Up at about 7.30 as Ruth usually leaves the house at about 8, I had a shower and some cereal and we went. Ruth dropped me off very near Ealing Broadway and continued off to work.
I went to Oxford Circus, changed trains and went south to Brixton, which is only a short walk from Denmark Hill, along Cold Harbour Lane. Ruth had photocopied a page in her London map book so I knew where to go, and by 10am I was at the Maudsley.
I waited an hour, reading my NewScientist, and at 11 was collected by a woman who spent the next hour explaining what the day would contain, and doing some rather odd tests and questions and exercises in order to start assessing me. She asked a colleague in to observe and help her with the assessment. The exercises included going through a children's picture book and explaining what I thought was happening, and making up a story using 5 random objects pulled out of a bag, a task I found quite difficult. But she also asked lots of questions about my childhood, friendships, how I'd describe various feelings like happiness, etc etc, so it was quite an intense hour.
Then I had a two-hour session with a Dutch Doctor who did the clinical assessment, about my health and development and lots more. I was invited to explain why I thought I'd had ADHD and subsequently been identifying with some aspects of Aspergers Syndrome.
That finished at 3pm and I went for lunch just down the road, having a plate of very yummy chick-pea stew and rice, and got back to the Hospital for 4pm, as agreed, where I was seen by the whole team including the Consultant. He asked a few more questions and referred to his diagnostic manual a few times, and then asked if I'd have 5 minutes in another room whilst they had a talk, and when I was brought back in, he explained their decision.
It is clear that I did have ADHD as a child, but at that time it wasn't named and I was just regarded as a bit odd, naughty, disruptive and 'bright but lazy'. However, possibly due to growing out of it and/or all the self-development work I've done, I do not exhibit so many of the symptoms or diagnostic features now to be classed as having ADHD. There is a big overlap between ADHD behaviours and some Autistic traits. I do have some of the 'typically autistic' traits, but again, not enough of them to be 'labelled' with Autistic Spectrum Disorder or 'High Functioning Autism', known as Aspergers. So I don't fit any diagnostic criteria, which the Doctor described as 'good news'. There was some discussion as to where I might go from now, what I could do about continuing to improve my behaviour, and I will explore those. The medics will interview my mother when she returns from holiday, just to try to find out some more about my behaviour as a child, and I'l be sent their report in February.
I left feeling quite down as I really wanted to put my diagnosis 'in a box', labelled, so I felt I knew what I was and why I behave as I do, and had a clear way forward with definite outcomes. But as my unique mental set-up doesn't fit any one set of criteria and therefore isn't 'nameable', I feel a bit 'in limbo' or in no mans land. I sadly walked back the mile or so to Brixton and went right up to King's Cross, where I wandered round pretty aimlessly for a few hours waiting for my 10pm train. At 8.30 I waited at where the track-side pub used to be (shut for refurbishment) for a possible meeting with Diana from FlipSide Vision, but she'd been at an AGM and didn't turn up. So at 9.30 I went to the main hall and chatted to people whilst waiting for the platform to be displayed.
The train was lovely and warm and my fellow passengers were friendly and jolly.
Back into York just after 12.30, home just before 1am, really glad to see Gill.
Showing posts with label Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Show all posts
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Thursday, 16 August 2007
Thursday 16th August 07
An early start as two gigs today, the first in Starbeck near Harrogate. But over breakfast, had a game of chess with my nearly-10 year old, I beat him, as usual, but he took it well and it was a good start to the day.
Got to the station in good time to get the 9.10 to Harrogate and was met in Starbeck by one of the playscheme workers and was soon at Fairfax Community Centre for several hours of fun fun fun!
I was warned that the playscheme had three lads with autism spectrum disorder, one of whom would be disruptive and quite a handful. I told them I was ok with this and had got lots of experience of 'difference'!
So then the kids started arriving and the most lively 'lad' came in and came straight for me, in my colourful costume and silly hat, and sort of 'bounced' off me, without touching me, but it was if he'd been repelled by a magnetic repulsion or elastic or something, quite spectacular. I didn't notice the others come in, as they were much less of a 'personality'. The first 'lad' was a handful, he was noisy and zoomed around and interfered with the equipment and his carer, who's been with him for 4 years, was very good and kept him occupied as well as he could. The second boy with autism was quiet and gentle, his minder had an easier job, but the child needed to be restrained quite often from fiddling with stuff and doing inappropriate things, the other one needed almost no 'care' at all, as he just went aroung doing his own thing, not interacting with anyone or anything much, sometimes having a little play with the feathers or taking an interest in the diabolos the others were playing with.
So I did a one hour show and workshop, then a workshop, then lunch, then workshop whilst I prepared for the balloon show, which was from 1.15 ish to 1.50, when I shoved everything into the car and was driven back to the station and I got the 2.06 train back to York, a fast cycle back home, change of tee-shirt and off again to Dalton Terrace for a 6 year-old's party, arrived just in time, did my one hour show then whilst they ate tea, I blew up balloons and then we did the balloon workshop, loads of fun! Finished soon after 6pm and came home feeling brilliant!
I had the remains of the nutloaf for tea, plus an out of date 'organic pot rice' thingy, which was destined for composting, but thought I'd try it out. I've never had a pot noodle or any similar thing, so this was a first. It was ok. Fresh-cooked rice is better.
Then I did a bit of compost management in the dusk, came in for 9 and had a bottle of Kopparberg pear cider, yum.
Got an email from Community Care inviting me to submit another column which could be put in instead of my already written one on 'sustainable communities', they'd like me to write about the Heathrow protestors, the Camp for Climate Action. To be published on 30th of August... I might be able to, will need to think about it overnight.
Got to the station in good time to get the 9.10 to Harrogate and was met in Starbeck by one of the playscheme workers and was soon at Fairfax Community Centre for several hours of fun fun fun!
I was warned that the playscheme had three lads with autism spectrum disorder, one of whom would be disruptive and quite a handful. I told them I was ok with this and had got lots of experience of 'difference'!
So then the kids started arriving and the most lively 'lad' came in and came straight for me, in my colourful costume and silly hat, and sort of 'bounced' off me, without touching me, but it was if he'd been repelled by a magnetic repulsion or elastic or something, quite spectacular. I didn't notice the others come in, as they were much less of a 'personality'. The first 'lad' was a handful, he was noisy and zoomed around and interfered with the equipment and his carer, who's been with him for 4 years, was very good and kept him occupied as well as he could. The second boy with autism was quiet and gentle, his minder had an easier job, but the child needed to be restrained quite often from fiddling with stuff and doing inappropriate things, the other one needed almost no 'care' at all, as he just went aroung doing his own thing, not interacting with anyone or anything much, sometimes having a little play with the feathers or taking an interest in the diabolos the others were playing with.
So I did a one hour show and workshop, then a workshop, then lunch, then workshop whilst I prepared for the balloon show, which was from 1.15 ish to 1.50, when I shoved everything into the car and was driven back to the station and I got the 2.06 train back to York, a fast cycle back home, change of tee-shirt and off again to Dalton Terrace for a 6 year-old's party, arrived just in time, did my one hour show then whilst they ate tea, I blew up balloons and then we did the balloon workshop, loads of fun! Finished soon after 6pm and came home feeling brilliant!
I had the remains of the nutloaf for tea, plus an out of date 'organic pot rice' thingy, which was destined for composting, but thought I'd try it out. I've never had a pot noodle or any similar thing, so this was a first. It was ok. Fresh-cooked rice is better.
Then I did a bit of compost management in the dusk, came in for 9 and had a bottle of Kopparberg pear cider, yum.
Got an email from Community Care inviting me to submit another column which could be put in instead of my already written one on 'sustainable communities', they'd like me to write about the Heathrow protestors, the Camp for Climate Action. To be published on 30th of August... I might be able to, will need to think about it overnight.
Saturday, 24 February 2007
22nd Feb 07
How nice to have a lie-in this morning. My wife Gill nearly always gets up early and breakfasts the children and cycles with them to school, and I do the collecting at the end of the school day. So I woke shortly before 9am, had my habitual branflakes and home-made muesli, and went back to bed for an hour. Luxury!
After I got up I cycled speedily to town via St Nicks, to see if York Rotters would pay my £10 fee for next weeks Community Composting Network event at Offshoots in Burnley, on Food Waste Composting. Keely, our project manager, said yes, so long as I make notes and give her and several other interested parties a talk about it the following week.
I collected one potato sack's worth of sad veg and unloved fruit from Out Of This World and cycled home for lunch. After sandwiches I processed some dried fruit I'd started last night. I'd taken some some previously dried pear slices, made on my Clearview Woodstoves on cake racks, and immersed them in lime juice and a second batch in orange juice. These were then re-dried, making a fantastic tasty snack. I've experimented with apple rings in blackberry juice and have used squishy raspberries this way too. It's a little fiddly but the results are just amazing, dried pear with citrus overload. And of course all the ingredients are more or less free, I give my favourite greengrocer Richard (from Martin's Country Fresh on Heslington Road) a penny per sack for unsalable fruit, cauliflower stalks, green potatoes etc etc, and compost most of it in my garden. However, some fruit is worth drying, and as I have woodstoves going much of the time, I dry apple rings, bananas, melon slices, pear halves, and make dried tomatoes which I then put in extra virgin olive oil, for 'woodstove-dried tomatoes' .
I spent a few minutes splitting logs for the drying pile, and my neighbour came out and complained that it was making his house shake. I suppose it is annoying, but I've never complained about having to inhale petrol fumes when their cars start-up from cold in the morning. I've never mentioned to him how this makes me feel, and I wonder which has the worst long-term health effects, breathing in Benzene or a bit of banging now and again? I'll try to stick to using my electric hydraulic logsplitter, although this increases my elecrticity bill and it takes time to get it set up and put away again.
As I was leaving for school my friend M phoned. She was stuck in traffic, and would I pick up P if her hubby hadn't made it into school by hometime, and bring him home. P is good friends with us, and although his behaviour has been difficult on some occasions, I have never found him to be particularly different to other children. However, problems at school and certain behavioural traits have led his parents to get a diagnosis, and he has Autistic Spectrum Disorder. When all the children came out, so did he, expecting to see Dad or Mum and to be taken home for his usual Friday after-school routine. I told him that his parents couldn't make it and Mum had asked me to take him home, where he would be collected. He ran back into the school screaming. He was obviously completely unconsolable and refused to come home with me. My boys had some extra time cycling round the playground, as I reasoned with P. Several staff members got involved, and were very understanding, and were gentle with him, explaining the situation. He still refused to budge. Several phone-calls were made and it was agreed to leave him at school to be picked up by whichever parent arrived first.
His recent diagnosis helped me understand this unusual behaviour, and seeing the behaviour helped me understand why he had recieved the diagnosis. I got a phone call minutes after getting home, mum thanking me and saying she'd arrived soon after I'd gone and P was allright now, and happily back in his expected routine. Poor old P, I'm very fond of him and now I feel I understand a little bit more about him.
After I got up I cycled speedily to town via St Nicks, to see if York Rotters would pay my £10 fee for next weeks Community Composting Network event at Offshoots in Burnley, on Food Waste Composting. Keely, our project manager, said yes, so long as I make notes and give her and several other interested parties a talk about it the following week.
I collected one potato sack's worth of sad veg and unloved fruit from Out Of This World and cycled home for lunch. After sandwiches I processed some dried fruit I'd started last night. I'd taken some some previously dried pear slices, made on my Clearview Woodstoves on cake racks, and immersed them in lime juice and a second batch in orange juice. These were then re-dried, making a fantastic tasty snack. I've experimented with apple rings in blackberry juice and have used squishy raspberries this way too. It's a little fiddly but the results are just amazing, dried pear with citrus overload. And of course all the ingredients are more or less free, I give my favourite greengrocer Richard (from Martin's Country Fresh on Heslington Road) a penny per sack for unsalable fruit, cauliflower stalks, green potatoes etc etc, and compost most of it in my garden. However, some fruit is worth drying, and as I have woodstoves going much of the time, I dry apple rings, bananas, melon slices, pear halves, and make dried tomatoes which I then put in extra virgin olive oil, for 'woodstove-dried tomatoes' .
I spent a few minutes splitting logs for the drying pile, and my neighbour came out and complained that it was making his house shake. I suppose it is annoying, but I've never complained about having to inhale petrol fumes when their cars start-up from cold in the morning. I've never mentioned to him how this makes me feel, and I wonder which has the worst long-term health effects, breathing in Benzene or a bit of banging now and again? I'll try to stick to using my electric hydraulic logsplitter, although this increases my elecrticity bill and it takes time to get it set up and put away again.
As I was leaving for school my friend M phoned. She was stuck in traffic, and would I pick up P if her hubby hadn't made it into school by hometime, and bring him home. P is good friends with us, and although his behaviour has been difficult on some occasions, I have never found him to be particularly different to other children. However, problems at school and certain behavioural traits have led his parents to get a diagnosis, and he has Autistic Spectrum Disorder. When all the children came out, so did he, expecting to see Dad or Mum and to be taken home for his usual Friday after-school routine. I told him that his parents couldn't make it and Mum had asked me to take him home, where he would be collected. He ran back into the school screaming. He was obviously completely unconsolable and refused to come home with me. My boys had some extra time cycling round the playground, as I reasoned with P. Several staff members got involved, and were very understanding, and were gentle with him, explaining the situation. He still refused to budge. Several phone-calls were made and it was agreed to leave him at school to be picked up by whichever parent arrived first.
His recent diagnosis helped me understand this unusual behaviour, and seeing the behaviour helped me understand why he had recieved the diagnosis. I got a phone call minutes after getting home, mum thanking me and saying she'd arrived soon after I'd gone and P was allright now, and happily back in his expected routine. Poor old P, I'm very fond of him and now I feel I understand a little bit more about him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
