Today we thought we would take the Children out and give them a treat and we took them to a place called Starcity in Birmingham its a big entertainment complex housing bars,cinemas,Casino, bowling etc.
So we decided it would be nice to go bowling with the Children.
Upon arrival Euan was unusually excited at all the lights on the casino and was making gasping excitement noises and giggling....Cute i assure you and i thought brilliant......
So we take a step into the bowling alley which we prebooked and paid for in advance (BIG MISTAKE)
As soon as we step in Euan just flipped and i mean FLIPPED for no reason at all,and he just kept crying and screaming and really zoned out of it and was very panicky.....
I have never saw Euan this bad in a social situation and it kind of scared me.
We paid for 2 rounds of bowling and had to leave after the first round as he was just not getting any better and infact got more stressed out as time went on.
I would have left sooner had it not have been for Emily as i didnt want to upset her especially the way shes been with us lately which is also upsetting me.
Euan today just really freaked out and have never seen such a major meltdown from him in anyway.
It feels lately that he is really getting worse on all the behavioural issues and also seems to be quite OCD about alot of things aswell now.
Following on from our last appointment they wanted to follow up May/June time but i dont think we can wait that long now.
Im very scared now about how he will cope at school and im very anxious about him starting now incase he has panic attacks like today.
Is there anything we can do from our point of view to help him with social situations.
Parents with children with ASD how have you got around this or is it a case of simply avoiding places???

Oh my god what a week we have had and my blood pressure is something above dangerous...
Just so fed up now of fighting to be taken seriously and not be fobbed off.
Do you think i could now be asked to be referred to another consultant for a second oppion with Euan?
Come on guys and girls i really need as much help as i can get right now....

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hiya hun
we tried the avoidance but you end up not being able to take them anywhere, best thing might be going at a time its quiet and just have a walk inside then next time stay a bit longer, he is sounding a bit like my neice but she isnt autistic but she used to be scared of everything at that age grass, sand, trees and they had to introduce them in small doses, she still screamed but after she realised she could come away she was better and now the only thing she seems scared of is matthew lol. bowling can be a bit stimulating on the senses if its anything like ours flashing lights loud music and loads of ppl. has he been before and was it busier or louder than normal?
i would ask for an earlier appointment as his behaviour is so typical of autism and unfortunatly the parents that shout the loudest are the ones that get what they should.
corinne

He went when he was younger when he was about 1 and half and never had an issue then.
Funny thing was it wasnt that loud as there was no music,but the lights and the busy crowd could have tipped him over the edge i suppose.
He did say it was hurting his ears when we came outside but we didnt think it was loud but i suppose he has smaller ears than us
It was a full blown meltdown and has left me really worried for him now.

he hasnt got a cold coming has he?? if he has even a slight earache that would make any noise amplified. and dont worry about the meltdown that is one thing autistic and toddlers are experts at, they soon learn the bigger the meltdown the quicker they get what they after (leaving or ice cream) wait until its a 14 yr old having the paddy in the middle of the supermarket and you have to drag/carry them out screaming lol ahhhhh fun times at least its sympathetic looks you get then not "cant you control your kid" hehe had it once when matt was about 10 and we had to get him in the car screaming and kicking at the car took 2 of us to get him in and this was after i walked down the bus station with him over my shoulder screaming i was watching this woman just waiting for her to say something and i was going to hand him over lol i thought she might have called the police as it did look like we were kidnapping him
corinne
By the way u might have worked out i have a morbid sense of humour at times as found it funny 5 mins later

We were going to have a burger in the burgerbar at bowling but we dared not risk staying there.
When we came out of the bowling he seemed to calm down a little or so we thought....
So we went into a indian restraunt and after 5 minutes he started again and he grabbed a knife off the table and said "Me cut Emily"
And we keep having him attack her and then throwing things at Alfie who is only 7 months old.
The most frustrating thing is when he is like this i try to hold him and say calm down Euan,daddy loves you and he screams at me before hitting or biting me.....Breaks my heart that i know he loves me yet when he is angry it just feels like he cant help but hurt people its really upsetting that my little boy has such anger at his age.
How did you feel when Matt was younger Corinne and does that feeling get any easier?