That'll be a yes then?

So, after three full days at my sister's, I asked her for her professional opinion of Mstr A. Considering that she has just spent the past three months working with & writing a report on a high functioning autistic child, and has just been offered an interview for a job specialising in autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), she is fairly up to date on the signs, symptoms and behaviour associated with ASD/Aspergers.

Like all professionals she would not come right out with a definite diagnosis, but she did point out that 95% of his behaviour was indicitive of an ASD. She also gave us loads of info on management techniques, and I realised that I'd been doing about half of them anyway, without really realising it.

It was hard watching him playing with cousin J over the weekend. I don't often get to see him playing with his peers, and certainly not for any real length of time. J is about as laid back as children come, but even he needed regular breaks away from Mstr A. It also made me realise how much harder it is to get Mstr A to do normal things than other children his age. Just sitting at the table to eat his dinner needs 30 mins advance warnings, given at 5 min intervals! it was very strange actually, as it made me realise how much structure I do put into his life (I always considered myself to be the worst person in the world to have a child with ASD as I don't do organised at all), but also, how much extra time & effort I give him compared to a normal 5 yr old. It felt like I was mollycoddling him, but in fact sister A was telling me I should be doing even more!

Anyway, it has pretty much confirmed my intuitive diagnosis. She's given me loads of ideas of how to work with his strengths & explain the world in a way he can understand. Aggie has finally accepted that an ASD does seem to fit the bill (I don't think he was really convinced before), and now we just have to move the whole diagnosis process on as much as possible.

On the other hand, watching the boys playing together did prove to me that Mstr A is smarter than the average bear, as he was easily understanding/doing things that J was just learning, and J's 18 months older. Both the boys agreed that it had been fun and that they'd like to do it again soon too, which was a bit of a relief. Hopefully sister A & her fiance can bring J over for a visit next time:-)