Tag Archives: autism

The EEG and the asylum

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A freshly hatched post for once.  Laughing boy had a mobile EEG unit fitted this morning. The neuro person, Noreen, was very chilled as she carefully superglued the electrodes to his scalp. Once LB had gone through his usual questions – “What’s your name?”, “Where were you born?” “How old are you?” “Have you got a boyfriend?” “How old is he?” “What does he do?” – he went back to chuntering about other stuff. I realised he was getting naffed off with the lengthy process when he started going on about asylums, straitjackets and an evil attendant called Noreen. Continue reading →

Reversing the car

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I got a copy of LB’s medical records at the end of last year.  It’s a mixture of letters, reports, results and comments and is peculiar reading. The number of different diagnoses he had, over the years, is a bit of a surprise, and the earlier use of language is a bit shocking. The ‘Chinese whispers’ effect is also interesting; the story shifts with different professionals. That is a bit disappointing considering a major bugbear for most parents I know, is the constant repetition of the basic background details. I wonder at what point, in the doctor patient communication, those details go awry.  Continue reading →

“A picture of Mum?”

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One thing that doesn’t happen so much now that Laughing Boy is sixteen, is endless (often meaningless) appointments with professionals.  Countless hours have been spent travelling, waiting and meeting a range of different people in different settings.  One series of appointments, four years ago,  was with a psychologist geezer (Psych Sid*) about LB’s ‘challenging’ behaviour.  These appointments seemed particularly pointless as Psych didn’t want LB present.   Continue reading →

The eel bus

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Rosie’s little mate, Charlotte, bounded across the playground before school one morning shouting “Sara! I saw Laughing Boy on the eel bus yesterday!” Whoa. Wha? The eel bus? Laughing Boy?  “Slow down a bit, Charlotte.. what’s the eel bus?” “You know, the bus that takes all the eel children”.. Eh, you lost me?  “The eel bus? Where did you see him?” “On the ring road in the bus with the other eel children” (silly)..  Ah. The ‘ill’ i.e. disabled children.

That was when I first started to wonder about where all the eel children were taken.

The day I got locked out

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   Laughing boy (3/5 kids, pictured on the right, next to 5/5) was off school sick when he was about 9. Being not quite of this world (some people would say he is autistic with learning difficulties) I was a bit stuck when I needed some milk. He was comfy watching endless episodes of Barney, so I decided to risk a quick trip to the Co-op (50 metres away).

I read the riot act – don’t move, don’t stop watching the tv, do not get off the settee, do not leave the living room, DO NOT go near the front door. Do you hear me? NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!! He seemed totally on board. I went out of the house, shut the door, then realised no door key.  Hilarious. Continue reading →