When do you tell people your 8 year old daughter has aspergers and what next?
For me it’s easier to let strangers know on the internet rather than family and friends who all love her, but in telling my loved ones I have to explain what aspergers means, highlighting the negative as well as the positive and give them all comfort and reassurance in her diagnosis.
This is not easy as I’m my daughter’s carer and am witness everyday to the full implications of her condition. However writing to you allows me some comfort and time to grieve before I put my ‘face’ back on and get on with supporting my child as best as I can so that she can have a happy and fulfilling life.
My partner, daughter and I have just returned from her paediatrician who has confirmed asperger diagnosis. This is following 7 months of testing by various health and educational professionals and follows on from his original suspicions which he related to us in April 2009.
My daughter also has dyslexia, poor self help skills and poor organisational abilities including problems with gross and fine motor co-ordination. She also has severe difficulties in falling asleep and is prescribed melatonin so that she (and I) can get a good night’s sleep. She is a fussy eater and will not eat more than one food on her plate and it has to be a certain colour. Clothes are to keep her warm and she will not suffer labels on any clothes because they 'scratch' her. Animals are her special love, particulary those that look cute and furry.
I constantly hear how bright she is but this still does not exlain why she needs a signifiant amount of teacher support and has the reading and mathematical age of a 5 year old. Her strengths and weakness assessment has shown an unusual profile of cognitive abilities which I believe is quite common with ASD children. However, the gap between her educational performance and her classroom mates at school is ever increasing and the school acknowledges that she is performing below her abilities. Her school chums perceive her as ‘odd’ and we have this in writing in one of the assessment reports.
I will do the best I can with the skills I have but this currently feels like a lonely course and would appreciate as much external intervention that there is available.
regards
mum of a wonderful daughter
My Little Star
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