Two more blows dealt to the family (Bad news )

Well as the title says ,The family have been dealt two more blows on the bad news front
My dad was with his heart specialist just over a week ago ,
And his results arrived yesterday , The hospital specialist said that the strats he had fitted to the valves of his heart are failing , His arteries are becoming ever more tightly closed , So they have put him on two beta blocker tablets per day instead of one to help pump his blood threw the arteries ,They have also increased his aspirin amount to thin the blood even more so it can pass threw the increasingly small valves , They cannot operate again as my dad has C,O,D, Chronical air ways disease , And his lungs are extremley damaged due to years of working near aspestos , Also my sister called yesterday to say my 6/12 year old nephew has Autisim he has the learning ability of a 5yr old ,He will be seven next month , He has been haven problems since birth ,He was 3 yrs old before he was fully potty trained and 18 months before he could walk , He gets extremley frustrated at the least wee thing , (Clothes of a certain material , labels etc) The easiest wee task is a nightmare of frustration for him , He dislikes cuddles , And becomes very angry and has outbursts of crying over the slightest thing , Even the slightest change to his routine sends him into a temper tantrum of frustration, His doctor originally told my sister he had a chemical inbalance in the brain , He done no tests on him just declared this a a general appointment ,Then my sister was told he was retarded ,Then after figthing with her gp to see a specialist they were told Adam has A,D,D or A,D,H,D ,
But hew has been assesed at school by an autisim specialist and they are now assesing his behaviour at home ,And if he qualifies they will be entering him into there scheme , He will also be attending a school for autistic children , My parents are devastated as we all are ,Our main concern as a family is how will he cope in teenage life and into adult life ,We have no experience of autisim ,Or information on how it affects the sufferers or the family ie siblings of the sufferers so any advice or experiences will be greatly welcomed
Thanks in advance xxdk

Hi dk

Can't off you any advice but I can offer you my sympathy I am so sorry to hear about your dad and your little Nephew, sometimes life deals us so many cruel blows one after the other.

Chin up and just wanted you to know you are all in my thoughts and prayers.

So sorry DK. I have a little experience of teaching autistic children in mainstream school environment, but don't think I can be of that much use to you as each child is different and it depends where he falls on the autistic spectrum. If they are able to get it under control,which they will be able to, there is no reason why he can't have a fantastic and fulfilling life. The autistic kids I've worked with have all been amazing and there is so much more information out there nowadays and help...and awareness.
Keep us posted on how things go and feel free to PM me for a chat, although as I say my experience is limited to autistic children in mainstream and that was a few years ago.

Just to show what people are doing now for autistic children and so how much more awareness there is, this scheme has been started by Irish Guide Dogs (so is not available over here...but who knows...one day if it all goes well....)
If there wasn't more awareness out there, schemes like this wouldn't be developed.
Hugs. x

http://www.irlfunds.org/your_money_a...sp?searchStr=1

Thinking of you DK. Big Hugs!
Becky

I'm so sorry Hun that this is happening my heart goes out to you. Your poor dad, I hope he responds to the meds.

I kind of know what you are going through with your nephew. My nephew is blind and has learning difficulties and I can't count how many times I have cried for the boy he should have been.
Our family cope by not dwelling on what will happen to him in later life and consentrate on the present. He attends a special school and it is the best thing that could have happened to him as he is being brought on to his full potential in a caring environment where they are experts. He goes horseriding, swimming, has music and singing lessons, goes away for activity weekends etc. he wouldn't have got all this input from mainstream schools.

They now know what is happening with your nephew and can start to plan what is best for him. It is not easy and it is heartbreaking.
Take care and (((hugs))) to you whole family.
PM me anytime if you need a chat xxxxxxx

Just to say we are thinking of you from this end, sending lots of hugs too, wish we could ease things for you, my friend a teracher and told me the other day they had been on a course about autism and it really helped her understand a boy she has with it who is in her class so hope all schools doing this, xxxx

so sorry that your dad's not well - hopefully the new meds will make a difference for him.

For your nephew the future may not be as bleak as you think right now. A lot of his problems will be helped by his diagnosis as understanding the problem is half the battle. My daughter has DCD which overlaps with a lot of the autisim spectrum. She was diagnosed as a three year old and our world fell apart. She was unable to speak or co-ordinate herself - she has worked with incredible people to help her and is now a happy and dare i say it normal 9 year old. Yes, she will always have her problems but we have discovered that they have made her who she is and we wouldnt change that for anything.

As you may be aware there is huge upheaval in the education system towards Autism. There is every possibilty that because your nephew may be attending a specific school you will find that you will all be educated along with him.

Autism has always been there and there are many people in the "functioning" world who have never been diagnosed. The fact that your nephew is still young will go a long way towards helping him. A lot of behaviour issues will be resolved as other his other needs are met.

As for family and siblings - it is hard on siblings as any child with special needs will take more time and effort but you know what - it may be harsh but thats life! a lot of activites we had to do to help coordination we did with our other daughter so she never felt left out. For older family it was very hard - my mil refused to acknowledge any problem and now that my daughter has perfect speech says "see i told you she was too busy listening!" nothing to do with 5 years intensive speech therapy!!!!

As with most things in life education is key - there is a lot of info out there but i would look to the people who are working with your nephew as they could point you in the correct area to research.

as bleak as today may seem - things should get much better.

good luck

So sorry about your Dad DK.

Re your nephew, although you wouldn't wish autism on anyone, the fact that it has now been properly diagnosed must be a positive thing - it should allow your family to get the proper help and advise to make things easier for your family and give your nephew the best chances possible.

(((hugs))) to you.

No experience of autism, Jackie, but am here if you need to rant *hugs*

have pm'd you

sue