LONG time Lurker/ First Intro

[cubsgirl]

Greetings All

I have been following these forums daily for over FIVE YEARS and finally decided to introduce myself. I am the mother of two children. My easy child has a bit of a difficult child streak in her lately, but she is 17. I feel like I already know many of you and decided that I should contribute to the forum as well instead of just lurking.

My difficult child is my dear 15 year old son who is diagnosed with autism. He is high-functioning. He generally does pretty well but also has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which most of the time is harder to deal with than his autism.

Currently, we have an excellent IEP in place (we just had a renewal conference earlier in the school year so this is very current). We are very lucky that we don't have to argue or fight for services for our DS. He will need help as an adult.

I am excited to finally be able to initiate posts and send supportive replies to others.

 

[whatamess]

Now that we know you're here....Welcome! I'm glad you decided to post. We all have things we can gain from this forum and things we can give as well.

 

[KTMom91]

Welcome to the board, cubsgirl.

 

[TeDo]

I am so glad you decided to join us. Glad to have you "walk through the door". I look forward to hearing your expert advice whenever you offer it. WELCOME!

 

[Marguerite]

Welcome out of the closet. I like the way you have used percentages to define your daughter. Maybe I should do that too, with easy child 2/difficult child 2.

A thought for you - is there a chance your daughter is showing some Aspie traits? It is not uncommon in families where one member is somewhere on the autism spectrum. We have been told that easy child 2/difficult child 2 does not have Asperger's, but does show some traits, notably the ADD stuff plus Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety. Girls are also very difficult to diagnose because they seem to adapt differently. We have not got easy child 2/difficult child 2 an official diagnosis, a lot of tdocs she's worked with have said that there probably is nothing to be gained by formalising a diagnosis now she's almost 25 years old. But it is now our working hypothesis.

Your son sounds a lot like mine. Only it sounds like yours is able to function in school, which is good. When you find something that is working, you stick to it!

Marg

 

[nvts]

Welcome Cubs! Looking forward to getting to know you as well as you must know most of us!

Beth

 

[cubsgirl]

Thank you for the warm welcome everyone!

Marg, my daughter is quite the free spirit and has no traits or signs of being on the spectrum, but we did have her tested by a neuropsychologist when she was younger. She does suffer from depression sometimes. She is, however, fiercely protective of her brother.

I look forward to "talking" with all of you more.

 

[DDD]

Glad to have you onboard. DDD

 

[mstang67chic]

Welcome aboard! Wow...five years? LOL You really DO knowu us don't you? Guess that means you have some catching up to do with informing us of your life!

 

[Steely]

Welcome!!! So glad to have you. Like Mstang said - 5 years! Wow, I bet you have a lot to tell all of us about ourselves Glad to have you finally aboard so that you can share.

 

[tawnya]

I was a lurker for a loooong time, too.

Glad to see you, and maybe everyone can help.

This is a pretty good bunch.

 

[barneysmom]

Welcome cubsgirl. I was a longtime lurker too. Learned more here than from any psychiatrist or therapist.

Jo

 

[HaoZi]

I'd say welcome, but it seems you've been here a lot longer than me!

 

[cubsgirl]

Thank you everyone for your kindness and warm welcome. It is much appreciated.

I've received such great advice and ideas here even before I "outed" myself!

 

[TerryJ2]

Hi Cubsgirl, AWESOME! I'm so glad you're "here." So sorry about your son, but glad you seem to have found some sort of equilibrium. Stay "out" with-us!

I love your coffee cup drawing avatar.

 

[busywend]

Welcome! Nice to meet you.

Everyone is different. I made my first post within hours of finding this place. It did not help that it was right after I had gotten yet another phone call from difficult children school. I was desperate!

I am glad you are posting now. I am sure you have valueable things to add that will help someone someday.