"So why did you start The Blue Room ? " I was asked.

Well ........... 7 years ago I was in the situation of being faced with a new diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome for my son.

"What ?" I had never heard of Asperger's Syndrome and all I really knew of autism was from what I now know to have been very biased and badly written documentaries that left everyone with the impression that all autistic people were non verbal,largely incontinent and had nothing to look forward to in life.
They did not express any hope of improvement and also left you believing that all on the spectrum were affected equally and within a limited set of traits or expressions, ie. flapping,rocking,self absorbed and non communicative.

So having been given an A4 sheet of traits and little else I looked to the internet for help.

Yes there was a vast amount of material out there ,but it was largely the same set of statements repeated again and again or sites by professionals that were unintelligible to the lay person, the one shining light being Tony Attwood,his website and books were and still are the clearest and easiest to read ,here was someone that truly knew his subject,understood the spectrum and the people on it and could also explain things in a plain and straightforward manner.

Over the years since his diagnosis my son has been through some pretty bad times and a lot of that was caused by sheer ignorance on the part of so called experts and educators who seemed hell bent on making things worse.

Of course there were many excellent professionals involved too but the stress caused by the negative experiences had taken its toll and my son basically trusted and believed no-one by this point.

Things came to a head after a move to a new area and the headteacher of his new school soon came to the conclusion that mainstream school was just not the right place for my son to be. A battle then ensued as the LEA were adamant that they would not provide anything but a normal mainstream setting and even insisted that there was zero evidence of a problem........

So despite the formal diagnosis and reports from all involved in that process,letters from chartered clinical psychologists,educational psychologists and 3 schools all saying the same thing suddenly there was "nothing wrong with the child".

Well the battle continued till the LEA backed themselves into a corner and were in breach of the laws relating to SEN code of practise and statements .
Having confirmed that legal action was about to be taken against them we suddenly had a total reversal of the position and a special needs placement ,out of county was agreed.

Since then things have slowly improved week by week , the school have worked continuously to reduce anxiety and all the problems that had made life in school unbearable.
My son is now enjoying life, he has friends at school,he looks forward to going back for the week and has joined clubs there,this is what can be achieved in the right environment.

So again you ask why the forum?

Well, all through these last few years I have met dozens of parents who have the same (or worse ) sad story of stuggling to get what is the legal right of an appropriate education for their children and also the daily problems of not having any support or services to rely on.

It was also obvious that many people were lost as to what they should do,where they could get help and for many it was also true that they were not able (or equipped) for many reasons to deal with LEA's, and Social Services etc. the task of taking these agencies on is very daunting indeed.

So,having looked around at what the internet had to offer I decided to set up a forum/website where people could get the links and information that would help them on their journey.

So, here we are, a slowly growing community where members can come for help,mutual support and advice, somewhere they know will try to help them through their problems.

There is a library of links to information , services,news,books and local help groups from around the globe,while this site is UK based we welcome members from all parts of the world.
All are welcome to join and share their experiences and knowledge, success stories and all the positive things that so many sites fail to tell you about, they are always such a pleasure to read.

Here it is, "The Blue Room Forum " come on in and make it your community.