I read on the internet that only 6% of autistic adults of working age (in the UK at least) are actually working, as opposed to 49% of disabled people in general. This is appalling!

Has anyone here managed to get a job? Or had difficulty getting a job? My partner is autistic (AS) and is looking for a job after gaining his degree. He is finding it very difficult. He had one interview, but perhaps he did not come across well (which is basically the nature of the disability). We are concerned about his performance in interview, due to being in an unfamiliar situation and with people he does not know. Does anyone know what help he can get (bearing in mind we are in the UK)? Thanks.

Went to the ultrasound office first, had the scan and then a doc came in to redo the scan (normal procedure) to tell us if all looked good…all looked GREAT! Weight already is 13oz! And, we’re right on target for the due date! 12/12 still stands! It was breath taking to see the baby move…….hand motions and positions….very fine movement…was wide awake for the scan…knew it was time to shine and make the debutJ When we saw the profile, I lost it…couldn’t stop crying and when we were done I was shaking…….so amazing! Then had to go over to our regular OB doc’s office and he looked at the report of the scan and then did the normal heartbeat check, etc…..

IT’S A GIRL! IT’S A GIRL, IT’S A GIRL!

So happy! Just happy and relieved it’s healthy…girl is nice bonus!

Hello everyone~
How are you all doing? getting rest?
Erik is doing quite well…he’s an eating machine! He’s up between 2-3 hours to nurse and sleeps well..for awhile he was wide awake at night for 4 hours!

It’s hard to believe he’s a week old already!

Well, I look forward to seeing updates!
talk soon!
S

i have been having sex almost 4 times a week and sometimes even more during my first 3months and i believe that the baby is well protected, but now after knowing that i have a low lying placenta i begun to doubt the safety of sex! can anyone enlighten me regarding this issue

Hi there, im in a bit of an odd situation. Me and this guy split up a few months ago and all of a sudden this past week hes wanted to take our dogs out for a walk and we have spent hours together laughing and what not. We went to dinner friday and i ended up giving him some advice on a girl he ment. Poor guy isnt a very out going person with women. Now yesterday he calls me in a pit of a panic over something his dog did so i met him for coffee. I listened and helped him out and what not. The thing i dont understand is why is he calling me? Im getting a vibe from him that is rekindling my feelings for him. I did bluntly ask him why he calls me and not the woman he wants and he really didnt answer it. I just dont know what to do. We only dated a few months and the split was ok, he i feel didnt give me a chance weather to know if we would work out or not. What do you think i should do? I really enjoy the time we spend together now just like i did before.

Thought I would relay my health system issues. I have an old fusion 22 yrs. Last October 1 year ago I had a change in my symptoms. Severe pain in my shin and unable to lay down on my side without horrendous pain in my leg.

Well had x-rays and cat scan. X-rays show severe DDD on all levels. Cat scan showed disc vacuum on L3-L4. The cat scan was very difficult to read because of the metal in my back from the previous L4-L5 L5-S1 fusion. I also have severe degenerative changes in my cervical spine and my dr says that they haven’t even looked at my thorasic spine. She expects the same arthritis there. So after trying to sleep upright in a chair and not able to put any weight on my leg I sought out steroid shots which I had. The anaethesist finally told me he was unable to proceed with any more shots as the natural anatomy of my back was destroyed and it was too dangerous. He recommended an ortho spine specialist for assessment. He also said my CT scan was useless for diagnosis.

Ok so the steroid did help somewhat and I now take neurontin for pain which has been a godsend. Now this is the problem. So I go to my family dr and ask her to refer me to the specialist (in Canada we must have a referral). She talks me out of it as she doesn’t think anyone can help me as there are no fine levels left. So time goes by. I hobble around with my cane and cannot sustain any activity. I get her to refer me to another noted neurosurgeon who came to me highly recommended. I sit and wait. Two months later I am told he won’t see me as he doesn’t think he can help me. Now remember all there is to go on is a blurry ct scan and an x-ray. The file actually laid on his desk for two months before I got a call. So now I go back to my doctor.

I tell her look this thing is positional, when I lay on my side the pain ensues. Hmmmm sounds like something is pressing on the nerve. This is different I have had sciatica for 40 yrs so maybe I know when there is something else going on. So she agrees to send me to a pain management specialist for an assessment. Well she must have changed her mind because I found out that she is referring me to a surgeon instead. Now the trouble is the wait for a "downtown" hospital surgeon is 4 to 6 months. All these guys are the same they get a fax from my doctor and prioritize it. So two months ago my info was faxed. No call to date. Simple case with a clear cut surgical solution gets you in quicker. So now I am sitting here wanting to kick myself in the butt for letting her talk me out of the original recommendation by the anaethesist as I would have been in there seeing the guy by now.

It isn’t that I expect that there really is a solution other than pain management but all I want is a proper assessment. Like maybe emg, and a myleogram. Obviously even to my idiot brain I need dye contrast. These specialist want the mri’s and ct scans done before they see you but simple imagery in my case isn’t going to cut it. MRI’s can also be difficult to read because of the metal interference. Well thank god for Neurontin at night at least I can lay down and sleep. Just felt like sounding off my back is throbbing and I am getting cranky….lol. Sending my hubby to get me a glass of red wine. Going to make that part of my pain management.

Has anyone heard of these antiviral gels made from red seaweed? I read about them on the web and apparently they are supposed to be very effective in preventing transmission of many types of viruses (HSV, HPV, and even HIV). One of the products is in the very final stages of FDA approval and is due to come out next month (March 2007), according to one source I found. I did a search on the board and didn’t come up with anything.

I ask because I have HSV II (first OB was June of 2006) but to my knowledge I have not had any outbreaks since then. So I have had no symptoms for about 7 months in my first year of infection. I almost did not believe I really had it until I got blood tested and it returned positive. So I would like to have sex again sometime within my lifetime I am on the fence about Valtrex since I haven’t had any outbreaks and I’m afraid that it might weaken my body’s natural defense against the virus (plus it’s expensive), however I also would like the benefit of decreasing the possibility of viral shedding.

So basically I’m wondering if anyone knows anything more about this antiviral gel, if I should get a prescription for Valtrex, and what other precautions I should take (besides the obvious use of condoms). I just want to be as safe as possible.

And does anyone know anything about this damned vaccination that has supposedly been due to come out for some time now? When can we expect a product to hit the market? All of the articles I have read were from like 2001 and according to them it should be done by now! I figure it should be following the HPV vaccination, right?

Thanks!

hello all , my bc is her2 positive.Anybody else the same?
Iread in our newspaper that this is an aggressive type.I was caught very early so had a lumpectomy and only 1 lymph node had just started to become infected .Chemo, radio, tamoxifen for 5 years now and on herceptin followed surgery.Ifeel dumped as doctors say i am doing great and then papers print this.Please reply

Hi,
My DD is 13 months old and we decided for the benefit of the whole family she needed to stop waking up 2-3 times a night. Atleastone of these times is for a bottle.
We chose the long Christmas weekend because my husband and I are both in town so we won’t get frustrated with the crying and that we are not working during the day so we might stil be functional and because my daughter seems to be well after a long spell of ear infections etc.
It has been 2 nights that we follow this :- We soothe her and hold her for a little bit and lay her down in her crib atabout 9 pm when she is on most days sleepy.
She generally wakes up at 3:00 or 4:00 for a bottle and we are trying to get her to quit that and sleep till6:00 at a min. Anytime after that she can get a bottle if she wants.
We have let her cry for 1 hour and 1.5 hours respectively before she finally goes to sleep herself, I feel miserable and keep wondering if I am doing the right thing.
Please advise,what are your experiences ? Has anyone else done thisbrutality and howlong does it take to see results ?
THANKS

so, ds is 6 months old.

We decided to try some rice cereal, 1x a day. This led to a case of serious constipation. BTW, as an aside, the magic bullets work really well and are easy, not as scary as I feared.

So, since oatmeal has more fiber, we decided oatmeal was worth a try, 1 serving a day…this time he has awful gas (i mean painful, smelly, gurgling tummy) and a mild case of constipation. Maybe the constipation was less severe because we caught it earlier?

He is taking fruits and veggies just fine (hates prunes though) 1 seving a day.

So, do you think this is Celiac’s or just an undeveloped tummy, or something else?

Any help is much appreciated! tia.