Post by kristalre on Jun 7, 2004 12:06:38 GMT -5
Hello all my name is Kristal and I live in Southwestern Virginia with my husband, Brian and two children, Zachary(8) and Karie Rose(7). Both of my kids have been diagnosed with Aspergers among other things and the more we learn about it the more we strongly suspect that my husband has it as well.
Karie was the first in the family to receive her diagnosis, she was 4. We knew there was something not quite right much earlier. She started speech at age 3. Now she not only has speech, but PT, OT, and resource. She is also in mainstream first grade this year. Her first year of actual "school" she attended a special education pre-school. Then on to mainstream Kindergarten. She is a very bright child and seems to be "ahead" of most of her class. As far as knowledge. As far as social skills, we will just say we are making progress.lol She has finally discovered that there is danger in certain things. At age 3 she jumped off a 7 foot high bridge to get to the water in the creek below(I have never seen my husband move that fast). She was also late to potty train. She was almost age 4. Looking back I believe it was the flushing. Noises REALLY effect her. As does hot and cold. She gets upset easily and has "meltdowns" a couple of times a day. Her older brother has been known to set those off. She still likes to sort things by color, item, and size. Also lining things up on paper or actual objects seems to be a favorite pass time. She sees the world differently than most and takes allot literally. She also has OCD and wants to clean things constantly. She has a feather duster collection(8 right now). And wants to sweep and wash down walls and floors as much as possible. She is mommy's little helper and does an extremely through job. She is also obsessed with her teeth and hair. Her teeth she brushes 5 or 6 times a day(not a bad thing) and her hair seems to be a bother to her she wants it to be tangle free and has lately been pulling it out by the handfuls(not a good thing). We are working on it though.
Zachary took a little longer to diagnosis he just got his actually diagnoses October 3, 2003. I knew something was going on with him sooner but we had to fight with the school system for a year and finally had to take him to the same doctor that gave Karie her dx to find out anything concrete. He talked REALLY early, he said his first word at 2 and a half MONTHS!!! After that it was just like talking to a little adult. He didn't know danger boundaries either we actually have a picture of him on my parents roof at the ripe ole age of 18 months. Hey papa was up there he thought he should be too.lol He lined things up and loved cars and trains(I thought it was typical boy behavior). He was allergic to his formula from birth and went into RDS and almost died but they did not think it was the milk DUH. So after he screamed for the first 3 months of his life we finally switched him too soy based formula he was better. He is very sensitive to sounds, smells, and textures. He has been in speech(who would have thought it) and resource since early March and is doing really well. He is in mainstream 3rd grade and is a third year cub scout. He hates giving eye contact and has meltdowns weekly. Weekly is down from several a day now that I know he has AS and not just being bratty I handle them differently and they resolve them selves better. He also has LLD(language learning disability) and wears bi-focals for a processing problem. I hate that I did not see the signs earlier since I have really educated my self in Aspergers but I was so tuned into AS in girls and it presents it's self so differently.
As for my husband Brian he was in some LD classes as a child ofcourse he is almost 35 they did not know what AS was back then. His mom is the queen of denial(we still haven't told her Zachary has aspergers and she goes around telling people Karie has a touch of Autism and will grow out of it) so everytime he started having problems at one school she would switch him and his brother to another(6 in all). Yes change is SOOOOO good for an aspie:)NOT I knew he was a slow reader when we married but who cares.... what he lacks in book sense he more than makes up for in common sense. We do know he has dyslexia and ADHD. Again not a bad thing you just have to harness it's powers for good. Needless to say my husband is a very hard worker(can't sit still). We have our own business landscaping. His obsession is lawn mowers, chain saws, plants, trees, weed eaters, mulch and such. I see all of my sons tendsies in my husband as far as the melt downs and down right pouting. But he controls it very well and I am hoping that he will model that behavior to my son. They do butt heads quiet often.lol
I am just hanging in there trying to keep this wild family of mine in check. I am schedule maker, peace maker, and part time referee. I try to keep everything comfortable and most of all fun around here. Though it does get wild at times I love them all dearly, thank GOD for them everyday, and would not change any of them for the world.
Kristal
Karie was the first in the family to receive her diagnosis, she was 4. We knew there was something not quite right much earlier. She started speech at age 3. Now she not only has speech, but PT, OT, and resource. She is also in mainstream first grade this year. Her first year of actual "school" she attended a special education pre-school. Then on to mainstream Kindergarten. She is a very bright child and seems to be "ahead" of most of her class. As far as knowledge. As far as social skills, we will just say we are making progress.lol She has finally discovered that there is danger in certain things. At age 3 she jumped off a 7 foot high bridge to get to the water in the creek below(I have never seen my husband move that fast). She was also late to potty train. She was almost age 4. Looking back I believe it was the flushing. Noises REALLY effect her. As does hot and cold. She gets upset easily and has "meltdowns" a couple of times a day. Her older brother has been known to set those off. She still likes to sort things by color, item, and size. Also lining things up on paper or actual objects seems to be a favorite pass time. She sees the world differently than most and takes allot literally. She also has OCD and wants to clean things constantly. She has a feather duster collection(8 right now). And wants to sweep and wash down walls and floors as much as possible. She is mommy's little helper and does an extremely through job. She is also obsessed with her teeth and hair. Her teeth she brushes 5 or 6 times a day(not a bad thing) and her hair seems to be a bother to her she wants it to be tangle free and has lately been pulling it out by the handfuls(not a good thing). We are working on it though.
Zachary took a little longer to diagnosis he just got his actually diagnoses October 3, 2003. I knew something was going on with him sooner but we had to fight with the school system for a year and finally had to take him to the same doctor that gave Karie her dx to find out anything concrete. He talked REALLY early, he said his first word at 2 and a half MONTHS!!! After that it was just like talking to a little adult. He didn't know danger boundaries either we actually have a picture of him on my parents roof at the ripe ole age of 18 months. Hey papa was up there he thought he should be too.lol He lined things up and loved cars and trains(I thought it was typical boy behavior). He was allergic to his formula from birth and went into RDS and almost died but they did not think it was the milk DUH. So after he screamed for the first 3 months of his life we finally switched him too soy based formula he was better. He is very sensitive to sounds, smells, and textures. He has been in speech(who would have thought it) and resource since early March and is doing really well. He is in mainstream 3rd grade and is a third year cub scout. He hates giving eye contact and has meltdowns weekly. Weekly is down from several a day now that I know he has AS and not just being bratty I handle them differently and they resolve them selves better. He also has LLD(language learning disability) and wears bi-focals for a processing problem. I hate that I did not see the signs earlier since I have really educated my self in Aspergers but I was so tuned into AS in girls and it presents it's self so differently.
As for my husband Brian he was in some LD classes as a child ofcourse he is almost 35 they did not know what AS was back then. His mom is the queen of denial(we still haven't told her Zachary has aspergers and she goes around telling people Karie has a touch of Autism and will grow out of it) so everytime he started having problems at one school she would switch him and his brother to another(6 in all). Yes change is SOOOOO good for an aspie:)NOT I knew he was a slow reader when we married but who cares.... what he lacks in book sense he more than makes up for in common sense. We do know he has dyslexia and ADHD. Again not a bad thing you just have to harness it's powers for good. Needless to say my husband is a very hard worker(can't sit still). We have our own business landscaping. His obsession is lawn mowers, chain saws, plants, trees, weed eaters, mulch and such. I see all of my sons tendsies in my husband as far as the melt downs and down right pouting. But he controls it very well and I am hoping that he will model that behavior to my son. They do butt heads quiet often.lol
I am just hanging in there trying to keep this wild family of mine in check. I am schedule maker, peace maker, and part time referee. I try to keep everything comfortable and most of all fun around here. Though it does get wild at times I love them all dearly, thank GOD for them everyday, and would not change any of them for the world.
Kristal
