Topic : 01/17 Extreme Disorders

I have a son with Asperger's as well and he is going to be thirteen this year and it is hard, Alex like my son is very smart, but things have gotten better with my son.  I have been taking him to Dr. Patel, who is located in Mt. View, Dr Patel has helped my son so much, the behavior issues and my son's over all attitude is better as well, Although my son tells me the same that Alex has told his parents about feeling different and about being teased.   

  

I don't mean to criticize anyone, but the one thing that i feel that Alex's parents need to do is STOP YELLING at their son.  I learned a long time ago that yelling no matter if the child has extreme disorders or not it does not help to yell at any child.  The calmer you are the calmer the child becomes and which also helps the behavior issues at school.   

  

i feel i have been blessed with a very smart and articulate and intelligent child that can become anyone he wants to be.  my son has been tested and he scores advanced in all areas of academics, which i feel most if not all of these children are extremely intelligent. 

  

i wish all the best to Alex and his parents and hope that things become easier in time and they take that help they were offered and realize that there is no one to blame when it comes to any kind of disorder.  

Hello, I have a 9yr old son that I know has Aspbergers.  I am having trouble getting him diagnosed and I am not quite sure which route to take next.  He sees a Psychiatrist now and she also thinks that is the problem and has labled him with Pervasive Developmental Dissorder.  Is there anyone who can lead me in the right direction as to where I need to go from here.  What kind of doctor do I need to take him to.  I feel we are making progrees with him only because I have initiated the research on his dissorder and the teacher at his school agree.  I am frustrated with how to help my son the best way possible. Any information that you have would be greatly appreciated. 

thank you. 

ptmac 

I know this may not be what anyone would think but I have a nephew and a very good friend that are on both ends of the autism spectrum- one of them being aspergers. Both have been to different drs and the Gluten free/ Casien free  works. 

These foods act like a drug in people who have these neurological imbalances.  

I am not saying meds may not be needed but I can tell you by eliminating these foods YOU WILL SEE A DIFFERENCE in your childs behavior.  

I know my friend was afraid- what will I feed my child? There are so many alternatives now, you can do it. And her child is so smart that he knows what he can and cannot eat and he is only 6. He tells everyone" I am allergic to that"! These children are brilliant and they will help you if you help them. PLease try it! It is worth the effort to see a calmness in thier mind that is working so overtime, like it is being drugged from these foods. 

I saw another post that someone else wrote and mentioned a specific book to read- Read, research online on what is Gluten and casien free- PLEASE! 

It was great to see that new diagnostic proceedures are coming out to help children with these disorders. I wish we had known about this sooner. We had to go through many different and very un-technical tests to help identify my son's disorder. It will be a great help to those parents needing answers to help them help their children. My son Ben was diagnosed last year with BP. He is 4 years old and it has been great to have a name for what he is going through, but devastating to know there is no cure. I really doubted my parenting abilities and have at times wished for an end, but I know we have some light at the end of the tunnel. The meds are helping and we have more good days than bad. We just hope that medical advancements can help to make all his days good days! I still worry about him being able to be in a "regular" classroom, will suiside be in his future as it is for 20% of BP teens, will he be able to graduate, go to college, have a career, get married? I try to just live day by day and help to make his environment the best it can be for him, depending on his mood, manic/depressive/normal little boy. Right now my biggest concern is trying to make as normal of a home for our daughter as possible. I do not want her to resent Ben for holding her back from all she wants in life. Thanks, Sherri

I want to thank Dr. Phil for this show.  My hubby and I are fans and tivo/watch all. 

This one touched our hearts. We have 4 children. 3 boys and a girl. Our oldest son has been 

put through the ringer over mental disorder which we still don't know  

hospialized for mental disorder.(at the time 2000 he was tested for Asperger and we were 

told that it wasn't his main problem. Currently he is in a special ed program at school and  

taking mood stabizer and depression medicine. Any time I try to adjust the med's he is off and not 

the same. wish we could get a better dionosis for him.  Our 2nd son is 10 yrs old. 

When my husband and I watched this we both were glued to the tv --we feel for Rich and Karen 

for that is us. We handle our son the same way.  our son has the mood swings like Alex... 

One minute he's ok and the next he is hitting friends and can't understand why.... What are we to do 

We have been to counclers had him on med's for ADD (which we aren't sure he needed) had him try depression meds... it was all to much --currently he is not taking anything. 

I don't like my children to be guinne pigs to meds.  all of the dr.'s wantta try this and try that. they have bad side effects.  Our 3rd son is 8 yrs old and displaying behavior problems at school and home--However because he is not "Failing" the school doen't want to help.  I'm so frustrated at them and don't want my son to fail to get help.  I get down and depressed myself to think that all 3 boys have problems.  How do I get help for my family when we have no extra money?? 

I know I'm not alone here--I know alot of kids that don't get help because their parents can't afford it. 

Wish Dr. Phil could give links to orgnizations - etc...that offer real help. 

Where's the link to Brain Matters Inc. ????   and the info on regular behavior problems or Asperger ????????   At the end of the show he mentioned it would be on the web-site and I couldn't find it??              Thanks to all             Lora 

  

The show about Aperger's inspired me to join Dr. Phil.com because my son is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspergers.  He has been mis-diagnosed from the beginning as ADD and depressed. I was a single mom for 10 years and after trying eveything I could, even medication and counseling for over a year, nothing worked.  The Counselors, Teachers, Pyschoclogists and the Pyschciatrists could never figure him out!  I tried to make my own way of handling him and I seemed to be the only one who could.  Then suddenly his father filed an emergency custody hearing in OR during a visit my son had with his father.  Stating that my son had been Sexually abused and neglected.  I went through a year of hell in court and my son was keot from me the entire year - no contact order. He was examined and found to NOT be sexually abused. It had been a year and a half since they filed in court until the order was finally made. The whole time my son was at his Dad's they never had any counseling for him and again when they did an exam on him and a pyschiatric evaluation for abuse, not once has ANYONE ever suggested Aspergers.  He was also in Special Education for many years on an IEP and 504 plan at school and NO ONE ever suggested Aspergers.  If anything I was always to blame. 

  

In the end I gave his dad custody until I could get my life back together.  I had had a nervous breakdown in the middle of the trial and could barely hold a job.  Anxiety and Depression had sunk in. 

  

After another 2 years with his dad I finally filed a modification order and another year and a half later I now have full custody back!  My son is not 14 and doing much better.  I actually learned of Aspergers from a drama TV show and then looked it up online and was stunned to read EXACLTY what my son had been going through on paper.  I was no longer alone!  He is now being seen by a counselor and is on his way to be diagnosed by the Mind Institute here in CA.  I hope there he can FINALLY get the help he needs and deserves!  He is a GREAT kid! 

  

Signed,  

  

A mothers Love, 

  

Melissa   

  

Email me if you want to compare notes:   aats@sbcglobal.net 

Karen, has Alex had his brain imaging done yet?  If so, what did his look like (meaning did his brain appear to have a widely affected area, etc.) and what, if any, effect did it have on you (and Alex) to actually SEE it?   Thanks for putting yourself "out there", your family's story is an important one. 

As most have written, I too have a son with Asperger's. He was just recently diagnosed at 11 years old. I was also disturbed when I saw the video of the parents yelling at their son. If he didn't have a leg and couldn't walk, would they yell at him then? Sorry to be so negative, but the one thing their son needs the most from them is loving and understanding. He is living in a world where most people don't understand him and especially at his age, don't want anything to do with him. We have spent a lot of time just getting properly diagnosed mostly so that our son can get the help he deserves at school. He is incredibly intelligent, scoring well above average on all standardized testing, but needs special education to be able to function at his best in a regular classroom setting. 

Glad to see the medical field taking this as seriously as parents do. It is indeed a medical condition, and should be treated as such! 

Great show, Dr. Phil! Looking forward to the follow up.... 

The teaching team at my son's school helped us with a referral to our area Children's Hospital. Our son was put through (not difficult) about 3 months worth of testing before we were given his final aspergers diagnosis. PDD is just a different way to describe asperger's, but after you are given the proper diagnosis, be sure that the school is giving your child the proper interventions! They are required by law to do so! 

Good luck, it took about 3 months on a waiting list at the hospital, but the end result was worth it!!! 

First of all - go to www.google.com and search for Aspergers or even Autism in YOUR CITY.  Then for more information and people to talk to etc..  try these links.... 

  

http://users.wpi.edu/~trek/aspergers.html 

  

http://www.phad-fife.org.uk/asd.html 

  

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=83820 

  

http://www.autismwebsite.com/ari/index.htm 

  

  

  

Also email me at aats@sbcglobal.net and I will send you a .pdf file and a WORD file that has diagnosis information. 

  

Good Luck!   Melissa