I was speaking to my doctor yesterday and we were mentioning what a sharp increase there has been in the last couple of years with children being diagnosed with either of these.
I was mentioning that I was concerned about the literature linking bronchiolitis to asthma and then the sharp link between asthma and osteoporosis because of the asthma medication. She was saying that I am lucky to only have to worry about asthma as this was the one of the three A’s that was at least easily confined and treated.
This made me wonder about available resources for parents looking for information regarding these illnesses. I found the following:
Autism:
Action in Autism
This is a site which provides you with a simple check-list of development milestones your child should have reached by a certain age. This is just a check-list to tell you whether you have reason to check-in with your doctor and not an exact science. Also remember that children develop at different rates and thus don’t get to stressed if you have some no’s on your list; rather just take it up with your paediatrician.
If you need specialist assistance then I strongly suggest the Neurodiversity Centre we have had tremendous assistance and support and highly recommend the staff.
Also see below download.
Asthma:
National Asthma Education Programme
This non-profit organisation disseminates impartial information about asthma. This site offers a number of downloads and information so go have a look.
Also see below downloads
ADD/ADHD:
For some reason it seems to be harder to find groups that support parent on this one, this although these seems to be the biggest rise in numbers for this illness. A site I managed to find that seems to be the more professional of the ones available is The Learning Workshop; this is for children with learning disabilities and offers on-line counselling, as well as workshops, hints and tips as well as some “prescribed” reading.
Have a look at:
The Learning Workshop
Parents of LD children often feel frustrated and helpless when faced with the overwhelming task of understanding and helping their LD child. But, even though the future looks daunting, there is hope. A child with a learning disability can learn.
Hope these help and be sure to let us know if you find more of these.
Download documents:
Autism South Africa resources available for download: https://www.aut2know.co.za/resources/
NEAP – what is asthma https://www.asthmasa.org/what-is-asthma/
September 2024 – I can’t smile at my optimistic self proclaiming that we only need to deal with asthma as here we are a couple of years later and we are dealing with all the A’s and even the rest of the alphabet.
I will be posting an update on our road with Autism, ADHD and bi-polar. All I can say it’s been a bumpy ride.
Resources checked and updated September 2024 from 21 January 2009
