Luke Longman

[Herd]

I've just come across this Guy Luke Longman who is cycling round the Football League grounds to Raise money for Treating Autism

http://treatingautism.org.uk/

I have a son who is Autistic and it's a daily battle to get him the education he is entitled to and the understanding which his parents crave !

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/cyclearoundtheuk


If you want to contribute thats your choice but thank you !

[DB10GOONER]

Gonna make this a sticky for a few days to bring attention to a very worthy cause.

[Belfast Boy]

Good on ya Herd, my son is also on the Autism spectrum as I suspect am I, and you're right it is an exhausting fight every day regarding his education as my son falls into the big hole by being unable to function in a mainstream school but having an IQ of well over a 100 does not qualify for a special school < IQ70 my son was only diagnosed last year at the age of 14 because our concerns fell on deaf ears from pretty much P1, if I was to put into print what we've been thru it would put the Wenger thread in the shade

In fact last week me and my ex went to a long awaited meeting regarding our complaint which was lodged after he was finally diagnosed with "classic Aspergers" 9 months ago, with no less than 6 medical professionals from various departments around the table and a lady consultant started the meeting off and said we can interject at any time she went on to speak about six words before I "interjected" and they basically spent the rest of the hour listening to me and my ex as we related to them the last ten years of sheer exasperation at the stonewalling, lack of resources, lack of communication and sometimes out and out plain ignorance and a not a little arrogance.

At the end of the meeting despite a decade of frustration coming out and me being very candid to say the least, the big cheese in the corner said that he was impressed at how eloquently we spoke particularly regarding the subject matter and the emotion involved and they could all take a lesson from our case so we received an official apology but I'm acutely aware that in is very much in their interests to strike a conciliatory tone to the meeting and hoping that we'll be satisfied with just getting things off our chest but I told them it's not about me and her altho the stress certainly didn't help our relationship, it's about our son whose education has been severely & irreversibly impacted by his late diagnosis, so the fight's not over yet!

[DB10GOONER]

Good on ya Herd, my son is also on the Autism spectrum as I suspect am I, and you're right it is an exhausting fight every day regarding his education as my son falls into the big hole by being unable to function in a mainstream school but having an IQ of well over a 100 does not qualify for a special school < IQ70 my son was only diagnosed last year at the age of 14 because our concerns fell on deaf ears from pretty much P1, if I was to put into print what we've been thru it would put the Wenger thread in the shade

In fact last week me and my ex went to a long awaited meeting regarding our complaint which was lodged after he was finally diagnosed with "classic Aspergers" 9 months ago, with no less than 6 medical professionals from various departments around the table and a lady consultant started the meeting off and said we can interject at any time she went on to speak about six words before I "interjected" and they basically spent the rest of the hour listening to me and my ex as we related to them the last ten years of sheer exasperation at the stonewalling, lack of resources, lack of communication and sometimes out and out plain ignorance and a not a little arrogance.

At the end of the meeting despite a decade of frustration coming out and me being very candid to say the least, the big cheese in the corner said that he was impressed at how eloquently we spoke particularly regarding the subject matter and the emotion involved and they could all take a lesson from our case so we received an official apology but I'm acutely aware that in is very much in their interests to strike a conciliatory tone to the meeting and hoping that we'll be satisfied with just getting things off our chest but I told them it's not about me and her altho the stress certainly didn't help our relationship, it's about our son whose education has been severely & irreversibly impacted by his late diagnosis, so the fight's not over yet!

Sorry to hear this BB. I have a younger brother who suffered oxygen starvation to the brain at birth which left him with severe learning difficulties. He also has MS. He's 40 this year but has the educational level of a 5 year old and maturity of maybe a 10 year old. I saw my folks struggle with the dept of education here for 12 years or so to try and get him some form of specialist education or skill training and they got no support from the dept or the many politician cúnts they tried to get involved in his case. He can't read or write, can't cook etc. He lives with my mom and weekends with either myself or my other 2 brothers and our families to give my mom a break. We finally got him a full disability allowance after years of fighting with the dept of social protection here and dealing with the biggest shower of useless uncaring fuckhead psychologists I've ever met. We too were met with ignorance, terrible communication, indifference and arrogance.

The feelings of anger and frustration can be overwhelming at times. Stay strong buddy.

[Herd]

I'm sorry to hear that DB ,My son is a happy little lad and we are lucky that Autism is recognised now but my missus who is a formidable woman had a game plan and implements it well .
He goes to a main stream school and has a 1-1 however while we struggle with the school to get more inclusion he does OK and seems happy .
For Us his happiness is paramount ,Im nearly 60 and the missus just 40 .
Our lifes work now is going to try and get my boy to be able to live an unassisted life cause we all die and I would hate him to be left on the streets or abused in a home Its my nightmare.
Still with all that he loves activity we are out all the time but he needs watching 24/7 so weekends aren't the restful occasions they should be but cest la vie. We go to rugby tots go swimming and chase seaghulls all over hampstead heath each weekend rain or shine

[Belfast Boy]

Thanks DB sorry about your brother, puts my son's case into perspective because at face value there's nothing wrong with him but therein lies the problem, but I absolutely know that you woulda made this a sticky anyway regardless of the subject matter being of a personal nature to you - cheers fella

[Allgunsblazin]

Sorry to hear of fellow supporters day to day struggles and challenges in this very selfish world we live in!
My prayers are with you all this coming Easter time...

[Retro Gunner]

I'm really sorry to hear what you guys are contending with, more power to all of you and your families. I've never considered myself a particularly soft bloke, but I struggle with things concerning kids with disabilities, illnesses etc. Find it hard to watch stuff like that on TV, although I know that we should, to raise awareness.

Sounds as though you're all doing a great job and it must be immensely tough. Kind of puts our beefs about the tossers running our Club into perspective.

[flash gunner]

I do a bit of youth work in my spare time and work with young people with additional needs so i know how hard but rewarding it can be. Keep up the good work everyone and sponsor Luke Longman if you can

[Belfast Boy]

Respect to you too Flash......... and I just did

[DB10GOONER]

I do a bit of youth work in my spare time and work with young people with additional needs so i know how hard but rewarding it can be. Keep up the good work everyone and sponsor Luke Longman if you can

Fair play to you mate. In my experience it's often the volunteer worker that steps up and delivers when the so called professionals can't be arsed.

[BournemouthRED]

Fantastic cause, donated.

[Herd]

Cheers , the poor man didn't have much when I saw it so thanks for the publicity !

[herbert]

http://www.hibs.net/showthread.php?3212 ... dads-Quest

I stuck a cockle in the fellas kitty and when I saw the thread above when I was cheating on the Arsenal with my bit on the side the mighty Hibees I thought it might interest some on here

[flash gunner]

Im going to unsticky this as its been here a while. Hope that ok