Any suggestions?

April 25, 2000

We are in the very happy position of having a child who is getting better. We

now have to really think about catching her up to her age group socially and

that is a challenge! Our daughter can go to summer school this summer but

that will be with other children that her teacher does not want her to

socialize with after school or on the weekends! We have no neighborhood kids

at all so staying home is not an option. We can send her to girl scout camp

for one or two sessions but with which age group? She is a Junior but acts

more like a Brownie. Is it better to stress her to make her produce or to put

her in an environment that is safer? What is everyone's opinion? I am

particularly interested in yours Cheryl as your younger son is 's age

and sounds similar to her. We will be coming out to California for a

neurospect this summer. Anyone live near UCLA? Kathy

April 26, 2000

Hi Kathy,

I wish I had some words of wisdom for you, I'm still trying to figure out

the same thing with my son. He does great with his friends around the

neighborhood but it's harder when it comes to larger groups of kids. Most

of the kids his age are obviously more mature. My son grew up thinking

very black and white. He has always been honest to a fault so it is hard

for him to realize that other people are not always telling the truth. He

also never had the ability to pick up on most of the nonverbal cues(facial,

body language) We have been fortunate as far as the kids at school. Most

of them have know him since the beginning and have been aware that he has a

medical problem. They have been really good about going out of their way to

say hi and be nice to him. So at least he hasn't had to deal with alot of

teasing or tormenting.

He's starting to pick up on some things, but definitely needs more help.

The school was supposed to be setting up a small group to work on social

skills. So far like everything else, it hasn't materialized. I have set up

an appointment to have him evaluated developmentally. I am hoping that

once I have something to validate the problem areas, I can get the school to

be of more help.

Cheryl