Home School.
My son is currently in public but if I ever see social issues interfering with his education and/or happiness I will not hesitate to home school him. It's a good option (well, here in the U.S. with the K-12 program – I see a lot of people from the U.K. on here and I am not sure what they have available out there). Some states even provide the student(s) with free computers. If you get together with four other parents (that you like and that have a common goal) that also want to home school, you would only need to be at home with the kids one day a week. I don’t think that’s a lot to ask if it ensures our kid’s well being. School can be traumatizing for a “normal” child. I am NT but would have loved to avoid the drama that school brought into my life; I know I would have gotten a better education too. With the K-12 program, the children are still eligible to participate in extracurricular activities if they want to.
AMY,
My son is 12 also as is fitzron's. He has ADHD/PDD. he has a tendoncey to over obsses about certin things like the junk food michene at school. I have given the school a doctors note telling them that he is not to have sugar loaded items. He is now taking money from his dad and I. We have talked to him about this several times with out him stoping. We have talked to the school aid and she is always willing to help us out. It is very hard to stop him when he gets fixed on what he wants. He will do anything to obtain his objective. He will start with badgering us 24/7 about it. We tell hei it may not be the right time for that pictuler thing or "you know the doctor said you should not have things like that". some times it works, sometimes not. our current problem is the junk food machine at school. We made a deal with him. He is to coperate with me, dad and the school. He will earn 20 cents a day for every day he has done whae is soposed to do in school and at home. i hope this works. If you have anymore ideas i would be greatful.
LostMe2AB :?:
My son is in a regular school. I don't think it would be the machine itself. He is a hi functioning autistic. He just wants what the normal kids have like rice crispy treats. I also can't keep snacks like that in the house anymore. He will sneek them in the middle of the night when me and my husband are asleep. I use to have those snacks in the house and lockad up in the basement. I actually turned a deadlock around so I had to use a key. But now that he is 12 I can't do that anymore. And yes I have hidden the key. He is very clever. He loves video games. He will play them all day if you let him. He is currently grounded from them. (hit him where it hurts - the games). I have him going to a youth group at my church, but he dosent really like it. He just goes becuse he knows I said it was a very good thing for him to be doing. I wish I knew how to do this better. He has 2 sisters. some times he will play nice with them. But he is the only boy and likes to restle with his younger (8yr old) sister who has mild cerebal palsy. His older sister is 14 and tends to get embarassed when they go to youth group paryts or events together.
[/quote] Life is rough.
as far as the youth group goes- his doctor said it was a good thing for him. He refusses to do anything else. I have tried sports, Boys club,boy scouts, he just wont do them. all he wants is those video games. He's been grounded for a week and he has been sneeking to play them.like when dad is working and i am not in that room with him. :?
Your son sounds very much like my own. 13, loves video games, hates any kind of social interaction. Our doctor said we should put him in after school groups, soccer, church stuff, scouts...anything to get him out more. So we did. And he hated it. His melt downs became worse, he would start trouble in whichever social interaction we had him in at the time. We finally just stopped doing it all. We found a new therapist for him, and he does this stuff called play therapy. He is like my sons best friend. We dont go in the room with them and he doesn't tell us any of my sons concerns or problems unless they could hurt someone, or its something we really need to know. At first I was kind of concered, but then he let me watch several on the camera, with out the volume. My son did fine. He even laughed and joked. But the therapist did tell us the things that Chris would like from us. It was so easy. He didn't want to be forced into anymore social things. He wanted us to play the video games with him. Ask him about going places rather than making him go.
So we strarted doing these things. Playing the video games is not my thing at all but he really appreciates the fact that I try. Its hard to find the time, with 2 other kids a hubby and a sick aunt here. But it has really made a difference. We don't force him to go to the store or out to eat or his brothers t-ball, or even his granny's. We ask him, at first he wanted to stay home all the time. But he is getting to where he wants to go with us now that it is his decision.
As for punishing him, we take his games away too. We set it for a week, and then allow him to "buy" a day by doing something speacial around the house. If he has a really good day and does something extra then instead of 7 days, we cut it to 6. He really seems to respond well to this. But if he has a bad day, we try to find a different way to punish b/c then he doesn't get discouraged from the original punishment.
I'm not very good at the whole writing thing, I think faster than I type, so if I have confused you, I am sorry. But I hope I have helped you some.
trollette
dose the therapist really work for your son? I tried one when my son was first diagnosed at age 6, I didn't like how it was going. Maybe it was becauseHis condition was new, just knowing what it was then. I did tell him that going to church group was a good thing, a way to have safer friends. The youth group leader has a handicap son, also the pastor has a older son with aspies. So I don't feel like i am on my own so much. My son loves to hug everyone. He is a very loveable boy. sometimes to loveable. :smile:
Yes my therapist is AWESOME!!!! But it took a lot of time and many bad ones to find him. He was a marine in his early years and now he looks like a biker or hippie. He has very long gray hair in a pony tail and more patience and understanding than anyone I have ever met in my life. We've only been going to him for about 5 months and the difference I see in my son is amazing. He is getting so mature and so sweet. He used to have melt downs that would involve several hours and even the cops. :cry: But he has not had a melt down in a couple of months. He is having really good days. :grin: For example there is a new kid in his class that he wants to talk to and pick on (his way of showing affection). But every day he comes home and tells me that she is still to nervous to even talk to and that he is trying to be nice. :? You have to understand that my son only shows affection thru teasing and picking. So for him to understand that she is still to nervous and upset from leaving her school and friends is very real progress for him. I am very satisfied with his new therapy, but I am sure there are good and bad in all therapies. But he really connects with the play therapy.
Maybe 6 was to young? Maybe your son would do better in it now.
As for your son hugging everyone, I don't think I have had a hug from my son since Christmas when he got his new Gameboy DS! Enjoy them, most AS people don't like physicl contact at all. (Sometimes it is hard for me to except all the hugs and kisses my 5 yr old wants to give. But I do b/c I would never let him think mommy doesn't want all his affections.)
Maybe being with the kids from church AT church is to much for him. Maybe make a play date with just one kid at a time and let him get used to each as an individual then maybe he can cope with them as a group better. I dont know, but it kind of makes sense. I hope this helps.