I "see" ASD kids everywhere.
But the weirdest thing right now in my life is that my brother's first and only
son is showing many signs of autism (he's nearly 2)
We are both adopted. There are no genetic links. It's wierd.
I put out a small "bulletin" to my neighborhood looking for other ASD
families, and I got about a dozen responses immediately.
I know that autism is supposedly on the rise, that 1 in 166 children are now diagnosed, that it is an epidemic (for better diagnosis or misdiagnosis whatever). Still in our CLOSE circle of friends alone, (around 8 families I would say), there are 3 boys on the specturm, my son included, and I can see signs in another todder, sibling of a dxed child. And I suspect one 8 year old has Asperger's, mild enough to go undiagnosed. This is simply ridiculous!!!
How many austictic kids do you know initmately? Just curious to know.
Mary
I knew only 1, he was younger and I knew for a fact he had it. He was 8 at the time, and i beleive in a normal class (at this age I was not even in a normal class)My brother (adopted) was an Aspie.
There are 16 kids in the family (both my side and dh side) and C is the only one on the ASD. My sister's son has some traits, and she was worried for a while, but not enough for a dx (he's now 8 and a little quirky but otherwise doing fine). Regarding friends, I have become friends with another woman whose son was in C's class and was recently dx'd Aspergers. Other than that, none of my friends have kids on the spectrum. At work, everyone has kids but I'm the only one in my group (50 people) with a kid on the spectrum. I often run into other families with ASD kids, like on vacation or at the public pool, but just not in my circle of family/friends.
There is one child, actually teenager, in our neighborhood that has AS. He is the only one I know. In Adams elementary school, there was one other child with Autism and she was in 2nd grade last year. In middle school were Adam will go next year, I was told there are 6 kids dx'd with ASD.This is not true for me at all
I know no one in my friends - but some friends have put me in touch with their freinds who live in other states who has ASD
OIn my other bulletin board which is of moms with kids born at the same time as R - R is the only kid ( and its a board of 150 moms - so the 1 in 150 bears out clearly )
DH's nephew - lives in another country - has sever ASD
and some on my side - but noboady local - actually all the 4-5 cases I know lin my side of the family live in separate continenst - appear to have undiagnosed Aspergers
I live in a small community (sometimes known as Happy Hippy Valley
I'm meeting alot of parents who are choosing to homeschool their kids "cause they *know* that their kid needs something *more*. I'm feeling like a broken record, recommending books, sharing Sam's story and encouraging parents to take a look at their child's red flags.... I can see the surprise in these parents eyes when I mimic or describe a typical AS action that these parents thought was a individual quirk of their child. My plans this fall are to try and bring more awareness of Autism to this community. October is Autism Awareness month in Canada and I want to do some small info/workshops with the homeschool groups and parent/tot drop-ins in my area. On a different topic - homeschool groups are great for meeting kids, Sam found his bestfriend 2 yrs ago at one, and even though we are in public school now the group is always open to us. Mama to Sam 8yrs PDD NOS OCD ODD PDD Our Y has a TON of spectrum kids! They have a Special Olympics swim team ... for one thing. For another a lot of parents get letters of medical necessity so their memberships are tax-free ... The kid who lives behind me is autistic, pre-school age ... the kid next door has ADHD. Today at the phys med clinic, an RN was commenting on NCLB and how it has led to more diagnoses ... when milder kids would have outgrown the learning disabilities, in the past. Because they are forcing younger and yougner academics ... There are at least 6 older kids I met in my city....my little cousin just got diagnosed. I spotted a little girl in the library one day rocking and chewing her wrist:( ....My oldest is has traits that I never would of looked twice till now. Husband and I both have aspie sx..at Sarah elementary I was told there is one undiagnosed boy..was told parents are in denial:( I look at kids completely different now especially the meltdowns and aggressive behavior..before I knew autism I would automatically look at parents for a reason why they were behaving this way..now I am more empathetic and not so judgemental.
I would venture to say that I know at least 30 kids on the spectrum - but again, I think part of that is how active I was in the autism community where we used to live. I haven't met any others in our new town! Edited to add: I forgot to say that the area we used to live has the 2nd highest rate of AS in the entire country. Not the best services though - not even close! The only other child with ASD that I know is the son of a very nice lady I met through my ARC advocate, and we've not met in person. No one else I know or have seen seems to be anywhere on the spectrum, except perhaps my husband, but that's very iffy, to be fair, and he was never diagnosed with anything anyway. Then again, I really don't get out very often, so that isn't saying much! I suspect one of the ladies down the street (the one who grabbed up Jason when he was running down the middle of the street!) might know/have a child with ASD, since she was completely unsurprised when I explained that Jason is autistic. He was screaming and kicking at her, in addition to running down the street, so I felt an explanation was in order! I suspect there is something going on with a neighbor. He's the same age as Anthony and he will stare off, mouth open and not respond to his name for a long time. And he's a little, well odd, for lack of a better term. Although, his language is ok and he's very social. I am very concerned about my nieces. They will be two in a few weeks. They have been getting early intervention for some time now (I had to talk them into that). They have been getting OT and ST and developmental therapy. They have words, but very few. They both have weak trunks (per OT). One is a tippy toe walker and has some obvious sensory issues. The other is easily aggravated and has odd arm movements (not flapping rather like she's conducting an orchestra and she does it ALOT). My SIL has told me many times that she knows it's not autism. YIKES! I can't push her to get any further evaluations, she really doesn't want to hear it. She thinks EI is the answer to everything and that if something else was going on they would have told her already. ETA I forgot, my cousin's son also is on the spectrum. As my Aunt put it, "He has a little bit of autism". LOL - Isn't that like being a little bit pregnant! I look at kids completely different now especially the meltdowns and aggressive behavior..before I knew autism I would automatically look at parents for a reason why they were behaving this way..now I am more empathetic and not so judgemental.
[/QUOTE] I feel the same way. Sometimes unawareness of autism hurts more than the condition itself. Mary My NT son who is 9 has a friend on his soccer team that has ASP. There is also a little boy at the elementary school that is Autistic. These are the only two that I know of. Karman
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