Hiya,

My name is Linda, i'm a manager in a out of hours activity based kids
club. We cater for children from 4 to 12 yrs of age. We get a
whole range of children coming thru our setting. Two of which have
infact been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. I am in fact in the
process of enrolling on various courses appertaining to special
needs, and am also helping out at another kidsclub, which offers
respite care in the holidays for children with special needs.

The problem I am facing at the moment is at home. My boyfriends
eldest son (now aged 13) has always been labelled a problem child.
But his behaviour, attitude and learning difficulties have never been
looked into. When my boyfriend has tried to seek help, he has just
been fobbed off. So his son has been labelled as a stressy child.
E.T.C.

Well with me working with children and doing various courses and also
coming across children with special needs, I am gaining more
knowledge.

Yesterday, I was infact on a course for Behaviour Management which
was delivered by the SEN SUPPORT TEAM. They gave us a brief insight
into ADD, ADHD and Asperger Syndrome. For each condition there was a
check list.

The one for Asperger is as follows:

Asperger Syndrome


Put simply, a name describing difficulties of someone who has
specific problems with communication and social behaviour. There
are 3 main kinds of difficulties that pupils with ASPERGER SYNDROME
may have to face. The following list gives an idea of what this can
mean for the child.


· Problems making friends/getting on with people.
· Difficulty understanding what other people need and how they
feel.
· Speaking to people in an inappropriate way.
· Not knowing when to stop and start talking.
· Having problems looking at someone in the eyes.
· Seeming loud, rude or silly.
· Poor understanding of social situations including
conversation strategies.
· Giggling for no apparent reason.
· Misunderstanding of language e.g. don't `get' jokes.
· Inflexible thinking – must follow certain routines.
· Become upset if routines changed
· Obsessional interest in one subject/hobby to exclusion of
everything else.
· Poor co-ordination, clumsiness in games or untidy handwork.
· Disorganised and difficulty following instructions.
· Moody and unpredictable.
· Others find it very difficult to communicate with them.
· People become upset and angry with them.
· Don't see others as a solution to their problems so
won't ask
for help and can be emotionally isolated.

THIS IS MY BOYFRIENDS SON.

I am please seeking some advice. Where do we go from here. All
these signs are Robert. We now need to know how to go about getting
some help and advice so we can go about getting him the right help,
which he has so far missed out on.

Many thanks for taking time to read this.

Your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Take Care
Linda
x