child.

>

> Sorry to ramble on but I do feel a little better.

> Maybe I will go

> get the book off the front seat of the car and bring

> it inside and

> put it on the table.

>

> Thank you for having a place that allowed me to say

> all this.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

__________________________________

- PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005

http://mail.

[Guest guest]

,

I wanted you to know that all of us have felt scared and confused with the

diagnoses of our children. It is a constant learning process for us as

parents daily. There is so much to learn about AS and every child is

different. I want to try to encourage you that this is not a death sentence

on your child's life. He can be well functioning and successful in society

with the proper therapy and support. There is hope for these kids. These

kids are very special and unique and we can learn so much from them. It is

hard to see your child struggle, but we have to keep encouraging them and

loving them through it and get support for ourselves. It is not easy, I will

not lie to you, but I know that things could be so much worse. I do not

understand why my son has AS, but I am not the one who made him, God did. My

son is 9 years old now and we found out when he was 3 that he had AS. It has

been challenging, but he has made so much progress and is in a great school

that deals with his issues. I feel blessed to have found this for him. When

I look at my son, I try to focus on the unique qualities that make him so

special and realize that he has a lot to contribute to this world. It may

take a while for you to face the diagnoses, but know that you are not alone

and there is help and support. Keep posting and venting your feelings. This

is a great place to do that and is so therapeutic. Hang in there and I will

be praying for you.

Tricia

[Guest guest]

Hello Liz!

Thank you so much for all your help and support! It's amazing how much I've

learned since I got your letters and read some of the responses from other

people about their children with AS.

I'd like to share with you a letter I received from a school nurse yesterday.

That really tickled me because most of the time I hear negative things about my

son - that he is different, he doesn't fit in, he cares about nothing but

science.....etc. Sometimes we just forget that these kids are so unique and

different in their own ways...I am certainly proud of my son, he is a great

kid:)

This what she wrote:

Mrs. Poe,

I LOVE YOUR SON!! I am the nurse at WWR for Kindergarten through 2nd grade. I

look forward to seeing Maxim everyday in the clinic when he brushes his teeth.

He always shares his invention ideas with me, showing me the drawings that he

has worked on at lunch. This young man has potential for some great ideas in the

future! I told him he needs to patent some of these that he is contemplating. I

am so glad he has another year here at WWR. I am going to miss him when he goes

to PMMS.

Thanks for shaing your son with us during the day. He is a DELIGHT!!

Cary

Cary H. Sigler, L.P.N.

WWR School Nurse

Liz, I was born in Uzbekistan (Middle Asia, one of the former Soviet Union

republics ) and had lived there for 24 years. I am Russian and speak speak

Russian, but the official language there is Uzbek. I have never learned Uzbek

language because it became official just before I left the country (7 years

ago). I would love to go there one day to see my friends and the city I was born

in. I am missing it, but would not want to live and raise my children there. At

this time I don't feel it's a safe place:-(

Did your daughter stay in Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia)? My step father

was from Georgia (Suhumi), it's a very beautiful country! Reminds me a lot of

Virginia....

As for the jokes, we actually started teaching our son how to tell jokes. I

find some cute ones online and tell him one or two a day (he has a loss of short

term memory and cannot remember much), so he can share them with his peers at

school. I think it helps him with building friendship with other

students....However I do have to explain these jokes to my son before he tells

them to someone else....:-)

Take care,

Yulia

Liz Bohn <lbohn@...> wrote:

Dear Yulia,

I still have to explain some jokes and idioms to my 18 year old son! He

has gotten much better about this, after much speech therapy.

We had a neuropsychologist do 's IEE. She did a full scale

educational evaluation. As for a neurologist, they can diagnose

Asperger's also. Other people on the list have found their neurologists

helpful. I didn't find our neurologist particularly helpful in terms of

the Aspergers. was having seizures that meant that he was

blacking out for a few seconds here and there about a hundred times a

day. So the neurologist was helpful with that.

Brain scans won't help any with Asperger's, unfortunately. At this

time, there's no way to diagnose Asperger's, except by a checklist of

symptoms.

My daughter has a " thing " for the former Soviet republics. She was in

Georgia (the country) last year, and loved it. She got very, very sick

while she was there, and had to stay longer than she planned. (She got

a huge blood clot in her leg) She got excellent medical care while she

was there, and had to negotiate it all in Russian. She stayed with a

wonderful Georgian family, with a mother who is a cardiologist and took

wonderful care of her. I will be forever in their debt. What language

do they speak in Uzbekistan (in addition to Russian)?

Take care,

Liz

On May 10, 2006, at 8:32 AM, yuliyapoe wrote:

> Hi Liz!

> Thank you so MUCH for your help and it made a lot of sense! I haven't

> even thought about speech and ocupational therapies. Especially the

> speech one....we always thought that the problems he has (not

> understanding jokes, idioms etc, taking everything literally) as a

> result of his bilingulism (even though he doesn't speak Russian, but

> understand pretty well). Also, he is so clumsy and obviously doesn't

> belong to any sports (he has problems wyth catching or throwing balss

> etc). I will definitely think of therapy:-)

>

> We live in Front Royal, VA (about 60 miles away from DC). It's a vere

> rural area, and not many people have heard of AS. Also, as I

> mentioned before, it's so hard to pinpoint what is wrong when your

> child went through a cultural shock, learning a different language,

> new family etc. But now, reading more anfd more about this syndrome,

> I am like a new mother to my son... with more patience.

> I've never heard about IEE - thanks for this great info!

> Do you think that neurological exam would help any? Brain scan?

>

> WOW! That's so cool that your daughter can speak Russian...It is a

> VERY hard language to learn. I love speaking English; I started to

> learn 7 years ago and instantly fell in love with it:) In fact, I am

> teaching English as a Second Language in VA Public School.

>

> By the way, St sburg is the most beatiful city I have ever

> been...I was there once a long time ago... I am Russian, but was born

> in Uzbekistan, so I have never lived in Russia:(

>

> Anyway, thanks a bunch for your help:):) and please send your

> daughter " privet " :)

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Yuliya,

What an amazing letter! It brought tears to my eyes. How sweet of the

nurse to take the time and energy to write to you. It makes all the

difference in the world when school personnel take the time to

communicate with us in a helpful way. And it really doesn't take much

time. It's such a boost!

Your son reminds me of mine when he was younger. He was always drawing

pictures of one invention after another. Then, when he was about 11, he

hit a rough patch at school, and he stopped. He's still interested in

math and science, though. He's taking AP calculus with a tutor. That's

the only course that has survived the school boycott around here. (He

stopped going to school for a while, although we just had an IEP, and

he is scheduled to begin again with more support next week.)

Our daughter did stay in Tbilisi. At the end of her stay, she got out a

little bit. But most of the time, she was confined to bed. She can't

wait to go back, though! She loves the people she met there and they're

still in e-mail contact.

Your son sounds like a fantastic kid. I taught Montessori (3 to 6 year

olds) for eight years. I always had a soft spot for the quirky kids--

and usually got the special ed kids in my class. They made teaching

interesting, because I had to think about how exactly to go about

reaching them. The " canned " approach didn't necessarily work. Plus, as

your lovely nurse said, those kids are just plain fun.

Liz

On May 12, 2006, at 11:31 AM, Yuliya Poe wrote:

> Hello Liz!

> Thank you so much for all your help and support! It's amazing how

> much I've learned since I got your letters and read some of the

> responses from other people about their children with AS.

>

> I'd like to share with you a letter I received from a school nurse

> yesterday. That really tickled me because most of the time I hear

> negative things about my son - that he is different, he doesn't fit

> in, he cares about nothing but science.....etc. Sometimes we just

> forget that these kids are so unique and different in their own

> ways...I am certainly proud of my son, he is a great kid:)

>

> This what she wrote:

>

> Mrs. Poe,

> I LOVE YOUR SON!! I am the nurse at WWR for Kindergarten through 2nd

> grade. I look forward to seeing Maxim everyday in the clinic when he

> brushes his teeth. He always shares his invention ideas with me,

> showing me the drawings that he has worked on at lunch. This young man

> has potential for some great ideas in the future! I told him he needs

> to patent some of these that he is contemplating. I am so glad he has

> another year here at WWR. I am going to miss him when he goes to PMMS.

> Thanks for shaing your son with us during the day. He is a DELIGHT!!

> Cary

> Cary H. Sigler, L.P.N.

> WWR School Nurse

>

> Liz, I was born in Uzbekistan (Middle Asia, one of the former Soviet

> Union republics ) and had lived there for 24 years. I am Russian and

> speak speak Russian, but the official language there is Uzbek. I have

> never learned Uzbek language because it became official just before I

> left the country (7 years ago). I would love to go there one day to

> see my friends and the city I was born in. I am missing it, but would

> not want to live and raise my children there. At this time I don't

> feel it's a safe place:-(

>

> Did your daughter stay in Tbilisi (capital city of Georgia)? My step

> father was from Georgia (Suhumi), it's a very beautiful country!

> Reminds me a lot of Virginia....

>

> As for the jokes, we actually started teaching our son how to tell

> jokes. I find some cute ones online and tell him one or two a day (he

> has a loss of short term memory and cannot remember much), so he can

> share them with his peers at school. I think it helps him with

> building friendship with other students....However I do have to

> explain these jokes to my son before he tells them to someone

> else....:-)

> Take care,

> Yulia

> Liz Bohn <lbohn@...> wrote:

> Dear Yulia,

>

> I still have to explain some jokes and idioms to my 18 year old son! He

> has gotten much better about this, after much speech therapy.

>

> We had a neuropsychologist do 's IEE. She did a full scale

> educational evaluation. As for a neurologist, they can diagnose

> Asperger's also. Other people on the list have found their neurologists

> helpful. I didn't find our neurologist particularly helpful in terms of

> the Aspergers. was having seizures that meant that he was

> blacking out for a few seconds here and there about a hundred times a

> day. So the neurologist was helpful with that.

>

> Brain scans won't help any with Asperger's, unfortunately. At this

> time, there's no way to diagnose Asperger's, except by a checklist of

> symptoms.

>

> My daughter has a " thing " for the former Soviet republics. She was in

> Georgia (the country) last year, and loved it. She got very, very sick

> while she was there, and had to stay longer than she planned. (She got

> a huge blood clot in her leg) She got excellent medical care while she

> was there, and had to negotiate it all in Russian. She stayed with a

> wonderful Georgian family, with a mother who is a cardiologist and took

> wonderful care of her. I will be forever in their debt. What language

> do they speak in Uzbekistan (in addition to Russian)?

>

> Take care,

> Liz