The main problem with being the Chairperson and Founder of a charity for Attention Deficit Disorder is that I have a family that suffers from this condition so I don't have as much free time as I would like. Coupled with this our son Kristian has been out of school since October 1998 so I have to fight him during the day for use of the computer. This quarter has been particularly busy, especially the last fortnight when I have had appointments every day, and most evenings. This newsletter is going to concentrate on Asperger Syndrome to compliment a talk that we are having in Southampton during April. We have been asked to give our comments on the changes that the government proposes to make to the Code of Practice regarding SEN children. I will list a summary of these after dates for your diary. Our Winchester group has been joined by Vanessa King, who founded and coordinated the association READ This organisation deals mainly with Dyslexia and problems on the Dyslexic Spectrum, which, as most of you well know, quite often goes hand in hand with AD/HD. She felt, and your committee and I agreed, that the effectiveness of both our organizations was being hindered by having two voices, so it made sense for us to join together to strengthen our power base. Welcome to you Vanessa and to our new members.

25^th April We are taking part in a sponsored walk to raise money to help you. It's still not too late to volunteer to help us, either by getting sponsorship for those of us walking or by joining us and arranging your own sponsors. Details from Janet. It's a 6 mile off road walk near Basingstoke, so you could bring the kids. Janet and I both did it last year and are mad enough to repeat the exercise. When you think that we both smoke and I don't normally even walk to the shops it can't be that bad.

27^th April. This is the date for the new meeting in Winchester It's to be held at All Saints School, St. Catherine s Road, Highcliff, Winchester. starting at 7.30pm.

• To have a single volume of the Code of Practice rather than introduce separate versions for primary and secondary schools.
• To reduce the three 'school­based stages' of the current five ­ stage model to only two: School Support and Support Plus.
• To allow parental appeals to the Tribunal where the request to the LEA for an assessment was made by the school rather than by the parent.
• To omit the list of medical conditions referred to in paragraph 3.89.
• To amend the 'Notice to Parents' in the 1994 SEN Regulations:

• (a) to make the wording of the notice more parent­ friendly
• (b) to enable parents to request lists of independent and non­independent special schools, rather than requiring LEAs to issue them to parents with a draft statement.
  • To indicate that any reference to the provision of transport should be made in part 6 (non educational provision) of a statement.
  • To amend the 'model statement' in the Schedule to the 1994 SEN Regulations to enable LEAs which have agreed to cost­sharing arrangements with parents to refer in part 6 of a statement to "any special financial arrangements pertaining to the child' s placement".
  • To amend current legislation on transitional reviews of statements:
• (1) to require all transitional reviews to be held in year 9 instead of in the year after the child' s 14^th birthday
• (2) to require schools to play the same role for transitional reviews as for annual reviews.
• (3) To enable LEAs, in the case of children with severe learning difficulties or profound and multiple difficulties who were known to be remaining at school until age 18 or i9, to postpone the transitional review to year 10 or 11 where all interested parties were in agreement.
  
• To place a requirement on LEAs where a child is due to transfer between phases, to complete the annual review ofthe child's statement by 31@ December of the preceding year, and to issue an amended statement by 15^th February.
• We have answered yes to all these proposals, most of which we fought hard for in the review meetings.

Hello everyone, On Thursday 18^th March I spent the day in Eastleigh at an Autistic / Asperger' s Ouestions and Answers day. It was about statementing and Behaviour management. I thought this would be informative and helpful to us all. Dave Reid, Parent Partnership Officer for Hampshire, did a talk about statementing. I have enclosed the handout overleap As you can see it is quite long­winded and can take up to 26 weeks to complete. If the school request a statement and it is refused then there is no right of appeal, but if a parent requests it and it is refused then we can appeal (As you can see this is one of the points under consideration for change in the new Code of Prachce). Also; according to Dave Reid any request for a statement has about an 80% success rate. We were also told about the governments proposed changes to the school based staging system, and the removal of stage 1. Also speaking were two members of staff from Hope Lodge, an independent school for children suffering from Autism. They gave some general advice on behaviour management that could apply to all children regardless of medical diagnosis.

1. try and think why the child is doing this behaviour.
2. Try to think of a solution e.g. take away stress i.e. noise.
3. Use praising tactics much more, "they can work wonders". Even if it's just to say 'Well done for sitting still".
4. Give the child a quiet time and their own space: ­ Due to lack of space in my own house, I have made curtains to go around each of my boys bunk beds. This gives them an area of their own to calm down and get the feeling of their own space. They both like the curtains.
5. Give timed warnings, e.g. 5 minutes to switch off their playstation or 5 minutes until dinner. Then 1 minute warnings. Use an egg timer so that they have an idea of what time means. We all know we hate to stop doing things that we enjoy. Our kids hate stopping just that much more! Using an idea of time might help us to stop being ignored or a blow up of anger, either theirs or ours!

Asperger's is very often a comorbid condition with AD/HD; this means that they occur together in most of our children, but each child is individual so the amount that they may be effected is very varied. Over the past few weeks I have been finding out more about this condition so if you have any queries please get in touch and I will give you as much help as I can. Alternatively, Carol Barfoot, who runs the Autistic self­support group in Eastleigh is more than happy to help. I hope this information is of some use to you all and hope you had a great and not too stressful Easter break.

Sarah Lamont

From ICD 10

A. A lack of any clinical significant delay in language or cognitive development.

Diagnosis requires that single words should have developed by two years of age or earlier and that communicative phrases be used by three years of age or earlier. Self­help skills, adaptive behaviour and curiosity about the environment during the first three years should be at a level consistent with normal intellectual development. However,

motor milestones may be somewhat delayed and motor clumsiness is usual (although not a necessary diagnostic feature). Isolated special skills, often related to abnormal preoccupations, are common, but are not required for diagnosis.

B. Qualitative impairments in reciprocal social interaction (criteria as for autism). Diagnosis requires demonstrable abnormalities in at least 3 out of the following 5 areas:

1. failure adequately to use eye­to­eye gaze, facile expression, body posture and gesture to regulate social interaction;
2. failure to develop (in a manner appropriate to mental age, and despite ample opportunities) peer relationships that involve a mutual sharing of interests, activities and emotions;
3. rarely seeking and using other people for comfort and affection at times of stress or distress and / or offering comfort and affection to others when they are showing distress or unhappiness;
4. lack of shared enjoyment in terms of vicarious pleasure in other people's happiness and / or a spontaneous seeking to share their own enjoyment through joint involvement with others;
5. A lack of socio­emotional reciprocity as shown by an impaired or deviant response to other people's emotions; and / or lack of modulation of behaviour according to social context, and / or a weak integration of social, emotional and communicative behaviours

C. Restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests and activities. (Criteria as for autism; however it would be less usual for these to include either motor mannerisms or preoccupations with part ­ objects or non ­ functional elements of play materials).

Diagnosis requires demonstrable abnormalities in at least 2 out of the following 6 areas:

1. an encompassing preoccupation with stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest;
2. specific attachments to unusual objects;
3. apparently compulsive adherence to specific, non­functional, routines or rituals;
4. stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms that involve either hand / finger flapping or twistings or complex whole body movement;
5. preoccupations with part­objects or non­functional elements of play materials (such as their odour, the feel of their surface, or the noise / vibration that they generate);
6. Distress over changes in small, non­functional, details of the environment.

D. The disorder is not attributable to the other varieties of pervasive development disorder; schizotypal disorder, simple schizophrenia;

reactive and disinhibited attachment disorder of childhood; obsessional personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder.

From DSM IV

A. Qualitative impairment in social interaction as manifested by at least two of the following:

1. marked impairment in the use of multiple non­verbal behaviours such as eye­to­eye gaze, facial expression, body postures and gestures to regulate social interaction.
2. Failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level.
3. A lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests or achievements with other people (e.g.: by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people).
4. Lack of social or emotional reciprocity.

B. Restrictive, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

1. encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus.
2. Apparently inflexible adherence to specific, non­filnctional routines or rituals.
3. Stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g. Hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole body movements).
4. Persistent preoccupation with parts of objects.

1. The disturbance causes significant impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.
2. There is no clinically significant general delay in language (e.g. Single words used by 2 years, communicative phases used by age 3 years)
3. There is no clinical significant delay in cognitive development or in the development of age­appropriate self­help stalls, adaptive behaviour (other than in social interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood
4. Criteria are not met for another specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or Schizophrenia