Hi,
I'll save my questions for other subfora and threads, just going to introduce myself here.
My name is Kate. My best friend of many years and I raised our kids together for several years, and remained close and involved in all the kids' lives even after we moved apart. I was present for, and a major party in her son's Aspergers diagnosis (I was the parent most able to do the weekday stuff).
Last week, bff killed herself. My husband and I have the kids, and will be raising them from here on out. They are, for now, in dependency care, which (afaik) means that they are in the care of dcfs, but placed with me.
Morgan, 16, has Asperger's, with additional diagnoses of ADHD and PDD-NOS. Laurel is 12, and is neurotypical.
I'll be asking questions, probably, in the next days and weeks, about grieving in Aspergers kids, as well as what types of counseling/therapy has worked for others. And I'll also be asking questions about navigating schools and other agencies and systems.
Please forgive me if I use the wrong words. I am bumbling my way through here, as I haven't done the daily parenting for him for several years, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't kept up on the world of the Autism spectrum. I worry that I'll accidentally use some term or phrase used only by curebies, and be shunned, so please be easy on me!
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Kate, dependency caretaker and Auntie to Morgan, learning everything I can, as fast as I can, about parenting the AS teen. Auntie to his NT sister, Laurel, 12.
Mom to Cora, 13 and NT, and Fiona, 8mos with special medical needs.