help!

[melissa meyer]

I am a single mom of 2 boys ages 7 & 3 (almost 4).... My oldest son, Landon, has recently been diagnosed with Asperger's, anxiety, and has been on meds for ADHD for over 2 years now. Landon has definitely not had a "not so easy" childhood. He has watched me be physically abused, emotionally abused, and more. He is the most amazing little boy in the world, and he is VERY smart- in 1st grade he is reading in the 3rd grade level, math skills in 2nd grade (stuff they haven't learned yet), and is ALWAYS wanting to learn.... My 3 year old is quite the man! Ha ha.... He has epilepsy, ITP (from epilepsy meds), RLS, and to top it off- his dad does not want to come to terms that he has the epilepsy. The question I have for anyone who can help is..... Although, since the time he was 2.5/ 3 yrs.' old- Autism/ Asperger's has been questioned multiple times, been evaluated at our state University hospital, where they mentioned he could "possibly" have it. Now that he is in school, things have gotten progressively worse with things. Just to name a few he gets extremely irritable at the drop of a dime and explodes (has even chased someone around with a screwdriver, thrown chairs, shoved tables into people, etc.) but does not know "why" he did it other than he was mad and wanted to hurt someone. At the point where he completely "blacks out", there is NO talking to him. His main goal is let his anger out elsewhere. Also, his socks have to be a certain kind, the certain way or it is not happening. His shirts cannot have any embroidery on them whatsoever, his pants have to be baggy and with big pockets, his sleeves have to be the right length, his coat has to zip up a certain way, etc. His food, has to be separated and he is EXTREMELY picky on what he does actually eat. His toys, video games, action figure guys, etc. have to be exactly where he left them (and trust me, he notices any little thing). The route to school every morning has to be the same. He is extremely worried that "people are watching him" when we go out of the house. Everything has to be to the T the way it was before. Now, he also has SEVERE asthma, so I'm sure you are aware that when this all "happens" he ends up hyperventilating which causes him to get admitted needing oxygen. I want to know, how can I help him through these things, is there anything I can DO? Are there diets to try? Which books (if any) are good to teach me through this, with him? ANYTHING, will help greatly!!! Also, his new thing is stealing money from me, his dad, and grandparents. He will lie about where he got the money from but eventually will tell me where he took it from, he knows it is wrong, he knows that he should not steal. When it is mentioned, everything turns into a physical battle with him... I don't know what to do! Thank you and sorry this is so long!

 

[Ereth]

Although, since the time he was 2.5/ 3 yrs.' old- Autism/ Asperger's has been questioned multiple times, been evaluated at our state University hospital, where they mentioned he could "possibly" have it.

I'm not a professional, but the "possibly" part sounds like manure. You've listed several common symptoms of ASD . . . how do the doctors not see this?

Are there diets to try? Which books (if any) are good to teach me through this, with him? ANYTHING, will help greatly!!!

I've heard of changes in diet supposedly helping with autism symptoms, but I don't know the veracity of such claims. As far as books are concerned, a quick Internet search turned up a website that looks like a fantastic resource:

Autism Children's Books - National Autism Resources

I hope you are able to find books that help you and your son!

 

[I am that which I am]

Hello,

While several behaviours do look like autism/Aspergers, some things could be something else. His explosions and black outs are a bit extreme for Aspergers and concerning from a safety perspective. The paranoia is a bit less common but not unknown in Aspergers. My father who has never been officially diagnosed with aspergers, but is on anti-depressants and anti-psychotics and he would sometimes become violent, black out, tends to be a bit paranoid, and talks to himself. I realize that we are talking about a child, but schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorders are very rare but not unheard of in children. I would ask the doctor about that. While he may not have full blown schizophrenia (it may be a schizo-type related to aspergers) medications may still be helpful, but usually is not recommended seeing as there is little research of the effects of these drugs in children. The other behaviours do seem a lot like Aspergers and what we (or at least I) call quirks (having his food separated, eating only certain things, the clothes related things, same route to school). I am not a clinician.

Ereth recommended a lot of good books, a big part of it is finding the right one and matching behaviours with the right solution, as everyone is different. Sometimes you have to be a bit creative. At least in my family, milk products seem to be an issue (primarily related to digestion) in Aspergers. I have also heard that gluten free products can help with a range of symptoms such as depression, migraines, and anxiety. However, I take this with a grain of salt since not much research has been done on the benefits (if any) of gluten free products and in which individuals.

The doctors should also recommend several support groups in your area that are for parents with children and children with autism/Aspergers. So I would ask them if they know of any support groups in your area. It does take a great deal of patients and more time to raise a child with autism/Aspergers. I slowly learned how to do most things and adapted on my own, but my cousin who was much more severe required much more attention from his parents and the family needed help from those groups. Aspergers is something that tends to get better with age, but the speed at which this happens and how much better is often dependent on early intervention.

Edited: to add that anti-psychotics are not usually given to children and there could be unknown risks associated with a child taking these. Sorry it was early in the morning.

 

[dragonwolf]

There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that gluten free, casein free diets help heal a number of issues. Unfortunately, it hasn't been officially studied much, because it's been largely ignored for the past few millennia (I kid you not, Celiac was discovered in the first century, and doctors are still clueless about it, and that's the extreme end of that spectrum).

That said, the ketogenic diet has been studied extensively for a number of neurological issues, the primary being epilepsy, though there's emerging evidence of helping Autism symptoms as well. It sounds like most of your family could benefit from a ketogenic diet.