Hi there,

There is a seminar in Auckland this Saturday 19th November held by ASD Kids Community Trust.

I have paid for a ticket and have my name on the door but can't attend, I wondered if someone wanted to attend at short notice and take my place (for free :-)

The speakers are awesome:
Dr Leila Masson - expert in biomedical treatments
Naturopath Gina Wilson who works closely with Leila,
and Elisa Slaat from the Children's Autism Foundation
Maxine Barrett who is talking about sports and fitness.
And others.

It is at Mt Richmond Lodge and goes from 10 am till 3pm and includes lunch.

If anyone wants any further information it is at www.asdkidstrust.com The tickets are $50.

But if you would like my free ticket please PM me.

Welcome Caprice *** BIG HUGS*** I think its quite natural to feel a swarm of different emotions.

Hey guys, am looking for some tips!!
We're thinking about changing schools next year,at the end of the year so the transition isnt too difficult. He's moving up a year at thatpoint anyway and will be changing classes, teachers etc so figured the best time to change schools would be then.

Izzy currently goes to Sommerville in Panmure and Ive been looking at maybe moving him to Oaklynn in Lynfield so that the costs of living are a bit lower then where we are now(that and ALL my family live in West Auckland).

Has anyone got any tips or advice on how to work with and around the ORRS funding situation and whether or not Oaklynn is any good for low functioning autism with severes developmental delay? If not, can people recommend any schools in the Central west area that might be able to cater to his needs? Im completely lost in this department and any tips would be helpful

Oaklyn is awesome I know several great therapists who work there, they are particularly good with autism. You don't need to worry about orrs it is nothing to do with the family once it has been allocated which is done at the start of school and sometimes reviewed after the first two years, it stays with the child where ever they go. It is absorbed into the school budget and they are directed by Moe how to spend it, it is not used for individuals but to provided an overall service iykwim.

Ok, so if we decided to move Izaaks school, would we need to do anything in terms of his funding? At all?? Cos thats my biggest concern (after the actual transition of course ). Ive never had any involvement in that side of his care before..

Thank you for reply too!!

You don't need to worry about funding, it is his and follows him where ever he goes. The only thing you need to do is make sure you are in the right zone. PM me if you want any more info

i know it was a while ago, but when i worked for Oaklynn it was amazing (ooh and omg the sensory room they have for children like Iz- is SOOO cool! and probably even better now than it was years ago...) and they are very knowledgable about transitioning from other schools etc, so when the time comes, follow their lead and im sure Iz will be great at handling the changes

hi ladies just thought I'd check in and update you all, thanks so much for the welcome, instead of overwhelmed, sad and confused am now feeling quite 'happy' with his diagnosis now - does that make sense? I have recently started him on melatonin at the suggestion of the paediatrician and WOW I love that stuff, he drops off after a few minutes and wakes up happy after about 9-10 hours which feels like a lifetime compared to before!
Am attending an Autism Help Parent Education Programme in February so am REALLY looking forward to that and am also waiting for a book I have ordered Paul G Taylor - Beginners Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorders (also recommended by paediatrician)
I have also had such a cool time buying great Christmas presents that 'fit' with his needs and likes (domino train set, giant marble run, basketball set, maze books, puzzles etc :-) I kinda felt before like it was a bit hit and miss whether he would 'like/approve' something am not sure what is happening about school and all that but am confident his school will do whatever it takes - they have been amazing so far and I hope it will continue :-) anyhoo enough rambling from me, he continues to be a challenge when it comes to over-adventurousness but it gets easier right??? hope all is well with all our ASD kids :-)

Dunno but I sure hope it does at some point get easier

I know ive learned about how to work with him instead of against and I know that he gets grumpier, hungrier and more tired when he is having a growth spurt. Izzy likes to explore as well, but he's pretty unpredictable and because he has no sense (and I mean NONE) of personal safety, we have to keep an eye on him at all times, which gets really tiring

We had him melatonin at the beginning of the year but found that it messed with his natural sleeping patterns in that he would go to sleep at 9, sure, but then would wake up at 2. Now, he isnt on melatonin and it takes him an hour to settle himself but if he is in bed by 9:30, its not too big an issue and he tends to sleep through til 7:30 (6 at the earliest)

yep I totally get the personal safety thing! Cole is EXACTLY the same!

have been to 2 sessions of the Help Parenting programme now, soooo good, lots of parents in the same boat, lots of giggle moments and best of all great advice and suggestions!

Getting an assessment done from Taikura Trust soon, have heard mixed things about this process but fingers crossed :-)

Yea, we had taikura come to our house and do a re-assessment last year. We ended up with 30 carer days We give all of them to Izzys grandparents as they agreed to have him over night once a week..

what a great result owlymonster :-)

Hi I just found this board.
I have a six year old who is autistic. The pediatrician said he was middle of the spectrum. He is somewhat social and very affectionate and he is friendly but very spacy and his talking is probably more like a two year old. He is obsessed with The Wiggles. I feel very isolated. I isolated myself waiting for him to talk thinking other mothers would judge because he didn't talk.
He is in a satellite class through Oaklyn Special School. His satellite class is at Glen Avon school.
His is obsessed with The Wiggles which is mainly what he talks about. Everyday he repeats the names of his favorite Wiggles DVDs a lot and takes my finger and makes me points at the different Wiggles DVDs in those little advertising booklettes that come with he DVD and makes me say the names of the DVDs. *sigh*

IM sorry you're feeling so isolated. I know that feeling well. We have a 7 year old child with severe autism (non verbal, selective eater, has SH behaviours now..) and its hard. He is at Sommerville, and we considered moving him to Oaklynn so I could be closer to my family in West Auckland, but he's doing so well at somerville we decided not to move him..

Our youngn is obsessed with Cars, trucks and boats.. And your youngn sounds alot like ours..

hi all
does anyone have any experience with gps monitors?