Last Saturday at Ausblogcon I unexpectantly had lunch with two top chicks....

...the authors of The Australian Autism Handbook.
Click HERE to have a listen to their conversation (from 2008) with Richard Fidler.

There I was, noming the delish food during the conference lunchbreak when this lovely lady said ,
"I think you should be sitting here with us,"
So, being the obedient little soul that I am (shut up) I trotted over and fell into a fabulous conversation with ( or more listened to) these ladies.

Seana Smith is gregarious, witty and generous with her knowledge while Benison O'Reilly is a tad quieter but equally witty and shares another quality with her co-author ; neither of them pull any punches when it comes to discussing ASD.

After we realised we all had a child on the Spectrum we compared notes on age of diagnosis, different state regulations and funding, rates of progress and how there wasn't a lot of home grown literature for parenting ASD teens or social groups.

We discussed the various bits and bobs of growing/maturing kids on the Spectrum; they shared how some families are negotiating the mine field that is Sex! Raging Hormones! Mood Swings! Obsessions! and all the other usual suspects any teen suddenly discovers in those crucial years but which present a whole different box of dice when it comes to keeping ASD teens safe and on the right side of the law.

We talked, laughed, shared tales, laughed at stuff only parents of ASD kids can find funny and generally passed a lovely time together.

We swapped blog addys and I recommended some blogs to them, particularly Magneto Bold Too then we parted company back to the conference but it was one of the most pleasant unexpected luncheon dates I've ever had!

Why I saddled up this hobby horse in this horse race

Blogging is not new to me but personal blogging is.
I have a history blog I write under another name, referring in passing to my son's autism (and his giftbag of other labels) but never giving out many details of him.
Until recently.
He finally allowed me to burble about him and the issues he faces, no longer feeling that it was merely more grist for 'them' to tease him with.
And plus I was over-flowing with stuff I couldn't talk about.
Honestly, I was bursting at times, wanting to talk to other mums of Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) kids but unable to openly discuss Aspie teen, even with some friends.
Since I started this blog it's been amazing.
I have found some fabulous parents to get ideas from, borrow strength and to share jokes with.
Sometimes the Autistic Spectrum creates a select niche of people who aren't fully understood by those looking on; we're weird, we talk in a form of short-hand together, we get where each other is coming from, sometimes we've been on the same path together, maybe a little ahead or a little behind the other but the same seemingly roundabout path of therapists, specialists, neurologists, allergists, GPs,speechies, physios, psychologists and psychiatrists.
Then not to forget trawling through the latest medical breakthrough that gets trumpeted from the rooftops by the media and discuss it back and forth, swapping urls, names of recommended specialists, medicines, routines, etc.
We have little time to ourselves, we're forever running about for our kids, mostly we're just.too.tired to deal with other people who (for example) whinge about their child who can't recite their alphabet at age 3 when ours is yet to learn to crawl but can write the entire alphabet at the same age.
Sometimes plodding on the ASD road can be bloody lonely, hard and exhausting yet there's a million other ASD parents out there willing to give you a gentle pat on the back to help you get your second wind and tackle another day.
This personal blogging lark has paid for itself in spades with all the lovely people I've met.
Thanks :)

Dick da Turd aka Richard III

Poor old Tricky Dicky, Bosworth Field Mark I.0
Aspie teen has been fascinated with this character from Shakespeare for years.
I say character as it is only loosely based on the real Richard III who was much maligned and had many porkies told about him.
He was just a misunderstood chap who wasn't as ugly or misshapen as Henry VII would have us believe - perhaps Aspie teen relates to Dick da Turd (or as my father refers to him "Dick the Shyte") as he's had his behaviour and character misconstrued and twisted?
During the week pay TV aired Al Pacino's semi-doco/play "Looking for Richard" which is a fab movie for anyone studying Richard III or even someone new to Shakespeare to watch or particularly for someone on the Spectrum; Pacino interviews fellow actors and the average man on the street as to the meaning of the Bard's words, the strength of their influence, what these plays mean in today's context, etc.
Explanations of parts of the speeches are given throughout, basically converting the flowery speech patterns into everyday English and laying out the methods behind the plots - again, perfect for anyone on the Spectrum, giving them a rough blueprint of other people's motivations and reasons for decisions, actions, events, etc, as it can relate to any position.
The Melbourne Theatre Company has a production of Richard III currently running; set in the White House it shows how Shakespeare's observations of the lust for power and the corruption of and by power is timeless and universal.
Aspie teen and hubby have tickets to see Richard III tonight.
Guess who wouldn't give up his ticket even if he were offered a kingdom for them?!

Shhh...

We've taken things back to basics and are trialling Aspie teen on just very basic literature tasks, such as reading & comprehension, words & meanings with appropriate use in sentences, etc.
As he's homeschooled we're able to be flexible with his work to suit what the Spectrum is throwing at us, thank goodness, and we can chop and change subjects to snare his attention and focus as it suits.
He's deeply disappointed at possibly having to skip footy, if he does further damage to his tendon this Sunday, but I reminded him the alternative was to sport a RoboBoot like Kelley.
He immediately understood having read about RoboBoot and how serious Kelley's injury had become, thus coming around to my way of thinking and taking it easy this footy match and resting himself as much as possible.
Yeah, could see that further injury would go down really well with him surfing the Hormone Waves at the moment!
Have been spraying lavender all over the house -it's supposed to soothe tempers and bring about a sense of calmness - so if it doesn't work at least the house smells pretty.
Still sticking to the GFDF diet, was going to make pasta from scratch but trialled the Orgran Rice and Corn Mini Lasagna sheets the other day - Very yummy, works well and just like regular lasagna sheets.

Send in the clowns....oh, wait, I'm here

Thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate them, it makes me feel less isolated.
Aspie teen has stretched his Achilles tendon - he actually did it over a week ago at footy but it's got worse to the point he complained of a sore foot Tuesday night; high pain threshold + hypermobility = unexpected injuries weeks later.
Told he may have to consider sitting out the footy season til his body matures a bit more and play next year, depending on how he pulls up after footy this Sunday.
Major meltdown this morning which resulted in a spontaneous nose bleed from high blood pressure.
Another just now - both meltdown and blood nose but in reverse order where the sight of the blood may have been the trigger.
Or it might have been Saturn in the 4th house of Jupiter was the cause.
Dear Holly Robinson Peet "Puberty plus Autism? Challenging!"
I'd say you're being rather understated there, poppet, but Hell, I could kiss you silly for your words.
And though I highly doubt mine is experiencing seizures this article made so much sense, too.
Finally, another mention of almost everything we're going through here makes me feel normal.
Were any of you told of the possibility of seizures at puberty?
There's a fairy godmother flitting about somewhere handing out the goodies for all the teens hitting their hormone bootstraps when the silly old biddy hands out seizures to the Auties/Aspies.
The silly cow flits in, drops a great lump of hormones, rage, hormones, seething emotions, hormones, possible seizures and hormones on the ASD teen in the middle of the night and the next thing you know is you're living Invasion of The Body Snatchers.
Or Shaun of The Dead.
Except I don't do the fence hurdling too well.
I have to laugh cos I'm all cried out from today.

I'm scared

Have been under a whole heap of hurting pressure recently.
My Dad's health is failing, I need new specs cos my eyesight has gone south even further but it's the Aspie teen that this post is about.
Only silver lining was tonight's successful GFDF conversion of this self-saucing chocolate pudding here - I substituted the milk for fruit juice, flour for Healtheries GF baking mix and the butter for oil.
Yeah, I got all a'quiver over chocolate *snort*.
Aspie teen has not been 'quite himself' since his major meltdown of several weeks ago; his mind is not engaged, his focus is off-kilter and it's like all the autistic traits have become magnified.
His impulse control is broken, his meds don't seem to be clicking in and conversations are running off into different tangents.
We've finally got in to see a medical professional to get an assessment started, thank the flipping Goddess on high, but it's like the kid's been holding onto the last shreds of control and now that he's started seeing someone he's relaxing the grip on those reins.
Which scares me beyond silly.
I'm sitting here putting on a 'normal' face for hubby and my Dad so they don't freak, to the teenager babbling nonsense (who was studying at uni only 2 weeks ago) I show the 'normal, calm mummy' face so he doesn't freak out, either.
Cos he's all on the defensive when I even casually ask him anything about his thoughts, his behaviours, his driving urges, etc.
What do you say to a teen who has forgotten they've literally-not-2-seconds-earlier just got off a bus at a bus stop only to turn around, look at the bus stop sign and complain that "We've walked past the bus stop how are we going to catch a bus, now?"
Then almost 2 mins later, after the explanation, again ask "But, where are we going to catch a bus from?"
This shit scares me.

ADHD wasn't discovered yesterday

During one of Aspie teen's university studies he came across some confronting claims from a lecturer who stated that ADHD was a 'created label' rather than a recognised condition.
This was apparently seen as permission to the other students to vent their spleen at all the kids with ADHD who'd had the gall to cross their path; some claimed ADHD stood for Apparent Death of Hard Discipline, spouting recommendations for a length of garden hose or bamboo to sort the kids out instead of medication and therapy, with almost all of them stating there had never, ever been a kid with ADHD in their class/school when they were kids.
Others claimed it was an alternative form of controlling students in the age of not using the cane, others still stated they believed it was lazy parents unwilling to teach children social boundaries while another claimed it was older parents lacking the energy to stick to routines and discipline. Still another suggested the label had been invented to absolve the teacher and education system of any responsibility when children didn't conform to the accepted rules of the classroom.
Who knew so many people could turn rabid at the mention of a medically diagnosed and recognised condition?!
These were people who were possibly going to become teachers.
Amazingly the lecturer stated ADHD hadn't existed 50 years ago which many tended to believe and agree with.
Yet the behaviour was noted as far back as 1848 (possibly even earlier in 1798) and given further medical details and diagnosis from 1902 onwards.
Yet some in the education system insist on treating those with ASD, ADHD and other medically diagnosed and recognised learning disorders as nothing more than a stubborn child who refuses to do as he/she is told.
And it's little wonder when that belief was encouraged by one lecturer, at least.
Ironically, they are very inattentive to a condition that commonly causes inattention.
Perhaps there's a few more adults who are undiagnosed....?

Further information on ADHD history HERE.
"Is it Severe ADHD or is it Asperger's" summary HERE.
Asperger Syndrome and ADHD HERE.
Language Disorders and ADHD HERE.
DSM-IV criteria for ADHD HERE.
DSM-IV criteria for Asperger's Disorder HERE.
Oldest known history of ADHD HERE.

Hypermobility

Hypermobility Syndrome/double jointed/Overflexing/hyperextensive call it what you will and ASD seems to go hand in hand; I've heard so many parents comment on the uber-bendiness of their child's joints, the high number of dislocations and sprains.
Couple that with the often high pain threshold of ASD and you can get a dislocation or inflamed joint that barely registers on the kid's horizon for the day.
And it certainly doesn't get in the way of all that physical activity they get into.
Until something gives.
My own Aspie teen has frequent cramps, the urge/need to crack his knuckles and 'pop' whichever joints are bugging him.
When he was younger we woke up to find he'd flexed his hip joint until it trapped a nerve in the night.
First warning we had was he just wouldn't get out of bed the next morning.
No tears, no tantrums, no yelling, no pain.
He just wouldn't weight-bear.