My grandson

[Herbyl]

Hi I am new here, in fact I am trying this to help my daughter. My 5year old grandson seems to be having problems with his behaviour. His nursery first told us about his lashing out when he didn’t get or do what he wanted. His speech is a problem, he can ask for things and we can understand him, but when he gets excited about something we have problems understanding him, he hates loud noises near him, he runs to a safe spot I,e, sofa, chair when the hoover is brought out. He has started self harming himself I.e. biting himself, banging his head, especially when he is told NO he can’t have or do something. Just recently he lashed out at his key worker at school. The school have told us that he is doing well at numbers and reading. We really don’t know what to do can anyone help/advise us please.

[iheartbooks]

If you and your daughter are concerned, I'd suggest your daughter visits the GP to discuss. It's a good idea to keep a diary of behaviour and incidents to evidence concerns. Ask the GP for a referral to your local Autism assessment team who will advise if they think there is a case for an ADOS (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule) assessment. ADOS is the tool used to diagnose ASD and it consists of a parental interview and a child observation by health professionals trained in Autism. This is how we got a diagnosis for our son, 18 months ago, just before he turned 6. It is a difficult and emotional journey, but with diagnosis can come understanding, knowledge and a guide to finding the right support for your grandchild. I wish you and your family well.