Lizzie I HAVE read that you describe your son as suffering from dyslexia as he apprantly had difficulty in being 'able to spell or write properly'

I sympahize with that as I had the same problem in school myself. Unfortunately being of the generation of your brother, I was never formally diagnozed (dyslexia not being recognized until the 1980s)

Under the terms of the 2005 Disability Discrimination Act, all people who are in full-time education (whether they are children, or adults) are entitled to a dyslexia assessment so no doubt your son was able to benefit from this rather than the very dubious 'free on-line' so called assessments

I'm suprised that the older members of your family (particularly your late father) were diagnozed but maybe this is a 'diagnosis' you have susequently applied to them?

However, as I said previously, it's not a bundle of fun and certainly in no way a 'gift' it has certainly not given me any outstanding talents but neither has it prevented me in achieving what I set out to do.


Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills which may not match up to an individual's other cognitive abilities.


PLEASE DO NOT CONFLATE DYSLEXIA WITH AUTISM
- whatever so called circle you imagine in your head!


Autism is defined in terms of a triad of impairments:

social relationships
social language and communication skills
imagination

The triad is usually accompanied by repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests, and often by challenging behaviour

"Around 75% of children with autistic spectrum disorders have general learning difficulties that fall in the moderate (IQ 35-50) range.
About 10% of children with autistic spectrum disorders have some special skill at a much higher level than the rest of their abilities, for example music, art, numerical calculations or jigsaw puzzles. Some have a remarkable memory for dates and things that particularly interest them."

"Children with Asperger Syndrome are amongst the most able of those within the autistic spectrum and will often be educated in mainstream schools as they do not have such an obvious learning disability.
Unfortunately, children with Asperger Syndrome have a higher degree of self-awareness so often more aware of the impediments to normal social relationships that they experience and this can lead to a painful degree of distress or anger towards others."

(International Psychology Services)in association with the UK National Autistic Society

While some see pragmatic language disorder as the mild end of the autistic spectrum, others see it as a distinct but overlapping area of difficulty.


The diagnosis of autism is a medical one, and will usually be made by a Psychiatrist.
Diagnosis is clinical with reference to the criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM-IV, 1994).


So far you have not answered the question asked a couple of times whether your children have been formally diagnozed with autism which is a somewhat different situation from your description of your daughter -
"(her) incredible artistic talent, which has been there from when she was born, goes hand in hand with SO many symptoms of autism that you'd not believe it!"

Lizzie this question is not "vicious, snidey, or sarcastic"

It is a simple request to enable people to assess the level of experience you claim.