New to the board? Introduce Yourself
Hello Teresa, and welcome!!! Looking forward to 'seeing' you around the board. Elissa.
hi my name is Teresa, My son is 5 and has PDD-NOS,was diagnosed in September of this year,Michael is his name,he also has a half-sister,shes 12 and she has High-Functioning- Aspergers',her name is Amber,I love my kids and will fight the world over for them.They are wonderful to be around,as long as I dont run the sweeper,touch them,and do everything they ask,like right NOW. My daughter loves music,and my son loves action figures,Michael has melt downs and Amber sits quietly in the corner with her IPOD.They are like night and day. Thats all I can say,Parents should speak up for their kids no one else will,they have a voice,they just get flustered trying to find it,and express it. Hello I registered for this forum today. Last week, my youngest son, Coleman, was diagnosed with autism. Although I don't have any specifics yet on where he is on the spectrum. I also have an older son, Jackson, with nystagmus. I have started the no-wheat diet and am trying to find out everything I can. I'm looking to talk to my doctor about getting any vitamin supplements that may be helpful. Their father and I were raising the boys vegetarian since birth, with some fish every week. We are now on a full omnivore non-gluten diet. I am wondering if b12 shots would be beneficial to him. I'm just looking for some info and suggestions from people also dealing with this. I know Coleman can come out of this, he is bonded to me and some non-family members, he is very active physically, and can draw. He just won't talk, and is sometimes so distant. In just the first week of having him the gluten-free diet his father and I have noticed improvements. I look forward to hearing from anyone willing to share.
Welcome ColeSlaw! I'm sure you'll find plenty of info around here!!! Cheers, Elissa. Welcome to the forum SunshineHappy. I have no doubt you will have a fine family. You care enough to gain an understanding and sound mature for your age. My parents still think I am acting up and don't want anyone to know I am autistic. Yet I raised two fine children. My parents may be great grand parents soon and have at least two autistic grand children. We are all content with our lives. The world will be even brighter for your children. Welcome Tina, mom of two princes. This is a safe place to learn and be supported by positive people. You probably know to take deep breaths and release some seratonin from your gi tract. You are a great mother! Your are advocating for your sons. Make some more posts. There are centuries of experience collected here. Glad you are here andthensome. I like the idea of curling up in a nice hole to regroup. Then read abit too. There is so much to learn, but take your time and things fall into place. Welcome to babymichayla. I am happy you found this place too. [QUOTE=BOBBYSMOM]. . . I do sometimes get scared for him, he will never be NORMAL but may be independent with assistance from family.just felt like updating on him as adult child with autism there are still no services or help and as high funtioning with normal IQ no help from anyone, maybe someday they will understand, he can't do it all. IQ and abilities do not match. [/QUOTE] My son is 30. Are there any groups or forums specifically for parents of young adults? I have not found any and surely there are some. I think there are some differences in priorities, such as who will look out for them if they are not independant? How do they find the best employment? How do I advocate for supportive services for an adult? Does anyone have any ideas for making the world safer for young adults? and teens will be there before you know it. It is tough having an invisible disability. Not much tolerance. Maybe you could start a thread about it or is there one I haven't found? [QUOTE=MaMa8]I am the mother of 8 and have 3 children with special needs, one with Austim. He was diagnosed at the age of one year or so. I don't know what caused it, but at eleven months I gave in to the doctor and let him give him one shot, and ever since then... Although, when I look back on it, he always had some issues, like balance and some repetative behaviors. This disease is heartbreaking.I have an issue with my son who has severe Autism and is non-verbal, if someone can help I would appreciate it. He loves to go outside, so at the slightest opportunity he will try to leave. I have alarms and cameras, but once I left a window open, screen down, just to air out the house and he climbed out when I went to the bathroom. Luckily some people down the block, we live in an urban area, came down to get me, but the attitude of some of the people was very hostile. I felt harshly judged, by one man in particular who was aggressive, but walking away I kept trying to figure out what more can I do? I have bars on his bedroom windows, but not on the rest of the house. I just can't afford to do that right now. Does anyone else have these issues? Does your son or daughter wander off? It is the most scary thing I have to deal with. Have you considered a service dog? I am searching the posts for information on this and there is lots of good information about the pros and cons. This sounds like the type of situation where it could be lifesaving. Here is a site I just found: http://web.syr.edu/~jisincla/dogtasks.htm Good Luck and I hope other parents have some more timely responses. I'm Tina new to the board, my son was diagnosed in Sept with Autism.My son Nicholas was born 4 1/2 wks early in Aug 2004 after years of years of trying to have a child.He was a perfect baby almost too perfect. In oct 2005 my second child Jonathan was born 7 wks 2 days early. He was high strung to say the least, he had colic, acid reflux and very vocal where Nicholas was not very vocal at all he never really babbled. Nicholas stopped talking fully at about 18-21 months at his 18 month appointment I asked the Dr if we could do something because he had been loosing speech since Jonathan was born. Finally we got him in for a school evaluation but it took forever they agreed he had speech, sensory and possible Autism. We recieved a formal diagnoses of Autism this Sept. Nicholas started 3-k this year and is doing great at school he is talking more at home than at school. I modified his diet but didn't eliminate all Gluten or sugars. My major problem is potty training he does great at school but at home he wants to wear diapers like Jonathan. He is very mean and violent to Jonathan who is over sensitive(some days Nicholas can just look at Jonathan and he starts screaming and crying), and he hits everyone including himself. I'm trying to be the best mother to my kids as I can be. [QUOTE=latinmommy]Hi I have a 5 1/2 year old son with ADHD , PDD NOS and heart problems his name is Jovannie. At about 3 yrs old Jovannie was not speacking and had very little social skills. Jovannie has come a long way and this is the first time I come to a suport group for help. I'm in the process of a separation with my husband of 7 years and Jovannie is very much attached to his father. What our some of your suggestion on how to explain to jovannie that papi and mommy our not going to live in the same home together? So, afraid that he is going to regress and hate me for this. It will be tough for him. Will you both be active in his life? It will be important to keep as much stability and routine as possible for him. There are probably some social stories for this situation. Do a search for 'divorce' in the old posts and there will be information. My autistic son was angry at me from that age when I was divorced from his father until 18. but we are very close now. Peace and good wishes to you in this difficult time. [QUOTE=Bratmom]Hi There!I'm Chrissy. I have 3 sons. Chris who is 5, Arek who is 4, and Dylynn who is 2. Chris was diagnosed with PDD this past March also ADHD. Although we knew something was different with him since he was about 9 months old. Arek and Dylynn are normal kids so far. Dylynn has speech issues but its more he doesnt feel the need to talk at the moment. My husband is currently stationed in Korea. I'm in Oklahoma with the kids. He's been gone since March and wont be back until this coming March. So I've been trying to get everything worked out for Chris alone which kinda sucks. Chris is such a loving kid. We have ups and then we have downs and sometimes major downs. We have issues we're still trying to work out which is the part that drains me mentally. He goes to school and is in a special kindergarden class for delayed kids. There is other children in the class that have Autism so it helps. He gets speech therapy at school and I have a meeting next week to set up physical therapy. Uhhhhh I have no clue what else to tell you... Just ask. :) I'm really glad I found this forum! Chrissy[/QUOTE] Welcome. Glad you found the board. There is alot of help here. Just ask start a thread do a search. It sounds like you are doing a great job. I am setting up an online cupcake business so i get the advantage of working from home. This allows me to earn a living for myself but still shy away from the outside world. I suppose earing money comes before socialising because money puts food in your mouth, a roof over your head etc.Welcome Newbies! Lovely to see you on board - I know the feeling of searching for support and advice. Best wishes,
Hi my name is Sri and I have a daughter who is about 32 months. I just requested for an appointment for diagnosis scared as hell but have to do it Guru's what are the chances of getting better. Hi there Sri. Welcome aboard. I am unsure what you mean by, "chances of getting better." I would venture to guess that as your babe matures you will see progess in many areas and who knows what the future will bring. Post on the board in sections that pertain to specific areas of curiousity for you and you will be sure to get responses that will help you in this journey. All the best. Hi, i am a 16 yr old girl and i was recently diagnosed with pdd-nos. I have problems leaving the house and i dont have any friends. My mother is supportive although sometimes she tries to pretend im normal and says i dont have a disability. Then what do i have? My mothers boyfriend thinks im just acting up and wanting attention. He doesn't belive there is anything wrong with me. I like reading everyones posts on this forum because i hope one day i can have a happy family with normal children. I can't wait to have a family of my own even though im probably too young to be wanting that Hi Jennifer, Welcome, and good to hear you've found this place! Elissa
Hi, I'm Valerie, and my son Billy has just turned 4. He has a PDD-NOS dx, and has HUGE issues with auditory hypersensitivity. He's also completely excellent and a joy to be around! Looking forward to learning from all of you. Cheers, Hi Valerie, I am sure that Billy is a pleasure to be around - welcome and we look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers
Hi everyone! My name is Jen, my daughter Katelynne is 9. She has an array of behavioral issues. I came here to read and learn from all of you! Last year she was dx Bipolar/ADHD/OCD. I wasnt happy with the treatment program and meds, we went to a new Dr and therapist. We have seen the new therapist and she is telling me to read all I can on Asperger's syndrome. I am looking up everything online here at school! Some of it fits, some not at all! Im priniting out assessments and fact sheets as fast as the printer will spit them out! if anyone has any suggestions I would LOVE your insight! *Kate has had SEVERE temper issues since she was 2. Throwing large items. hole in the wall, head banging, pulling her own hair, biting herself. * walked and talked early. Walking at 9mths. 25 words by 13 mths. * is soical. Has self esteem issues. She thinks everyone hates her. * resonded well to gluten free diet! * is under weight. * is failing in school. * gets frustrated over anything! *super picky about foods. does not like sticky things! * no eye contact when talking to her, even if you try to make her. *only likes to be touched when she initates *constantly anxious * picks at scabs, cuts, dry skin, nails * freaks out about the way clothes feel * arranges the refrigerator and cupboards weekly, has to put items i pick out in the shopping cart in her own order * tunes you out in conversation * wants something now! no patience Thats all I can throw together at this point! Any feedback would be great!! We have another therapy appointment Wednesday! I will check back then! Have a great week! Jen You should look into Risperdal. My daughter had many of the same characteristics but now I can hardly tell she's autistic. Here's a link to a college paper I wrote on the medication.
Autism spectrum disorders are a growing concern. Autism affects one in every 150 children. People with autism spectrum disorders “show varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior” (NIMH, 2004, "Many of these kids present families with very serious challenges," he said. "Parents have to educate themselves about the disorder, and then access health care, occupational and speech therapy, special education and possibly applied behavioral analysis to help the children develop skills. Even then, the children may still present behavioral problems” (Schafer Autism Report, 2002, “Though increasingly sophisticated educational programs and behavior therapy are considered important elements of treatment for children with autism, the safety and effectiveness of medication is being analyzed for children with behaviors that can place particular strain on families” (Schafer Autism Report, 2002, Para 2). It has recently been discovered that Risperdal can be used safely and effectively in the treatment of adolescent autism. “A team of researchers has found that the drug risperidone, considered effective in treating adults with schizophrenia, is safe for children and reduces severe behavioral symptoms in youths with autism” (Schafer Autism Report, 2002, Para 1). "Risperidone is popular in clinical circles, and this is one of those times when a drug's popularity is for a good reason," he said. "It was gratifying to see that the children taking the medication showed marked improvement in irritability, and even to show signs of clinically meaningful but smaller changes in other behaviors, such as over activity and repetitive behaviors" (Schafer Autism Report, 2002, Para 2). "The response to risperidone ranks among the most positive ever observed in children with autism for a drug treatment," said McCracken, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (NIMH, 2007, Para 5). “Past research into the effect of risperidone on children with autism found the medication effective for short-term treatment of aggressive behaviors related to autism in children” (NIMH, 2007, Although effective, medication contains the potential of side effects. “The use of powerful medications in young children is a controversial area. Medications given when the brain is developing may possibly have a permanent effect on the development of neurotransmitter systems. Some medications may be very harmful, but there is also a possibility that some may be beneficial. One must always balance risk versus benefit. A good rule of thumb is that a medication should have an obvious, fairly dramatic effect” (Grandin, T., 2000, “before medications are considered, a comprehensive program should be in place that includes: Once a program has been implemented for at least a few weeks, physicians and parents may consider medications” (Harchik, A., 2005, New genetic testing can predict the effectiveness and indicate the required dosage of medications like Risperdal. “Finding the right drug and the right dose is part of the art of medicine. A genetic test designed to help doctors determine just that is being sold by The Mayo Clinic, it announced this week. The test is part of a new science called pharmacogenetics” (Silberner, J., 2007, The patient was prescribed Risperdal, but it was not effective. He started having tremors. “He would just shake all over, unable to focus," according to his mother "I would give him his medication; he would sit on my lap and just be a zombie. That's the only way I can describe what he looked like" (Silberner, J., 2007, When necessary and taken under proper supervision, Risperdal can be beneficial to the adolescent who is seriously affected by autistic disorder. Risperdal has been a miracle drug for my daughter, effectively assuaging her autistic symptoms so that she can relate to me normally. References Grandin, T., (2000) My experiences with visual thinking sensory problems and communication difficulties, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.autism.org/temple/visual.html Harchik, A., (2005), Autism and medications, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.newsforparents.org/expert_autism_and_medications. html McCracken, J.T, McGough, J., Shah, B., Cronin, P., Hong, D., Aman, M.G., Arnold, E., Lindsay, R., Nash, P, Hollway, J., McDougle, C.J., Posey, D., Swiezy, N., Kohn, A., Scahill, L., Martin, A ., Koenig, K ., Volkmar, F ., Carroll, D .,Lancor, A., Tierney, E., Ghuman, J., Gonzalez, N. M., Grados, M., Vitiello, B ., Ritz, L., Davies, M., Robinson, J., McMahon, D., (2002), Risperidone in children with autism and serious behavioral problems, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/347/5/314 Moyer, P., (2007), Risperdal called effective against agitation in autism for months, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/Autism/tb/1308 NIMH, (2004), Autism spectrum disorders (pervasive developmental disorders), Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm NIMH, (2007), Multi-Site NIMH study finds antipsychotic risperidone safe and effective as intermediate term treatment for autism, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.hmnews.org/article2525.html Schafer Autism Report, (2002), Risperidone effective in treating children with autism, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.autismonline.org/research.htm Silberner, J., (2007), Gene test promises to rind right drug, right dose, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5568710 &ft=1&f=3 Ullman, K., (2007), Antipsychotic drug controls some symptoms in autism disorder, Retrieved July 22, 2007, from http://www.cfah.org/hbns/getDocument.cfm?documentID=1430 Hi, my name is Anne. I have 2 kids, Carolanne is 5 and Paul is 2. Doctors have told me Paul exhibits autistic behaviors. He looks really normal and so I always hear he cannot be autistic. He can talk, but prefers to play by himself and has severe meltdowns.Hi Jen (eeyoregirl) and Anne (whooper)! Welcome! Both of your stories sound similar to mine in ways - it took us a while to come to a diagnosis of ASD. We share our story on our blog http://www.managingautism.com (under the category of 'In the beginning') so please stop by and check it out. Elissa
June,
I know how difficult it can be to move with a child on the spectrum. My son has moved many times because of my job in the military. My reccomendation to you, if you are not already doing this, is to get your son into counseling. There are so many issues to deal with as an ASD child, but that is now compounded with the loss of his father, regardless of how many problems he may have had with him. My son was dx at age 9 (he is 11 now) and his father refused to admit that there were any problems with his son. I later found out that he had been hitting the kids when I was deployed or away for my job. Shawn really struggled with our seperation. He was already in therapy, but he really started working through some anger issues in therapy once the cat was out of the bag (so to speak). I know that some may not stress the importance of counseling when it comes to dealing with ASD children, but when you have other issues in addition to the ASD (ie seperation or death in the family) working with a counselor (especially one that has experience with ASD children) can be very helpful for your child. As far as the adult time...I also know how tiring it can be to fly solo on the parenting a special needs child. I suggest getting in touch with the local Autism Society of America (ASA) chapter to find out if they have a respite program in your area. ( http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer) If there is not a chapter in your area the site also has links to find local resources. I also want to say grats on finding a guy that is willing to step up to the plate with your son. I have also been blessed with such a man (unfortunately he is not living in the area right now). I understand your NEED for some adult time. I would really try to get in touch with ASA to try to work out some time for you. Good luck and God Bless I am new to the board. I have a newly 4 year old diagnosed ASD at 3. He seems to me to be pretty high functioning - but as he gets older some aggressive behaviors are starting to appear - really not major - but makes me fear the small things getting worse...any suggestions - he is in ABA, public preK, and speech and O.C. therapy. In addition, I have a newly two year old who has been talking since about 8 mos. She speaks in very good sentences - and shows empathy - and the constant need for attention. She seems way above her age in adaptive and language skills. But, she has started to flap her hands and hit things for pressure input, I am guessing - however, she talks back and forth with me and children - no other red flags. My son does not flap his hands, so she is not copying him - does this indicate things to come? Thank you. HiI am glad to find this place. I am hoping to meet other people with children that have autism. I have been knowing something was just not right when my son was 2. We were told yesterday that he was high function autism by the doctors. He will be 4 tomorrow. I am a stay home mom that wishes to do this so I can help work with my son. He has came a long way. He was born at 25 weeks, and at this time his chances or survival were slim. But here he is today still striving. Hi There! I'm Chrissy. I have 3 sons. Chris who is 5, Arek who is 4, and Dylynn who is 2. Chris was diagnosed with PDD this past March also ADHD. Although we knew something was different with him since he was about 9 months old. Arek and Dylynn are normal kids so far. Dylynn has speech issues but its more he doesnt feel the need to talk at the moment. My husband is currently stationed in Korea. I'm in Oklahoma with the kids. He's been gone since March and wont be back until this coming March. So I've been trying to get everything worked out for Chris alone which kinda sucks. Chris is such a loving kid. We have ups and then we have downs and sometimes major downs. We have issues we're still trying to work out which is the part that drains me mentally. He goes to school and is in a special kindergarden class for delayed kids. There is other children in the class that have Autism so it helps. He gets speech therapy at school and I have a meeting next week to set up physical therapy. Uhhhhh I have no clue what else to tell you... Just ask. :) I'm really glad I found this forum! Chrissy Hi everyone! I'm Monica, I have three boys, J who just turned 4, and 2.5 yo ID twin boys O and D. The twins have been receiving speech since they were 18 months, and Ed services since 2 yo. Danny also receives OT and will be starting ABA shortly. They both attend EI preschool. We don't have an official diagnosis yet, but it looks like Danny will have a diagnosis of PDD. Owen has made huge improvements and will probably be in an integrated pre-school next year! I work with autistic children in a special ed school, doing OT. I think because of my work I was able to pick up on some of the "red flags" early and although mild, I saw that Danny had some key signs. Because he is doing so well and his signs are inconsistent our neurologist wanted to wait for an official dx until he is a bit older. She doesn't feel that Owen will be on the spectrum at all. I look forward to reading and sharing experiences with everyone! Monica Hi my name is Lahni My 3yr old was diagnosed with Aspergers or on the spectrum, but I still dont feel like it fits. I have no one to talk to who are you supposed to find out answers or questions i may have I hope this board will be the place
Hello Everyone, My name is Jennifer. I am Mommy to 2 year old Damien who was diagnosed with Autism/PDD yesterday (11/12/07). His Doctor said that he is very mild, and with treatment should show improvement. Right now I feel like I am lost somewhere without a map and a flashlight. I am glad that I found you guys, I really need help and support right now.
A WARM WELCOME to the November Newbies... Minny, Sugar & Spice, dolphin4spence & Rockabillychick !!! I'm sure you'll find this community equally warm and informative... If you have the time then you can throw in a Search for certain topics that you're looking to get info on. Or you can even join in the existing threads to put in your thoughts or to throw in a question. There'll be lots of abbreviations... so don't feel too shy to ask what they are. And finally if there's a particular topic that you wish to discuss on, then you can even start a new thread.... Parents Section would be good... coz that's where you generate more attention. Once you start typing... and joining in the discussions... you can't waiy to come back to this Board the next day !!! Happy Hunting for Info !!! Btw, my wife and I have two boys... Daniel, 8 yr, ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and Jordan, 6 yr, NT (Neuro Typical aka Normal) Hello! My name is Nicole and I have an extremely gifted daughter who just turned 2 and was diagnosed today with PDD. We thought it was quirky that she will complete the age 4+ and 5+ jigsaw puzzles but her vocabulary is limited to 3-4 real words and a whole lot of humming (7-8 distinct songs). She hasn't show signs of repetitive behavior so I ignored the A-word checklists ... I was originally told that she had apraxia, so am looking for what is the difference/correlation? She is EXTREMELY coordinated and is a very happy child (almost too happy) - we don't have to fight her for going on the potty, brushing her teeth, etc - but she just has no interest in other children or talking. HELP! I also feel like I am lost without a map and flashlight .. and no cell phone.I don't know whether to crawl into a denial hole or start reading to find support. Hi. I think this forum is great, but I'm new to this online message board thing. I've been doing a lot of reading online about ASD because I strongly suspect my 3.75 year old stepdaughter, Hannah, falls in the spectrum. I also feel very helpless because I am limited in what I can do as only the stepmom and since her father and I only see her every other weekend it's hard to make things happen with repsect to a diagnosis. Hannah's mother is not convinced that there is a probblem with Hannah's development. Her delayed speech is being blamed on frequent ear infections as an infant making it hard for her to hear.
I have some questions about what the signs of autism include. One of them is fixation on certain objects. Do slippers count? Hannah must put her slippers on as soon as she comes in the house and wont take them off to sleep. When she's playing and one falls off, she stops to put it on. Because of her speech delay she couldn't tell me what was wrong and she started getting really upset at the dinner table. It took me a while to realize that her slipper fell off and that's why she stopped eating and started acting irritable.
Also Hannah wont eat sweet foods. The sweetest thing she eats is Corn Pops. She turns away cookies, ice cream, cake and chocolate. Do you think this is an ASD thing or just a food preference?
You all seem really knowledgable. I thank you for your opinions in advance. Hey Stepmom Fixation can be something to be concerned about. The speech is def a issue she should be fluent by now at almost 4. The best thing for your hubby to do is to take the lead and hopefully MOM will follow she is probably in denial especially with so much talk now about autism all over the news and stuff.
GOOD LUCK Hi all,My name is Anne. I am a single parent of a wonderful boy, Sean. He is 5 years old and autistic. Sean does not speak any words, just sounds. Sean and I live with my mom in her house. My husband committed suicide 4.5 years ago. I work in a library, go to graduate school, and take care of Sean. I am looking forward to getting to know people here, to be supported, and to support others. Hope everyone is having a great day. Hi everyone!
:) Again happy to have found this site!
Welcome annesean and mom2jake. There is alot of help and support here. You both sound very busy. Thank you for coming to the forum. Hi annesean and mom2jake, Welcome, and lovely to have you both here. You'll find lots of great support here on the forum, all you have to do is ask (or vent if you need to!). Looking forward to hearing more from you both! Elissa
Hi Anne!! Welcome!! Hope you like it!!!
Momtojake, I too have tricare the nightmare..lol! Isnt it fun?! I also live in North carolina!!! I can tell you - the DAN docs are in Wilmington and Southern Pines!! Would love to hear more from ya!!!!
Michelle
Hi, I'm Kelly. I have an almost 3 year old son with autism. He was diagnosed a year ago. It's been a very interesting year to say the least. I have a blog www.kellyyatesrice.blogspot.com. I never thought I would be a blogger, but I enjoy it. For Geneva aka Mom2jake, I used to feel bad that my son didn't get diagnosed till age four. But here a year later he is doing SO much better, now that the teachers and we the family are on it. I hope you won't use up too much energy fretting about what didn't happen before. Good luck with getting services, and give Jacob a hug. kwame's momHi, I am new to the site and I want to say how happy I am to find this place! Hi Shannon, It does become a bit of a crazy world, I'm constantly feeling overwhelmed with it all. And like you, I'm never sure what my next move is going to be either! We tried the gluten and casien free diet with our son and it has certainly made a big difference in calming his hyperactivity and aggressiveness. We explain a bit about what we did on our blog http://www.managingautism.com. Check it out if you like, and hopefully it may help in some way. Best regards, Elissa So I started reading, and crying, and crying. Last friday we took him to the doctor, she stayed with him an hour and at the end of that hour told my husband and I that our son is autistic. He's my baby, I love him and will do whatever I have to, to keep from losing any more of him. But I'm heart broken too. It's all bottled up in me. I cry alot. Right now I'm just trying to get a handle on this, learn and start to help my son. It may not seem this way, but this is the point at which things start getting better. The more you know the more you will be amazed by your child. I have learned a lot about life from my son who is now 22. The toughest part for me was not knowing what his diagnosis was until he was 19! Things may seem challenging and heart wrenching but it is also rewarding in ways you didn't expect. Hey Everyone, My name is Kristi, and my 2 year old, Korban has been diagnosed with ASD within the past month. I SO saw it coming, as i have a very close friend with 2 asd boys. I also have a very maternal and bossy 5 year old daughter McKayla, and both of them are as sweet as the day is long. I look forward to getting to know you all, as we embark on this ... adventure that we call autism. Hugs! Kristi Hi mom210293, I live in a rural area as well and I often feel isolated from people who understand what our lives are like (living with a child with autism). Going out in public can often be a challenge in itself and people can be very judgemental. I have found online support to be wonderful. I know it's not face to face and it's not like having someone nearby but since I have been blogging (www.managingautism.com) and on the forum I at least feel like I am not alone. Hopefully we can chat some more - stay in touch! Cheers, Elissa Hello ShyCladBoy, Don't feel like you're alone. I know it can be totally devastating when you first get a diagnosis, and you can feel like your whole world is falling down around you, but like DrLareau says, when it gets to this point, it eventually has to start getting better. I know I cried many tears - of both grief and frustration that things just weren't how they should be. And I still feel grief sometimes for what other people have that I don't. But your child is still beautiful and special and there really are plenty of rewards and you will find things to celebrate. Try and stay strong and remember that there is plenty of support. Feel free to drop by my blog http://www.managingautism.com where I talk more about what I went through when we first had our diagnosis. I look forward to chatting with you more. Cheers, Elissa. Thanks for your response. It is just so overwhelming to go onto these forums and see how many people are affected by autism. It does help me in seeing that I am not alone. I don't think that my daughter's school system has ever had a student quite like her - bright but with behavioral problems. The special education department has been very good to her, though. I really can't complain. It is very hard to be strong here with my daughter the way she is since the town is so small and also so ignorant in a lot of ways. I am fairly well known around town and so I feel people "whisper" about my daughter. Anyway, I find myself wondering why it was me with the special needs child instead of some of those who just seem to have it made in their lives. I question God alot.  Hi,I'm Jen, mum to 3 year old Liam. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS about a year ago. He is very high functioning and will probably eventually be considered Aspergers. He is also Hyperlexic, he blows my mind every day with all he knows and learns. We are in MA and Liam is in a great pre-school program that was created for him this year. I am also pregnant with number 2, a girl due Jan 15th. I have been lurking for a month or so. I keep meaning on registering but forget until there is a post I really want to respond to. I can't wait to get to know all of you. Hugs to all! Jen Hello Everybody! Glad to have found this forum and to find out we are not alone. I am the father of an Aspy who is now attending a specialized school in Massachusetts. I really miss him. I had no idea how difficult it would be without him. Anyway, to occupy my time I put together a web page that has what I consider to be a collection of the best articles I could find on autism. As a retired physician I tried to find the most relevant research articles--things that have appeared in medical journals that seem to ring true to me. If you have the time I would appreciate any feedback you could give. The web address is http://www.drlareau.com/autism.html. Looking forward to reading ALL the posts on this website. Hello everyone. My name is Amy, and my daughter Laura is almost 4 years old. I've been searching for more information regarding PDD and found this site. Laura hasn't been diagnosed yet - her pediatrician told me that she feels she definitely has a PDD, and has almost all the symptoms of autism. Laura will be going to UVA (University of Virginia) in February for a full evaluation. I wish they could have scheduled it sooner, as I want to get whatever help for Laura that she needs. She's already in speech therapy, and her preschool has requested an evaluation for her from the School Board. I'm so new to this, so I'll probably have lots of questions for everyone here. Thanks! Amy Hi Melissa, welcome aboard! Sounds like you definately have your hands full but also it sounds as if you can handle pretty much anything thrown your way! Way to go! Your kids are lucky to have you for their mom!
[QUOTE=4UDonette]Hello, Hi Welcome aboard. I dont' know much about the gfcf diet. Hopefully some of the others can. I'm so impressed that you managed to get her dx'd early and into a special needs preschool etc. That is great! Hi all!!! I am new to the boards as well!! I told our story in the other section too! I have two wonderful boys, 7 and 9. My nine year old had mild to moderate Autism and Pierre Robin Syndrome. We are a military family and stay busy..lol! I cant wait to meet all of you!!!!! As for anyone interested, I have the 2 GFCF cookbooks that we are no longer using and I would be more than happy to mail them out to someone who could use them!!
Take care, Michelle Shaver Hi and welcome, I haven't heard of Pierre Robin syndrome, so I'm off to look it up. Hello everyone! My name is Donna and my 4 year old Lucas was recently diagnosed with Autism. He can definitely be a handful sometimes. I'm a single Mom and it's so hard at times. I'm just looking for some support and to make friends. I have no family in this area and just want to make friends with those who have similar responsibilities and issues. I have also set up a message board to interact with you all - it is http://www.MyBabyHasAutism.com PLEASE come by and say hello! Donna Hi Everyone! It is me again. I did not realize I had made a typing mistake on my name so I started over. I happened to be looking for info about PDD qhen I found this website./ I am a single parent with a 6 year old boy who has been diagnosed on and off with PDD. I am at the moment fighting with the school staff being that they want to dump my son to another school becuase of behavioral issues. I am by no means going to let anyone mess up my kids future so here I am ready for another fight. It is ridiculous the way some schools avoid dealing with challenging kids.Hi Everyone! I happened to be looking for info about PDD qhen I found this website./ I am a single parent with a 6 year old boy who has been diagnosed on and off with PDD. I am at the moment fighting with the school staff being that they want to dump my son to another school becuase of behavioral issues. I am by no means going to let anyone mess up my kids future so ehre I am ready for another fight.TO MOMMYOFONE HI ,I AM ALSO A SINGLE PARENT OF A 10 YEAR OLD WITH AUTISM AND TOTALLY UNDERSTAND YOUR "ANOTHER FIGHT" SITUATION.IT SEEMS I AM ALWAYS FIGHTING SCHOOL BOARDS FOR THAT WITCH JOEY IS LEGALY INTIDELED TO.HE IS AT A CHARTER SCHOOL FOR AUTISM AND THREE DAYS AGO I WAS TOLD NO MORE TRANSPORTATION WILL BE OFFERED.AS I AM DISABLED AND DON'T DRIVE THIS IS A PROBLEM.THEY SAY SINCE WE ARE BOTH DISABLED WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND SOME PROGRAM TO HELP US WITH TRANSPORTATION.THE BATTLE NEVER STOPS.IT COMES DOWN TO OTHER PEOPLE (ADMINISTRATIONS) CHOOSING BOTTOM LINE AND WHAT THEY BELIEVE THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH OVER SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDRENS BEST INTEREST.GOOD LUCK TO YOU! I AM TRYING TO FIND MY SON AN ADVOCATE THAT WE CAN AFFORD.I KNOW AT THIS POINT THERE WILL ALL WAYS BE ANOTHER FIGHT AROUND THE BEND.I ACCEPT IT AND STRIVE TO BECOME A BETTER FIGHTER FOR MY SON. GOD BLESS MICHAEL To Michael, Mommyofone or anyone else currently going through this school stuff, In Maine, the Autism Society of Maine will provide you with an advocate free of charge. I know they have a program for training people to be what is called an Information Specialist but they also have access to professional advocates. Try the Autism Society in your state for more information. Good luck! It shouldn't be so hard to get what our children need. It should be a cooperative effort on the part of the school and parents for the child but it always seems to become an "us against the school system" fight. Someday maybe things will change. Until then we as parents MUST try to work with the schools and when we can't then we have to fight.
My name is Melissa and I live in West Michigan with my husband and 4 kids. Matthew is 13 and has had the ADHD dx since he was 4. At one time they thought he was PDD-NOS but we don't use that label at school. In Michigan its OHI...otherwise Health Impaired. He has always been borderline OCD but at this time no meds to treat it. School is a constant struggle. He had his tonsils out just before school started and it has helped a great deal with his sleeping. He is on half the dosage of Adderal compared to last year. Overall...I think he is doing terrific just that having ADHD and a bit of OCD makes for a difficult time with a teenager. lol Our Jesse is 11 and by the age of 2 he was dx with Autism. He had the classic signs...rocking and banging of his feet into the walls and floor, sensory issues, no eye contact, non verbal, tantrums..oh my LORD the screaming we went thru lol...Toilet problems until age 4 when he decided on his own to potty train himself. When he was dx the Ped never gave me hope that he would get better...gave me no direction. I had to fight for a full blown Hearing Eval to make sure he could hear. I went thru that mourning period...at that time I was also going thru a Twin Miscarriage..so I was a mess. I had to pull myself together and then I got angry and then the thirst to learn everything set it. I got him into the Early On program and we got home therapy that included Speech and we went to a center for Special Needs and had a playgroup 2 times a week that involved all therapies. This was not just for Autism though...back then the ABA therapy was not something I had heard of or offered to us. We did a lot of floor time with Jesse just playing in his world and slowly he let us in. At 2 1/2 yrs he said his first word: D'Donald Yep...my kid couldn't say Mommy or Daddy or tell us he wanted his bottle or blankie but he knew what the Golden Arches were and he knew the right word. lol The first few times we did as he asked...but when we didn't the tantrums would set in. We lived thru the dirty looks at the store and many time I would be honest and say "THANK GOD your children AREN'T Autistic! That usually brought on the compassion instead of judgement. He started PPI (I think they call it ECDD Now)...and the school when he was 4 refused his label of Autism. They felt he was showing progress and it would do more harm than good to label him Autistic. They kept his Speech label but refused OT. We moved 2 mos later and the new school adopted the IEP in place but amend to give him OT. The new school was really great about listening to my concerns and suggestions. They gave him a quiet place to go in the cloak room so Jesse could settle down they also gave him a Sit n Spin to help him feel grounded. They were great. We moved yet again (age 8) and they again adopted the same IEP just set new goals. He wasn't due for a MET (this is when the whole team comes together to reassess and test to make sure the label is appropriate) until he was 10. At that time he was losing his Speech Label and using the OHI (for his ADD) just didn't sit right with the School social worker. She called me and asked if anyone had suggested Autism with Jesse. I told her to dig DEEP into his school records and if it wasn't there I could bring her my copies. They did a full assessment and I did one with the Psych and we all agreed on the same label/dx Jesse indeed is a High Functioning Autistic/Aspergers. He is a little professor..can give you facts and is very artistic. He can't spell very well and his reading is still in the 3rd grade level even though he is in 5th grade. He excels in Math and Science and his verbal skills are 4 yrs older than his classmates. Not bad for the kid who was nonverbal and the Ped told me back then he would probably NEVER learn to talk.  He is 1/2 day main stream and the other in a Resource room. Our school is looking towards Inclusion which I am in full support of for those kids who are ready for it like Jesse.Gosh this post is getting long. This is what I get for having 4 kids. lol Now to Gabriel, the Psych has him at PDD-NOS/ADHD and the school uses the OHI label. We are looking into the Autism Label for him this Spring when we redo his MET. I didn't see the signs of Autism the way I did with Jesse because Jesse had the classic signs then he outgrew them ... so we thought. What he truly did was learn to adapt but the Autism was always there for those skilled enough to look past the rest. Gabe has many signs also, but I think I was denial. It was hard enough having 1 child with it...then to have another it breaks my heart. He has had sensory issues, walked on tip toes until age 3, struggled with potty training until age 4, still doesn't eat well and many weeks on end the only thing he ate was PB and J. He is skin and bones and I get the same speech..he will eat when he is hungry. ugh He surprised me since going back to school...his eating picked up and he managed to gain 7 lbs in one month. That was a celebration for him. Our biggest struggle with Gabe is he is very obstinate ... very defiante. He used to run off...we have had the State Police bring him home a couple of times.  He is slowly outgrowing those things but I just think there is a piece of the puzzle missing with him. The good thing is our school district is great about working with me and they have trusted my instincts when it came to the kids and their issues.As for my daughter Emma, well she is struggling. She was born 6 wks early and spent 10 days in the NICU. She is very tall but emotionally she is behind some. She is repeating Kindergarten and has improved but we think she has some Visual perception issues possibly Dyslexia. I was asked to help interview and hire a new Spec. Ed teacher for our Lower Elementary and the teacher I liked and we hired specializes in Dyslexia and identifying children before 3rd grade. Schools refuse to even think about it until that age. She has done a lot with Visual Therapy and I am looking forward to her assessing Emma soon. If you are still reading my long intro...God bless you. I know I didn't mention a lot of details..I truly tried to keep it simple. lol I told you all about the kids and nothing about me. My husband and I have been married almost 14 yrs and I have been a SAHM pretty much the whole time...who can work when your kids need so much attention. I am actually getting ready to go back to school to be an Office Admin looking into Medical. I can't afford to go to 2 or 4 yr degree. My hope is to get a better paying job and then go back to school and go into Social Work specializing in Special Needs. I was asked by our school to represent the district on the County level at the Parent Advisory Committee. I also suggested to our Special Ed. Supervisor that we form a Parent Org for the Special Needs parents in our district. We hope to get that going in the next 2 mos. Our goal is get better participation at IEPs and Conferences, provide support like translators and Parent Advocates to help families bridge that gap. We have a huge immigrant population and most of the kids in the Spec. Ed program are there because of the Speech barrier. We are also working on creating a Resource area on the grounds for parents to check out information like books, learning tools etc for the family. So that's my story. Nice to be here and I look forward to getting to know other parents in my situation. HI! My name is Rachel and I am a newbie. My son, Caleb, is 3 yrs old. We are currently in the waiting process of a dx. Caleb is the love of my life. He is speech delayed. We are currently enrolled in the local school program for speech help and they will also be giving him another dx if possible. I am also waiting for a meeting with a developmental specialist. This will apparently take several mos. I never dreamed i would be dealing with autism/spectrum issues. Everyone's attitude has been that I need to chill out and that Caleb will talk when he is ready. There is more going on with Caleb than speech. After doing a bunch of research, and reconnecting with a friend who has a son on the spectrum, i started looking into autism and realized that i have finally figured out what is going on. I am still at the place where I am feeling pretty overwhelmed and alone. I am so grateful to realize what is going on; I am ready to get started NOW. Yesterday. My son is smart. He knows his alphabet, the phonetics, and is slowly starting to apply a letter to a word...P, the p says P...p...p...popcorn. He can count and LOVES numbers. He loves puzzles. He loves singing, even though alot of what he sings is hard to understand. He picks up songs super quickly. He also memorizes alot of movies. He can't use a sentence. he knows alot of words though so he says things. juice please, bubble tubby, iluyou,his buddies names, etc. my son is a sweetie with a beautiful smile and a quirky, lovable personality. he is also incredibly tempermental and i have a hard time with any and all discipline. i don't know what to do about all of that because nothing works. i don't know how much is defiance or how much isn't clearly understood. he also wants his way or the highway ALL THE TIME. he LOVES his buddies and they play very well together physically. haircuts are torture and washing hair at tubby time is too. meltdowns are intense. seriously. WOAH. i have been reading up in this place and feel like i am right where i belong, finally. i am so excited! My son is the best thing that has ever happened to me, regardless of our differences. I hope that i can connect with you guys on this journey. the hardest thing is feeling so alone. we just do life differently. i want to be Caleb's advocate and help him any way I can. I want him to be happy and healthy. He is awesome and I am glad to be here!
Rachel
My daughter is 5 years old, she was diagnosed with speech delays at age 2 and PDD-NOS at age 4. She was born full term, but jaundiced, with most development on track, except for speech. She also was kind of a "loner" kid, played by herself, lined up the toys, didn't follow me around the house. She did show signs of hyperlexia at a young age, once she could articulate words. No speech before 2, she started intensive speech therapy at 2 1/2 and made strides about every 6 months or so. At age 4 her new pediatrician spotted signs of PDD and referred her the the behavioral specialist. As a new mom, I couldn't see all the signs, although I knew she was different from other kids. Now she is in the regular class at school, with speech and fine motor therapy included. She still has meltdowns when the schedule deviates, prefers to sleep on the floor or in her camping tent and it is strange watching her try to play soccer, as she tends to stand and look in the opposite direction when she isn't spinning I have had great experiences with our health care provider and the local school district. Great site! Hi all, I'm Sally mom to 3 boys. Ben 12, Jacob 11 (pdd-nos and a multitude of other dx's but we are going with the working dx of Austism) and Max 4. I have been married for 17 yrs. I am a SAHM and a choreographer/manager of a volunteer dance troupe. We knew there was something different with Jacob from birth, actually before birth, he would push against anything that came in contact with my tummy and was generally irritable! He was colicky for 4 months, yes count them 4 long months!! He is only 15 months younger than Ben and Ben is a go, go, go kid. So I used to joke that Jacob was shy and lived in Ben's shadow! Anyhow, fast forward to Preschool, that is when the real troubles started! He refused to participate in the circle activities and would yell at the top of his lungs when they played instruments "because he couldn't hear his own drum!" I pulled him from the preschool when the teacher was being totally unreasonable and wouldn't make allowances for him during circle time (I guess I knew at this point but hadn't done any of the investigation) We ended up getting him tested for Autism when he was 4 but he didn't fall within the spectrum. He was dx's with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Sigh, problems continued, Grade one, he ran away from school, threw chairs pushed desks, hit the principal... you name it, it happened. 2002-2003 was a hell year for us! A great thing was that Max was born in the november when Jacob was in grade 1. Of course this was a big change for Jacob. Then my mom was dx'd with inflammatory breast cancer (a very aggressive and deadly form - she has battled it and won btw!!) in the January and then in March Max got very sick, he had a blood infection! he ended up in hospital, with them thinking he had Meningitis! So picture this, I'm stood there in hospital with my baby who is about to have a spinal tap and my mother calls from home (just having chemo) and says the school called to say Jacob has run away and they can't find him!!!! Oh I so thought my world was going to cave in!! After a zillion tests and mega doses of antibiotics and a week in hosp, Max got better!! Yeah! Jacob ended up going off the deep end, hence many trips to docs and specialists at Children's Hosp. He went through the many different depts, with many different dx's. Everything under the sun. We had a working dx of Early Childhood onset Bipolar and that stuck for a couple of years. Of course that didn't generate any special needs hours at school, sigh. The school was awesome and bent over backward to support him. After a few major meltdowns and trips to the emergency psych at childrens and many, many meetings with docs etc, he was placed in a 6 week inpatient program where they were still working with the bp dx but it was evident there was something else. They got him in a good frame of mind and taught us lots of behavioural plans to use at home. These worked for a while but then he ended back in hosp. They readmitted him to the program and this time they tested him for Autism! The psychologist said that if he had got him at the beginning of his admission he would have tested way more on the spectrum but by the time he tested him, Jacob was calm and comfortable in the environment. Finally a dx that made sense. The doc in charge of psych dept kicked butt and got us Autism funding and also at home respite help! Basically said that this was a case of keeping a child out of the foster system as he could not be at home without us having help. We have 2 other kids and would not be able to manage him. Voila, help at home and letters to take to school for support. Last year was the first successful year he has had! He actually went to school!!! yeah, and stayed there!!! His SEA's rocked, and he blossomed! He is at middle school this year and I'm having to practically start all over again teaching them about him. But at least I have the back up of his psychiatrist and social workers etc. So here I am, this is me and my family! I have looked for an autism support board for a long time and someone found this and sent me the link! I am on a parenting bipolar kids board but he so doesn't fit there. I have made some close friends on that board so I stay but you guys definately get "it" more. If you read this, thanks, if you didn't I understand as it went on forever lol! There is lots and lots more but as you know our lives are jam packed full of such events and lots of fun, fun!!!!!! Glad to meet you all, Sally Welcome to the board, it is truely a great place for understanding and knowledgeable people and you seem like you will fit right in and have alot to add. It sounds like you had a rough few years with your boys and family, sounds like you all came out on top I had a similar situation with Michael, I knew there was something wrong early on, and my pregnancy was a nightmare really. Sent him to preschool and the same thing happend as what you stated, He didin't participate in activities, spent most times rattling supply cabinet and trying to push tables and chairs around. The teacher was unequipped to handle him. So, at 3.5 he was evaluated and dx with pdd and immediately placed in special classes . anyway, Welcome again hope to chat with you soon. carol
Hi Carol, Thanks for the welcome and nice to meet you! And bless you for reading my novel! lol, I looked back and rolled my eyes at how long it is. When I get on a roll there is no stopping me! lol Hi, My name is Claire, I am 28 and a single mother of two boys. My oldest is 10 an has Asperger's, OCD, and ADD I am staying positive about the cancer, as I am young and I have kicked bigger a$$es in my short life but I am so scared about how it will affect my babies. I have worked so hard to force them out of their comfort zones and become wise about there world, but have seen them go thru a lot and want to protect them from more pain. We have been fortunete that I have a decent job, and insurance, but as I am sure most of you know autism/add/odc treatment can make you need to take a second mortgage. I just bought us our first house, and broke the bank to give them the best school and a safe neighborhood. For the first time my son is finally smiling more about life and getting "almost" good grades (as a mother of an autisic child, this is a feat) I am scared to bring him back down. I am tired, physically, mentally and emotionally. I guess I hope that the message board will help me feel connected to other parents, to know that I am not alone in my struggles and can grasp other sucess stories for hope. All roadblocks aside we are truley a happy and loving family, and autism I think has made me a better parent...I definetly don't take anything for granted. It will be nice to know that others live in this world with me, because single parenting of an autistic child can feel lonely. Nice to meet everyone, look forward to reading your stories.  Hi, my name is Vaelant (good enough for now -- sorry My son is five years old, and has high functioning autism. I've been encouraged to join here for a couple years now. I'll be lurking for a little while, just learning about and from the community. Hope all is well with y'all! Hi, everyone! I'm a mom with 2 kids on the spectrum and I'm really happy to be included in this forum! Aloha, K HI to both of you!!!!! I am new also - but I love it already!!!
Michelle Hi I have a 5 1/2 year old son with ADHD , PDD NOS and heart problems his name is Jovannie. At about 3 yrs old Jovannie was not speacking and had very little social skills. Jovannie has come a long way and this is the first time I come to a suport group for help. I'm in the process of a separation with my husband of 7 years and Jovannie is very much attached to his father. What our some of your suggestion on how to explain to jovannie that papi and mommy our not going to live in the same home together? So, afraid that he is going to regress and hate me for this. Claire,
First off, want to tell you you will not be alone in this whole battle of life! you now have us!! To me- you sound like one hell of a mom!!! That is awesome at your age to give them a house and all that you have done!!!!!! Your son sounds like a brave young man and looks after you!!!!!
If you ever need anything or just want to scream- you can always find me on myspace my myspace is www.myspace.com/draimanwoman I will pm you my numbers in a bit!! Keep your head up mammas!!! You are not alone!! Michelel AS ALWAYS YOU ALL INSPIRE ME WITH YOUR BRAVERY.YOU HELP ME TO FACE EACH DAY BY KNOWING JOEY AND I ARE NOT ALONE.TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NEW ,WELCOME.I HOPE YOU FIND AS MUCH HOPE AND HAPPINESS HERE AS I DO.I DO NOT POST OFTEN BUT I READ EVERY NEW MESSAGE FROM NEW MEMBERS,I PRAY AND HOPE THE BEST FOR YOU AND YOURS. CLAIRE IM SORRY I SPELLED YOUR NAME WRONG IN THE PM.YOU ARE A AMAZING MOTHER ! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !GOD BLESS, MICHAEL AND JOEY Hello, I have a son who is 11 he is diagnosed with autism, bipolar, and anxiety. He has been diagnosed with pddnos when he was 2 years old. He was a 10 week early preemie weighing 2lbs 7oz. He has problems with agression, running, and depression most recently talking about suicide. We live in Wisconsin near Milwaukee. Im happy to have found this forum, Angee I was corrected... My son has moderate to severe classic autism... His original diagnosis was HFA, so far as I heard. I get to see him so seldom and only hear highlights, so it's hard to know. That kills me, but there's nothing I can do about it. Anyway, sorry for any confusion this may cause at any point.Welcome to the board. Hello,I have a 3 year old PDDNOS daughter. She is in a special needs preschool and working with speech therapists. She struggles mostly with speech and processing information. I am finding myself diving into books and info and now this site with so many questions. I am interested in the gfcf diet and am finding very little resources in my small town. I am looking forward to learning all I can from the people and resources on this site. Not new, just not on for awhile, 3 kids, young adults now, I wish I had had the internet back then bobby is 25 now and working at walmart, has degree in computer programming, just 2year so useless but has it. drives since 22 and has made freinds, i have never met them, but how many of you adults have all your freinds meet your parents, he has joined game club and it spawned D&D groups and now he socialises 1-2 times a week in group situations with normal adults, gamers but normal. he flunked out of last college year so we are on hiatus from school but that year is year that he leaned to drive, joined the game club made freinds and became more independent. so it was not a waste. On meeting bobby he almost is normal, just being around him a while you realise he is different, has been forever and will be forever, but each year improves, slow so slow then by leaps. never stop dreaming. Never let someone say they can't. group home and grou work at 12 was his prgnosis by expert, I ignored them, it took till then for diagnosis, of high funtioning autism, last one at 21 was PDD-NOS I do sometimes get scared for him, he will never be NORMAL but may be independent with assistance from family. just felt like updating on him as adult child with autism there are still no services or help and as high funtioning with normal IQ no help from anyone, maybe someday they will understand, he can't do it all. IQ and abilities do not match. Hi I'm JuneI posted an introduction about 5 months ago, but my life situation changed so dramatically in the following months, I never got a chance to come up for air and post and read more in this community. I have an 11 year old PDD?Aspergers/ADHD son. I don't even know where to start so this makes sense, but I'll try. In March we made the decision to move from the community I lived in, in the town where my divorced mentally ill husband also lived, to the town my boyfriend lived in 2 hours away. In June, 4 days before the end of school...3 weeks before the move, I found my exhusband (my son's father), dead. The coroner's examination concluded he had died of a heart attack the previous day. I really cannot even type much here. I planned the move in part to escape my exhusband's influence on his son's life. It's not enough pressure on a new middle school student to be Asperger's/PDD (he's somewhere on the threshold of either diagnosis...) It's not enough he has moved and changed schools. It's not enough to have lost a Dad he loved and hated. My boyfriend is a saint. Although we don't live together, (although we may someday...), he has so been there for my son and I. He works with special needs children in a residential home, and has been so instrumental in helping me figure out how to deal with specific behaviors. He didn't sign up for this, but he stepped in for us. He's basically become a parent figure to my son. We see him nearly every day. Previously, I worked outside the home and commuted a long way in order to provide health insurance to my son and mentally ill ex-husband (court ordered...) Now, I've been lucky enough to be able to take my part time, on the computer job, and turn it into a profitable full time job. So I'm here when my son gets home from school, I'm here. He can do activities after school (he is taking swimming lessons and tae kwon do, and we are debating rock climbing lessons...) I'm so tired though. I need a break from my son to be an adult. I've been looking for a babysitter in this area so that I can get needed adult time out with my boyfriend. And my son, feeling so conflicted. He loves the new town, loves the new school, loves our new apt...our new neighborhood. And he's struggling with so many things right now, and the worst of it is that he and I are both coming to terms with his father's death and feeling conflicted about it. So anyway, this time I hope to participate more. June I am the mother of 8 and have 3 children with special needs, one with Austim. He was diagnosed at the age of one year or so. I don't know what caused it, but at eleven months I gave in to the doctor and let him give him one shot, and ever since then... Although, when I look back on it, he always had some issues, like balance and some repetative behaviors. This disease is heartbreaking. I have an issue with my son who has severe Autism and is non-verbal, if someone can help I would appreciate it. He loves to go outside, so at the slightest opportunity he will try to leave. I have alarms and cameras, but once I left a window open, screen down, just to air out the house and he climbed out when I went to the bathroom. Luckily some people down the block, we live in an urban area, came down to get me, but the attitude of some of the people was very hostile. I felt harshly judged, by one man in particular who was aggressive, but walking away I kept trying to figure out what more can I do? I have bars on his bedroom windows, but not on the rest of the house. I just can't afford to do that right now. Does anyone else have these issues? Does your son or daughter wander off? It is the most scary thing I have to deal with.
Just wanted to say hi and I'm so happy to have found this place Hello, I am so that glad I found this website! My 8 yr. old daughter has autism. She was diagnosed at about 3yrs. old. She is my beautiful little angel. I am a stay at home mom and my husband works very hard to provide for us. Until last year, it was only him and I with no babysitter, friend, family or respite helping. I have been so lonley and isolated at times. I miss my family so much and now I know how much you need them! Hope to make some friends here and I just wanted to say Hi.
Hello everyone, My name is Jeanette and my daughter, Angel, is autistic. She is four years old and lives with my parents while I am over in Iraq. My parents are doing a wonderful job with Angel while I am away. Before I left for boot camp 08AUG06, Angel was mute and her play with other children was limited. Now I can hear Angel talking in the background when I call home. She is saying about three to four words in a sentence. She is starting to play with other children but still needs work in that area. She is, however, starting to throw tantrums more and more lately. She is still waking up throughout the night as well. I am so happy I found this website so I can ask questions and learn from others who are experiencing the same issues. I would love to be able to help my parents out as well. I look forward to learning and growing with you all!! Take care, Jeanette Hi there! I am Tina. I have two kids. Jasper, who is 4, and Makena who is almost 3 (Jan 4)! Makena has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. She was diagnosed on Oct 28 of this year, although we have been going throught the process since March of this year. We finally have the diagnoses and I can't say that I felt "shocked" since we all saw the diagnoses coming. I do feel overwhelmed by the amount of "stuff" that we are going to have to do and learn in the very near future (we decided to take the rest of this year off). I have LOTS of questions and feel pretty alone, so I am very happy to find there is some support out there. How funny--I haven't read the new intros for a while, and decided to do
some "welcoming" and I learn of another Jasper. That is my son's name (almost 5!) Welcome all! This board has saved my sanity. It's warm, fun, and full of kind and knowledgeable folks! Jump on in!Well, you have great taste in names! 
Welcome to Jeanette and Tina!!!
Hi Everyone... My name is Britney and I have 2 boys. Jacob who was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD and SPD and Tyler who does not have a dx but we are pretty sure he has autism. His appt is Feb. 1st to get the dx. Jacob does not have a lot of tipical autistic traits but he is very aggressive and violent. He didnt talk until he was 3 and still has a hard time talking. He also does not look you in the eye and is very "out of it" unless hes around familiar people. The docs are also thinking of dx him with an anxiety disorder as well. I hope to get some good advice out of everyone here and I look forward to chatting with you all. Sorry accidently posted twice Hi, my name is Angie, mom to Chance (almost 4) and Lane (1yr). We knew something was wrong with Chance when he was an infant. Like most of you, I'm sure, the doctors kept telling me they didn't know what was wrong. I decided after being ignored by the doctors, to do my own research. I knew Chance had all the symptoms, so I started some of the alternative treatments myself, and had to eventually leave my job because no daycare could deal with him and watch his diet the way he needed. He got a whole lot better after I lost my job, but this last year we decided to trial gluten and cheese and I thought he did alright with it. We also had the birth of Chance's little brother this last year, and our house with all of his Thomas train stuff burned down. So to say the least he has regressed quite a bit. I have pursued trying to get him looked at and diagnosed, but it will be 6mos before that will happen. In the meantime I'm trying to get him in the special needs preschool. He is really struggling in his current preschool. I'm trying to debate whether to pull the gluten and cheese from his diet. The problem is that he has sensitivities to so many other foods that he becomes so terribly limited, and I keep worrying about him being malnourished. So anyway, I look forward to meeting all of you.
Hi Angie, Welcome to the board! I'm sure you'll find lots here to help you! Hi. My name is Elisabeth. I was diagnosed with Asperger. I hope to find people to speak about related subjects. Elisabeth
Welcome Elisabeth! I have a strange sense of humor and am very opinionated (which often gets me in trouble around here!) I have been on this Board for about one month now, but never formally introduced myself. I am a much older parent and had my children very late in life. My gorgeous son is 11 years old and diagnosed with PDD-NOS. My 8 year old daughter is NT. My husband is always referred to here as not-so-dear, instead of dh (or D**k Head in my case lol!) as is the norm. We are still married, and I do love him. Due to his occupation, he is so strict and regimented it is very hard to live with him. "Warning, Violation, violation" is my battle cry. My son is completely non verbal (only makes sounds, does say MAAAAAD),has no communication skills (no PECS, no ACDevice, etc.) but has excelent receptive language. He is not toilet trained. His fine motor skills are pretty shot. However, he is very social, has unbelievably amazing gross motor skills (his having no sense of danger works at an advantage for him)and is also unbelievably "street smart". He scores in the "A+" range when taking the Standardized Tests (kinda like I.Q. test) which are mandatory for Special Ed here. However, in school, he is doing Kindegarten work due to the fact that he truly has NO interest whatsoever in learning anything remotely associated with academics! My daughter is probably the most caring, kind, unselfish (not just me talking - everyone says) child or person you could ever meet. No one understands where she learned it from! She is also extremely intelligent and definitely wise beyond her years. We also have a 92lb. black labrador retriever named Shadow. He is a thief, which of course drives my husband nuts. He is extremely playful. When outside he barks constantly, but really is a chicken when confronted. He's my baby. The dog on my post is my beloved Sally, a doberman, who passed away last year. Although trained to be a vicious watch dog, she was the most gentle, patient creature with my son. Even though he tortured her - one time he pulled her leg out of its socket! She didn't even growl. That's all folks. You've been forwarned! My posts tend to be extremely long, but usually get your heart pumpin' (ask those who've read them) IT'S A MAAAD, MAAAD, MAAAD, MAAAD WORLD!!! especially when your involved with Autism! Well I use to be an active member but have not been on the board in about a year, I decided to come back for some extra support....My name is Kim and I am a divorced single mother of three beautiful children, I have a 16 year old NT son D.J., he is a great kid, makes his mom proud...of course all my kids do....I have a 14 year old daughter Sarah, she is loving and kind, has a diagnosis of MR and a seizure disorder, she can not read or write, is very social and is wonderful..Then the Baby is Emily who by the way is not really a baby, Emily is 11 years old she is diagnosed with autism, MR, and a sound system disorder...she has come a long way....she did not say her first word until she was 4yrs, walked at 22 months, was potty trained 2 months before her 8th birthday...she has come so far and so has her sister Sarah....Emily also has aweful migraines that make her very sick for days at a time, sometimes they last a week..She see's a neurologist for the migraines and takes two meds that help prevent them, but lately they have been bad....we go back to the neurologist next week, Emily is going through puberty and they are attributing the severness of the miagraines as of late on this...the school has suggested getting something from the doctor so she can be put on homebound at school when she is so sick. Due to all of the issues with the girls I now work part time at my church and paint when I can, interior painting of homes and apartments, it all makes finances difficult as you all know...I am going to college and will graduate April 29th with a BS in Behavioral Sciences...and I want to become an advocate within the school district for children with developmental disabilities and there families..Last but not least we have two dogs my dog is Herman, and my daughter Sarah has a miniture wiener dog named Hommie, he was her Christmas gift last year and he has been perfect for her, Sarah is a nurturer by nature and Hommie was a rescue...She is great with him and he adores her! Thanks for taking the time to read all this! My name is Rachelle, and I have 3 children. J is 161/2 and a wonderful son, K is 11 1/2 and she was diagnosed at 4 with ADHD, OCD, ODD. Just last year she was also diagnosed with depression/aniexty disorder. C is 25 months and about 2 months ago, I started noticing that he had "lost" words, not that he had a lot of them anyway. He started having difficulty "dealing" with public places, and people. He loves to spin himself, round and round, and when he gets "excited" he runs in circles. He has become very "picky" with his eating, and we sometimes have a hard time getting him to eat anything. C used to eat with a spoon and fork very well, now he just looks at it, and throws it down. At his 2 year appt., I told his doctor all of this. She put in the referrels for a hearing test (he seemed like he couldn't hear, and still does), and a referrel for the Child Development Services Agency, as well as a referrel for the developmental pediatrician that the office has on staff. We have had the hearing test, he passed. The CDSA has come out and done the intake paperwork to start testing and will be back on the 11th to do it. I met with the developmental pediatrician yesterday, and he confirmed my thoughts. That C has ASD. He also feels that the CDSA will tell me the same thing on the 11th. He is referring him to a pediatric neorulogist for an MRI, and also referring us to a geneticist. We live about 40 minutes from Wilimington,North Carolina, but these tests will need to be done in Chapel Hill and the UNC- Chapel Hill children's hospital. Although I have had many years experience with ADHD, I am very new the the world of Autism and would welcome any advice or ideas that anyone has. I am grateful that there is a site like this where parents can learn from parents.
Hi Rachelle You have come to a good place. Search feature is slow but worth it as there is much good information. Go thru resources. Start a thread and ask for specific help. Welcome
Hi Rachelle - and welcome! You've come to the right place - this site has been a fabulous place for us to visit for advice (nothing beats another parents experience!!!). Cheers, Elissa.
[QUOTE=Elissa] Hi Jen (eeyoregirl) and Anne (whooper)! Welcome! Both of your stories sound similar to mine in ways - it took us a while to come to a diagnosis of ASD. We share our story on our blog http://www.managingautism.com (under the category of 'In the beginning') so please stop by and check it out. Elissa
[/QUOTE]
Thanks so much Elissa! Hi, I'm Dee, mother of 3 children. Soon to be 8 year old son with autism, 4 year old NT daughter and 8 month old NT daughter. It's been one big roller coaster ride with it's ups and downs. Now is more of a down time and I guess I'm just reaching out to talk to someone. No one really understands what we've been through. We have family and friends who CARE but can't really relate to our situation. I'll call my son BB. He is a lovable guy, very big for his age, and as strong as a grown man when his adrenaline gets going. We fought medications for years, until it became clear he could not function without some sort of help. He takes Risperdal for his self aggressive behavior but has recently become extremely hyperactive. We are now trying meds for that. He has ALWAYS had issues with poor sleeping which have only intensified recently. Anyway, I could write a book, so I'll stop there. Welcome everyone to the board..I am Shelley and have a 7 year old daughter asd and a almost 17 year old dd (nt) ...You have found the right place for understanding , answers and a safe place to fall when you need it the most:) I hope everyone learns tons..we have the best resources online or any other message board! The nicest people too:) ...and modest! Post often and dont be shy:) Hi all....my name is Kim, and my 12 year old daughter is PDD-NOS. I also have a son, 5, who has congenital heart defects called Tetralogy of Fallot. I've always said that my son's heart defects, while serious and scary, are at times easier to deal with than my daughter's issues...at least with him I know what will happen, what the next steps are, what the expected results will be...and obviously with Melanie that's not the case....I'm a bit frustrated as of late, this last six months has been a struggle. We've gone from being in general ed 90% of the day, to about 10%, the agression has gotten so much worse, I swear every word that comes out of her mouth is an argument- no sense of taking responsibility for her actions, in the hospital a couple times,arrrrgh....so frustrated right now! I had a little hope the last time she was in the hospital (a month ago), and everyone from AEA was involved, helped me through filling out the forms for the mental health waiver (which has a huge waiting list)...and now that nothing has happened...we're just trying to get through each day. Now that I've introduced myself by whining :)....I am very glad to have found this place! And I'm not always so whiney, I swear ;)Welcome 12 is a hard age for anyone. I was expelled 3 times in eighth grade. Please share more of your concerns. No need to apolgize. This board is for sharing, not pretending. Bet it has something to do with that 4 letter word I keep throwing around here: PUB*TWelcome to the board! hello, my name is rachel. i have 3 children ages 9,6 and 2. i have 2 children with autism. my daughter regan (6yrs) was dx 2 years ago and is doing wonderful with ot/st. my son masen (2 yrs) was just dx last week and we began ot, but are on a waiting list for st. i have also just started the process to get him started in the early intervention program. i think that everyday i feel the negative and positive impacts that autism has made to our lives. it is a struggle , not only with my two children with autism, but also for my 9yr old "typical" son. however, i feel like i am a better person for the things our family has gone through. it is impossible to put into words how having 2 children with autism has touched my life. when you have a special needs child or children, you learn to appreciate what is truly important in life. i am thankful for finding this site, because it is nice to talk to other people who know what i'm going through. Hello. My name is Jen, mom to Jacob (almost 6) and Molly (3). Jacob was recently diagnosed with PPD-NOS, generalized anxiety disorder and mild ADHD. We knew for several years that there were issues but had just recently gotten the diagnoses. He has been going to OT for fine motor delays since Feb. 2007. He has recently started play therapy as well. Looking forward to all there is to learn and discuss on this board. [QUOTE=gwenaa] . . . . i wanna find people who live close to me and are kinda close to my age(27) that are going through the same thing as me so we can help eachother. Welcome! you are likely to find this need here, but geography and age are irrelavent when it comes to support.
I am new to this whole thing...I think I may be in denial, too. I have a 21 month old son named Holden. He has always had trouble sleeping through the night- sometimes up every 15 min. We started him on Prevacid and by about 18 mos he started sleeping better. We started noticing that he is covering his ears a lot. He had quite a history of ear infections and got tubes- no infections after getting the tubes. He is an EXTREMELY picky eater- he will touch the food and if he does not like the feel of it, he will not eat it. He sometimes circles his toys, and his language is a lot of babble, but there are about twelve words that he uses ( all of them not perfect, but we know what he means). He stands on tip toe sometimes. We know that he fits the criteria for sensory integration disorder, as he has tactile and auditory issues, but here is where I have the problem: He is social, he makes good eye contact, he plays with toys appropriately ( he makes vrroom noises for cars and knows that people go in the cars, tries feeding a baby doll, etc.) he initiates conversation with us, he looks at things when we point. He is agile and active and enjoys playing with other children in imaginative play. Is it possible that he is just mildly autistic, or am I setting myself up for more heartbreak in believing this? Does anyone have a similar story?
Welcome jakentysmom, There have been some recent threads discussing some of this. You will find good information here. Hello, My name is Sandra and I am the mother of a beautiful son Avery (5yrs). He was just recently diagnosed with ASD along with ADHD although we have known from pretty early on. I am so glad I have found this site because I definately need to socialize with others that are going through the same things. I am also an Occupational Therapy Assistant working for the Public School System so I know that everyone has to deal with different issues when it comes to dealing with a child with Autism. I am looking forward to getting to know you. Sandra Hello Sandra. A very warm welcome. I am looking forward to get to know you too. Elisabeth Welcome ... I have a very similar situation with my daughter. She is "on the spectrum" but quite mild - just a speech delay and some unusual puzzle solving and sorting abilities very young. I was in denial - but as long as she gets services/assistance with her speech (at 2 she has approx 20 words). I don't care what they call it. We saw a Pedicatric Neurologist which was about the best thing to happen - she gave a full account of what to expect over the next year and how to immerse my daughter in more activities to stimulate speech. I read the intros and some other areas on the board ... but don't really post. I might start as my daughter progresses - b/c you don't see many follow ups from the mild side of the spectrum. I hope to hear/see your story soon! Hi everyone...My name is Melody and I am a 24 year old single stay at home Mommy to my little 15 month old little man Landyn. We live WAY up in the STICKS in NORTHERN MINNESOTA...where it is currently -15(yes thats 15 BELOW ZERO)...and in a windchill advisory...DANG ITS COLD HERE.... I have just recentlly began thinking about Autism/PDD after his hearing tests confirmed he DOES have good hearing in one ear...but he has all the signs and stuff....I would love to know anything and everything on this...i have been surfing the web since Monday and looking at everything possible...but im sure ive missed things....Like the diets....GFCF...it kinda confuses me...I have ordered a couple books...like Could it be Autism?, the jenny mccarthy one and another one dealing wiht how kids feel..Hope EVERYONE stays WARMHello to all, I am Mike, Mike I am...........do you like green eggs and ham? Anyway, I am the 39 year old father to our wonderful almost 17 year old autistic son Carter. I am new to this forum but not new to autism. We live in Northern California. Look forward to chatting with all of you.HI PHILMIKIPS /MIKE, Welcome to the board! I know I'm going to like you already. Starting out with a joke - I joke around alot on here too. You got to laugh, or else you'd be crying, right? Please make sure to post some Topics - we need to hear from parents with older children - a minority here (and everywhere these days, I guess). Hi Mike...I'm new here also. I will be interested to hear your perspective on getting through the teen years...we are just beginning...[QUOTE=andthensome] Welcome ... I have a very similar situation with my daughter. She is "on the spectrum" but quite mild - just a speech delay and some unusual puzzle solving and sorting abilities very young. I was in denial - but as long as she gets services/assistance with her speech (at 2 she has approx 20 words). I don't care what they call it. We saw a Pedicatric Neurologist which was about the best thing to happen - she gave a full account of what to expect over the next year and how to immerse my daughter in more activities to stimulate speech. I read the intros and some other areas on the board ... but don't really post. I might start as my daughter progresses - b/c you don't see many follow ups from the mild side of the spectrum. I hope to hear/see your story soon! [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Lisa_n_alex][QUOTE=andthensome]Welcome ... I have a very similar situation with my daughter. She is "on the spectrum" but quite mild - just a speech delay and some unusual puzzle solving and sorting abilities very young. I was in denial - but as long as she gets services/assistance with her speech (at 2 she has approx 20 words). I don't care what they call it. We saw a Pedicatric Neurologist which was about the best thing to happen - she gave a full account of what to expect over the next year and how to immerse my daughter in more activities to stimulate speech. I read the intros and some other areas on the board ... but don't really post. I might start as my daughter progresses - b/c you don't see many follow ups from the mild side of the spectrum. I hope to hear/see your story soon!
Hi It sounds just like my story.....Alex was diagnosed with Verbal Apraxia recently and then we were told to go and see a neurologist. The neuro announced last week that Alex was on the autistic spectrum but very mild.. how did your neuro come to this diagnoses with your daughter,did she carry out any tests at all? Did she base her diagnosis on just observing and talking to you to get some kind of case history? I would like to hear your experiences. thanks Hello My name's Kasey and my son will be three in a few days. He has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. He's been getting Speech therapy since August and has made tremendous strides in language development. He will be starting preschool the day he turns three and will continue to receive speech therapy. He is also set to get an OT evaluation for some sensory issues. I just finished a Master's degree in Child Psychology and I had my suspicions that my son was on the spectrum since he was 18 months old. I was in denial and let any bit of progress deter me from getting him evaluated. As a result, I am a big proponent of "just in case" evaluations. Currently, I work full-time, but I plan to switch to working part-time with children on the spectrum in the near future. I know how hard it can be to get the courage and support to get a child evaluated and I hope to be able to help others get through it. I also look forward to learning more about others' experiences to help me get the right supports for my son. Hello everyone, I was referred here by a friend and I am thankful for that. Thanks MissNippy! Well I am a mother of three children. A girl 11 and boy 8 neither with any problems. My youngest is 5 and was diagnosed on Dec 31 with ASD. As you can see I am very new to this. I am lucky because in my school district their are county schools that specialize in special needs children. Through them I was able to get my son in preschool because he is years behind for kindergarten. He is getting speech therapy and we are doing PT at home. I am still trying to get this all worked out but it is hard. Right now I think my biggest fear is he will not be ready for kindergarten. Bad news is he has to attend next year regardless of whether he is ready or not. The plus side is the school system has special needs and regular students in the same classroom. This I like a lot. My son can memorize movies and commercials very easy. He is easily frustrated and throws temper tantrums a lot. I can only get him to eat cereal, chicken nuggets, cheese, pancakes, and a variety of drinks. He chews on his clothes, blankets, towels all the time and when they get wet he gets upset and has to change. Over the past year we were able to make him keep his shoes on when not at home. He does not ask for things or tell us how he is feeling. He mimics the emotional responses of his siblings but does not show any himself. There are so many other things to numerous to write. I know there is a long journey ahead for me and my children. I am glad there is support out their like this. I look forward to the conversation and advice. Howdy, I am the dad of a 7 year old son diagnosed with Autism, ADD, OCD, ODD, and some other acronyms. Looking forward to sharing ideas on how to help my son, and how to just get through the day sometimes.Lots of new parents! Welcome and start threads to ask questions. Try search too for lots of good stuff. This is a friendly place. I am a HFA mom of a successful autistic adult son and less affected daughter. (also successful of course) I am planning on autistic grand children some day. Hi everyone. I've been lurking and posting on the board for a few weeks. Thought I'd do a proper introduction. I'm Lauren, Mom to Jack with Baby #2 on the way in May (another boy :-) ) Jack is in the process of meeting with a Developmental Pediatrician (Early March). He is 28 months now, and has been in ST since 23 months. He has been diagnosed by a ST and a Multi-Disciplinary Clinic as having Dyspraxia of Speech (he is non-verbal at this point). However, he has had some other issues which compelled us to have him evaluated for possible ASD or PDD-NOS (carrying around groups of magnets, blocks, or cars; not pointing as an infant; possible issues with ideation/imaginary play). I have really enjoyed my time on the board thus far, and am learning so much! I am a newbie, I have one son who was dx with ASD and SID/SPD. We have had our battles with everyone. I have been told by many people in my community that I would be a great parent advocate for the community I live in. I think that if you sit back and do nothing for your child, then that is child abuse. Children can't fight for there right, parent have too. It just gets under my skin when I see these children who have parents who don't take the time to learn what is wrong with there child. I just wonder sometimes if I ask every parent who has a child on an IEP what is wrong with there child how many would know?? Well that is my take on things, and if I can help I will try, I am very new to the school system, but have learned that they will get you if they can. Angelezeyze1228,Welcome to the board! (I mean that). I can already see that you and I will probably butt heads often. That's okay, it what makes this board interesting. Always remember here - when disagreements arise, they are not meant to be taken personally. I may disagree with something you say, and through other responses or second thoughts change my mind, and vice versa. So ... I debated whether or not to respond to your post in PDD-NOS Topic (I think that was the title). I didn't understand where you were coming from and thought your way of thinking didn't make sense. I decided it truly was only my opinion, and let it go. Now in the above post, I feel the same way. However when you bring other parents into it, I have to disagree. QUOTE "I think that if you sit back and do nothing for your child, then that is child abuse. ... It just gets under my skin when I see these children who have parents who don't take the time to learn what is wrong with there child. I just wonder sometimes if I ask every parent who has a child on an IEP what is wrong with there child how many would know??"QUOTE Please remember not all parents are as strong as you are. Many cannot afford to have advocates fighting for them, and even if they could, may not be able to navigate the system to find one. I really don't believe that they sit back and do nothing out of choice. There are parents who aren't capable of understanding what is wrong (the term "wrong" isn't "right" with me, but I know what you meant) with child. ASD is a very complicated dx, even for those of us who are college educated. Imagine if you didn't have a decent education, maybe even couldn't read, or yourself were learning disabled, how hard it would be to understand ASD? There are many parents in U.S. for whom English is a second language. In certain cultures ASD isn't considered a "severe"(for lack of better term) disability and would just let their child progress naturally, which would be the way to go where they come from. Many may have other family problems, or illness and just can't devote the time to their child. You and I are so unbelievably lucky that we do not fall into any of the above categories (I think). I have much misery and problems going on in my life aside from my son's DX , as do many others. There are many times when I cannot devote the attention he needs, must miss IEP meetings, etc. But I would hope no one would see me as being abusive. The only true definition of abuse to me are the parents that purposefully neglect, physically harm or mentally torture their children. Yes, my posts are always horribly long as you will come to see. I am often a controversial poster. Whenever someone calls me on something I've written I see it as a learning experience, and go from there. I am not trying to put you down in any way, nor am I saying what I have written above is the only way that is right. It is just my opinion, and you are entitled to yours. I know you are saying "What a b*tch" - oh well, to be expected (lol!) Peace Out! I do understand where you are coming from, but where I am coming from is my husband family has many disabilities, every niece and nephew of my husbands has a delay of some type. Example is my husband’s sister has two children which one has mild delays and the other has severe delays. She has ask many times to help her figure out what she needs to help her child, I have giving it to her on a silver platter and she does nothing. The only reason she ask in the first place is my mother-inlaw gets on her case pushing her children aside. After I do all I can, due to confidentiality I can’t make the appointments and sign the forms, she don’t try because now that she has “tried” her mom gets off her back. You got my point, this is what I consider child abuse, but again that is my opinion. Just so you may can see my picture more clear, I was 16 yr old when I gave birth to Noah, a teen mom, and my husband (Noah’s dad) was 18 yr old, we were young but we made it. We both graduated high school and I have graduated college too, Nursing. When Noah was 1 ½ yr old when his dad was sent to Iraq for 15 months, Noah was three when he returned. In that time period Noah was Dx from a private company, CDSA, as ASD, from there we were referred to TEACCH and was put on a waiting list. Two years later after two years of ST, OT, and PT and being enrolled in development day center, we got the invitation to get the official dx. We when on an day journey to get all the little test completed so at the end of the day all the staff that interacted with Noah sat down with me and my husband to discuss the finding, they said Noah fell under PDD-NOS, but because of the early intervention that is why Noah had progressed so far, so they stated that they thought that PDD-NOS would fail Noah in the long run, so they made the decision to Dx Autism. In NC school system they don’t recognize PDD-NOS, but they do autism on the IEP. Hope you understand me. Since then we came along with more dx like OCD, and SID/SPD. We attend sensory therapy outside of school once a week, and so on. Ok my biggest point is how many 16 yr old moms take the time to deal with there child, I know there are that few like me, but most time grandparents end up raising the child. So being said I was that mom that was in shock when I heard the first dx, thinking why me I am 17 yr old, and why my child. Now I look back and I am grateful that I have this special gift in my life, but do think that the reason some children overcome things is because of the parents. Point again is if a dr. walks in the rooms or wherever and says you child has a special need, I think it is 100% the parents responsibility to see that the child gets the care needed, not the dr., and I see so many child failed upon because a parents says “well I have to work and ect…” excuses. As a parent do a little homework when you find out, do some research or get on forum and talk to parents with gifted children. And libraries are free and provide internet access. There is no excuse to fail your child, I work full time, when to school full time and had a husband in Iraq when I discovered something was going on with Noah. But this is all my opinion. Sorry (truly) for using the word wrong, I was having a brain fart and couldn’t think of a better word, but how bout “when something is going on with there child” My husbands name is Anthony Last of all, I wasn’t offended by you response at all, I would love to have you opinion, not to butt heads, but as a guide to help me learn, I am young and I don’t know everything, I just try to help the best I can, but what I think is best may not be best. I see that you gift is older than mine, so teach me!! I have a long road ahead of me. Thank you!! Welcome back rachel!!!! It does make you feel sooooo special and different when dealing with our different children...Glad to have you home Hello everyone, I am Jen, 30 year old female from British Columbia, Canada...I have an (almost) 7 year old boy, recently diagnosed with Autism.. He is VERY high functioning, he is such a sweet boy.. I also have a 4 year old daughter, Carmen who is NT.. Here they are! This is one of 2 pictures I have of him showing affection towards his sister, such a great moment captured on film..LOL I am pretty excited I found such an active forum as I have browsed a few and the posts are few and far between.. My son was just diagnosed this past Friday, Jan 4th. Even though I KNEW he was on the spectrum somewhere I was pretty hesitant to make any "friends" with people who are affected by ASD.. Im not very social in person (I think I may be under the spectrum also) and I feel more comfortable over the computer so I think this is going to be great for me.. I'm excited to get to know people! I guess I will see you around the forums! ~Jen Hi Jen. This is a lovely photo of your children. They are very cute. Have a good time here. Elisabeth Thanks Elisabeth
Hi gang! I have been away from the board for the last 4 months or so... used to be Tonysmom from NC. We moved to DE over Labor Day 2007 and love it here! I look forward to catching up with the old members, and getting to know the new ones. Mary Hi i'm Amanda mother to 4(almost 5) year old brady and 2 year old kyla. I found out on December 18th 07 so less then a month ago that brady was autistic. So now i'm diving in head first to get all the info i can to help my son. and also doing what i can to find out if my daughter also has it or not. i live in canada so i dont know if there are many canadians here or not but i wanna find people who live close to me and are kinda close to my age(27) that are going through the same thing as me so we can help eachother.i guess thats it for now nice to meet you all Amanda [QUOTE=gwenaa]Hi i'm Amanda mother to 4(almost 5) year old brady and 2 year old kyla. I found out on December 18th 07 so less then a month ago that brady was autistic. So now i'm diving in head first to get all the info i can to help my son. and also doing what i can to find out if my daughter also has it or not. i live in canada so i dont know if there are many canadians here or not but i wanna find people who live close to me and are kinda close to my age(27) that are going through the same thing as me so we can help eachother. Hi Amanda. Welcome. This is a good place to find info, learn and meet friends. Yes, there are Canadians here
Hi Ryansdad45 - Welcome to the board!! Glad you found this place, it will be a real help as you go through the normal ups and downs that come with ASDs. Hang in there, and take the time to process it all (even if you feel like your world has been turned upside down). I don't know about conquering it, but over time you definitely learn to work with it - and I've found this is a great spot for lots of help and support!!! Elissa  I'm from Canada, 32 years old, been married for 13 years and have 3 kids. Our son was diagnosed 7 years ago with moderate autism and as moderately intellectually delayed. My husband and I have recently decided to try the GFCF diet, so I hope to find information and support here. Hi.My name is Rodlene..that's ROd+lean....My son Isaiah has not be DX yet but we have taken him to early intervention and was told that there are signs that he is on the spectrum. On 1/31/08 we will take him to the Neuo. to get the offical DX. I am having a really hard time thus far, because I do not know where to start. He has been evaluated by an OT/ST so I am waiting for the days he can go. It seems like everything is on standstill while my soon to be two year old son seems like he is in another world. Ok sorry...My name is Rodlene and I live in Miami,Florida.My son is also an Isaiah! Hi everyone,
We just joined and are glad to have found this message board. Our amazing 6 year old son Ian was diagnosed with PDD-NOS in November '07. Since it's mild, we had no idea that he was on the spectrum. This news came as a great shock to us. We've already had the school start the evaluation process for the IEP, and have had numerous other evaluations done. Our son is now receiving ST once a week and just had his OT evaluation done. Looks like he also has SPD. We have learned so much over the past 3 months and will continue to do everything possible to get our son all the help he needs to be successful and happy in life. This is just the beginning of a long journey, but we will find our way through all the twists and turns that lay ahead. It's nice to have a place to come to for extra support and we look forward to being a part of this community.
Peace,
Nicki & Craig
Welcome Nicki & Craig, and all the other recent newbies!
Columbia mom - If its any consolation, My ds walked, talked at a very early age. My daughter was very delayed in these areas. She is NT and He has autism, so my point is, try not to worry yet - there is plenty of time. Every kid develops at their own pace. Welcome to both of you!! I'm sure you will love being here. We are all here for support and to help with info as best we can. I am new too. I search for "autism forum" and found this. My 1 Y 9 M boy known to have a pdd-NOS a month ago. i am still a confuse mom. I am not an english speaker so will still need to learn a lot in this forum. :)
mattewsmom(sherri) Hi - thanks to those who have welcomed me but I was just wondering if there is a glossary of the abbreviations used here (NT, etc.) - I am new to this and to chat rooms in general (I grew up right on the line between an Internet and non-Internet generation) so please excuse my ignorance! I am looking forward to getting lots of good info and support here - thanks again! ColumbiamomAmanda, I really like your spunk and I just wanted to say how lucky your son is to have you as his advocate. You are very young but it sounds like you have it together for yourself and family. I have a son about your age (21?) and am one of the older parents here and I hope we can all learn from each other. Welcome, Merry I think most important thing I have learned as the parent of a child with a disability is not to judge other parents or care givers, because most of the time we are all doing the very best we can. I know I've made mistakes, it's part of being a parent, and while in hindsight the things we "should" have done may be crystal clear, things are always as cut and dried as they may appear to others. welcome to the board...it's been very helpful for me to see the different opinions, options, etc. available here and I hope it will be helpful for you also. Hi I am lisa a SAHM to Alexander who is 2years 7m. Alex was diagnosed with oral apraxia 4months ago and now he has been diagnosed as being on the autistic spectrum..... I am interested to read other peoples stories and learn from them.
Hello, my name is Becka and I am in my final year of a psychology degree. I am currently doing my dissertation and would be very grateful if anyone would be willing to help me. I am trying to prove that some autistic children are equal if not more advanced in their development of basic maths skills, compared to non autistic children. I am asking children of around 5 and 10 if they would complete a short age appropriate maths tests that takes about 5 minutes. If you are a parent of a child that fits this criteria and you are happy for me to send you more information about it, and possibly letting your child complete a test please contact me on: becka_psy3@hotmail.co.uk . Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you. Hi, my name is Mandy. I'm so completely new to all of this and just trying to do my research to figure some of it out. Maybe some of you can help me. My son Landon just turned 3 yrs old. I have probably always felt like something was off, but over the past six months we couldn't explain it away anymore. Landon is very loving and affectionate (mostly with me), and he does occasionally play with his sisters (6yrs, and 1yr.)he seems interested in other children but acts as though he doesn't understand what to do. His speech is delayed, he is obsessed with cars and lining them up (and if his little sister touches one he has fits) my dad owns a carwash and Landon has literally sat in his stroller for hours watching the cars get washed (he still screams when I make him come back inside) he twirles his hair a good majority of the day (and anyone elses) he dosen't understand how to answer a lot of questions like... his name, or age, whether he is a boy or girl. I have often said its like the light is off, but other times to other questions he answers as if there isn't any problem. I never realized walking on his tip toes was a sign or many of the others I've named. I mean we have all heard or watched a show about the classic symptoms of autism but he can make eye contact and hug, most of the time no one would realize that he has any problems. We go for testing to find out for sure in a couple of days, but his ped. feels is is high-functioning autism. What is the difference between the autism spectrum and pdd, are they the same thing? any info on what to expect during the diagnois process would be helpful. Thanks!Hi I am new to this board. My name is Kathy and my husband and I have 2 sons. I have homeschooled both my boys for many years. My oldest son is gifted and has no disabilities. He is off to public high school this fall. My youngest son is 10 and he was born with spina bifida and hydrocephlus. When he was 9 he was diagnoised with high-functioning autism. He also has a host of other diagnoises--he deals with anxiety disorder. I'm glad to have found this site. I have to run now. Thanks Kathy Hi I too am new to this board. I responded to a couple of posts but realize I never introduced myself. My name is Terry and my wonderful husband and I have two great kids, Richard who is 7 and Katie who is 2.5. The last year and a half has been incredibly trying for our family as Richard has had a host of health problems mostly related to his kidneys and respiratory system. He's had many surgical procedures and just when we felt he was out of the woods, Katie was diagnosed PDD-NOS. She is a beautiful happy little girl who I thought only suffered with language and sensory issues. When she was diagnosed last month my world collapsed. In my dark moments I am angry with God and wonder how he could do this to me. I have watched my son on death's door and my daughter happy in her own world. Then there are moments when the sun shines on me and I feel truly blessed to have these beautiful children no matter what their limitations may be. I am grateful to have found this site as I read more and more about other parents who struggle with the same difficulties. Thank you for allowing me to join your club. HELLO EVERYBODY! My name is Tamar, Happy to find this new forum and to share knowledge. I have a nephew, 14 years old with autism, he lives in a special hostel in Israel together with 16 other members of all ages. When i last visited, i spent some time with him and saw how he changed within two hours that we had spent together during the first visit to see him.I felt wonderful and very fulfilled afterwards. Of course the same happened the next few times i saw him within my visit in Israel. A very good friend of mine has twins, a boy and girl they are 5.5 yrs. old, the girl is autistic and i do not know what level because i understand that it has many within this spectrum. She is a delight, very different from my nephew communication wise. I would very much like to know where i can learn more on how i can work with these kids and what do i need to do so. I heard of a course called ABA, and for some reason i cannot find one in south Florida (i live in Davie). can some one tell me where to start, what to look into ?? I do not have a degree, i finished school in Israel (born and raised there)I'm not sure what kind of background i need, but i know that this is something very special and important and i would love to know that i can do something for these special kids. Thank you so much, Tamar Hello -
I need support!  My name is Barb and I'm happy to finally have answers! My son was dx 1 mo ago at 16 with as. I wish I knew earlier in his life, but I can't change the past. I lost the instruction manual to my children. Now, we have the knowledge to pass on to our (hopefully not too near future) grandchildren! We're 98% sure that his dad has it, too. hello all! my names lea, i live in washington state, and i have two kids, jake's 5 and autistic, and rain's 4 and diabetic. my son was just dx last year. as many have said, it does change everything in your life from that day forward. it's nice to finally find a place to chat about it.MOMDay Welcome to our home.....we are always here for u...... Hi my name is Sue,my daughter Emily is 12yrs old and was diagnosed with pdd-nos in december,i just found this web site today and I,m so thankful ,although emilys problems are mild ,mainly its hard for her to make friends,she is starting puberty and is very emotional,I,m never really sure if its the pdd or her hormones,I know she feels isolated sometimes,but finds it hard to talk about things that are bothering her,I;m always alert for any changes ,she spends a lot of time playing alone,but she is such a sweet kid and anyone should be proud to call her a friend,she loves animals and reads alot ,even though they told me she is also dyslexic,but has compensated very well for this.Any tips on anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated,ThanksHello, My name is Sarah. I have three boys Jon (age 10) who was born with a right arm malformation which he wears a myoelectric prosthesis for, he also has Growth Hormone Deficiency. Nate (age 5) is my middle child, no issues with him other than him being stubborn. Then there's Zach (33 months old) He has speech issues, and is receiving speech therapy for that, we had a suspicion that he was dealing with more than just speech issues though, because he doesn't deal well with transitions among other things. He was just diagnosed (this past Friday) with PDD-NOS and Sensory dysfunction. Hi, my name is Katie. I have two sons. Samuel is 4.5 years old and was diagnosed with ASD March 8, 2007, he had already been diagnosed by the school with educational autism and SID, it just took quite a while for a medical diagnosis. Simon is 16 months old and appears to be NT... though he does stim, we think it's him copying behavior he sees from his brother. I'm lucky to have reaquainted myself with two old friends who have also had a child diagnosed with autism... but lately I feel I need to reach out further. My husband has lurked on this board for a while and suggested that I should join. Lately Samuel's behavioral issues have been increasing and he's regressing into behaviors we'd said bye-bye to over a year ago... biting and headbanging being the worst of it, and I don't get a lot of computer time, but I hope to become a part of this wonderful community.
my name is sherri and my son mattew is 11 years old. i was on nreathine from the time i was 5 months pregnant. i went to pre term labor with him at 5 mos. they gave me shots after shots of this medication. i was wondering myself if this has anything to do with what is wrong with him. from the time matthew was born i knew something just was not right. all he did was scream scream. i have been fighting for years to get them to dignose him with autism... he is verbal but he has a hared time... he hates high places, i have to still help him get dresssed and tie his shoes... if you would like to talk future please drop me a e mail hugs matthewsmom sherri My name is Rebecca, and my husband and I just found out that our 3 yr old is Autistic. Of course, we knew something was up...but honestly thought our little guy just had some delayed speech. We were stunned and crushed when the developmental pediatrician told us he had classic autism... Our lives have not been the same since that day in January. This is still very new for us. We don't know a single other person who has Autism. We have him on GFCF which worked like a miracle at first, but he is not making the big strides that he was weeks ago. We have also had a school evaluation, but it is taking forever for them to get back to us and get him into the school for speech and occupational therapy. I'm looking for a miracle. Hi my name is Denise I have a question for you guys I have been reading about medications given for pre term labor I was given Magnisium sulfate for 18 days with my daughter and she has always had developmental delays and I was wondering if anyone out there has a child with problems that just had magnisium through an IV Iam really concerned this my have caused the problems or has anyone heard of this medication causing this kind of problem in childrenHi everyone,My 2.5 year old daughter Anna was just diagnosed autistic today. I have suspected this for a few months now, so I am not surprised, but still heartbroken. I have been lurking here for a couple of weeks as part of my "crash course" in autism. There are some amazing posters here and I look forward to getting to know you. Anna's twin sister Lauren is also speech delayed (though not to such a great extent as Anna, who is presently nonverbal) and their speech therapist has recommended I have her evaluated as well due to a number of specific language and social deficits. We're waiting for that evaluation now. Welcome to all recently dx newbies we are here for you.... [QUOTE=denise62]Hi my name is Denise I have a question for you guys I have been reading about medications given for pre term labor I was given Magnisium sulfate for 18 days with my daughter and she has always had developmental delays and I was wondering if anyone out there has a child with problems that just had magnisium through an IV Iam really concerned this my have caused the problems or has anyone heard of this medication causing this kind of problem in children[/QUOTE]
Good Question~! I had Mag too. Anyone know about research on this? Hi Denise, I had not heard of any connections to magnesium and delayed development, but I have wondered what the effect of those medicines that stop labor would have on the baby (long term) I was also on magnesium for differing amounts of time with all three of my children, I was also on long term breathin to stop contractions. The side effects of the medicines are so horrible and strong it does lead you to wonder what kind of damage was being done to our babies. Please keep me up to date on any more info on the subject. We go today to have the first step in diagnoising our 3yr old with possible autism , and my 6yr old daughter has ADHD and depression, the youngest is only 1 and seems to be doing well, but I was on the labor stopping medications the longest with her. [QUOTE=denise62]Hi my name is Denise I have a question for you guys I have been reading about medications given for pre term labor I was given Magnisium sulfate for 18 days with my daughter and she has always had developmental delays and I was wondering if anyone out there has a child with problems that just had magnisium through an IV Iam really concerned this my have caused the problems or has anyone heard of this medication causing this kind of problem in children[/QUOTE] Denise, This is a great question as I was given something to stop contractions too (not sure what it was called as it was 11 years ago) and I think you should post the question over in the Medicine section as I think you will get more responses there. Thanks and welcome!! Merry Hi everybody. My name is Nancy . My husband & I have 2 beautiful boys age 5 and 2. Our oldest son shows some of the signs of autism/aspergers . When he was a little baby,he was fine during most of the week until Monday morning . He couldn't be comforted and seem overwhelmed.Since we go to church on Sunday , most people said that he was tired and sored , but I didn't think that was the reason. Graham was a good eater and spoke a few words until age 2 . At age 2,he wanted only to eat meats and sweets and stopped speaking. His ped. recommended EI for speech and continues to have speech now that he is preschool. Other signs are very little eye contact, needs to have a schedule , transitions, playing with other children , sensitivity to light and touch-didn't like to play with playdough or shaving cream. He didn't like to get his hands dirty and until recently would cried if you tried to get him to fingerpaint. His teachers think that he might have HFA/Aspergers and wanted to know if we wanted to get him evuluated . We say yes but haven't heard from the school yet. Our 2 year son is a very bright boy who loves his brother but is very strong -willed . He is verbal and good eater. Both boys are affectionate,loving , and are joy for us . Thanks for allowing me to join . Graham's Mom
Hello everyone! Lady sixxer
Welcome Home Cant say enuf about this site it has been a blessing for me... hey i was glad to run onto this place . I need some advice for the school system right now i would like to tell them they are horrible at teraching my son with autism. He goes 2 hours a day because they have no teachers available to work with him more then that.Hello to all, Where to start? My name is Shannon and my 2 1/2 yr old son Shayden was was dx in June 2007 with PDD/NOS and has sever speech and devlp delays. It has been a crazy world since then but god gave us the greatest little boy ever. There seems like it is so much so fast and Im not sure what my next move is going to be. Im so glad to be able to speak to people in our same situation. I will be greatful to help anyone that I can. Ive heard alot about the gluten/ceisen free diet, anyone have any tips to this? Hope to talk to all I can. im new to the autisum but it is our life now and Im open for any info or to help anyone. Thanks for all you time. Sincerely, Shannon I have a six-year-old daughter who has been called significantly developmentally delayed, autistic and hyperlexic. She has not been officially diagnosed as any of those, though. She is in first grade and in the mainstream, but does have her own paraprofessional for helping with transitioning and tantrums. She receives occupational therapy for her delayed fine motor skills. She has good days in school and bad...she has come a long way since entering an early intervention program at age 4.5. I guess my main concerns revolve around her being accepted by other kids and not making such a spectacle of herself. Also, I wonder about her teen and adult years. And lastly, I myself have had a tremendous amount of difficulty in dealing with my daughter's disability. It has been difficult raising her. I have 3 other children - 2 older and 1 younger. I am in a very small rural town and don't know of anyone else with a child like my daughter. I feel very alone and even embarassed about her sometimes. I know that sounds horrible, but I know that I can't be alone there. Hi All, my name is Ecki and I'm in Sullivan County, New York. I have 2 kids on the specturm. My oldest Laurie is 6 and is gifted with PDD-NOS. My youngest Kayla is 3 and she has Down syndrome and was additionally dx'd with autism in April. Hoping to find some good answers to some questions! Hi Ecki, Hopefully you will find some of the answers that you are searching for. If I can share any ideas or information, I would be more than happy to. Look forward to hearing from you, Elissa
Hello! I am Chera and my daughter is Cassidy, she is 5... I have been lurking for a bit & keep wanting to reply so I thought it was time to sign up. :) Here's her story: At 12mo. after 2 unexplained "grand mal" seizures, she was diagnosed with Epilepsy & started on Phenobarbital (Today she only has complex partial seizures & currently takes Tegretol - has been seizure free for 4months - her longest stretch since 03!). She's had quirks since birth but we live by the 'they're all different' mantra so didn't think much of them for a long time. She had some gross motor delays at 2 so we were sent to Scottish Rite for an Ortho. eval. She has a lot of 'minor' physical markers for some sort of 'syndrome' (including a lot of birthmarks on her left leg, bum, etc.) so they continue to monitor her there. She started ECI at 2.5 & was referred inhouse at Scottish Rite to a Developmental Pediatrician & was dx with SPD at 3. She started 'group ST' with the ISD at 3 (which has really mostly only been 1 other child consistently since) & began private OT for SPD & fine motor delay (still with same OT). She also had private ST for awhile as well but we couldn't afford the copay so dropped it after a few months. She did a couple months of 'social skills group' with her OT & private ST last summer, but we couldn't afford the program this summer. She's also been in 'therapeutic horseback riding' since age 3... she has a long health/medical history as well as the developmental stuff... We put off any formal ASD assessments as she was getting all of the therapy on delays & for SPD & her Epilepsy anyway but we've really known for a few years that she would end up with the dx, we just didn't pursue it as we wouldn't have changed her services. In May of this year, her ST finally said that she thought she needed more than what she could give, so put in for a full reevaluation & Autism assessment. They came back with a dx of "NCEC for Autism" & also said "she meets the diagnostic criteria for Aspergers" though that's not on any of their paperwork. She's still seen every couple of months at the Dev. Ped. & every form has it written that she's a little with ASD without official diagnosis. Last week, she had another apt. & she agreed with the ISD so I believe there will be a written dx now... she gave me a bunch of information on Aspergers and put us in touch with an Advocate as we are having issues with the ISD. When they gave her the NCEC, they said she was too high-functioning for the Autism class and the PPCD class so they gave her "Preschool Language Program" which was 2hrs./ 3x a week instead of the 30min./ 2x a week that she'd been getting. BUT, when school started, she was the ONLY kid in the group. Ummm, no. They have given us only two options - the 2hr. program with NO kids or the 30min. program with kids. SO, she went back to the 30min. & there is only one other little girl in her group. She gets VERY overwhelmed in groups of kids which is why her ST felt the need for 'more services'. In 2 yrs. there, she was still having meltdowns during nearly every session & has a lot of difficulty with transitions. She needs complete control over every situation and obviously isn't always able to get that! ;) Over the summer, her ST resigned so she has a new ST this year who I feel is perfect for her as her son has Aspergers as well. I can see that she truly understands & never belittles us which has been wonderful. :) We are leaning towards homeschooling next year (along with her therapies) as I don't think she's ready for mainstream Kindergarten and our options are small as we don't have the $ for most programs. She is a SMART cookie, she LOVES geography - had all 50 states & capitals memorized at 4, and has added oceans, continents, many flags, countries & state nicknames. We have maps coming out the wazoo in our home. lol She prefers to wear only red, white & blue and usually carries a map with her. She's been reading for several months as well & her OT has said she is 'hyperlexic'. Though she absolutely does not like to be 'quizzed' & will give wrong answers just so someone will stop talking to her. It has made evaluations interesting as when I am not there, I can't help lead them to get to cooperate. :p If questions are reworderd or presented differently, she usually responds, but she does not like to talk and has a lot of difficulty with conversations... (Some more of her issues include self-injury behaviours, a LOT of sensory issues, HIGH pain tolerance - didn't notice when she fractured her wrist in 2 places last spring, no safety awareness, lots of anxieties & OCDs, etc...) I just realized I wrote a book, sorry about that... I have trouble condensing my thoughts. lol I'm so excited to be here as I already feel 'at home' and understood which is a wonderful change. :) Can't wait to get to know everyone! ETA: OH! A little about me... :p I am a photographer and my dh is a hockey player :p. He also has a day job ;) & he is not a pro (though did a *tiny* bit of pro 10+yrs. ago...) but plays, refs, coaches & teaches classes at night. We met on the ice (I was a photographer for a pro hockey team for 5yrs. & took team pix at a tournament he was in) when I tripped on his stick. :p We got married on the ice in May 99... :) We moved to Texas (from Kansas) in May 00 and I primarily take only pix of kids and families now, but I love it! :) ALSO - (LOL) I cannot get an avatar uploaded, any advice? Hello Everyone I just posted this at another topic, I'm new here. My name is Buffy and I'm from Virginia. My son was just dual diagonis the other day with Austism. He has down syndrome too. DS-ASD. They have said he has more of Austism in him than downs. I am still reading information they gave me and is talking to Austim school too that he will go into once they have opening..
Buffy HiI'm Gail and we live in Western New South Wales, Australia. I have 2 sons with Autism - Brady, who is 15 and was diagnosed with mild autism at age 3, and Corbin who was diagnosed with ADHD at age 4 then Asperger's at age 10 which was changed to very mild autism at age 13. Both are progressing well despite the lack of specialists and access to programs etc. Brady is in mainstream high school with 15 hours of aide time each week. His aide is the most wonderful person as she is compassionate and caring but as tough as nails and doesn't let him get away with anything. Corbin left school 2 years ago and has completed Certificate 3 in Horticulture (lawnmower obsession) and has now been working full-time for the last couple of months. After living with Autism for 12 years, I don't remember what a normal family life is supposed to be. My sons haven't had any drug therapy (except for medications for Corbin's ADHD which we stopped at age 10) and we try to treat them the same as my other 2 children. Corbin and Brady both have hypersenstive sense of smell - they don't like pet shops, butcher shops and anywhere else that had a strong smell. Obviously, their autism is genetic and I can recognise certain behaviour traits in myself that make me wonder if I have autism also. Is anyone is in a similar position? I'm not sure if I'm seeing things that are not there or if there is a chance that I have the disorder as well. If anyone has any advice it would be most welcome. hey guys, i'm new here looking to interact with others that have autistic children; i have a 21 year old daughter who can be a right handful at times I have posted a few times, but never introduced myself, I am a SAHM to ds, who is 25 months. He was dx'd with ASD ( PDD NOS) at 19 months of age. He is doing really well with all his therapies so far, he has had too many positives to list recently :) I am very hopeful that he will be high functioning when he is older and able to live a full life. I am currently pregnant with #2, due in January, another boy. hello everyone, my name is elaine i am a mom of 5 with 3 children on the spectrum. After some time i have finally decided to post in this forum. i am here for anyone that needs me. i have had a decent amount of experience with this i would say after going through it 3 times. it can be heart breaking but i say to all of you, our children are gifts, and all of the quirky, frustrating, and often annoying things that our children may do is what makes them who they are. i wouldn't change a thing. i think as soon as we all band together and stop looking at autism as something horrible, our children can make strides. the real horror is not knowing what causes it. i wish you all the best. [QUOTE=emmamoo] Hi all My name is Emma and my son Matthew is 2.5 years. (3 on 26th Dec) He is being tested for autism. I would like lots of advice and comforting words as all the HV's here in the UK are driving me bonkers and I just want to know eitehr way what is going on. Thanks for reading. [/QUOTE]emma it will be fine. if he is diagnosed with autism, try to keep in mind that it's not the end of the world. there is nothing you did. i can not stress enough to you that early intervention is the key to making matthew the best that he could possibly be. i don't know what they have in the uk as far as special education but do your research. I hope that all will be well.My two year-old nephew, Andrew, was just diagnosed with ASD. So, I've been doing as much reading as I can and thought that this would be a great place for information and feedback. :) Hello, My name is Sean and I have a four-year-old daughter with autism. She was diagnosed about three months before her second birthday and it's been a non-stop party since.  oops. Anyways I'm Molly, a NYC College student. I spent the summer working at a camp for kids with a.d.d and autism. Basically figured out that my ASD kids were the most amazing kids I'd ever met and that I want to work in special ed now. They make me smile just thinking about them and they're my motivation for being on this board. With any luck I'll be certified to teach after I graduate (Still have to apply for that program) and then I can get my masters in special ed.  MollyHi folks, I just found this site and see its packed with information. My daughter, Kaitlynn (or KK) is 5 years old, almost six, and was diagnosed with Autism/PDD about 2 years ago. She is high functioning and has made great improvements over the past few years. We still have more work but are optimistic. We live in Houston, TX and KK was in a private area school specializing in spectrum disorders until recently. There was an incident at the school and we no longer felt comfortable sending our daughter there. So we are struggling to find another school to send her to and in the meantime my wife is home schooling. So that's my quick intro and wanted to say howdy. -Nathan Welcome Nathan, Great to hear that KK has made improvements - Is there anything in particular that you have tried or has it been trial and error to find something that suits? My son Jack is about to turn 6, and we are facing similar challenges with him. I talk about his story in more detail on my blog http://www.managingautism.com Jack starts school in a couple of months, and I am very nervous just thinking about it. Looking forward to chatting with you again. Elissa Hello, my name is Elissa. I am a mother of a child with Asperger's Syndrome. I am new to this forum and I really look forward to gaining some advice and strategies from other people as well as sharing my own. Regards, Elissa.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I own Transcendent Yoga Center in Piscataway NJ. ASD has effected me deeply, I have a close family member that has Autism and there were no programs when he was growing up that helped parents and children deal with the issues of ASD from increased levels of anxiety to disorentation and tactile sensitivity. I am very aware of the economic hardship on families that have children with special needs, and I make my programs affordable for all and never charge extra for Therapeutic Yoga. If anyone has any questions about how to incorporate yoga into their child's life, or is a teacher looking for ideas for special needs children, please do not hesitate to contact me. Have a wonderful day. Cheryl Good Evening!!! I am writing with a request. I just moved to the LA area and yesterday I was watching Opera. Jenny McCarthy was talking about her child, and one of the things she said is that parents of chidlren with autism are always in need of babysitters. Well, I have worked with children with autism for 6+ years. In one-on-one thearpy, in the classroom and as a nanny. I was wondering if anyone knew of a site where I can post a notice to search out babysitting jobs. Thank you for your assistance. I live in LA!!! I need a babysitter!!!!!!!PM me! Hi all My name is Emma and my son Matthew is 2.5 years. (3 on 26th Dec) He is being tested for autism. I would like lots of advice and comforting words as all the HV's here in the UK are driving me bonkers and I just want to know eitehr way what is going on. Thanks for reading. Hi my name is Lisa. My son Ivan was dx w PDD-nos on 8/19, he just turned 2 & has beed getting ABA for 2wks. He is very social, follows commands has only delays in expressive language. He just strted pointing. He can count ,sing but can't make his needs known. I'm not quite over the heartbreak or what could have been but love him very much. Everyone who meets him loves him. He has the biggest smile & loves to give hugs/kisses. I wouldn't change anything about him.Hi, I am Alfi from Indonesia. Anybody from Indonesia also? My son is 17 months old now. Last month one doctor dx his with sensory integrations problem, and the other one with communication delay. But i cannot keep autism away from my mind. He loves to play peek a boo, play in the water and loves to hear people sing. But he seems not to understand what people say. He is not speaking yet, Some days he babbles a lot some times only few words but he does not use it intentionally. He used to toe walk when he started learning to walk, which is quite late at 15 months, then he stops, but tonight i notice he does that again sometimes. My main concern is, the first doctor suggest therapy, which i totally agree. But is is normal for the child to cry basically 45 minutes out of the 1 hour therapy session? He has done it 8 times, and it does not get any better. Can they learn anything there? Should i have the therapist come to our home where he feels more comfortable?
Welcome Alfi, I think it is normal (at least our son did cry) at the therapy sessions at first. In fact sometimes we all cried especially when the therapist had to lock him into a hold to keep him from hurting himself or her. But eventually he started to respond and then he stopped crying and started getting benefits from the therapy. Use your parent instinct to tell you if the therapy is beneficial but don't give up too soon. Maybe you dont want to stay through the sessions if it is too difficult but I always did because I wanted to see what she was working on with him. Again, welcome, Merry Hello this is my first post. I live in the UK and have a beautiful six year old son who has severe autism. He doesn't have any language apart from the odd word and finds it hard to understand speech, but he's very loving most of the time and he's a real character! He goes to a local special school and is in a class with 5 other autistic children, all at a higher level than him. I'm a single mum and he's my only child. I have a physical disability so life gets tough but I get a lot of help from family. It's nice to find a forum where people really know what it's like to live with autism. Hope to get to know some of you very soon. Welcome - Its very nice to see some new people here and I look forward to hearing about your livesHello, I have a 17 year old son with PDD and bipolar. Wondering if anyone else had teenagers with bed wetting problems? Hi Gail, There is a place on this board for adults that have or suspect they are ASD & PDD, Its in the Hang out section. I hope you can find it, I think you will find lots of information there. Welcome to the board.Hello! We're a family with an 8-yr old son with autism. It's so rare to find other parents out in the community that really understand what our family is going through that decided to start our own non-profit organization that focuses on promoting community interactions for all to enjoy. We're also chartering a Cub Scout pack. We'd like to invite anyone who has autism, or know or love someone who does, to our forum which is as much about socialization as it is about support and info sharing. Yeah, the forums are bare at the moment so we need your help. The name of our organization is Autism Fellowship. Our in-person events are in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, so if you do happen to live in the area come participate in our events! Please check us out at the links in my signature. ~Pesco My name is Courtney. I have three children, Madi who is 8, Annabelle who is 5, and Patrick who is 2. Annabelle was just diagnosed with moderate/mild autism this past Wednesday. I have known she had autism since she was a toddler, just didn't have the formal diagnosis until now. She also has ADD and developmental apraxia of speech. I just learned during her evaluation that she also has a very high intelligence but that the autism "hides" her intelligence. She's spunky and feisty. She's pretty hard to handle sometimes but all in all she is a great little girl and I love her very much.In addition to my daughter, my husband has Asperger's syndrome and I believe my toddler son may have ADHD. My husband's Asperger's has the most profound effect on our life. Hi Annabelle! I'd love to hear more about your husbands aspergers's and how it affects you all. My husband is undiagnosed...but we are dealing with a lot of stuff right now and I'd love to get him diagnosed and get us help with it. Hey there. I am a mom to three...6yo girl...5yro boy.....2yo boy. I suspect that my 5yo has some sort of HFA of Aspergers. I have always thought something was up....just not sure how to go about getting him dx. I'm happy to have found this board and hope to get a lot of great info here! Thanks in advance for all your help! liza fit4life, My son isn't a teenager but at age 11 is still nightly wetting and has to wear pull-ups every night. His developmental pediatrician wants us to get an alarm system to use and I guess we are going to and if that doesn't work she says there are medications we could try. Have you tried any of these methods with your son? Welcome!! Merry HI TO ALLIM NOT REALLY NEW HERE BUT JUST WANT TO WISH ALL WELL.MY SON JOEY HAS AUTISM AND IS 10 YEARS OLD.IM A SINGLE DAD AND MY LIFE IS ABOUT MY CHILD.A RECENT POST HERE RECOMENDED A ARTICAL CALLED " 10 THINGS EVERY CHILD WITH AUTISM WISHES YOU KNEW" THANK YOU,IT NOT ONLY REMINDED ME OF THINGS I ALL READY KNEW BUT ELIGHTENED ME FUTHER.THERE ARE NO DAYS OFF WITH AUTISM THAT IS TRUE BUT WE AS PARENTS CAN CONTINUE TO GROW ALONG WITH OUR CHILDREN.THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW.THIS FOURM HELPS WITH THE NEW STUFF AND ALSO HELPS ME TO REMEMBER THINGS I MAY HAVE FORGOTEN.THANK YOU ALL! I GET WRAPED UP IN THE MOMENT SOME TIMES. THIS IS A PLACE I COME TO RE CENTER.TOGETHER WE STAND.THANKS AGAIN MICHAEL Hi Everyone
My name is Traci and I am the single mom of 2 boys. My oldest son Brendan just turned 4. In July 2007 he was diagnosed with PDD NOS. I am still in shock of this diagnosis but not surprised. I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you all.
Thanks Hi. My name is Susan Mendelson and I am a licensed social worker with a private practice in New Jersey, USA, that specializes in social skills training for children ages 4 and up. If I can be of any help to you please feel free to contact me. Also, take a look at my website for more information www.njsocialskills.com I look forward to talking to you and being a part of your forum. Thanks Welcome Susan, Coincidentally, I am in the process of applying for a grant to cover a social skills group my son will be attending this year as it isn't covered by insurance. I am hopeful it will go through so he can go to it. I wish you were closer as we live in Maine. My daughter just graduated from UMO with a SW degree and we are praying she will go back and get her masters within the next few years. She works currently for Kids Peace and seems to like her job. Again, welcome~Merry Hi, I'm new to the board and am enjoying all the great information and similarities that we share. My son, Ryan, is five and has mild Autism. He is the love of our lives and we struggle every day to make sure he gets all the help he needs. I thought you might like this song I wrote for him. I am a part time composer and Ryan has been very inspirational. You can find it here. http://talusmusic.com/MarkMathis/Shine/Songs/Shine.mp3
Best regards Mark mathis@ry-con.com www.ry-con.com Hello friends and neighbors, My son is 15, and we just got a diagnosis about 4 years ago. He is highly verbal, but is quoting lines from movies, plays, and books that he thinks can "work" in the conversation. This can lead to some pretty far out exchanges, even if you are expecting something unusual. I have not been working due to lack of care after school. Worked as a substitute teacher in the next county, where James was an honor student, but he was unable to stay there due to his poor FCAT "no child left behind" test scores. Seems that new england states are getting the most reccommendations and reports. How long does it take to become a "resident" in these places. Have already started selling furnioture, and have the house up for sale. Hi I am the very proud mom of 2 great kids Alex is just turned 6, diagnosed with ASD 2 yrs ago. He is quite high functioning but has his bad days too!!! Our daughter is 17 mths and showing no signs of ASD. Both children were adopted from Asia, and they are my little miracle babies!!! We live in ireland. Hi and welcome to the board! I have a 6 year-old son as well.HI - I'M NEW I HAVE 7 YEAR OLD TWINS WITH ASPERGER'S. EVERYONE (MY HUSBAND WHO IS THEIR FATHER) THINKS THIS IS A DISCIPLINE PROBLEM. I FEEL ALONE AND HELPLESS. ANY SUGGESTIONS? Hi everyone, I've been lurking on this site for months. There is so much useful information here. I have a 4yo dd (ASD) and a 2yo dd (NT). I've joined the boards for advice and moral support.represents parents in special education matters in New York State. I formerly taught special education law at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School. I am here to introduce myself, as when I moved my computer crashed and I lost everything including the ability to sign in on orginal screen name and update my email. So here, I, go again on introductions. I recently moved to Texas and am concerned about my son who has been diagnosed with Aspergers starting at a new school. New situations, places etc is always an issue with him. I understand this and try to change as little as possible in our surroundings, but the move was a must and something we could not avoid. I called the school counselor about a week ago and expressed my concerns and she agreed that they were very valid concerns and thought it might be best to address it with his teachers(they rotate classes here in 5th grade) so that everyone is on the same page. I was impressed and we are meeting on Friday. Yeah. My son loves dogs, when I say loves, I mean love. He will ask me about 100+ times a day if we will buy him a dog, not a real one mind you as we have 2 of those already but a stuffed one. He must have over 50. I always tell him work on doing your chores and we will see. There are days I must admit that I want to pull my hair out as I get tired of hearing it, but I know in my heart he can't help it. His big sister is wonderful with him and will distract him into something us, like video games, playing with him etc. She is a true blessing and they are closer than anyone can even imagine. She has already thought about going into special education. Not only because of her brother but because she has a few friends that have special needs. She is a unique teenager as well as a small child as she always went fot he child that would be considered to be an, "outsider" to most kids. I am truly blessed by both my kids and feel fortunate that I have them. The other day was a bad day as school starts on Monday and I have been waking the kids up at the time they would need to get up for school. The 1st think my son said when he waw me, as he was coming down the stairs was....., Yep you guessed it, "can you buy me a puppy?" AHHHHHHHHHHH. LOL I love my kids and will do anything for them, fight battles with drs, schools but I have those days that I get tired of hearing about dogs. Does anyone else feel that way at times or is it just me. I feel like such a bad mom on those days. I did forget to mention in the beginning that our son was just diagnosed in May with aspergers. MOM of 2 boys 1 has Autism and is 17- thats a long time to have a very large 2 yr old. Full time career and full time advocate for my son. Like to swap stories or information on services, schools etc. Live Outside of Orlando Florida. hi all, I am new this forum. I was searching for some thing related to my daughter and i came across this wonderful forum. Here is my story My daughter looks like has some classsic symptoms.We did did not get the dignosis done yet we are going to get it done ASAP. She is about 2 1/2 years old he has problems communicating. She now dosent want to be around too many people.She likes to play with paper.She plays with her younger sister.She is obssed with spinning things. She does not involve in any pretend play. Her tramtrum lasts for more than 30 min. She was a good kid until she was 2. She is a very active kid would never stop running around. Hard to make her sit in one place. Now looks like she is going down the hill. We are in a very confused state. Please advice. Hi my name is Linda and I'm new to this board. I have a 30 month old son who is going through ST and OT. He has not been diagnosed yet, but is very delayed in speech. I was wondering if anyone knows how I can find a support group or playgroup for toddlers with autism or PDD in my area of northern NJ? Going to playgroups with moms without children with special needs can be difficult because they don't always understand why my child runs away from me and how difficult it can be. If anyone has any information on this or where I can find support groups near me please let me know. Thank you. Just wondering if there are other moms out there with a child who has PDD and is hard to control out in public. What are your experiences and how do you handle the situation?
Linda Hello,I am Atul and have a 33 month old son diagnosed with ASD six months ago. He is in early intervention and seems to be making progress but is still not verbal. He is otherwise a very intelligent, loving sweet child. I have recently started as a full time dad staying at home till our son starts school. I quite like my new role and am thinking of taking it up 'permanently' - despite my wife's envy, my friend says that whoever starts to stay home gets 'squatters rights' My wife KajoliT is a active member of the forum. Hi my name is Kylie and i have just found out my 2 and a half yr old has mild to moderate autism, just wanted to introduce myself ive been reading this forum for a while and thought id say hi! Hi everybody. I just joined the forum. I want to share about my project for Awareness, is basically a 24,000 mile trip across America to distribute at least 100,000 educational material to the public, about peope living with ASD. My web site is http://www.freewebs.com/acrossamericaforautismawareness/ . Please take a look and send your comments. As of right now is only me, my wife and the kids so everybody is welcome to help and join on this misssion. Thank you. HiMy son is going into kindergarten with a great inclusion program for high functioning Autism Spectrum children. We still need some afterschool childcare and would like to find someone with some special needs experience. We live in Manhattan, NY. We do not qualify for respite or most services from YAI-NIPD because it is not a severe enough case, but in a difficult time like transition to a new school, his autistic traits become more pronounced and are wearing us down lately. If anyone has a suggestion that is not super high priced, please reply. I am thinking of contacting colleges that have Special Education majors ??? Hi My son is going into kindergarten and we need an afterschool babysitter who is experienced with special needs kids. If you know someone in the mid Manhattan area or have advice on the matter of childcare providers outside of the family, please reply. Hi, we are a Christian homeschool family with 4 children. My almost 3 yr old had a history of seizures and autism like symptoms. His symptoms are 90% gone since we implemented a gfcf diet 14 mo ago. Also, we are adopting 3 children related to us out of foster care that are 4, 2, and 14 mo. Two have been dx as autistic and the baby is very delayed and I suspect he may go towards autism. The almost 3 yr old girl is totally non verbal and basically non responsive also. She is tiny and starving for food all the time (in my avatar). The 4 yr old is verbal but about half of her words are an echo of the last 3 words she heard, so alot of what she is saying doesn't make sense. They are still in a foster home, but we hope to bring them home in October after our last court date. The girls are in Occ Ther, Spe Ther, Phys Ther, and music ther. Baby is just not crawling at 14 mo, but they are not calling that delayed yet
Does anyone else have a few special needs children mixed into a large family? What about other families homeschooling their auties? Id love pointers from either! I sure will need them! Hello everyone! I am new to this site and my name is Jennifer. My son, Chance, will be five in October and he has Autism. I am blessed to have him. Early education has really helped my son and I am very happy with his progress thus far. He is almost potty trained and his speach has improved dramatically. He is a very happy child but his temper can be explosive. I am glad I found this forum where other parents or family members can communicate and share ideas to help each other. I am very grateful!! HI EVERY ONEHOPE EVERY ONE IS DOING WELL.I JUST ORDERED MY SONS TRANSDERMAL CREAM SUPPLEMENTS FROM SPRING BOARD.THEY HAVE ADDED SOME NEW ONES AND WE ARE GETTING VITAMIN C AND ZINC THIS TIME ALONG WITH HIS USUAL ONES.THE MELITONIN AND AUTISTIC AND AUTISTIC 2.0 REALLY MAKE A DIFFRENCE FOR JOEY.THOUGH ID GET THAT OUT THERE FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLLIDAY. MICHAEL Hi everyone, My name is Dusty and I'm new here. I have a 15 year old son, Dakota, who is autistic and is on the severe end of the spectrum. He has no verbal speech, not truly potty trained and has very, very, severe aggressive behaviors towards others and himself. We have been riding the medicine train for so many years now and I'm just about rode out! When he was four he was put on his first medication, clonidine, to get him to sleep more than one hour a nite. Then respirdal was introduced two years later when the aggressive behaviors came out and these two meds really worked for about 4 years. Then when he was about 9 things started to change. He went from one drug to another drug, Depakote, Zyprexa, Trileptal, Lexapro, Abilify, Respirdal, clonidine, and more! Some worked for only a short while then nothing seemed to help. I must say the Depakote worked the best but in one short year my son went from 100 lbs to 220 lbs from the medication. Yep! 120 lbs weight gain in one year! Of course I knew he would be a big boy becuz of my family size but it's not easy caring for a 15 year old who stands 5'10" 227 lbs when I'm only 5'3" and 140 lbs. In the last 6months I have been really at my last straw. I don't know what to do now. All of the meds he's on now don't seem to be working and the aggression towards me is soooo bad. The teenage hormone stage is here per the doctor and its not getting better or easier. Does anyone no anyone that has slowly took their child off a regiman of drugs to clean them out so that they can start with a clean slate. His doctor only seems to think a group home is what needs to be done next and I'm not ready for that yet? My son's current drugs are Depakote 500 mg 1 x day, Respirdal 5mg a day, abilify 15 mg a day, Lexapro 10 mg a day, Clonidine 0.1 mg 3 x day, alot I know!!! I love my son dearly and he is my only child and Im not ready for him to be cared for by someone else but I don't know how much longer I can hand in there! can anyone suggest something? Thank you for listening. I hope to hear from anyone soon!
I also wish there was something that I could say to help you with your situation. I know there have been times with my 2 boys where I have felt at the end of my rope. My boys specialist put them on Haloperidol for their aggressive behavior. It is not a medication that is used alot with Autism but it has helped. Whenever we try to take them of (Whoa watch out) so it does help. I am not quite sure if that helps, maybe there will be somebody else on the board who can be more helpful. A co-worker has a similar situation with her 12 yo son. (basically non-verbal) who is also quite large and growing every day. She'd come to work with bite marks, bruises, and her elderly mother took the brunt as well. They actually started the process of looking at residential treatment centers. But after getting very violent he was placed in the hospital and taken off all meds. He is now on Haldol and knock on wood has not had a violent outburst in weeks - little meltdowns but manageable. They too have tried many meds. Just a thought.HI,MY NAME IS CHRIS AND I HAVE A 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER NAMED ABIGAIL WHO WAS RECENTLY DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM IN MAY OF 2007. MY HUSBAND AND I ARE FULL TIME HARD WORKING PARENTS. WE ALSO HAVE A 18MONTH OLD SON NAMED DANNY. WHEN I FIRST GOT ABBY EVALUATED BY EARLY INTERVENTIONS SHE WAS 2 YEARS OLD. THEY TOLD ME SHE WAS NOT ELIGIABLE FOR SERVICES BECAUSE SHE HAD TO MANY WORDS ALTHOUGH ALL MIXED WITH JARGON. 6MONTHS LATER HER DAYCARE TEACHERS AND I THOUGHT THINGS WERE NOT PROGRESSING SO I RE-OPENED THE CASE WITH E.I. BUT I ALREADY HAD GOTTEN A DIAGNOSIS FROM A DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRICAN. HERE IN PHILADELPHIA ALL OF THE MAJOR HOSPITALS IN OUR TRI-STATE AREA THAT HAVE A DEVELOPMENTAL PEDIATRIC AREA ARE AT LEAST ANYWHERE FROM A 9MONTH TO 14 MONTH WAIT TO GET YOUR CHILD EVALUATED. SO MOST PARENTS HERE IN PHILLY PAY OUT OF THEIR POCKETS TO GET A DIAGNOSIS IN TWO WEEKS. WHICH IS WHAT WE DID. ABBY IS A VERY LOVING AND BEAUTIFUL GIRL. BUT WE ARE STILL WAITINIG TO GET HER FULL SERVICES. IT IS GOING ON SEPT 2007 AND SHE IS STILL WAITING. SHE GOES TO A SOCIAL SKILLS GROUP ONE NIGHT A WEEK WHICH MY INSURANCE COVERS SOME OF AND SHE JUST STARTED GETTING SPEECH AND O.T. IT IS A WAITING GAME HERE. WE ARE SO TIRED AT NIGHT WHEN WE GET HOME SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE WE DON'T DO ENOUGH WITH HER. IT IS HARD WORKING FULL TIME. SOMETIMES I WISH WE DID NOT HAVE TO GO THE EXTRA MILE ALL THE TIME. THIS IS THE TRUTH. BUT WE LOVE HER SO MUCH, I JUST WISH HELP WAS EASIER. IT IS A FAST RISING EPIDEMIC PEOPLE NEED TO BECOME MORE AWARE OF. IT IS HEARTBREAKING ENOUGH WHEN THE WORDS AUTISM COME FROM THE DOCTORS MOUTH, HELP SHOULD BE RIGHT OUTSIDE THE FAMILIES FRONT DOOR.Hello I am new to this board. I am having a lot of issues with my child. He was labeled as having a sosial delay when he was two. He was kicked out several dayscares before we had him tested. Now in kindergarten he spit on his teacher and hit her so they told me we had to switch schools. We now go to a school closer to our home however it's very big. My little boy hates it. He say's it's boaring. I feel at this time like I fight with him every single day he's very violent and now my 55 pound five year old has really hurt me. I have bruses and bite marks on me. I have tried everything. I take away toys and tv and everything he likes. I have even tried spanking which I don't believe in and he laughs when I do that anyway. I just don't know what to do with him. His daddy was recently very seriously injured in a car accident and is now in a nursing home. I am now doing this all by myself. I really need some advise as I am going crazy. I know structure is important and I know he needs counciling and he will start that next week. What do you all think about medications. I am very against them and so is his daddy. But would it be in his best intrest to medicate?
Moxie. Hello,I am brand new here. I just found this forum today and I can't get away from it. My son Sean is 4 years,9 months and is somewhere on the spectrum...I'm just not sure where yet. We went thru the Child Study Team evaluations and the neurologist only diagnosed him with ADD,inattentive type,but I know he has more trouble than that. He's always used echolalia,doesn't converse back and forth,and has trouble drawing. He also has trouble socially,largely because of his problems with communicating. He definitely has some serious auditory problems. In another week and a half I'm taking him to Auditory Integration Training and whenever thats done,he'll go to pre-school and get speech therapy. I'm also going to have him evaluated at University Hospital in Newark. A diagnosis of ADD just isn't correct. There is a lot of hope here,though. He has a good memory and a large vocabulary. He loves to play,go to the pool,run,and have fun. He's a bit hyperactive when we're out,but it's not too terrible. We got him to stop saying "Want water?" or "Want to go to the park?" Now he says, "I want water" or "I want to go to the park." He's using "yes" and "no" when asked questions. He has always used non-verbal gestures like pointing or taking my hand. Lately,I'm trying to teach him how to ASK questions. I feel as if the major problem is his speech/communication. If I can bust that open,I feel he can do anything. I'm really not sure if ABA,DIR,or some combination will be best for him. I only know that I will do anything to make him well. He's the most inportant thing in the world to me and his happiness is what I care about most. I'm just glad I found this forum. Finally,I can connect with some people who are in a similar situation. Hi Gang! Just popping in with a quick introduction. I'm Canuk, and I'm a Domestic Goddess (er...stay at home mum Spencer is in an amazing class for kids with Aspergers in the public school system. Other schools from across north america travel to see it in action because their approach of reverse integration has been so successful for these kids. I'm so glad he's there! Now, if we could only figure out his sleep issues, we're good to go. :) I look forward to getting to know everyone. Hello Everybody, My name is Adam and I reside in the San Diego area. My son, Matthew, was diagnosed with Autism about 1.5 years ago at age 2.5. In some ways, my son seems high functioning and in other areas he seems to be lower. Fortunately, our school district has a specific toddler autism school where they address his direct needs. I'm a little concerned about his entry into kindergarten, which will not be until next year. The special kindergarten in our district is for kids with all kinds of disabilities, and I was wondering if anybody knew of a source where I can find a private kindergarten that work specifically with children with ASD's? Or am I too concerned about my son being placed in a more generalized education environment? Hi Adam,Welcome to the board. You may look up TACA's website. The have meetings in the San Diego area. They also have a parents forum as well. They have a great resource list. What I find is that parents like yourself in the same area usually have the best information when it comes to local resources. My son currently attends a typical Kindergrten with a shadow aide. I lilve in south LA county so any recommendations that I could make is generally for my area. Welcome and good luck.HI. My name is Dee. My son was recently diagnosed with ASD. We were told it was HF or Mild. Still learning what that means exactly for his prognosis. I also have a 1year old who so far is NT. We of course fear that 15-18M mark. I've always known something was off with our oldest from very early on and am relieved to get a diagnosis finally, but still feel a little sad and even numb. Hi, Leah was diagnosed with mild autism this past May. We delayed giving shots because we had heard between my older girls and Leah the dangers of them and kept going back and forth about letting her get any. She was 2 1/2 when she received her first two shots and immediately we noticed a behavior change. She knew all of her letters by herself at 2 (self-taught) and couldn't tell us but maybe 2 within a couple weeks. She began to throw tantrums and her speech went backwards. Talk about guilt!! She never received another shot.  She is still a joy to have and I couldn't love her anymore (as I am sure with everyone here :o) even if she wasn't autistic. She still doesn't talk much and is going to speech therapy and occupational therapy 2X a week, physical therapy 1X a week. She loves to cuddle for which I am very grateful!! Very imaginative, but stays in that world much of the time. She has an intense need to escape, which I found out is normal. We have had the police and over 75 people searching one time when she was gone 2 1/2 hours and found chest high in a creek. We are in the process of building a fence and have a wristband ordered for now. Our small town is in the process of getting Project Lifesaver and we will look into that. We know we have to watch her, but I want the piece of mind as a backup.  My older girls do great with her and offer me some respite for which I know I am blessed! Though it is hard on them as well..... She can dismantle a room in nothing flat and continually destroys her sister's rooms. She can climb just about anything. I am finding after parenting 3 kids, I feel at a loss. I am not sure what is autistic and what is character problems. I am not sure what needs disciplining and what needs patience. I have learned to give her more time to change activities and let her know a couple times before doing so it can sink in. I am hoping to find some parents who know a lot more than me, figure out what to do to help her and just talk to others who understand. I am tired of feeling like I have to justify or explain everything, having it implied if I would just parent better, she would behave better. (I have 3 wonderful well-adjusted, well-behaved that everyone admires and loves.... I am the same parent that parented them!!!) Anyway thanks if you made it through this novel. I am not sure what I was supposed to put here I am going to do a bunch of browsing!Hello all--- My name is Lisa and I am a single mom of 2 Autistic boys, ages 7 & 10. I can't believe after living with Autism for over 10 years I just came across this site?! But I'm glad I did. Now I don't feel so isolated. All my best to everyone. Lisa
hello everyone This is my first time on this site and i wish i would have found it sooner.I have read lots of these storys and i didnt realize that there was so many out there like myself. I am the mother of a autistic son who has been dealing with this since the age two, hes 9 now. i caught it very early and every since i started research on what they had in 1999 which was not much. Every where we went every person we talked to had never heard of the disease and the ones that did could only offer me medicine for him.. well for six yrs ive handled him on my own, in my own way. i had the same questions most everyone else but had no where to turn to the school was useless. and let me tell u its not easy to say the least, i had not realized how much i had helped my son own my own until this past friday. I was at a IEP, there was 8 of us including a "autistic specialist",and the regional director of special ed dept. when it was over they was asking me to become a advocate for children like him, and how they had never heard of the stratigies and the things ive done with him..ask me if intrested in sharing my info with them and others.. i would b more than happy to but i know nothing bout an advocate or how to get the word out LOUD where everyone outside the internet can hear!!! any suggustions!!!!!! Hello all- I hope I am posting this in the right way if not, please forgive. My name is Cis and my dh and I have 4 wonderful daughters. Their ages are 21, 18, 17 & 4. That's right, not a typo, there are 13 yrs. between the youngest two. I've had the unique experience of teaching once to drive and at the same time teaching one to use the potty. I know there is a God and I'm pretty dern sure he has a sense of humor. Our youngest dd has HFA. Having had the three older children, I recognized early that she was doing some quirky things. I knew in my heart that it was autism and even suggested that it was to her pedetrician. Still, the first time you hear it said out loud by someone with an M.D. after their name, shakes you up. I still tear up even though it been two years. Does that ever stop? We are very fortunate that she was diagnosed so early so that her speech therapy could get started. Today, she has made so much progress. She still receives speech therapy twice a week (for her pragmatic speech) and O.T. once a week for her fine motor problems. I am so grateful for all her progress and accomplishments. She is now attending a nerotypical preschool and is doing wonderfully well so far. Not a day goes by that I don't learn something from her. Parenting her is more challanging. Particularly with her black and white thinking. For instance I have to be careful not to say things like "hold your horses." when I want her to slow down as she would be looking around for the horses. She is such a blessing to us. I so wish that there wasn't a need for this site; hopefully, someday there won't be. But until then, I'm glad to have found it and look forward to learning and sharing with all of you. ttfn Hi and welcome to the site, my daughter has moderate-severe classic autism and she is also a blessing to us. I have two other daughters one is 9 and one is almost 17 months Our 1youngest is about to have her first evaluation because they think she is also autitsic but it will be a while before we know for sure. Anyway hope to see lots of you around here, it's always nice to see more parents of little girls as we are in the minoritytake care Hi y'all, My name is Ken and my son has autism, moderate to severe as well. I am new and have not decided if I shall stay or not, there appears to be a lot of controversy and rudeness in the Board, or perhaps I joined in a bad week. We have tried many 'cures' and of course our son still is exactly the same, so we are done that route. I work for Homeland Security, I am sorry I cannot give any more detail than that. We are older parents. Hope to share and glean as well if I stay - Thank you for the welcome. Your girls are precious. I will say a prayer for your daughter's evaluation. I know the stress your under. I also belong to another site from which I have gathered a wealth of info but most of the posters have sons so I am glad to see so many posts from parents of daughters. ttfn [QUOTE=Kenneth]Hi y'all, My name is Ken and my son has autism, moderate to severe as well. I am new and have not decided if I shall stay or not, there appears to be a lot of controversy and rudeness in the Board, or perhaps I joined in a bad week. We have tried many 'cures' and of course our son still is exactly the same, so we are done that route. I work for Homeland Security, I am sorry I cannot give any more detail than that. We are older parents. Hope to share and glean as well if I stay - [/QUOTE] Kenneth- I am also new and was shocked by a post I read this morning. I am giving the site the benefit of the doubt and will be staying. I hope you will do the same. We are also older parents and I know I would benefit from your experience. ttfn My name is Tammy and I am a parent of a 10 year old child with Autism. Unlike many, I knew something was wrong early on but others said, "no, he's just a boy." I had 2 girls before him. He would rarely allow us to hold him when bottle feeding him, would not eat any food or baby food until he turned one, he hated to be held and rocked, loved to sit in his infant seat or stroller. We had a terrible time at night time. He would wake up 7 times a night until he was 10 months old, and then 4 times until he was 2 years old. He crawled out of his crib at 10 and a 1/2 months old and climbed on top of the refrigerator during the night, so it was hard to keep in one place. I cried every night from exhaustion. I finally found a day care that would keep him. The teacher noticed he had a speech problem and recommended a place in town that would come and evaluate him. After a 2 hour meeting with the ST, the teacher and me, she said it sounded more like Autism. They said they could see the color in my face drain away. The ST recommended an Autism specialist and Zach received a diagnosis of Moderate Autism and ADHD at 18 months of age. He was a text book case. With lots and lots and lots of therapy- ST, OT, PT, Behavioral therapy, handwriting therapy, food therapy, at school and at a children's hospital, he has moved to High Functioning and Aspergers Syndrome. He still has major issues, but I feel priviledged to watch the miracle before me. I am a better person because of him. Welcome Tammy, You've come to the RIGHT PLACE...and you have certainly come a long way...with Zachary... Looking forward to your future posts... Hi, my name is Laraine and I am a step-mom to my dh's son who is 18 and has been diagnosed as PDD-NOS. I am posting because I need support for my situation and I don't even know if this board will help me. I have been married to my dh for a little over 6 years. DSS was not diagnosed until after we were married and this has put such a strain on our marriage at many levels. I am feeling burned out because I have no say in anything that pertains to my DSS but have to live with it on a daily basis. DSS is very high functioning but imho is very unpleasant to be around and is just rude. I know it's the disorder, but it hurts just the same. If I say anything (in private) to my dh about my feelings about his son, dh gets mad at me and tells me I am mean and selfish--sometimes in front of dss. Then I feel betrayed and it's them against me and I am the mean step-mother. We are a blended family--I have 3 of my own and ds has two other children. I think dh also has some traits b/c he is not emotionally supportive. I think all I'm looking for is validation that I am not such a horrible person and my hurt is based on reality. I can't envision spending the rest of my life living like this... Help please !!! I am the father of an autistic soon to be 14 year old boy he is currently on prozac and abilify medication was started about 2 years ago he is usually a very happy and non violent child before meds he would attack his mom biting her and knocking her down to the floor he has not done this in a long time and we thought he was over it but ysterday and today he attacked her again tonight just a bout a 1/2 hr ago how can his mom deal with this he does listen to me but a can't be watching all the time anyone else had this problem??
Hi :) I am Teresa. I have a 7 yr. old Autistic daughter named Cammi who is such a gift to our family. I have been coming to this board for a couple of weeks now and have already used some of the ideas here. I wish I had found all of you YEARS ago..... oh, well :) . Here's our story.... Cammi has two older sisters - Chelsea who is 14 and Tori who is 8. Because of these two older sisters, her dad and I realized at a very young age that Cammi was "different". At around 6 months to a year old, Cammi began doing some things that caused us concern. She wouldn't give us eye contact like she had before when trying to engage in activities and play-time with her. She lost the few words she had learned (mom-mom, dad, hi, etc.), she began responding to loud or different sounds by screaming, she wouldn't respond when calling her name, among many other odd activities that developed over time. At two years old, Cammi's pediatrician recommended we take her for testing - because of developmental delays. In April 2002 she was diagnosed with Autism. That's when the research began. I began reading everything I could get my hands on about what we could do to help her. Everything I read always came down to - the more time spent with her in therapy, on-one-one time, etc. , the better she would progress. At that point my husband and I decided that I should take a leave of absence from my teaching position (I had taught for 12 years at that point and loved my job) and dedicate all my time to Cammi. We were very fortunate at the time that financially we could handle this - I know many people wouldn't be able to afford to do that. I also had Tori who was 3 yrs. old at the time and this way I could spend time with both of them. I finished out the Spring semester of my teaching job and then took a leave of absence. Immediately we started Cammi in in-home Speech and Occupational therapy thru "First Steps", a government program. She was involved in that until she started pre-school. We also had ABA therapy services which were very expensive because the only therapist we could find was in Lexington (a 3 hour drive for her). When registering Cammi for pre-school (it's called Headstart here), she was required to do a few screenings. One of the required screenings was a blood test. This was when a red light came on for us. When Cammi's results came back, she was shown to have 5 times the amount of mercury in her system that a child should have. Doctors told us that the only way Cammi could have this much mercury in her system was thru her vaccinations. Vaccinations had thimersol in them at that time to preserve the shots longer on the shelves (to save the gov. money, of course). We had just built a new house before she was born and there was no lead paint or any other way she could have gotten mercury into her system. (Of course they stopped putting mercury into vaccinations back in 1999 and the government has denied any link of thimersol to Autism or other spectrum disorders.) Mercury blocks brain receptors and causes the same symptoms as Autism and so a child is automatically labeled Autistic when presenting with those symptoms, even when mercury poisoning has actually caused them. No matter what had caused Cammi's Autism, we were (and are) of course going to deal with it the best we can and try to do everything we can to help her. Cammi attended Headstart for two years - going 3-4 days a week for 4 hours at a time. It was great for her. She loved being there and just like in kindergarten and 1st grade - she's mainstreamed into regular classrooms full-time with full-time assistants- and has really came such a long way. She reads, does addition and subtraction, and almost every activity all the other 1st graders were doing. The students are great with her and love her. The assistants who work with her are following the "TEEACH" program that the special education teacher was trained in before Cammi started kindergarten. Our school system has been great with her. She has a picture schedule (just like Temple Grandin she's learns best thru pictures) and follows that schedule daily. Cammi isn't what you would consider "normal". I don't know if she ever will be but to us that's not what's important. What's important is that we're doing everything we can for her in helping her get along happy and healthy in this world. Her main problem has always been communication. She really didn't get any words until she was 3. She still doesn't talk in sentences but has a special way of speaking that we all understand her needs. For example, if she wants pickles, she'll say, "No pickles." She didn't point until she was around 4. That really helped so much when she learned to point. She started using "yes" and "no" and making choices between two objects just this past year. Both of those accomplishments were so huge. Just knowing what she wants and needs has made us all feel so much better. To have those years when you just are guessing - it's really tough - especially when she's sick. She still has her times when you really can't figure out what is upsetting her but those are fewer all the time. We always looked at it this way - can you imagine not being able to tell anyone what was bothering you or what you needed? It would be so frustrating - all the temper tantrums, screaming, and crying were all caused by that. It's really sad for everyone because no one could help her. We were just trying to guess how to fix things for her. We've been really lucky with her health. We've had to visit doctors very few times. She had to have tubes put in her ears because she was hurting. Just last year, we figured out that the sniffing and screaming she was doing was from pain in her ears. We thought she was just aggravated because she was conjested and couldn't breathe thru her nose :(. Finally one day she pointed to her ear and said, "Ear hurt." It was SUCH a huge relief that she was finally going to TELL us when something hurt.... These things are small miracles for our special needs kids - I know all parents feel this way. To check her teeth was an ordeal. She had to be put to sleep in surgery to have her cavities fixed. A few weeks ago, we had to take her to the emergency room because something had happened to her eye. She had been sitting on the couch playing under a blanket and all of the sudden jumped up and screamed, running through the house. Of course she couldn't tell us what had happened so we tried to look to see if anything was in it and couldn't see anything. We had to take her to the emergency room. They were SO great with her. We didn't have to wait at all and they put drops in her eye to check for scratches. They had to look at her eye with a light and then flip her eyelid back to see if anything was stuck under there. She had scratched the cornea somehow and the doc said she should be all better in 72 hours. Compared to years ago, she does so much better going to the doctor, new places, etc. Before she would always hold her ears, cry or scream when walking into any new place or into a doc's office or hospital. Now we just talk to her about it right before we go (you can't tell her very long before we go because she keeps asking about it over and over lol), show her pictures if we have them of where we're going and she handles it much better. She doesn't hold her ears or scream or cry - at least until the doctor starts to touch her :) . It always seems like there's something that's bothering her though. Lately and for the past few months, she worries about daytime and night-time. She knows that there are both but on days that it's cloudy she gets so upset and whimpers and cries. She used to go into her room and hide under a blanket when dusk came until it was completely dark outside. She thinks when a cloud covers the sun that it's going to be night-time soon. It's not that she's scared of night-time - she's happy when it's finally dark. She just wants it to be one or the other. She hates the in-between cloudy times. I've tried over and over to explain it to her. I've got on-line and showed her videos of clouds passing over the sun and that doesn't help her either. We're hoping it's something that will pass just like everything else that has bothered her. I forgot to mention, I went back to work when Cammi started school. I lucked out and got a job as Reading Specialist in our county - thanks to a master's degree in that area - and this job is much less stressful than teaching in the regular classroom. I don't know how I would have been able to handle teaching, do it right, and take care of Cammi and everything else all us moms have to attend to. Sorry for such a long post but I wanted to cover everything. I hope to be of help to others and also to get some insightful advice about Cammi in the future. We love her some much and wouldn't trade her for a "normal" Cammi for anything. We just want her to be happy! Thanks so much for having me here! :) Teresa
Hello - my name is also Amy (funny) my son is 7 years old PDD-NOS/ADHD - we have a lot of difficulties with him. School is my number one fight - I just need to find the right program that will be appropriate for his educational needs and yet not make him fall part from overstimulation. He is currently in a 12-1-1 district class...Its just NOT GOOD ENOUGH! We have a special education attorney for 1 1/2 years.....it is still really hard. Anyone from Long Island that goes to a District program where the staff is actually trained for ASD kids????? I have 4 kids ages 4 - 16.
I just wanted to start by saying hello!! My name is Mandy, and I am the proud mom of a beautiful 4 1/2 year old son, who has just recently been "officially" diagnosed with moderate-severe autism and severe ADHD. I have researched myself crazy over the last 6 months, and found that the only thing that I need is moral support from others who understand the struggles that my child faces and the emotional aspect of being mommy. He is starting a pre-k program for special needs children this coming August in our local school district. They will be providing his education, speech and occupational therapy as well. Currently he is seeing a Psychiatrist and a Child Psychologist who specializes in Play Therapy. I am in NO way looking for ways to change him, only ways to better understand and HELP him. I look forward to being a part of this very large family of people who truly understand. Hi all, my name is Tracii and I live in Logan, Utah. I'm originally from Oklahoma, where the level of ignorance regarding autism is astonishing. My grandpa, father, brother, aunt, cousins, and myself all suffer from autism-like characteristics, but we've never been diagnosed and never will be. Forgive the negative attitude, but the frustrations of an autistic or otherwise special needs person in general here can break your heart. My roommate used to babysit a 14-year old girl with severe autism and seizures. She'd been abused in grade school after 1 week there, so her parents withdrew her and she obtained NO schooling or therapy for about 7 or 8 years. During that time, she was thought to be unable to think due to an inability to speak. My roommate gave her a piece of paper with the alphabet on it and, to everyone's amazement, this 14 year old girl who'd never been taught to spell, read, write, or otherwise communicate could spell perfectly. Not only that, but she also had the Periodic Table of Elements memorized and could tell you what you were thinking with frightening precision, though she never liked to do it or talk about it. She is an amazing human being, but was depressed and wanted badly to go to school. My roommate, after 2 years of babysitting and working with her, convinced her parents to enroll her in high school. During her time at the school, my roommate watched this girl and other handicapped children be abused, neglected, and humiliated by the special ed teacher. One boy was made to sit in his own vomit for 45 minutes because she refused to clean him up. Everyday something of this nature happened until, after a semester at the high school, my roommate quit her job. The girl still attends her school...only God knows what she endures on a daily basis. This story is not unique. Oklahoma doctors, educators, politicians, and people off the street do not CARE about autism or related disorders...unless someone they know is diagnosed. People are baffled at the mention of autism and have NO clue what it even is, which blows me away. My own mother refuses to believe that my brother's learning disabilities, repetitive behavior, aversion to change, anxiety, and other characteristics are in any way related to autism or Asperger's Syndrome. The same for me. I've dealt with feeling different, weird, isolated, inhuman, and alien my whole life and just learned about AS a few years ago. Websites and forums like this one are my only outlet for my feelings and concerns, and I hope I can share what I've learned through research and first-hand experience with those seeking answers here. I'm good at memorizing facts, but need help with making friends. Thanks for being a part of something so helpful to so many people. I am so happy to have found this message board because there are times my husband and I feel so alone. I am a grandmother of a 12 year old Autistic boy Kevin who is both a joy to have in my life now but at the same time it is so hard. You see Kevin's parents decided a year ago that they no longer want to care for their son so he was dropped of on our door step and almost forgotten. In april of 2006 we went to celebrate Kevin's 11th birthday and we discovered that for over a year he had been sleeping on a unfinished floor with only a 2 inch foam as a matress with one blanket and a pillow. Then if that wasn't bad enough we also found out that my son's latest girlfriend was locking Kevin in his room 15 hours a day to play on his video games. He was only allowed out to go to the bathroom or the door was unlocked during the night incase he had to use the bathroom. When I saw this I gave my son 2 weeks to straighten things out or I would report him to CPS. Well to make a long story short the father went into hiding and got into drugs pretty bad and the neglect got even worse. in July he dropped Kevin off on my door step and has come to visit him only a few times and the mother in all of this no longer wants Kevin in her life and she calls Kevin once every 2 months she says she hasn't got the time to call him because she is too busy collecting welfare and careing for Kevin's sister and brother. Kevin was diagnosed with moderate Autism with slight mental retardation. He has improved so much since he has been with us this year he went to school and did exceptionally well. He was at a grade 2 level this year when he started school Sept 25th but by the time school was ending he was at a grade 6 so he has done so well. Another good thing we have done is taken him from 12 -15 hours a day of video games down to only 3 hours a day on weekends only this is how we were able to find out that he has a love and a gift for music the music he plays is awesome and he has never looked at a music sheet. Of course being the proud granny that I am we bought him an electroc key board. As well as it has been and as much progress as he has made since he came to live with us I find life so hard at times because though I don't know much about Autism I know that for them life revolves around them and in a way I know that they are very selfish at times and it all has to do with the Autism. I don't know if I am doing this right or not but I am treating him as I would a normal child and if he swears at us he gets a little soap in his mouth if he hits us he gets punished and things taken away from him like the internet or his game cube for a few days up to a month depending how bad he is at the time.Another thing we do is he has chores to do every day like making his bed every day and keeping his room clean every day at the end of the week he gets 3$ and when he has enough money picked up he can buy himself a new game for his game cube which go for about 25$ - 40$ here in Canada We have given him a very loving home and we show him all the time how much we love him and how much joy he brings to us but at the same time we have given him structure I would even go as far to saying strict structure and it seems to be working so well because he is no longer mixed up he knows he has rules to follow and if he does not follow them he has consequences. Is there anyone out there that is going through what I am going through or who thinks that I can do something differently I would so appreciate the advice Thanks for taking the time to read this post :::: Tons of Hugs Alice
[QUOTE=mandyanthony]I just wanted to start by saying hello!! My name is Mandy, and I am the proud mom of a beautiful 4 1/2 year old son, who has just recently been "officially" diagnosed with moderate-severe autism and severe ADHD. I have researched myself crazy over the last 6 months, and found that the only thing that I need is moral support from others who understand the struggles that my child faces and the emotional aspect of being mommy. He is starting a pre-k program for special needs children this coming August in our local school district. They will be providing his education, speech and occupational therapy as well. Currently he is seeing a Psychiatrist and a Child Psychologist who specializes in Play Therapy. I am in NO way looking for ways to change him, only ways to better understand and HELP him. I look forward to being a part of this very large family of people who truly understand. [/QUOTE] Hi granny53, I just wanted to tell you that I think your doing a great job with your grandson and have the patience and love for him. Keep up the good work! I really admire the things that so many grandmothers do, with the children of their own troubled children. It sounds as Kevin in particular is doing wonderfully well! Granny 53, I hope you will read here often and post more on his progress! Hi Teresa My name is Alice and I am the grandmother of an Autistic boy who is now 12 years old who lives with my husband and I now because his father (my son) thought it was more important to fill his nose rather that care for his son. In April of 2006 we went over to celebrate Kevin's 11th birthday they lived about 2 hours from here so we had no clue as to what was going on in that house. First of all the latest girlfriend decided that Kevin was too much of a handful so she decided that Kevin would be locked in his room from the time he got up in the morning till it was time to go to bed at night. If Kevin had to go to the bathroom he had to knock on the door so she would let him out. He was left alone to play his Nintendo games for about 12 – 15 hours a day with no contact from his brother and the girlfriend’s 2 children. The summer before his birthday he went to live with his mother because the father was working too many hours and it was decided that the children would live with the mother but only after 2 weeks the mother no longer wanted to deal with Kevin and he was sent to live out the wrest of his summer vacation with us. That is why apparently his bed was at his mother’s place so since that past summer Kevin had been sleeping on a unfinished floor on a 2 inch piece of foam as a mattress with a blanket and a pillow to sleep with. His brother Brandon had a bed to sleep in and the girlfriend’s 2 kids had also had a bed to sleep in when they came on weekends. So now his mother tells Kevin that she no longer wants him in her life and that if she sees him only once or twice a year it would be too often. Now Kevin is Autistic but he isn’t stupid. So in the summer of 2005 his mother throws him away like he was a piece of garbage in January of 2006 his father decides that he would rather do drugs than to properly care for him and his brother. I had to do one of the hardest things a mother has to do and that was report my son to CPS. Here in Canada laws are different and to make a very long story short after a few meetings with the CPS my son John decided that it was in Kevin’s best interest that he come live with other family members so on July 25 2006 he was dropped of at my daughter’s place and was there for only 3 days when her husband decided that he couldn’t do this and was ready to have him placed in a foster home. It didn’t take much talking or much convincing because on July 28th Danny and I decided to take Kevin in. It was hard task we were taking on but this special, beautiful and loving little boy whose life was turned upside down. His mother rejected him, his father neglected him, a few months later his father rejects him also and then his aunt and uncle also reject him His whole life was in turmoil and he is Autistic to top things off. When Kevin arrived here last summer he was 11 but working at a grade 2 level because of lack of stimulation he started School on September 25. It took a while to get all the papers in order but Kevin was put in a TEACH program. Because of all the turmoil in his little life what little he did learn the year before was all gone. Thank God for loving teachers and assistants because through all their patience Kevin started the first grade over and by the end of the year Kevin had gone through grade 1, 2, 3, 4 & half of grade 5. Another thing that we discovered is Kevin is extremely musically gifted; and he is a computer wiz kid. He can do things on a computer that a lot of us can’t do after years. We no have financial help with Kevin because I had to quit my job but we also have help from a home for special needs children like Kevin and with them we now have Kevin on a picture schedule here in Canada they are called pictograms. Kevin has simply flourished since he has been here with us but I think it’s because we have surrounded him with very rigid structure and about all the love this world can have for a child. He was so violent when he came to us and now I can honestly say since he has been on this pictogram and since we have shown him all this love his violence has cut down by 98% he still gets angry but he is not violent any more. Kevin is diagnosed as moderately Autistic with light mental retardation so yes we have our work cut out for us but he gives us such loving rewards that I would do it again in a heartbeat. As to the mother in all this she now calls him only once a month because she says she is too busy. As to the father he comes by to say hi to him about once a month when he is in town to visit the other 2 children and yes he is a deadbeat dad who pays absolutely positively no child support at all for either one of his children Well this is turning out to be a novel so you have a nice day and thanks for listening I am glad you made it to this board about the same time I did. Tons of Hugs Alice Alice, that boy is blessed to have you for a grandmother. I am sad for all theturmoil in your family's life, and want to tell you what a WONDERFUL job you are doing Hello, my name is Holly and I have a 16yo boy with autism. Everyone agrees that he has gotten much worse the last few months. I'm seeking support from others in the same boat. I also have a "neuro-typical" 6yo boy. They are my everything! But I can no longer go this journey with so few resources. It seems that each new school year brings more heartache! No one where we live knows how to help these teenagers. What's gonna happen to him when we're gone? My mom and in-laws are supportive but are at a loss as well. I hope to find some help here and to offer what I can to parents and caregivers of younger children with autism (I was a physical therapist assistant until disabled with degenerative spine problems--up until my son became a teenager we were doing quite well with him!)
Dear Alice, You are one of those angels who lives among us. Thank goodness you were there for Kevin. He's so lucky to have you. You have rescued him from so much. They say autistic children have no conscience of who loves them and cares for them but I don't believe that. Kevin knows. I'm sure that just like my Cammi, even though there are some really tough days and days you wonder why you did what you did (or maybe not with you -- you ARE amazing), the love they give back makes everything so worth it. They are such special people. Kevin probably doesn't thank you in words but I want to thank you for him. Take care and thanks for the reply. I'll be here checking on you and Kevin. Teresa
Hi, my name is Gabi an i am from Romania IMG]http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u222/gabrielaba la/IMG_0032-1.jpg[/IMG] I'm a 37 yr old mother of 2 autistic girls. One born w/ autism and low functioning I gave up to her father a year after the divorce, She is now 15. The younger daughter wasn't diagnosed as autistic until over a yr ago at 13, she is now 14. She was classified as at risk of autism but not diagnosed until 13 as the symptoms weren't there. At 13 she withdrew socially, had imaginary friends and would not go to school understandably as she was incapable of learning or processing due to her deterioration. Up to that point she had been learning disabled so she was in special ed. At 14 I finally was able to get her hospitalized and in January they started her on Risperdal which has been a wonder drug for us. She's more friendly and normal/aside from mild mental retardation/than she has ever been before in her life! She gives hugs. Helps and encourages me. She shows concern and is learning things that she was blocked from before like how to count money. What more can I say? She's so "not autistic" right now! She says about the time she was "autistic" that it was like that song on the radio. "You had a bad day." I'm here in the forum because I'm writing a research paper for my online college class on the safe and effective use of risperdal and am trying to find out information about it that differs (or reinforces) from my experience. support. No worries on language, gabi.b, we have a few parents on here from other countries! Alice--your story is so very inspiring, in so many ways. You are an amazing woman! Welcome! Hi. I'm a 32 year old mom of 3 kids. My eldest is 5 and a half, I first suspected there was something different about him when he was 7 or 8 months old. We started taking him to therapy he was 16 months old based on the informal evaluation of a friend of the family who is a psychologist specialising in autism. A little later he was diagnosed with MSDD, later that was amended to PDD-NOS. He now goes to a regular preschool with an aid for most hours of the day. He is a brilliant little boy, hyperlexic (reads at 4th grade level, self taught, in two languages) cheerful, everyone who comes into close contact with him falls in love with him - but I know how much work we needed to invest just to get him to learn to talk! My second child is a 4 year old girl, neurotypical, sociable from birth, I never had a moment's worry about her. She and her older brother are fantastic friends, I always say that she is his very best therapist. My third is a 2 month old baby boy. I know 2 months is very young, but I already suspect he may be on the spectrum too. I'm not happy with the way he tracks (or rather, does not track) objects with his eyes, he avoids eye contact, I don't think he smiles enough for his age. He's a very good baby, very calm, eats and sleeps well and he is generally healthy, so I don't know how seriously most doctors would take me. But I'm worried about him. My name is Stephanie and I have three kids, twin boys DJ and Trevor, and a daughter, Emily. DJ was diagnosed as ASD in Dec. 2006 just before his second birthday. He is a very happy, lovable kid so in that I know we are very, very lucky. He does have a lot of sensory issues and is severely speech delayed, as is his twin. My daughter is developing typically so far (she is almost 13 months old). I have glanced around a bit and am amazed at the helpful info here! And there is so much... THANK YOU from someone who is relatively new at this. Hello, My name is Carmella, my husband is Dan, and we just joined the forum today. We are the parents of a 19 year old autistic man, (feels odd calling him a man, but he is no longer a little kid), named Mark. Mark became autistic when he was about 20 months old after recieving his MMR vaccine. Since then he has been diagnosed with epilepsy, as well as his autism. Fortunatly he has not had a grand maul, (sp?) seizure since he was about 5, but he has seizures in the form of spaceing out, and vomitting. The last 17 years has been a long hard road, with virtualy no help from any agencies, doctors, or schools, (will post our LONG story later). My husband and I are eager to meet other moms and dads of autistic children, especially those who's children are now teens and adults. From what we have seen so far, it looks like this is a great forum that will be a lot of help to us. Hey Guys My name Is Brandy Phillips. I just feel so lost. My son was diagnosed with aspergher syndrome when he was four. He is now ten and he got retested and the test came back inconclusive. My son is a great kid. He has no friends but all he wants to do is learn. He is so smart. Straight A. Student just no friends. He would rather learn they be outside. He has outbrts when he doesn't know what you want from him. We have been told consitency is the key. That just doesn't work when everyday is a new day. I wake up not knowing if this is the day he will actually go outside or the day he will ignore me and stay in his room. The one thing I love about him is how smart he is you can talk to him in about a dozen different subjects and he can talk to you about each one. I learn more from him than I ever did in school. I am so glad I found this sight. I don't feel so lost anymore. Hi everyone! Welcome!I'm a mom of 2 kids . I've been trying to find out what is wrong my kids. Hi, my daughter has been showing signs of a form autism since birth. She would scream and cry from birth daily for no reason and the Dr. could not find anything wrong with her. She sucked her tumb from birth. When she was 1 yrs old her acted deaf (I've had her hearing checked 6 times)and was focused on bright colors She never slept and cried non stoped. She would only play with color flashing toys. She could not stand certain foods and would gag if given pudding other foods. She wouldn't wear clothes at 2-3 yrs old. When she peed her diaper, she could NOT feel the difference and smeared poo. Age four she started to have really had SID problems. She walks her hands and fingers. She does repeating over words ma ma mama mama mama ya ya ya. She have given the title developmental delay at was given a full day of pre-k by the stated of FL. Around 5 yrs SID ( sensory integration disorder) got really bad problems with touch and sound. We had to move to a new state transferred her an IEP BUT cut it too. She got OT, Speech, and behavoral therapy for K they refused to give her a full day and I even offered to pay for it. They didn't have enough funds for proper iep funding for a child with tax paying parents but non-peaking illgeals got a full day of k for free!!!!!!!!!!!They schools said she had signs of austism bec. of the way she walks ( walks on her toes both my kids do) and her body lang is off but not enough for funding? You can show signs and not have it? I found out my family history and my cousin has SID and aspergers. She now does this hissing growling thing just like my cousin . I put her on a brushing and hard input activities and it has really helped. I'll know in Sept is she does have it. I'm pretty sure she does. She does not understand jokes and she used to cry when hearing a joke. I've been trying to teach her joke but not working. She just learned to say to emotional words but does not understand them. (Hate and like) My son who is 2 yrs old . also is showing signs and he must have SID and maybe Austism. He smells his crayons and toys ,flaps, opens and shuts his closet for hours. They don't play with toys the RIGHT way. Hello and Welcome! My son is 19 now, and I have to say puperty was horrible!!! Once he was well into puberty, he discovered his "man hood", oh this has been the worst, because he will do what a normal boy that age does, only he wets all over himself! I don't know how to deal with it either. You don't want to tell them it's wrong or bad, because he don't understand like normal boys do. Needless to say, at 19 he is still currious and still wets all over himself.
[QUOTE=loveandhope]Hi everyone. I am new to this, but very thankful for an outlet to share my thoughts, ask questions, and meet people like me in the same situation. My son will be 11 years old in August. He is moderately autistically impaired. I have another son who is "typically developed" who is 9 years old. I have raised my sons by myself up until two years ago when I got remarried. It has been a journey, a wonderful journey, but sometimes scary and very hard. I am having difficulties with my son as he is starting puberty and his behavior is out of control lately. He has never been a behavioral child, so this is very new. He has been hitting himself in the head. I have tried multiple medications and have not had much luck. I will touch on that in my postings. Once again, thank you for allowing me to voice myself, and I hope my experience can help other people. HELLO I AM MICHAEL A SINGLE FATHER OF A AUTISTIC 9 YR OLD SON JOEY,I LOVE HIM VERY MUCH.I AM PARTIALY DISABLED FROM BEING STRUCK FROM BEHIND BY WRECKLESS SIMI DRIVER 5 YEARS AGO,STILL LITAGATING.MY WIFE LEFT LAST YEAR AND THAT IS GOOD AS JOE IS DOING BETTER WITH MORE CONSISTANT LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING.WE ARE GOING THRU HARD TIME NOW AS SHE ISNT PAYING CHILD SUPPORT AND HASSTUCK US WITH HER BILLS.OUR CAR DIED AND WE ARE TRING TO MOVE.THERES A NEW SCHOOL IN TAMPA FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN.I JUST REFUSE TO QUIT AND HAVE FAITH THAT WE WILL PERVAIL.ALL YOU MOMS I UNDERSTAND YOU PLIGHT AS I AM THE EXCEPTION,THE FATHER STAYING WHILE THE MOM LEAVES FOR A NEWMAN AND LIFE.HER LOSS AS I KNOW JOEY IS A TRUE BLESSING FROM GOD NO MATTER HOW DIFFICULT IT MAY BE AT TIMES.LOVE TO YOU ALL AND YOUR CHILDREN,GOD BLESS YOU.MICHAEL Hi all. Just want to let you all know that my son is in patient at the hospital AGAIN! 7 years old and 6th time! Trying to adjust meds - he had a bad reaction to a Neuroleptic med and it was down hill from there - weird thing is that he does so great in the hospial...why? So frustrating - nothing worked out with school yet for September...UGH! Hope you all are well. Amy maxmom - I'm sorry to hear about your son. I hope they figure out the problem with his meds soon. Take Care!Hello everyone...new to the site, but not new to the topics. My son, V, was born 8 weeks premature after I went into pre-term labor and had an emergency C because they couldn't stop the contractions, then my water broke, his heart rate dropped dangerously low and he was coming whether we were ready or not...enter my beautiful angel, and this is where the roller coaster began. For the first year, all the delays, problems and set backs were blamed on the prematurity and I kept being told by my pediatrician, supposedly the area's premier specialist with respect to preemies, that all was well, not to worry. Being a first time mom, who was I to question? And of course, had no idea that I could refuse those vaccinations that they insisted on doing starting when he was 2 months, barely out of the hospital, because his system was "compromised," and we didn't want to take any unnecessary risks...(well, of course, now, wondering which was the bigger risk?) So, I ambled along, completely oblivious to this thing called autism, but knowing in my heart, something wasn't right...he was hitting right on all the percentiles, but there wasn't the eye contact, the tracking, no verbalizations other than the ocassional laugh, no real interest in toys. But again, kept being reassured that sometimes it took preemies up to 2 or 3 years to catch up to their peers, that this was nothing to be concerned about. He didn't walk until he was 20 months, and still no vocalization, no "goo-goo," no "ga-ga," nothing, but still, being told that this was nothing to be concerned about. Of all people to finally clue me in, it was the adminstrator of the day care center, within the first week of my son being there, who told me I needed to contact ECI. I'm so glad I found them when I did, but it still saddens me to think what could have been different, had I known sooner, or known then what I know now...about vaccinations, antibiotics, etc. So, we moved during this time, and got a new pediatrician, who again, wanted to play the preemie card when I asked for some references for speech therapists, etc. He told me I was overreacting, that it was too early for that...huh? I was told to have a hearing screen done, as problems with their auditory will stall any language development, so I did, and his hearing was fine, but he was having chronic ear infections, like 5 or 6 within a 5 month period, so finally tubes were put in his ears...this seemed to help with some of the general fussiness, so feeling guilty now that my angel was probably dealing with pain all that time and had no way to tell me, but now, much later, also feeling guilty about what impact the rounds of antibiotics had on him developmentally? Enter ECI, and this is when the world changed, and I slowly began to realize, that life was going to be a trip to Holland, instead of Italy (as the famous poem goes, which BTW, my ECI coordinator gave to me early on, and I, of course, wept uncontrollably, as I do about many things, while reading it)... So, my son started therapy with an OT, PT, and speech therapist from ECI, as well as work on cognitive, 4 or 5 times a week. We had small successes, which I was thankful for, we started to get some verbalizations, and he finally tackled stairs after much resistance. But a lot of the time my son was just generally disagreeable with the whole process....I thought, wow, so this is what my life looks like from now on? I practically became a prisoner in my home because I was afraid to go anywhere, for fear of a major meltdown at the most inopportune time, or the most inopportune place. One of the best pieces of advice I received from my ECI coordinator was that you just have to push through that, you can't let it stop you from living your life. So I learned, as many other posts on this site have indicated, that you just go into activities and outings knowing that you most probably will leave early, or that things will not go as you plan, and be prepared to deal with things from that perspective. ECI suggested that I take my son to a developmental pediatrician to get a formal diagnosis, since it seemed to them that was what I was after. I really just needed a label or a name for whatever was going on with my son. Maybe it was for my own selfish reasons, to somehow explain away the bad behavior, the tantrums, the fact that he didn't talk, or play or act like the other children his age in church, at play groups, etc. So, off we go to the developmental pediatrician, after a 4 month wait to get in (don't get me started there!), and only to be told, "well, he shows many of the signs, but we can't do a formal diagnosis until 3 or older, so, come back in 6 months"...huh? I wanted answers, and I wanted them now, I didn't wait 4 months to be told to come back in another 6...but, nonetheless, we never went back because he had the eval from the school district at age 3 and they confirmed what I already suspected by then...PDD-NOS...before then, I didn't have the specific name, but I had been given every indication by therapists and the developmental pediatrician that it was some form of autism. Then he started in the PPCD program through the school district. This is where he really started to make some progress and blossom. This will be his second full year in the PPCD program and he has progressed leaps and bounds; we have sentences now, albeit short ones, and the meltdowns are much fewer and farther between. However, we are still working on potty training - that has been a long road...LOL Unfortunately, I have been on this path much on my own, as my husband was completely in denial, and still is, to a large degree...only after the diagnostician from the school district looked him in the eye and told him, "Mr., this isn't something he's just going to grow out of," did he finally get that we were in a fight for our son's quality of life, and his concern about what "handedness" he would end up with was so miniscule on the larger landscape. (my soon to be ex-husband actually chastised me on several ocassions for putting the eating utensil in the wrong hand, because if he's [son] left handed, it will ruin his chances of playing Major League Baseball...huh? Notice I said soon to be ex-husband?)...ummm, how about we just hope like heck he ends up actually able to use utensils at some point, how about that? So, my son is now 4 1/2 and yes, he does use utensils, although it typically involves him picking the food up with his hands, and then putting it on the fork or spoon...LOL...but he continues to amaze me every day, and while he might be lacking in some areas he far exceeds in others. He has taught me patience beyond what I ever believed I was capable of, even though there is still much room for progress. I have learned to let go of a lot of things, and just appreciate today for what it is. I now enjoy much simpler things in life, seen through the eyes of a child. Most importantly, my perspective on what is really important in the world has forever been changed, for the better. He gives the best hugs and kisses a mom could ever hope for...miles ahead of when he rarely even would allow close contact around his face! I am still waiting for the day when he says "I love you, mom," but at least now I have hope that some day it will come...if you had asked me 2 years ago, I would have welled up with tears at the thought that it was never a possibility. So, thanks for letting me share, I know this is a long read and probably disjointed beyond comprehension...but it's been such a long trip, it's hard to put it all down, and I'm sure I've still left many parts out. Hi All...I'm new, but looking forward to sharing. I have a 15 yr old son, named Danny who has AS. He's been struggling lately with aggression brought on by anxiety and over stimulation. I've just started him on .5 mg of respirdal nightly. Not seeing much change...but it was a last ditch effort considering he got into trouble at school...elbowed a teacher and the police were called. It's a specialized school for kids with AS/ADHD, etc. Hope he will do better soon. May have to increase dosage somewhat. Some days are tough for me...as you all have experienced. The sadness can be painful...but I do try to be hopeful. Hi everyone I hav just discovered this site and its great to b able to hear stories from people who understand.My 3 1/2 yr old daughter has just been diagnosed with PDD-NOS and although we love har to bits cant help worringing.At age 2 she was had all signs of autism but seemed to grow out of them.Any information wud b great cause i feel a wee bit in the dark here,but ya never know if its enough!! [QUOTE=Firefly]WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE]Hello, Autism has changed our lives a lot. My daughter is 4 and I'm just now getting around to finding online support! We also have a son 2, with microcephaly(below chart head size but he seems unaffected by it) and suspected autism. We will be doing genetic testing soon. I think the biggest challenge in addition to the autism is that I have to be a stay at home mom. We tried daycare but it set my daughter back. Very happy to find this site, have many family members who mean well but nice to talk to people who live the same lifestyle. I am writing to reply to an inquiry that I found on a Google search regarding Montessori schools and Autism. The inquiry is below and I don not know from whom it is from. However, I hope you get this message.__________________ Michelle hello, it's almost over a year now since you posted. I am in the same situation with my 4/12 year old son w/ HF PDD. Can you please let me know what you ultimately decided to do and how things worked out for your child over the past year? Thanks so much. I, too, have a 4 year old w/ HF pdd. He has been in special education in a pre-k 3 (non category) class. He is getting very bored with the curriculum b/c he reads at 3rd grade level. Teacher says he is not ready for regular pre-k because he has no abstract thinking or social skills, but feels he is not being challenged in her class. We feel that private school is the only option, but nobody will take him b/c he is not toilet trained and isn't interested at all. Should we mainstream him SOMEWHERE or keep him in class with much more disabled children that will never even speak much less read? Please reply with any thoughts. We live in a small town in Louisiana that really doesn't have many options. I certainly don't have an answer for you, but just reading ahead of his peers should not make him bored. At his age, there is SO much more to school than reading. The fact is that, as adults, lack of academic ability has never held a higher functioning autistic child back. It's the lack of social skills and language pragmatics. No one likes to be talked AT and that is what happens with the language of many Asperger's kids. Also, the social skills can be SO abominable they keep the person from getting and holding a paying job as an adult because they keep getting fired for their poor social judgement. If it were me, I'd concentrate on shoring up your son's weakest areas and my guess is that that would be best done in a special environment. _______________________________________________ Your son sounds quite a lot like mine, who now 6 and entering first grade in the Fall. PLEASE, PLEASE do NOT keep him in a special education self-contained classroom. He will be bored and fall further behind. My son at 4 was reading at the 4th grade level but had language delays and social delays. We mainstreamed him kindergarten with a one-to-one aide and his language skills blossomed. He made friends and was invited on playdates with NT kids. If he were still in Special Ed, he would be mimicking bad behavior and copying the non-verbal sounds of his classmates (he was one of 3 verbal kids in his class). The bottom line with your philosophical thinking is the you only improve your tennis game by playing with someone better than you. Your son is bright. Please allow him this chance. My son's skills are still not as savvy as his peers, but he is charismatic and somewhat of a novelty, in that he can read, write and spell well above his classmates. My bet is that by the end of first grade, he will be holding conversations with the best of them. Good luck to you. Jeannine Cordero - Chicago Hi all I am a parent and an educational specialist, my son was diagnosed with 3 terms which is so odd First, one said he is a mild cp The second he is a child with autistic tendencies The third one was he is pervasive developmental delay Any way, I am not trying to be a teacher or instructor with my son …. This is my profession. I am just trying to be a father. Hello- My son Joshua was diagnosed with autism 2 weeks ago, and we're getting our very first home visit from a specialist today. He's 2 years old, and they say that we are blessed that this was caught early. The program is through our local school district and the hospital. My daughter is 7, and she's beginning to understand that her brother is not developing the way others do (we have a large network of friends with children, and it's painfully obvious to her when someone half his age is hitting milestones, whereas Joshua is not. She's becoming understandably frusterated. We have so many questions, and the people who are working with Joshua give very vague answers to our questions. I want to dedicate myself to understanding this, and approaching every concievable treatment option with zest and vigor. I just don't know where to start. Joshua is such a beautiful boy, so much curiosity and a love of everything (especially if the wheels spin). I want to learn so much. My boy is the greatest, and I want him to have all the opportunities and experiences as anyone else. Thanks for listening, Jason Jason,Sounds like you're off to a GREAT start. Welcome to the board. Hello my name is Nancy Clyne. This looks like a great forum. I am a pastor's wife. I have 3 children, 2 boys and a girl. Both my boys Jordan 19 years old and Taylor 16 years old are autistic. We have a 4 year old little girl that we adopted from China. Although my children are older and I have been living with autism for a long time, I find that I still have so much to learn and the internet is such a great place for resources. Never posted before. Very cool to see folks from all over the world on here. My Aspie is 19, finished his first year of college in May. Don't give up hope. He was very very impaired. Still is. But a total cutie. I'm a lawyer too doing special ed stuff for indigent families. Wrote some humor pieces on Wrightslaw. Try to keep laughing. AimeeHi everyone. I am new to this, but very thankful for an outlet to share my thoughts, ask questions, and meet people like me in the same situation. My son will be 11 years old in August. He is moderately autistically impaired. I have another son who is "typically developed" who is 9 years old. I have raised my sons by myself up until two years ago when I got remarried. It has been a journey, a wonderful journey, but sometimes scary and very hard. I am having difficulties with my son as he is starting puberty and his behavior is out of control lately. He has never been a behavioral child, so this is very new. He has been hitting himself in the head. I have tried multiple medications and have not had much luck. I will touch on that in my postings. Once again, thank you for allowing me to voice myself, and I hope my experience can help other people. Hi, my name is Jen & I'm from Boston. My husband & I have 2 children. Brian Patrick is 9 and has PDD/NOS and Victoria is 7. We have been married for 12 years this September. I'm not sure what else to say, so I'll leave it at that for now. I'm glad I found this site and look forward to poking around and getting to know you all! Hi everyone!
My name is Mindy. I am the proud single mom of an autistic teenager. My son, Grant, just turned 15 this summer. We currently live in Ontario, Ohio. I've moved around a bit, to get Grant the best education I am able to provide for him. He attended The Carmen B. Pingree School in Salt Lake City, Utah as well as The Autism Academy Of Learning in Maumee/Toledo, Ohio. Grants dad and I divorced when he was only two. I knew before he was even two years old that he could possibly have autism. His father was in denial until Grant was finally diagnosed by Dr. Rothner at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, at age four. We have had our struggles, but I wouldn't change my life for a minute. Of course, if I was given the choice between my own life and a cure for autism...I would gladly give it all up for Grant to lead a normal life. At the same time, I can't imagine him any other way...in MY eyes, he is perfect. I don't think it is possible to love him any more than I do already. There is certainly no doubt, that God blessed me with my best friend and greatest teacher in life...all in one child. (Bruno Bettelheim...if you were still alive I would dare you to call me a "refrigerator mother")
Thank you for allowing me to join your message board. Have a wonderful day!!! Hello There my name is Christine. And I recently moved to Okinawa, Japan. I have a 8 year old son who has been diagnosed with PDD NOS whatever that is, And has just today been started on meds.. Last couple years they told me he was ADHD.. And begged for meds.. Lets see how things go. I just Had a baby boy who is now 5 months old and does not show the signs that he showed as an infant of possible Autism. Looking through these posts i caught alot of abbreviations to things that made no sense to me. This diagnoses being a year old is still new.. and pretty vague. Hope that helps.. Thanks for having me.. BTW is Concerta ok for kids? christine Hi everyone I just joined this board and just wanted to introduce myself. My name is carol, I have 2 boys Michael 4 with autism, and timmy 3. They are quite a handful. I'm here looking for people in similar situations to chat with and also hopefully get some good advice on various issues. Talk to you all soon Hi! I just found this forum. My 4 yr. old son has autism. I have two other children, a 5 yr. old boy, and an 8 week old daughter. He was diagnosed March of '06. We have been doing speech and occupational therapy since he was 1 1/2. We recently began chiropratic and cod liver oil. I must say that it helps, esp. the cod liver oil. I work with him at home, as does his teachers at preschool. He has come a long way in the past year, but he still has a long way to go. I am interested in the ABA therapy through Turning Point, they now take insurance. My children are a joy. Glad to be here. sprianne Hello all! I found this board in searching for resources my youngest son -- 7 yr. He is high-functioning (now) after 3 years of ABA and lots of informal guidance.Both of my children (sons 14 months apart  ) are on the spectrum and both are high-functioning. They have made tremendous progress with ABA and other services through the school district.This will be a taxing year -- their dad is deployed with the military -- and the closest family we have is 10 hours away. I really hope to find support here and maybe some guidance where to find local support. BLU Hi, My name is Cindy. I have been lurking here for most of the night, and finally decided to join. I have one son, Daniel, who has high functioning autism. I am married. My husband is in the military, and is currently deployed. I am a combat veteran, and met my husband while I was in the military. I decided to become a stay at home mom, when my son was 8 months old, and I started noticing some unsual behavior with him (head banging, no launguage or pointing, no desire to be held, and a unsual obsession with opening and closeing doors). It took a long time to receive a diagnoses for Daniel. Because his tempers and head banging were so severe, when he was 18 months, one doctor thought Daniel might be bi-polar after spending 30 minutes with us (he was a horrible Doctor BTW and we RAN out of his office as fast as we could). I would definatly be one of the parents who were relieved to finally have a diagnoses. I knew long before it came, that Daniel was special, so unlike a lot of parents, I had plenty of time to adjust to the idea, before the official diagnoses ever came. I did bawl like a baby though, after returning home from ds's one year well baby, when ds's regular ped. agreed with my voiced concerns that ds might have autism. So now we finally have a definate diagnoses through a developmental Ped. so I am in the process of getting ds's treatment plan layed out, his IEP done, and doing an Exceptional Family Packet though the school and his doctors for the Army. Plus looking for playgroups for autistic children, or some sort of support system. I am sure you all went through this along time ago... lol. I am finally getting more organized and feeling less overwhelmed though. Other than that, not much to tell. Hi everyone, we are glad we found this site. My wife and I are going nuts trying to find help...or anyone who knows what they are talking about these days. Going through a rough time now...Anthony has become very agressive and kind of violent since he has been on gf/cf diet. He also trys to harm himself. I talked to his naturopath today and he told me to try reintroducing casien, so I did. This was about a half an hour ago....he just wrote some of his abc's on paper for the first time, and is not screaming constantly! I'm not sure what to think about the gf/cf diet for him any more. Guess Ive gotta look for some input here, get to know some of you, and maybe learn from what you have all been through. Like I said, Very excited to have found this site!Dear Christine and ALL the newbies... Here's a short list of the abbreviations that I compiled from a thread that mentioned this in the past... ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder NT - Neurotypical (Normal) , PDD-NOS - Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (Part of the autistic spectrum) Intervention approaches: ABA - Applied Behaviour Analysis, RDI - Relationship Development Intervention, SIT - Sensory Integration Therapy, Floor Time, TEACCH - ??? IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act , DAN - Defeat Autism Now , BIP - Behavioural Intervention Plan , FBA - Functional Behaviour Assessment , IFSP - Individual Family Services Plan, EIP - Early Intervention Programme, IEP - Individualized Education Programme Small talk !! IMO - In My Opinion, IMHO - In My Humble Opinion, LOL - Laughing Out Loud, LMAO - Laughing My Ass Off, ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing , SAHM - Stay At Home Mum Hope it helps... I have read some on this board and think it is a god send to find you all. My 4 year old was diagnosed last May and we are learning all the ins and outs of everything. It can be overwhelming at times but we finally have help from "the team" with the early intervention services. Me- I am mom to my little boy and 3 girls ages 25, 20 and 10. Yeah, I spread it just a wee bit. Anyway, thanks for being here. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all. Knowing that others just understand is a wonderful feeling. Tricia WELCOME ALL OF THE NEW MEMBERS!Hello Everyone. My name is Heather. We live in Kansas City with our 4 year old son who was diagnosed with moderate to severe Autism at 22 months. He has since made enough progress that the severity is likely to change but I am less worried about his label and more concerned with his progress so I haven't pursued a rediagnosis. I knew from an early age (about 10 months) that Corbin was too quiet and happy, he also flapped his hands alot. He has been in public early intervention from 18 months (3 times a week) and since the age of 3 has been in preschool 1/2 days. He is now labeling objects and has about 20-25 words that he uses when he feels like it. He is also pointing and his receptive language is coming along. It used to be like talking to a brick wall but now he really understands. To complicate matters Corbin has Hemophilia Type A Severe. This means his blot doesn't clot. He has to have infusions (in the vein) of a medicine twice weekly just to keep him from spontaneously bleeding internally. As you can imagine it complicates things. His lack of understanding and fear for his wellbeing are magnifide by the ease of which he can be hurt. I also have an 8 year old daughter who is very smart and healthy although she feels a bit left out at times and tends to act out a bit because of it. My husband and I have been married for 13 years and I don't know how I would manage without him to help. My battery on my laptop is low so that is it for now. Thanks for listening! I just got back from vacation so I have been reading all the latest Introductions. It has been many years since my boys were diagnosed with autism but while I was reading some of the posts it brought back alot of memories. I remember those feelings of denial, anger, frustration just plain being overwhelmed. Although that feeling of being overwhelmed still does exist just not so much on a daily basis anymore which I guess when you think about it, is quite an improvement. Well I am glad to be apart of this forum and although I have been living with autism for along time I know I still have lots to learn.
This is a response to Sarah2000s post. Fathers always seem to be in denial much longer than the mother. I know that my husband was at least a year behind me in accepting the diagnosis of Autism. You need to be very firm with your husband in telling him that Autism/Asperger disorder has never been nor will it ever be "just a discipline problem". Infact discipline has been one of the few problems that we have had to deal with our two boys over the years. Hi. I am Jennifer. I live in Northern California. I have 3 kids ages 5, 3, and almost 2.My 5 year old dd was just dx with PDDNOS. She has been in speech since 27 months and has come so far. I started having PDD concerns when she started preschool. Her social and sensory issues really started to stick out at that point. If you see her individually or small group you might think there is nothing wrong, but if you get her in a large group you can really see she has some social and communication issues. She will be starting in a mainstream K on Weds. My 3 year old ds was in speech from 15-26 months. He is fine with speech now, but he is starting to display some tactile sensory seeking behaviors. I am going to get him evaluated again. I do not think he is on the spectrum, but I do think I need to get him on a sensory diet to nip these things ASAP. he starts preschool tomorrow. My youngest will be 2 in 2 weeks. He just qualifed through EI for speech/language delay. He starts services this week. He only has about 15 words/phrases right now. I am least concerned about him as far as autism is concerned . He has a few sensory seeking behaviors, but not enough or frequent enough where I am currently too concerned. All the autism rating scales I have done on him show him not on the spectrum at this point. Hello, Our nearly 3.5 yo son Justin was diagnosed with a mild form of Autism Spectrum Disorder just a couple of months ago by the child development unit of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. They didn't specify any more than that, but we suspect he has PDD-NOS with ADHD tendencies. I'm a 38 yo stay at home dad, mom is mid-30's woman with a good career and in addition to Justin we have a 5 month boy who seems to be developing normally so far. I would encourage anyone whose child is possibly showing signs of autism but have not gotten a diagnosis yet. To go ahead an push for a diagnosis as soon as possible. I think you will find that as soon as you get a diagnosis for your child that more resources will be available for you. I know that that was true for my boys and as soon as they were in a program geared towards their specific needs they quicker they started to progress. The first 6 years are so vitally important for these kids. to acleveland: Hang in there...even if no one else on the outside understands what your life is like, you will find so many on this forum who do; those who have "been there, done that, got the T-shirt," and will be so supportive...it's a great resource and someone on here will be able to answer just about any question that might come up, offer words of advice, or if nothing else, just offer a "virtual" shoulder to cry on...we are all at different points on the journey, with different sets of circumstances, but we all "get it." How old is the other child? If he's experiencing serious problems handling the 6-yr old's diagnosis and behavior, you may want to look into counseling for him... There are many different therapies, approaches and such, and this forum can be a wealth of information regarding those, so ask away... Welcome... nkwak -- PROPS TO THE STAY AT HOME DAD!!!!! HELLO, MY NAME IS SARAH. I AM NEW TO THIS FORUM, ACTUALLY IT IS MY FIRST TIME BEING ON ANY FORUM. I HAVE 4 CHILDREN...ALL BOYS. THEIR AGES ARE 7, 5, 3, AND 5 MONTHS OLD. MY OLDEST GUY IS AUTISTIC. THE SCHOOL DIAGNOSIS SAYS MILD AUTISM AND SPEECH DELAY. MY 3 OTHERS DO NOT HAVE ANY DISABILITIES AT THIS TIME. I WILL DISCUSS TREY FOR THE TIME BEING SINCE THIS IS AN AUTISM FORUM. TREY IS THE FIRST BEAUTIFUL GIFT THAT ENTERED MY LIFE. HE IS A VERY HANDSOME, LOVABLE, AFFECTIONATE, TALENTED INDIVIDUAL. WE HAVE KNOWN HE WAS AUTISTIC SINCE HE WAS 3. BEFORE THAT WAS THE CLASSIC STORY FOR SOME OF YOU OUT THERE: ALERT AND ATTENTIVE, GOOD EYE CONTACT, COOING, TALKING FEW WORDS, ACHIEVING MILESTONE AT THE IDEAL AGE, ALL THOSE THINGS. THEN, THERE WAS A CHANGE AROUND 1 YEAR OLD. NO TALKING AT ALL, POOR EYE CONTACT, GOING INTO HIS "OTHER WORLD" (THAT'S WHAT I CALLED IT). THEN, OF COURSE, BROUGHT HIM TO THE DOCTOR AT 2 AND SAID "SOMETHING IS WRONG OR DIFFERENT NOW" AND EXPLAINED EVERYTHING AND THE DOCTOR TRYING HIS HARDEST TO UNDERSTAND THE CHILD'S NEEDS(YEAH RIGHT) SAID "WAIT UNTIL HE IS THREE BECAUSE HE IS A BOY AND BOY'S DEVELOP SLOWER, THERE'S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT." SO I DID BECAUSE I TRUSTED DOCTORS(LEARNED THAT LESSON THE HARD WAY) AND SAW TREY GETTING PROGRESSIVELY WORSE AND GETTING FARTHER AND FARTHER AWAY FROM ME(MENTALLY). I COULDN'T TEACH HIM EASILY ANYMORE. EVERYTHING HAD TO BE TAUGHT IN SONG BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY WAY HE COULD UNDERSTAND AND USE THE INFORMATION. I WAS TRYING ALL THE THINGS THEY SAID IN ALL THOSE BABY BOOKS(YOU KNOW THE ONES) AND OF COURSE HE WASN'T TRYING TO POTTY OR TALK OR DO ANYTHING THAT OTHER 2 YEAR OLDS WERE DOING. SO 3 YEARS OLD ROLLS AROUND AND THE DOC SAYS "OH MY, WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO ME EARLIER! THERE IS ECI FOR CHILDREN UNDER 3, THEY COME TO YOUR HOME AND COULD HELP YOUR CHILD.(THIS IS THE SAME DOCTOR MIND YOU) WELL YOU NEED TO GET HIM EVALUATED IMMEDIATELY AT YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL. HERE IS A REFERENCE LETTER TO BRING" NOW, DO I EVEN HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? I THINK NOT. WELL, ANYWAY HE GOT EVALUATED AND HAS GONE THROUGH GREAT EXPERIENCES AT SCHOOL AND LEARNED QUITE A LOT. HE HAS COME SO FAR AND WE ARE SO PROUD OF HIM. HE HAS HAD TO DEAL WITH A LOT OF OBSTACLES OTHER THAN SCHOOL AND HAS PUSHED THROUGH, AND STILL IS PUSHING THROUGH HIS PRESENT OBSTACLES. HE IS A WONDERFUL BROTHER AND HIS BROTHERS ARE WONDERFUL TO HIM. WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO BUT WE HAVE HAD A PRETTY GOOD START.I find this almost funny because when I was preg with my 1st child an Autistic boy of 16yrs attacked me, that freaked me out I was afraid of kids with disabilities. Not now Im starting to understand why and he didnt mean to hurt me. The diagnosis for my son isn't finished. I noticed something wrong when he was 1 he had constant ear, throat, and yeast infections. I took him to the Dr almost weekly telling them he cant hear me. By 2-3yrs old the Dr. said Im not doing my job he should be potty trained,and talking. So I said again he cant hear me, I had to cry and complain for a referral to a ENT specialist. He had 3 sets of ear tubes in the next year. There was still no progress, a teacher at my sons school saw Hayden when I was dropping 10yr old off looked at Hayden and said he should start coming here and they started assessing him. Again even with the teachers behind me, they wouldnt refer me, so I cried and yelled. By 4yrs I finally got him to a developemental ped who said it was just mild Dyspraxia,even after I told him of the obsession. That Dr did nothing for me, so at age 5 I stopped going to him. I have a new family Dr now who saw Autism right away, mabey ADHD too. He refered me to a new ped whos ordering tests and listens to me! Also put in an urgent request for a developemental clinic. As I wait on the blood tests a package came that Dr dumb did send in a referal to a developemental clinic. I havent heard from his office in almost 2yrs. I have been depressed about the progress for my son since he was 2,on boxing day of this year I took him to the childrens hospital crying, he doesnt want to eat anymore, he doesnt sleep good still(hes been on the couch for almost 1yr)his obsession leads to tantrums almost all day. They said you should be taking anti-depressents cause your son may be that one to slip through the cracks! He may never get a diagnosis! I said thanks for your help (not) I have to have patience for the Dr.s as well as my son. This quote of Evan Almighty got to me. When you ask God for patience he doesnt give you patience but the oppurtunity to be patient. Im not asking anymore! Jennyren Welcome------ it will be okay you can make it we are here for you.... Hello, My name is Tanya and my 4.5 y.o. son Finn has been diagnosed with autistic disorder. He is an adorable little guy with a lot of personality and spunk. Finn loves to sing, dance, assemble puzzles and play with blocks and trains. Our favorite show is the Hoobs and the reason for my login name. Finn has attended special education preschool for a year and we are going to attempt to learn and apply ABA therapy in our home. We are considering homeschooling. I would love to meet and learn from any parents with a positive experience with ABA in the home. Hi Tanya, I saw your screen name on the board a few minutes ago and was trying to figure out what the heck tiddlypee could stand for (sounds a bit obscene - lol!). Never heard of the Hoobs.Anyway, welcome to the Board - I'm sure you'll enjoy it and learn alot here. hello everyone..... my name is nina gibson and i just joined so i dont really know what i am doing or if im doing this right....lol well my story starts off i have a little boy who will be 3 on march 7..... he was diagnosed as autistic when he was 2 and a half yr.s old... so i am a new mommy with dealing with autism.... i actually have two kids my oldest is my daughter who is 4 yr.s old and my son is my youngest..... i am still with there daddy which is really great especially dealing with the issues we deal with him and each of our families who dis agree with him even being diagnosed but on the plus side of it we have friends who are with us and are great supporters in this well his name is zander gibson he is a smart little boy and a beautiful child he is very active by his self and will beat his sister up if she doesnt leave him alone although when it comes to women adults he is a little flirt as you can geuss he is an adult communicator he would rather be interactive with an adult then a child but really he loves to be by hisself.... he starts school on march 10 after he turns 3 right now he is going through a great program called first steps and is actually working with him he si progressing good going through there therapies.... well we have problems with his tantrums they are getting worst as days go by..... he is behind with his speech, social, cognitive and adaptive skills, on top of all that he has a high or non tolerance with pain in other words he cant feel any or little pain.... well advice for a family who is just starting out with autism and him being very young i am up to any advice or storys u can give me.... we laso have family who we are haveing a hard time for them to deal with this...... Hi everyone! My name is Karen and I have a wonderful son who has PDD. I really am thankful for this board and everyone that is here. I look forward to getting to know you all. My husband and I live in Minnesota and Austin is 3 years old. This all started for us when Austin was 18 months old. It truly has been a rollercoaster. I have dealt with family telling me that I am over reacting and there is nothing wrong with him to friends telling me I need to how to learn to parent and he wouldn't be this way. It has been frustrating but rewarding at the same time. Austin is currently going to our local school district 4 days a week for 3 hour classes for early intervention and I also take him to a private speech therapist on Saturdays. He has made so many improvements and is doing well. Again, I look forward to getting to know everyone! Karen, just wanted to tell you I totally understand about people telling you you're crazy, not parenting, etc. etc. i have had a similar experience w/my almost 5-yr-old son - not diagnosed with a particular label but I personally think he might be in the future. it is so frustrating to hear other people judging you and you think - why don't you try to walk in my shoes for a day! i have tried every bit of advice that is out there - and he does not conform or go along w/virtually any of it!! just had to tell you - i have been there - i understand!
Hi Karen Welcome to the board! Colombiamom is right! Remember - never ever let anyone tell you or imply that you're a bad parent!!! ASDs / PDDs have NOTHING to do with parenting. No matter what people say! Glad to hear Austin has made so many improvements, and I know you'll really love it here!
Hello everyone! My Name is Alli and I am a Mom to twin boys, 14 years old with one who has autism. I am curious to talk to people about having a late diagnosis. My son was diagnosed with mild to moderate MR when he was 5 along with AD/HD. Through the years I had a few people tell me that he had Autistic characteristics. I was finally sick of fighting with the school district to get him the help that he needed so I requested an independednt evaluation be done. They agreed and he was finally given the diagnosis of Autism at the age of 12. Has anyone gone through this? I feel some sort of resentment and anger towards all the doctors that have overlooked this (and there have been many). Alli Hi,My name is Lynn and I have a 10 year old Autistic son Jamie, a 13 year old daughter, a 15 year old stepson and have been married to Tom for just over 3 years. He treats my kids like his own, and to add to the mix we have 5 dogs of varying size and age. Life can be pretty stressful at times but as parents of ASD kids know, we just keep going and focus on the good days. I have phases of dealing with day to day and then I go into a phase where I go searching for all the information I can find, usually when we are faced with a new challenge with Jamies autism. Hi, I'm Ashley, and I'm from Canada. I'm fourteen years old (15 in the spring), but mature for me age. I am now doing my high school courses online, and have taken autism teaching classes so I can work with these amazing kids during the day. These kids are just so precious as you all know. The smiles on their faces just make it all worth while. Hi everyone. Today, my son Jake, who will turn 9 on 6/1, was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Jake was born at 33 weeks & was eligible for and received early intervention for most of his initial 3 years. We knew from the onset he was delayed. One of his initial diagnosis was Global Development Delay. It wasn't until (or so it seemed) he was around age 7 where he would put three words together in a sentence. The adults who interacted with him daily (family, teachers) could comprehend him by just his one word answers! Had had his own language, we thought it was cute, unknowing what it really meant. He was dx with ADHD a couple years ago (tho the Dr. today said you can't have 2 dxs per se). He gets obsessed with objects. He's had his tics. I stumbled upon this site when a relatively new friend of the family suggested PDD. As soon as I read up on it via links, filled out a questionnaire, I knew. Now, looking back, a lot makes sense. His actions, behaviors, impulses, compulsivity, tantrums., sensory issues, lack of eating, attachment to weird objects,.. I am saddened that not one specialist/teacher/professional could figure out what someone who just MET Jake could, almost immediately. I am comforted knowing others share the same "whatever we share!". Sorry for rambling. I have so much stored in my head I need to get out.
Hi My name is Stacy. My son Tommy was finally diagnosed on the spectrum when he was 4 after years of my trying to get someone to agree that there was "something going on." He is high functioning with a great sense of humor but behavior issues that cause alot of stress (mostly at school). Tantrums, fixated on objects and lots of OCD issues. It's getting easier at home as we know how to help him become the person we know he can be but school is another issue. I know with love and lots of work he can do anything. I'm so glad I found this board. Just one day of reading has made me both laugh and cry. You guys get it because you live it.
Hi everyone! My name is Cindy and during the last five years we were told that our son had ADHD, OD, I/C, and bipolar. That is what he was being treated for. Recently they told us he has PDD. We have gone through five years of heartache. I have lost so many jobs due to his behavior and have been struggeling. I am so glad that this group exist. Dmitry is now in the hospital and will be coming home soon. His behavior can be very aggressive and he directs it at me most of the time. He is going to be eight in a few weeks. We are hoping that with all of the therapy (and continuous therapy) he will do much better. I love and miss him so much. At this time I do not have a job again and I have no idea where I am going to get the money for the services he needs. Can anyone point me in the right direction. I live in Florida. Thank you, Cindy
I am so glad to have found this forum…it has been so informational already. I am the Mother of a 6month old boy who I am fairly certain is on the spectrum. I know that it may be “too early” to diagnose, but the symptoms seem so clear. I imagine that it is going to be a long road to a diagnosis, and I HOPE that I am all wrong. Some of his symptoms are: Resists being held/cuddled Frequent back arching No spontaneous laughing No babbling No imitating Frequently fussy LOTS of hand flapping/leg kicking Gross motor skills on target but seem to be developing per Teitelbaums theories Moderate eye contact Social smiles if initiator is very dramatic Very Gassy Doesn’t want to be held, but doesn’t like to be put down, either! We were referred to the Birth – 3 Center for an evaluation. He didn’t qualify for intervention (speech, anyway) . We then filled out a sensory questionnaire, but haven’t heard back about that. My next move is to contact the UW Autism Center, as we are Has anyone else tried to go down this road at such an early age? Is beginning programs at this age worth it? (From what I have read, it is) Anyway, thanks for listening, I may re-post this as a new thread about early infant autism- Thx C Hello, what an awesome board!! I have some concerns about my son who is mason and he is 3 and half. Something kinda hit the other day like a ton of bricks. I have come to realize that something isn't clicking with my son. Take for instance it's almost like he cannot grasp basic skills. He is showing some aggresion,and now he is starting to bite. His temper tantrums are getting worse. He only interested in Thomas and the televison progam noggin..which is can memorize any of things in a heartbeat. He repeats himself all the time or something he has heard. He's always had a food texture issue..which i never understood..and he doesn't sleep much..unless he is very very exhausted. Things just seem to be getting worse. He's verbal skills have devolped in the past 6 months. But you cannot have a conversation with him..like if you ask him how school was..you have to prompt him. please help alicia
Alicia, what you're growing through with Mason is exactly like what we went through with Daniel who's 9yrs old now. When he was 3, the temper tantrums were VERY BAD. He was also interested in certain TV programmes only in a particular channel. Then, it was Hey Arnold from Nickelodeon. Later on it was Teen Titans from Cartoon Network and finally his current favourite, Thomas the Tank Engine. (It's called Thomas and Friends here) And what about the toys.... I'm sure a trip to the mall may be equally stressful when he starts to clamour for the Thomas trains!!! Oh! Daniel loved Noggin too !!! His repetitive speech, called echolalia is ever-present, even till now. BUT I'm sure your boy's verbal skills WILL DEVELOP... as mine did. True, they can't spontaneously describe to you the events in school but at least on prompting he can answer... THAT'S A GOOD START !!!! Pose a question on this Board and I'm sure there are many who can help you. Till another time... Ta Ta ... what type of autism does your son have. i'm new to this.
thanks alicia Hello Everyone,My Name is Lynne and I have a beautiful 4 1/2 yr old son named Allan. He was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2 years of age. He is so beautiful inside and out. He doesn't talk at all. I just want to here him say, "I love you Mommy." With the grace of God I hope one day I will here him say that. I am looking forward to talking with all of you. I am glad I found all of you. Lynne :) Hi. My name is Amy. I am the single mother of a 4 yr old boy namned Payton. I am almost sure he is undiagnosed Asperger's. He meets every single diagnostic criteria there is. Looking forward to meeting other mom's that face the same challenges and educating myself. Thanks. Hi. My name is Amy. I am the single mother of a 4 yr old boy namned Payton. I am almost sure he is undiagnosed Asperger's. He meets every single diagnostic criteria there is. Looking forward to meeting other mom's that face the same challenges and educating myself. Thanks. My name is Alexie, I am mom to one son, Joshua, he is 5yrs old, soon to be 6 in May. Josh so far has been dx with Sensory Integration Disorder and ADHD. He was evaluated at the Emory Autism Center earlier this month so we are awaiting further dx. Josh is in a mainstreamed Kindergarten class in a public school. It has been an extremely long and hard year for both of us so far. He has made friends but has been disruptive during class time and has trouble focusing or sitting still for any length of time. He started taking Focalin (5mg) last Friday. I am hoping it will help with the attention/hyperactivity. His speech is delayed but he is very understandable. His fine motor skills seem to be the most delayed. He receives OT/ST through the school system. I'm not sure if I will stay with public school next year, I think he might be better served in school geared towards exceptional children. I'm looking forward to participating on the board. My boy has High-Functioning Autism or abbreviated as HFA in some posts you see... Autism really is a spectrum of presentations and high functioning/low functioning is used to differentiate those who are able to communicate better especially verbally. Yet, being HFA does not mean being better because they may be lacking in other aspects. On the other hand, low functioning may also present vast improvements in other areas of capabilities... You might want to throw this question in the Parents section... Hope this helps. hey everyone i'm a student doing a research project on autism and the effects it has on families. if anyone would be willing to talk to me and answer some questions it would be greatly appreciated. i'm particularly interested in talking to parents of children with autism and siblings of someone with autism whether it be a child teen or adult please pm me if you are interested in helping thank you Hello! I have 5 1/2 year old son that has been DX with SPD, OCD, Tourettes, Dyspraxia and ADHD... although, I'm convinced he is autistic - I believe its Aspergers. The neurologist made that DX the 2nd time he had seen him and he didn't even spend that much time with him. I am getting him re-evaluated but in the meantime, its good to know that I can come here to share my concerns and stories and really understands. I've already posted one problem I have under "Autism Education". Its titled "Long, but I need help!" I'm sure there will be more concerns or questions I have so I look forward to talking with you all more. Therri Hello everyone, This is my first day here on the site... My son age 7 is newly diagnosed with PDD - NOS. With traits of Autism, ocd, and adhd. We saw a child psych. on Tuesday of this week and she gave him rx for Abilify, and focalin. I would love any feedback from anyone with the same sitch. or good or bad dealings with these meds.
I am so happy to have found this site and hope that I can chat with some of you soon...
Bridget Hi welcome to the forum. My son is 13 nd his diagnosis is Aspergers, OCD, ADHD. He has been on Abilify since 11/06 and for the first time in years he is "stable" He still has his moments but they are few and far between.I've never heard of Abilify - but my son started taking Tenex in August 2007 right before starting kindergarten and he started taking Focalin in October 2007. Immediately, we saw changes with both of them. And we can definitely tell when he hasn't had his medicine. From what I've heard, Focalin is one of the more mild ADHD meds. Like Kathie (the mom who commented above), we still have our moments but they are nowhere near as bad as what we were dealing with before. Before he started the Focalin, he was coming home with notes from school almost every day. Once he started the Focalin, he started getting stars in his behavior folder every day. My husband and I still felt that maybe we weren't doing the right thing by putting him on meds so we tried an experiment and stopped giving his meds for a week to see how he would act and see if we had made the right decision. That week, notes home everyday. He went back on his meds the following Monday and he's had stars ever since. If your son is having trouble focusing in school, its definitely worth a try! Good Luck! And let me know how he does when he starts taking it. Hello, all. I am Jane, mom of Jake, a 13 year old with PDD-NOS. We are very proud of all of Jake's successes and strides. He is in mainstream classes, takes karate, fencing and guitar. I can't tell you tickled I am that those activities have finally replaced all the afternoons in speech, OT, movement therapy, music therapy, Tomatis, Fast For Word, socialization groups, you name it. He still has sensory issues and his speech is a little offbeat, but he is a different boy from the little guy was first diagnosed in 1996 who wouldn't speak or meet your eye. Being mom of an autistic child is not easy, but the rewards are amazing. Peace and love to all!Hi. My name is Sunny and I have a 3 year old son that is quite a little fireball. LOL. Suns:) Hello, so happy to have found this forum because it is just comforting to know how many other parents are going through the same thing, it is unbelievable how many little ones are afflicted. I am the mother of beautiful 2 1/2 year old little girl. Peyton was born 3 months early, severly jaundiced, 2 lbs, tear in her lung, chronic lung disease and valve that was not connected in her heart. My little fighter made it through, everything " corrected itself" and she was released from the NICU two months later. She has always been a happy, mellow little girl, she does have mild Cerebral Palsy so she was late at everything. She was diagnosed early with global delays and CP, so she has been getting therapy for speech, OT, and Physical since she turned one. She started a Pre-K program for children with delays and learning disabilities this year and has made alot of progress. But for the past year I noticed numerous signs that she was probably Autistic but could not get anyone to believe it was anything other than delays from CP and Sensory Intergration issues. She has always fixated on certain things, rocks, spinning toys and lids, shadows, lights on toys, shiny CDs, water and sand, and although she does interact with us and has good eye contact, when she is fixated she is pretty much lost in her world and does not respond to us unless we get right in her face. She has never developed any speech, except for babbling and every once in awhile you hear something that sounds like DaDa and Mmmm for mama. Up until Thanksgiving of last year, she was a horrible sleeper, usually up 7-8 times a night, ugggh, finally we decided to put her in a twin bed and started off slowly in our room, now she sleeps all night in her own bed and room. She also is a picky eater, especially when she started to feed herself, took a long time since she has alot of tactile issues. Her new Neuro Ped told me " I just want to watch her play" at our last appt, and finally someone saw what I have been seeing for the past year. Peyton was so wrapped up in flicking her shoe up and down and obsessing about a CD that she didn't notice anyone had even entered the room until 25 minutes into the appt. Her doctor said I think we need to have her tested for Autism. I knew it was coming but it certainly hasn't made it any easier. Instantly I felt a huge dark cloud looming over our home and family, I feel it every night I go to bed and every morning I wake up. I have started her on the diet, she is seeing a DAN doctor, and I have signed up for ABA training, and of course she has been getting therapy for the past year and will continue, I may have to increase her sessions though. So, I am hoping for the best like all the other parents, trying not to let the fear take over so much that I can't think clearly.... I just wish for one week I could really enjoy my baby without constantly worrying what the future holds, I have never been able to do that since the day she was born... but I am blessed with this little angel who I love more than life itself, she is alive and happy.... Thank you for listening and wishing all the parents the best of luck and happiness!!! Hi- I'm Lynne, single mom to 7 year old Gillian who has recently been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, ADHD and SID. I was so excited when I found these boards yesterday & am looking forward to see what everyone else has to say. Thanks! G Girl
WELCOME WE ARE GALD TO HAVE YOU HERE. Hello Jane (toodycat)I am curious to hear about your son. My son, who is autistic, will be 5 in July and he still doesn't speak. How old was your son when he started talking? Did you have a hard time potty training him? My son is not potty trained either and it seems like it is never going to happen. He is such a beautiful soul. He does understand me when I talk with him. I just want to his his words. Did you ever think your son would be in a normal school setting? Anxious to hear from you. Lynnie Hi everyone my name is Tina i am 28yrs and mum to 2 beautiful children. My eldest Jayden who turns 5 in a few days is on the spectrum, he is non verbal at the moment we are confident he will become verbal. I also have a baby girl who is almost 4 months, so i am still figuring out how to balance 2 kids. We live in a small country town with limited services and very little family support, so we struggle with meeting his needs, we do the best we can with what we have. Like all families we have ups and downs, trials and tribulations, good and bad days, but all in all hes a pretty good kid, hes happy most of the time although meltdowns have recently started and we are still learning what triggers these and what to do about them. "look on the bright side of life" thats my motto.... hes healthy and making progress everyday. So I'm a newb... I don't know where to start, what to do?? He is in speech therapy already, and developmental therapy also.. We will soon be starting behavioral therapy too.. anywho, we are in ontario, canada.
I am new to this board, but a veteran to the world of special needs. I have 3 children 18, 15 and 12. The 15 year old and 12 year old are both on the spectrum. Diagnoses and the school's special education system have take years off of my life, I am certain. It was a living nightmare. We are also a foster family. Currently have two children in our care ages 2 and the other is 7 months. We are beginning the process of having the 2 year old evaluated for ASD because she has been in EI since she has been 1 month old and has made slow progress yet things constantly come up that just can't be explained any other way. I'm here to ask tons of questions since it has been many years now since I went through this. I'm so glad to have found this sight. I have been lurking for a couple of nights and can sooooooooooooooo identify with so many of these stories. I look forward to the wisdom!!! WELCOME HOME EVERYONE WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE QUESTIONS, VENT, CRY, LAUGH DO WHAT EVER GETS YOU THROUGH.....
Hello, I am new AS. My 2 1/2 year old has been delayed since he was an infant. He has been in the EI program for 6 months now with little verbal progress. He only has about 5 single words. We finally got our Neurology consult and saw him yesterday. He said that Drew has AS and PDD. We are awaiting testing for other possible problems. We never even considered that Drew would have AS or PDD because he is pretty social and his eye contact is okay. But he falls into the spectrum because of other issues...including his delays in speech and gross motor. I will know more about my sons dx after his MRI, genetic testing and swallow study have been done. We will see the neurologist again to discuss the test results and what is next. I just wanted to say hello and tell you all that I am so thankful for a place to come and just talk about Drew's issues. Hi, I live in Arizona and have a 3 year old boy who I believe is somewhere on the autistic spectrum. He hasn't officially been diagnosed yet but he has a lot of autistic traits & behaviors. He has had hyptonia & sensory integration disorder since he was an infant. We've gotten early intervention involved since he was about 15 months and he's made a lot of progress since then but still has a long way to go. His biggest delay right now is his talking, he may have verbal apraxia as well. He's a very happy kid but it's been a tough road so far. He's in special ed preschool and it's been helping. I was told about this website and I'm looking forward to learning more about my son. Hi, I live in Louisiana and have an 18 yr old, 2 yr old, and 4 mo old, all girls! My 2 yr old was dx with PDD on the 3rd of this month. She has curly light brown hair and beautiful blue eyes that light up my soul! I also live in a small town with very limited resources( as in none right now) and so I'm doing the best I can. I read what I can and look for dvd's to show me how to do things. Allie is non-verbal so right now I'm looking into pecs to see if that might help. Anyway, glad there's places like this to go to. I get pretty overwhelmed alot and my husband is kind of in the denial stage. Thanks for being here!Hi, Lynnie. My son didn't talk until he had a bilateral myringotomy (tubes to drain fluid in his ears) when he was almost 4. He hadn't been speaking at all and then he said he a full sentence. After that, the doctors told me it would be "fun" to watch his progress. But he didn't acquire speech at the pace of a NT child. In fact, although he spoke at home a bit, in kindergarten, he didn't speak until after January of that school year. We did speech in school five days a week plus speech out of school four days a week. That made a big difference over time, but day to day the progress was subtle.(Also, Tomatis therapy in 3rd grade did a lot to bring out of his own little world and into ours.) By the end of first grade, they were removing him from the self-contained class and mainstreaming him into a regular class once a week for art. He participated in that class' graduation show--they pretended to be a centipede doing a kickline to "New York, New York." Anyone who knew Jake was in weeping with joy to see him participate, even the principal. His speech lags even now in terms of clarity and correct use of words, but if you get him on a topic he enjoys, he has plenty to talk about, particularly if the topics are rock and roll or video games. Also, kids on the spectrum use language differently, so he is sometimes poetic without meaning to be. As for the toilet training thing, that took a while. He trained by the end of kindergarten, but we found that changing his diet was key. He needed to cut down on juice and dairy to be able to control himself. The GI specialist recommended cutting juice with water and it made a big difference. We also started serving soy milk instead of regular milk. I know what you mean about your son being a beautiful soul. My son is sweet and kind and my husband and I used to dream of having a conversation with him. I would recommend getting your son as much speech therapy as possible. Also, Samonas therapy was helpful. (You listen to classical music through headphones.) As for school, our district is small and there is no self-contained program in the elementary school after second grade and none in middle school. All spec. ed kids are in in inclusion models. Happily, Jake rose to the occasion. He works hard, but he gets good grades and the routines that spectrum kids are known far serve him well in terms of budgeting time for studying. I am very proud of his hard work and success, but it really comes in baby steps. Be patient and stay strong, Jane Hi, I have two beautiful daughters. The eldest has just turned 9 and has also just been given the label at an IEP at the school last week as a high functioning autistic with possible aspergers. The youngest is 3 and seems to developing normally just has her big sister had been at that age. My husband is terminal with pancreatic cancer and although still living with us, he and I have been estranged for just over a year now (long story and not the topic of this message board). Anyway, he was our eldests primary care giver until she was eight. She was six at the time of his initial diagnosis when her behaviors seemed to immediately become more apparent and pronounced. I find myself overwhelmed and really not able to cope well with all that is going on. I really want to do right by her and am really glad to find this additional resource. Howdy. My husband and I have two beautiful little boys. Our oldest, Jackson, diagnosed with autism last spring. He's 4 now. His little brother, Noah, is two and NT. I've found that having a little brother has been one of the best things to happen to my ASD son. He naturally avoids playing with other children, but his baby brother REFUSES to be ignored, by anyone. He seems to have drawn out his big brother, and they actually play together some times. They mostly fight over toys, but hey, it's interaction! Hello. I have 2 children on the spectrum. My daughter (9 -- soon to be 10) was diagnosed with mild PDD-NOS in kindergarten, and my son (5) was just diagnosed with mild Asperger's this month. My daughter is very creative and loves to tell, write, and illustrate stories. My son is the family math wiz. Welcome EVERYONE!! My son hasn't been diagnosed with any disorder yet but I believe he has an autism spectrum disorder. He is 20 years old and had an IEP through out his schooling. He didn't graduate but has passed one of the tests for his GED. He is a genius with computer graphics and makes awesome 3D images on his computer, spending hours creating his pictures. He was diagnosed with a learning disability at the age of 2 but the diagnosis was never refined to anything particular. He is high functioning but struggles with some basic personal skills such as daily living skills. His physical features are different than the rest of the family. His eyes are deep set and he has a long slender face, hands and feet. His voice sounds as if he is in a tunnel. He is extremely lovable because he wants to please people and he does things that make him endearing. He has a drivers license but can't find his way around town except to places he is familiar with. He worked for almost a year for a computer place where he transferred pictures from movies to computer CD's but he got in an argument with the owner when he wasn't able to work fast enough and he was let go.
My problem is how to approach him about seeing if we can get further tests to see if we can get him help. My fear is what happens to him if something happened to my husband and I or even in old age when we die. He isn't capable of living on his own at this point and I'm not sure he ever will be. I don't believe he even has that desire. That is why I want him to be tested. If it weren't for those fears of mine I would just continue to work with him on daily living skills and perhaps buy enough insurance so that he would have money the rest of his life. Perhaps even talk to his siblings about who would take care of him if something happened to us. Hi,I'm a 25-year-old teacher of high school students in the Moderate to severe autism range. I also teach a daily social skills class to HFA and Asperger's kids. My main interests and knowledge is in: instruction, behavior modification, and mainstreaming (educational issues). I also dabble in social skills instruction and communication skills development, but I have to run everything by my speech pathologist because she is far better educated in that arena than I am. I am amazed by this world of Autism. The professionals, the families, and the amazing kids fill each and every school day with a fun, excitement, and inspiration. I enjoy this world so much, that I want to do everything I can to constantly make it better for everybody who has the unique and exciting opportunity to be a part of it! TahmirsMom- Thank you! Thanks Jane for writing back to me.How did you know that your son needed a bilateral myringotomy? Did your son hold his ears a lot? My son does that and sometimes he just starts crying like he is in pain and then stops just as sudden as it came on. I have taken him to the doctor's and sometimes he has ear infections and is treated with antibiotics. He totally flips out when I bring him anywhere he is not familiar with so it's been a struggle. Why did your son start talking afterwards? Did he not hear at all? Did he look at you when you called his name? We haven't had much luck with speech therapist. He is not seeing one at the current time because there are none available. Did you do certain speech techniques for him by yourself at home? What is Tomatis Therapy? Your son sounds like he has accomplished a lot!! You must be so proud of him! What age did your son go into kindergarten?Welcome to the board to all of the newbies! Now that you've introduced yourself - bring some of those questions to the open board. A lot of us "older" members don't check this thread as often as we probably should. But, we do check other posts a lot! And there are a lot of other people here who have great advice, experience and support to share! Again, welcome to the board - looking forward to hearing more of your stories. Hi, Lynnie.Jake had a bilateral myringotomy after countless ear infections. His pediatrician was all about "going with the flow" but when I took him to an ENT specialist, he said Jake's ears were filled with fluid and that he couldn't really hear properly. And, yes,Jake did cover his ears and pull on them a lot as a toddler and he often didn't turn around when you called him. After the surgery, the doctor told us Jake had been practically deaf because of the fluid which, of course, explained a lot about his delayed speech. On the way home from the hospital, Jake's reactions showed us that he had never heard brakes, horns, sirens or planes before. He was a little freaked out by all the new noise. Then, as we were about to sit down to lunch that same day, our cat jumped on the table. I said, "Claudius, get down!" and Jake said, "Claudius, get down!" It was his first sentence EVER. I would definitely get your son a hearing test and have an ENT check for chronic fluid, too. Even when a kid doesn't have an active ear infection, their hearing can be impaired by leftover fluid. I was always able to get speech for Jake via early intervention, special ed or my health insurance. Did you check to see if you can get your insurer to cover it? Sometimes that works when the school district isn't up to the task. Tomatis therapy was a big undertaking. We had to do six weeks of it in total for 2 hours a day after school and it was about an hour and a half away in Manhattan. Kids listen to Mozart with special head phones and do certain OT type exercises at the same time. (It is ridiculously expensive, but I have generous parents.) I don't really know how to explain why it worked, but it made Jake more conscious of his surroundings. He would make more comments about his environment and not be in his "shell" so much. Our developmental pediatrician calls Tomatis "the big guns." Must go help with homework now. Jake just got a bad grade on a social studies open book test because he didn't use his notes, even though it was an open book test. Ah, the unpredictability of the ASD child! Jane Hi Everyone. I found this message board yesterday and wanted to introduce myself. My son is 20mths old and the doctors have said he is on the ASD spectrum. They are mentioning PDD to me too which I know is on the spectrum but as you can tell I am still baffled by all the terms! He has started speech therapy as he has never really spoken other than babbling. He was saying Mama at 12 mths but then it dissappeared. He is also getting OT once a month for SPD. I am putting a brave face on for the rest of the world but inside I am one minute upset, next scared of the future and then ok again. I love my son so much and as long as he is happy then I am. I don't really have much else to say except I will keep reading all the posts and its great to find a place where people will understand me. Hi, my name is Jo, I found this Board through a Google search on researching for a court case I'm working on for my kids about the TEACCH Program. I'll be upfront I'm not a big fan of TEACCH because of the way improper the school district is using it. My kids! I could write a book on my son Don alone! The short story is that he was finally diagnosied about four years ago when he was in 8th grade going into 9th. He is now going to graduate from HS and we are hoping that he is going to go to Chapel Haven in CT. My little diva, Rachel was diagnoised right around that 4 years ago also is now 14. Both of them were first diagnoised with speech problems early on. When I'm not dealing with school issues I like relax with my goldfish tanks.
yet I see her suffer in school and at home where she some times does "wild " behviour and has uncontrolable rages , she wants to join groups of young adolocents and make freinds , my daughters plight and saddness is terrible for me , I have read about the Chellation cures & Epsom salt / vitamin c etc could you help and guide me mehernosh Shroff Dear Mellissa, How dare your family call your beautiful son a demon!  That is such a hurtful thing to say and so untrue! He is an innocent child that did not choose to be born with Autism, that is just who he is. Children and adults with Autism are extraordinary people. There is a reason that he is part of your life and reasons that you are in his life. We come into each other's lives because we have something to teach and/ or something to learn. Even though Jacob may not speak, he is sharing with you, and you are learning truly valuable lessons by sharing your love with him. He is aware and though he may perceive the world differently than you or I, he is an integral part of it. He brings important things to each and everyday. Maybe you are suppose to share the lessons that you learn from him. Maybe you are his interpreter for others to experience a greater understanding. Maybe he is the one who will teach you who you are. We live in a world where so many can talk so easily and so so little, this is an opportunity to hear someone who means the world to. I too have a son who will be 5 in July and does not speak. He signs alittle and uses some pecs cards. He will probably never be on his own but he brings me great joy and love. I have had him on everything and tried everything too. He learns things and loses what he learns also but you must not let that get you down. Enjoy who your son is and don't worry so much over the little stuff. I know it's difficult but life is practice, when we can embrace all the parts, we grow. ds will be 9 at the beginning of June, is high-functioning autistic, has verbal apraxia and SID, is homeschooled, sees a pediatrician and psychiatrist regularly. Current medication: Strattera (helps a LOT with focus and concentration) and Melatonin (for help falling and staying asleep...it's a natural supplement)
Look forward to sharing experiences and learning with all of you. We are a family in the southwest suburbs of Illinois. We are a foster family with two beautiful foster daughters and we also have 3 wonderful biological children. My middle son was dx'd with Aspergers (by a neuropsych) after years of total frustration with the school system. I'm sure many of you can relate. After proper diagnosis and specific intervention, he is doing well in high school. No extra services needed and he has learned to adequately cope. But those behaviors are still there. But you wouldn't know it unless you spent a great deal of time with him now. Now our 2 year old foster daughter is in the process of a dx. We have known things weren't right from the time we got her. Starting the roller coaster all over again and realizing I'm just too old and tired for the baloney of trying to get a straight answer. I'm here because I never found this sort of specific support when we went through this with my son many years ago. I'm so glad to be here!!!Meant to say, southwest suburbs of Chicago. My name is Amanda. I have 2 children Logan is 6 and affected
by autism, he was diagnosed at 4. Presley just turned 1 and so far there are no signs of asd, but I am Hi, I'm Meg, mom to 4 kids. My son Elijah is 5 and almost a half and has PDD-NOS..he was diagnosed at 3yr 8 months. He's an utterly gorgeous and sweet little guy and we adore him. He goes to a special needs preschool right now and will start with a special kindergarten in the fall. His school here in gainesville, florida is really terrific and we're very pleased with the programming he gets there. We also do RDI therapy with him, and we call it our miracle therapy. Eli has done the most and improved the most with this therapy program. We are thrilled with it and though we struggle to pay for it, it's worth every penny. Lastly he is GF/CF..this is medically necessary as he is completely intolerant to both of these things..he's been on the diet since he was 3y old and no end or healing in sight so I imagine he'll be staying on it indefinitely. I'm going to look around and get comfortable now..:D
Hi, My name is Harriet. I have a five year old son, Ravi, who is severely autistic. I also have a three year old daughter, Stirling, who is not on the spectrum. I have been lurking here for a few months and finally got up my nerve to register. It's nice to know I am not alone in the world.
Welcome Harriet, and other newbies!
HI MELLISSA15, I READ MY INITIAL EMAIL THAT I WROTE YOU AND FOUND A TYPO, I DIDN'T WANTED TO SAY (We live in a world where so many can talk so easily and so so little) I WANTED TO SAY WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE SO MANY CAN TALK SO EASILY AND SAY SO LITTLE. PEOPLE WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND AND DON'T SUPPORT PARENTS WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISM ARE IGNORANT. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE GO THROUGH IN A DAY AND WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR DREAMS FOR OUR CHILDREN. IT'S A STRUGGLE, FAMILY AND FRIENDS SHOULD BE WITH US EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. IF THEY HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY THAN THEY SHOULD SAY NOTHING AT ALL. I HOPE SOMEDAY THEY WILL COME AROUND FOR YOU AND YOUR SON. YOUR NOT ALONE THOUGH, YOU HAVE ALL OF US!! Hi, i can't believe i have not found this place earlier, i have 2 sons that have moderate pdd and as we live rurally, find it extremely hard at time as even our daycare center cannot get the funding to accomadate my three year old, my five year old started prep this year and is having a lot of ups and downs alot to do with the teachers having to learn how to accomadate my child Knowing you a not alone in the world makes a difference, nat
hi my name is Catherine and my son is servely autistic. we are happy with our public school autism program. i am really interested in the question "meljako" asked. how do other people feel about jenny McCarthy? is there another thread on here which people are discussing this topic? i don't know too may other moms of autistics and i'd like other veiw points.
catherine
Well, I went to go see a woman speak about how those shots and the CF/GF (basically everything McCarthy did) recovered her son. I am very happy for the families this method helps... I hope that their recoveries are indeed permant for thses childrens and families sakes...... But I have to wonder were they autistic at all....Or did the have a disorder that represents itself as autistic like behaviors. I hate to poo-poo their efforts. But I must say it doesn't recover every kid.... (my son went to a school for autistic childern and almost all the kids were on these strict regimines, and they were all still autistic, and all had the same behaviors) none of them had recovered. We have spent thousands upon thousands of dollars seeing that kind of "special doctor" that gives the same treatments, and we asked how many kids had been recovered and she said very few b/c the parents cheat on the regimine so its not effective...... We left very upset, it was convienent to blame failed methods on the parents so they can stay in business and continue to give false hope. But hey they DO help some kids and i'm thanful for that. ummmm, didn't mean to sound so jaded there ;) I do continuely pray for families effected by autism recovered or not. every special needs family can get all the help they need ;)
Catherine Hello Mellissa, Have you been able to get Social Security for your son? I called and they told me that we wouldn't qualify. We have 5 children, Allan being the only boy and youngest, and it's hard with everything that goes with raising children. What did you do to get help? Thanks, Lynne Hi Catherine,I do agree with the shots and cfgf diet,and you are right it doesn't work for everyone.My son has been on this diet now for over 2 months and I have yet to see a change.My son has not been through cellation though because not everyone can request this.He had lead poisoning with levels of 27 and they still wouln't do this for him,and I do believe that if you are to go on this diet your body needs to be detoxified,but again the won't do this for everyone.I think that everyone should have the chance to try these things and not have to have the money to do so. Hi Lynnie, I am recieving social security.You should be able to get it by just applying and showing doctor records.It does take a few months.If you don't qualify then try again,because they usually take you the second time,it does take a few months to get,but it is worth it.Mellissa, Do you file for it on line or do they send you something? Do you ask for a certain package? thnx, lynne Mellissa, Is it based on you and your husband's income? I think that is what someone told me once. Have you applied for Medicare too? Katy Beckett? Mellissa, Celexa (6mls in the AM) worked for several years to get him to where he wasn't bouncing off of walls, hurting himself or others or even property. We JUST took him off of Celexa aka citalopram cold turkey almost a week ago. J's been very physically aggressive towards mostly me, but his dad, too. At almost 9 years old and 109 pounds he's stronger than I am now and that scares me. Moved from KY to FL about 8 months ago and found a pediatric psychiatrist and J's on Strattera (60 whatevers each AM) and it helps him focus. He takes Melatonin (5 whatevers) about 7-7:30Pm and we ask that he has lights out by 8pm. He sleeps through the night with that. Although there are times when the Melatonin seems to STOP working so we take him off of it for about a week then start back at the 3 whatevers dose. Justin was put on depakote at one point...he ended up smashing his head, repeatedly, on concrete, walls, me, tables, anything he could..VERY self-injurious behavior...stopped it. J used to take Risperdal/Risperdone at night for sleep...otherwise he'd sleep 2 hours (after taking HOURS to fall asleep) and be up for the day at 2am. (this mama needs a good 8-10 hours of sleep to function well!). HTH!
[QUOTE=Mellissa15] [/QUOTE] In my humble opinion, I don't think the GF/CF or Feingold or other diets will work with just any child...but if your child shows signs healthwise that he needs this diet it will work. My son is still autistic and will probably always be, but his gut healed and he started growing again and he got much healthier when we did the diet (we still do) and he had warning signs like gut issues and so forth. If your child has a medical reason for doing the diet, DO it. Otherwise, don't expect miracles for anything..you have to try things when you can and hope. For us, RDI has been the miracle. It has given us our son back. Yes, he is still moderately autistic and has a long road to go, but he is with us. He is standing here right next to me right now asking to get into my lap. He is WITH me, you know? I have virtually no behavioral problems any more either because now that he desires to be with me and DH all the time, he also listens to us. If I give him a command like stop or stay or whatever, he listens. 1 year ago he did not listen. He was not present, and he was constantly escaping the house. It was a very scary time..and I felt helpless and lost and school and OT and ST did nothing. We tried B12 too. Nothing. I think you really just have to try whatever therapy you can to see what works because all of our kids are so different. For us and Eli it is RDI and a good school program :D Hello Mellissa, Your Doctor is giving you wrong info. He doesn't have hard stools because he has gut issues not because he eats so many fruits and veggies. If you heal the gut, colon, intestines, etc than you will see a huge difference. I thought that too at one time because my little guy never had hard stools but when I brought him to his DAN Doctor he said that isn't true and went into what I just told you but in a lot more dept. He put him on UNDA products and a really good probiotic and his little tummy has pretty much healed. He finally had solid stools. Occasionally he will have a soft poop but nothing like before. Do you give your son Cod liver oil? That is really good for him too. Talk soon, Lynne Megmama, what is RDI? Hi Lynnie,Thank you for your input.I never tried cod liver oil,but now I deffinetly will . What are UNDA products?I know he has gut issues I tell his doctor all the time.The DAN doctors are alot of money and I don't work,they are not covered under my insurance.If you have any other options,I would love to hear them.Thanks!Hello Mellissa, Do you have a regular email address, I can send you some stuff. If you don't want to post it I will give you mine. Lynne Hi, RDI, is Relationship Development Intervention, a therapy program which has the parents doing the therapy. It is not very different than Floortime except it is parent led and not child-led. Basically, the idea is to go back in the child's development and fill in the developmental holes and help them grow socially and relationally. If you want more information on this, I suggest the main website: www.rdiconnect.com We are in florida and use these consultants who also have a wealth of information on their website and a link to the TV spot we did locally: www.florida-autism.com lYNNIE i FORGOT TO ANSWER YOU BACK ABOUT SOCIAL SECURIT AND YOUR FRIEND IS RIGHT THEY DO GO BY INCOME.I DON'T WORK AND JACOBS DAD DOES.
Hi Everyone Our son is eight years old has PDD and we found out in late October 2007...meanwhile he was diagnosed with so many other types of issues that sometimes I feel we wasted five years trying to find out exactly what it was and how to help him. We were so upset with the previous doctors for not recognizing all the "RED Flags" giving him the wrong dia., wrong medicines and acting like they could not find an answer for all of his issues...then the light appeared and our doctor this time a Neuropsychiatrist, and just a wonderful and compassionate man...we just LOVE him. So here we are. Dmitry is getting better every day. He is very high functioning and requires one on one attention. Since I am not working at this time I have the most blessed job imaginable. I get to see Dmitry off every morning at the bus stop for school and meet him every afternoon. Unfortunately we have not been able to collect SS for him and based on all the comments I have viewed online, I will be going to their office in Orlando Tuesday to try again. It has been tough financially and now I am faced with the need to go back to work. Anyone from the Winter Park/Casselberry/Longwood area know of an after school care program I can enroll him in when I do get another job? Our special kids need an understanding and helpful organization to work with us, we have not been able to find one yet. Melissa, did Jacob go to a school in Sanford? If so, I think we have met on a few occassions, if not, I just love your input here. Everyone has had something really valuable to contribute. Sometimes I just feel so lost, most people just do not understand our children and are really quick to jump to conclusions. Our family has said many "stupid" things about what we go through and what we should be doing. Or my cousin whom I do not speak to since she made this comment, you have been working on his behavior for years, nothing is going to work with him, give up. I would love to hear from anyone that has any recommendations. Thank you, Cindy Hi, my name is Leasa. Mother of three boys, Bryce, Evan & Ayden. Bryce (11) and Evan (4) are brilliant. They could both read at very early ages and are very musically talented. It took me a really long time to get my youngest son Ayden (3 and also brilliant) diagnosed. Even though there were a ton of signs, I found (and still find) many of his autistic traits refreshing. After having two boys that talked so much and needed me to pay attention to their every whim, I loved that Ayden could occupy his self and was quiet. As a baby, he could bounce in his Johnny Jumper for hours. I was so busy with my other two, I let him. Sometimes he would just bounce himself to sleep. He is very active. Most of the time he is running, swinging or climbing. I always say that when he grows up, he will probably climb mountains. He was diagnosed with Autism at 2 years 10 months. We started out on this journey doing a Son-Rise program. It was helpful in building such a strong bond, but after reading the book, Let Me Hear Your Voice by Catherine Maurice a few weeks ago I have just changed my program to have more of an ABA approach. We are one week in and I am so excited about the major accomplishments I've seen. I love reading the boards. I don't know any other parents with autistic children, so I like reading about others who understand the difficulties I face. I would love to know if anyone knows of any D.A.N docs in Mid-Michigan. Thanks, Leasa Hi,Leasa, My son Jacob is also into music.We can also relate to the running and climbing,he is very active.What is a son-rise program?Are all 3 of your boys on the spectrum?I agree with the brilliance of all of our kids,they are so smart.Jacob is 4 he cannt read or speak,but is great at matching,puzzles and piano playing. Cindy,Hi.I can relate to people saying things all the time.My family can say hurtful things to me.These kids are so innocent.Its funny because sometimes I wish I can be like them,not talk to anyone and just not care about the world around me.Jacob did not go to Sanford,but he did go to school in FL and in CT.We live in Naugatuck,CT.Hi Melissa, Thanks for the reply. Only my youngest son is on the spectrum. You can find out about Son-Rise at my website. www.aydensworld.com. It definately has some benefits. However, now that my son is so bonded with us, we want to challange him more. That is why I am doing ABA now with a lot of the principles I learned from Son-Rise. He acually enjoys the interaction and praise. Thanks, Leasa Melissa, I am happy to hear that. They recently did some webinars that are interesting to watch. I disagree with some of the ideas. I believe that with each child being so different, that different techniques need to be used to help them. So for me, Son-Rise is not the best and ABA is not the best. The combination of principles seem to be really helping my son. He is on fire this week. It seems that he has learned more last week than the last 6 months. Such a wonderful time for us. I loved the books by Barry Kaufman. I found them right after our diagnosis and it totally changed my views. I started off devastated and after reading the books and going out to MA for the startup, my husband and I were so happy. The book "Happiness is a Choice" revolutionized my whole way of thinking. I still occationally forget everything I learned and get really depressed when I have a hard day chasing my son, but in general, I am happy with how everything is progressing for us. The best thing I learned from them, is that there is no such thing as false hope. Let me know what you think if you read any of Barry Kaufmans books or watch the webinars. Hi Leasa,Jacob is like a puzzle,hes hard to figure out,not only for me but for the doctors,therapists and teacher.This is why we try new things all the time,they work at the begining then I think he figures it out and is not intrested any more.He can only sit for 3 minutes,then has to run or do something physical.I will deffinetly give son-rise a chance and tell his therapists,but hes had ABA for a few years now and like you said it doesn't work for everyone but were still trying and hopefully one day he will come out of it.Jacob is very attached to me and I feel that I am the only person that can make him come out of it,because he is affectionate twards me and noone else,this makes me feel special.Now Jacob is on medication to help calm him but I think it makes him worse and tomorrow we go and see his nuerologist and I am gonna ask him to stop all meds and figure something else out.Anyway,I haven't read any books by Kaufman but I have heard of him.I read books by William Stillman, Chantal Sicile-Kira and just recently read Jenny Mcarthy's book. I have read the books and LOVE them and I also saw the movie when I was young, I think it came out in the late 80's, and it was very good as I remember it. Of course back then I had no clue I would someday have a son with autism but I found it to impact my life, even then, I suppose God knew what was in store for me. You can get the movie, as a lone, from the Option Institute as it was never released on video or DVD for the public. There is a rental fee that is returned when the movie is returned. I have heard this but I haven't had a chance to contact them to get it so I don't know the particulars. Welcome to all the newbies!! Merry
Mellissa http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079933/ is a link that talks about the movie. Mellissa, your son sounds so much like mine. I feel like I am the only person that can do the work sometimes. He is such a mamas boy. I acually get angry with my husband sometimes because his two hour session turns into 20 minutes of my son trying to get away from him. I need a break, but I can understand how frustrating it must be working with a child who won't cooperate. For me he is an angel. He isn't very receptive to food rewards but loves me to make silly faces and sounds. So everytime he completes a task I have to stick my tongue out and be silly to make him laugh. When we are not working he is all over the place. Forget about cleaning the house or having window coverings. My parents lovingly call him their little tyrrant. My house is Ayden proofed, so it only becomes a problem outside when he runs for the road. A few weeks ago he was about a foot from getting hit by a car. It sent me into a three day depression that was only highlighted by having to call 911 when he choked on a toy. Luckily I was present enough to realize that my depression was self defeating and got back to work. We had a stellar week and I am so excited about the progress. Leasa I was wondering has anyone tried Homeopathic remedies? May God Give you great strength , please keep on Praying " thank you God for healing jacob " when ever my own child has tantrums i and my wife pray " God thank you for healing Nicole" we say it with all our might and mental strenght and the Nicole Calms down right now we are using Vitamin C and Espom salt applicaitons on the body , there has been a slight improvement please keep on praying and keep positive attitude Mehernoss Shroff Mehernoss,You and your wife are So on the right track with what you believe in and doing. If only other's would have as much faith. There is something here bigger than we can comprehend. These children are sent here to teach us not to burden us; they are angles in disguise. :) Mellissa....beautifully said.......
HI LYNNIE,I HAVEN'T HEARD OF ANY HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES BUT AM INTRESTED IF YOU GET ANY FEEDBACK.I'M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW THINGS TO TRY.THANK YOU
[QUOTE=LYNNIE]I was wondering has anyone tried Homeopathic remedies? read 'impossible cure' and had some good results but too expensiveand drained all my resources I have read the book and it's very good. My son Allan is currently on homeopathic remedies and I was wondering if anyone else has tried it. We are still working on the right remedy for him but he does seem to be more clearer. It's a slow process but if you hit it right it can produce wonderful results to the point of a cure. I have been in contact with a women (she's a total sweetheart) who brought her son out of his autistic world and lost his diagnosis with this. She's been helping me a great deal. You can read all about her son's journey on her website. http://www.recoveredfromautism.comMellisa, you said you couldn't find a DAN Doctor because of insurance reasons. I too was in the same boat but finally found one close to my area that does take insurance. Keep calling all the ones around you and ask if they know of anyone if they don't take insurance. You can check out my Doctor at: southernmaineintegrativehealth.com Maybe you can send him an email and ask if he knows of any DAN Doctors in your area. Melissa, I can so relate about the depression. I pray and read my bible and try to keep the faith. I can stay so positive and focused and then all of a sudden I will burst into tears over something little. Usually when I try to be normal and do normal things and I realize I can't. For my anniversary, I got a room at a hotel near home for my husband and I. I thought we could take the boys swimming at the hotel then take them home and have the night to ourselves. My son had a melt down and all of a sudden decided he wouldn't swim. He just screamed (normally he loves the pool) So I took him into the hotel room and he was pulling leaves off the fake trees, jumping on the glass endtable, etc, etc. This little trip sent me into a week long depression. I always bounce back, because I know staying in that place won't help either of us. On the other hand, I think it is completely o.k. to grieve the loss of normal from time to time. We all love our children and they are wonderful and perfect in the way that God made them, but none of us chose this new life we have.
Im new to this board, just stopping in to say hi. Hello! I am new to this journey and am humbled by the strenght and hope I have observed by the parents who post here. I hope I can stay as strong. I have three children - two NT girls 11 and 9. And a DS who has a DX of PDD NOS. He will turn 2 next month. We are scheduled to go back for testing in July - when it is possible we will receive a DX of Autism. It seems ironic to me that everone advocates early intervention when in reality it is very hard to find people who can work with a baby younger than 2! Howdy from Wyoming!
My name is John and I am a daddy to a wonder/energetic/loving little eight year old boy who is living with autism. I am really happy to have found this forum, and am looking forward to meeting many of you.
johnbigjohn.com Hi Everyone,My name is Mellissa and I have a 4 yar old son,Jacob,who was diagnosed with autism at 15 months.He is very happy and has been through alot.He is nonverbal and tries to use sign language and pictures,but gets confused and fustrated easily.He is very attatched to me and I can't ever leave him with anyone,it is very tramatic for him.At times he is happy at one minute and sad or screaming the next,I just can't understand why.My family doesn't really understand anything and try to tell me things like hes crazy,hes a demon,and so I can't really listen to them,even though I try and bring him around as much as I can,and I just block everything the say out.So I am looking for people that can relate and want to give me advice.I've tried different medications,diets,vitamins,therapies since the age of 15 months and he progresses the looses all that was taught.I want to ask if anyone has any advice on getting him to talk,I know he can ,he makes lots of sounds.I would love to talk to moms with similar stories..Its nice to be on this site. Hello, I am new here. My name is Jessie and I have a 3 year old son named Gabe. Gabe was just dx'd with AS/PDD last Tuesday. It did not come as a huge shocker. Gabe has been in therapy for almost 10mo now for apraxia of speech and sensory issues. He does not have any significant gross motor delays but seems to get tired with some fine motor controll things, like turning pages in a book. His social skills are lagging and we are going to be starting him in a social speech class to help him gain better social skills with kids. He does engage adults and some children but is not consistant. I am very excited that a friend pointed this forum out. Wow there is a lot of great info on here. Hello, I'm new to the board. I've been reading & thank you all for taking time to post...I feel blessed knowing I'm not alone and there is help out there. I'm Kim, an at home Army wife and Mom. We are currently stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX. I have 2 wonderful boys....Jacob 6yr dx--Autism/ADHD...and Joshua 2yrs dx--developmental delay, red flagged possible Autism. Jacob was only officially diagnosed in Nov. 2007. Each day I try to learn a little more. Joshua was referred to ECI at 18mos. This one totally turned me for a loop....not only did I have one child with problems...but yet another. I know I can't set around and worry...I've gotta stay strong for my boys. They are my life and have been since birth. Thanks again to everyone for their posts!adzz, What kind of help do you need? There is some cool stuff online already. Search youtube (alphabet song). I do web design and we are getting ready to make a flash program for my son. He is three and loves computers. Currently I have been working with him with object identification. I used my digital camera to take pictures of everything in our house and then just play it in a slideshow. I did the same thing for people he sees regularly and he has mastered that program. Also, what has really helped my son with his abc's, is the "Fridge Phonics" from Leap Frog. I think that thing is awsome and fun for kids. HelloIm creating a piece of graphic design based on the learning of the alphabet with autistic children. Any help appreciated! (I started a topic on the educational thread) adz Hello all! I'm Laura, Mom to Cameron (6.5 yrs, dx ASD @ 5), and Evan (4.5 mos, the suprise!). We live on the lovely East Coast of Canada, in Halifax, NS. I belong to several other parenting/general interest/mom related forums online, but I'm only now branching out to look for an autism board. I find with the new baby, things have gotten a lot harder very quickly. We're looking for answers.. where previously we've been able to cope and get by, we're now struggling to keep a handle of day to day life. Looking forward to getting to know all of you! :) Need help with my daughter Nicole she has aspergers and ADHD , per periods are very irregular and she is like a cat on hot tin roof and can lash out at us , if any parent of a Aspergers with ADHD and same problems like us can help us please let us know thank you OMG! You just described my son Jake! He turns 9 this weekend. He was born 7 weeks early, did the EI until 3, held him back in kindergarten as his language was severally limited. He's never shown any CP like symptoms, but everything else you describe is spot on! TV Cartoons, limited focus (put him on ADHD medication for school), no appetite when on meds, picks his fingers when on meds. When asked questions, rarely answers & changes the subject constantly. Although does not have accidents, I have to beg him to go to the bathroom (he waits until the very end I suppose!). He has no close friends and migrates to younger kids due to his verbal limitations. He gets attached and absored in a few tangible items. After initially being diagnosed with ADHD, we were not happy in that we KNEW there was much more to it. Someone that met him ONCE suggested he could be PDD-NOS and We recently had him professionally assessed. Sure enough, he was dx as PDD-NOS.I could write so much more, but I'm pretty sure they'd mimic your son Luke! Hi! I am the mother of a 9 year old boy who was born at 26 weeks weighing just 1 pound 6 ounces. He has been given the diagnosis of PDD-NOS, dyslexia, Combined type ADHD, Has mild spastic diplegic CP. We had him in the local early intervention program pretty much from the time we brought him home from the NICU until he aged out at 5 and was mainstreamed into the local school district kindergarten. We had him in school from kindergarten through 2nd grade with PT,OT, ST and para support. During his 2nd grade year I really did not feel like he was excelling like before and the teacher was just pushing him through whether he was getting the lesson or not. We had him medicated for the ADHD so they could have some control over him in school. During his IEP last year for this year they started pulling away with his services for PT, OT, and ST for his 3rd grade year. They assigned his para with 5 ADHD kids and she did her best just keeping these kids quiet and in their seats during class. My husband and I researched other options and decided this year to homeschool Luke. I do good by getting him to sit and work on lessons for an hour to 2 hours a day. I loose him after that and we cannot get anything done. I have decided not to stress over this and teach him at his pace and if it takes 2 years to do 3rd grade then we will do that. He is a very loving child, but he has trouble developing friendships that keep. He really can care less if he has other kids around to play with. He is in his own little world most of the time. He loves the computer and video games and several cartoons on cable. We thought we had him toilet trained last year and he has regressed back to having accidents and not taking the time to stop and listen to his body and go to the bathroom when he needs to. I gave up on real underwear and have him back in pull-ups most of the time. When we try to explain the reason we do things the way we are doing them he really doesnt hear a word of it. He has this stare that goes right through you and he quickly changes the subject. He does not like loud noises however he turns the TV up to the highest volume level. I dont understand that one? Anyway this is just a snip of our lives and I am just looking for some support in this. Oh and the ADHD meds only made him not eat and he felt like bugs were crawling all over him so when we brought him home to homeschool we have been trying not medicating him. Which accounts for the shorter attention span but if it doesnt make him feel like bugs are crawling on him and he eats thats a better toss up?Thanks Momtoluke Hi all, I sa new to this message board and have a 2 1/2 year old dtr dx'd with pdd-nos. I am recieving the ABA OT and speech therapies. I was wondering if anyone has heard of and has tried the sensory learning program based on the the Bolles method ( Mary bolles in Colorado developed the treatment). Basically it stimulates the vestibular, auditory and visual senses simultaneously in a controlled environment. the treamtent is intensive 30 days with use of some home light machine, and cost $3,500 (ouch). Their website reports great result with asd and adhd etc and the testimonials are amazing (of course all on their website). I am looking to see if anybody has heard of good / bad results and unbiased testimonials. My dtr has a huge senory component to her disorder, ie hand flapping and body rocking, sensory motor seeking and I am looking for some alternate sensory treatment other than the OT we are recieving, any input?? We are also trying to eliminate dairy first from her diet then gluten. thanks, mom to Amara Hi, I've posted a few times but figured I should introduce myself too... I'm Meg, I am a mom of three - 2 NTs and one sweet guy with PDD-NOS. Adam is nearly 6 and is a handful, a blessing, a headache, an angel. Hi Everyone,I want to thank mehernosh for all the info that was given to me.I am really seeing a change in Jacob's behaviors.He has been swimming on his own and is doing great.I think by getting him outside and being in the pool is doing wonders.The vitamins are given to Jacob every day and the epsom salt helps calm him.He is still on his meds.Now I feel like we are more relaxed and are enjoying the summer and I don't want it to end.Jacob is still not talking but if it continues like this I have hope that he will start.He is not on a special diet but does eat healthy.I wrote a book on the Lyme-autism connection with president and co-founder of the Lyme-Induced Autism foundation, Tami Duncan. http://www.lymebook.com/lyme-autism-connection Bryan I feel like a lot of good material is lost in this thread. For example, SSA and diet experiences. They would be easier to locate and get more focused responses if placed in the designated areas with the topic stated clearly. hi, everyone. well my name is lisa and my son's name is Tiger. Tiger hasAutism. I am married and have another son. My son was diagnosed when he was 3 (we knew since he was a baby) and now he's seven. He attends school. He is starting summer class (3 hours a day, 4 days a week, for 5 weeks). I need help with other parents that are going through the same thin that i am going through. I don't have money. I work full time. And the only help i get is through the school. OT did not help. He is currently taking Abilify and clonedine (Not sure of spelling). It brings him from a 10 to a 9. His doctor does not want to change his meds. We have tried many. None work. Muy son pinches, hits (us and his head) and bangs/kicks wall doors tv's. Is thre anyone out there that had a child that was like tiger. I am losing my mind! I've also tried the expensive diet of wheat free, dairy free. No help. Help! Welcome new members! lisatiger - I saw in another post that you were asking was "ds" and "dd" stand for. DS is "dear/darling son" and dd is "dear/darling daughter." You can check out other frequently used abbreviations at the following link. The abbreviation thread is found at the top of of each forum. http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20856&am p;PN=1 I also have a 7 year old son. He is not on any meds, but we did see aggressive behavior this past year. We dealt with it by having a Functional Behavioral Assesment (FBA) done and getting a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) in place at school. You may want to pose this as a new topic in the Parents of Children Living With Autism forum. I'm sure you'll get several responses from parents who have had similar experiences. < =text/>_popupControl(); Hi LisaTiger, My name is Mellissa.My son Jacob is 4 and is the same as your son.None of his medications work.He is taking risperdal,clonodine and ritalin right now and I haven't seen any change.He bites and pinches out of anger when he can't get his way.He is nonverbal so I understand the fustration he must go through.He is very loving twards me too.Its so confusing and I feel that i've tried everything.I had also tried the CF GF diet and seen no difference.Recently I put those Kinoki pads on his feet to try and detox his body and still nothing.He goes to school everyday and they have such a hard time with him also. He will only sit for 3 minutes at a time.The doctor just doesn't understand they think by incresing his meds hes gonna be better but when we've been through it all and it doesn't work don't you think that they would realize its not working and look more into the problem but intsead they cover it up with medications.Mellisa, You need to look into alternatives to the meds such as ABA and the many diets. I know these can be expensive but I don't like the sound of so many meds for a 4 year old. Maybe you have already tried these so if you have then I hope you have good doctors (Psychiatrists and Psychologists) who are experienced with working with ASD's.
meds, diets. He still hits, pintches, bangs doors, and yells bloody murder. I'm scared that they will take him from us. We had the police called on us. Of course they saw my son was diff. Its so frustrating. They never work. They just want you out the door. I've tried aba, ot diff meds, diets. He still hits, pinches, bangs doors, and yells bloody murder. I'm scared that they will take him from us. We had the police called on us. Of course they saw my son was diff. Its so frustrating. Hi, I am Sarah and I have a 4 1/2 year old girl with autism. She was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago, in Dec 2006. I have been doing biomedical intervention with her since then. Melissa and Lisa, I do understand because our son was non-verbal until age 4 1/2, hyper, couldn't sit still, threw things, hit me (I had many bruises, fat lip....) and his sister, couldn't be toilet trained...... But believe it or not it does get better and easier with age. Expose them to many people and experiences, typically developing children and children with asd's. Just keep on working and don't give up as it is worth it. If you feel the meds are too much then talk to the doctors and if they don't listen to you then maybe you need to look for different doctors. You know your kids best and your gut instinct is so important. Anxiety is your childrens biggest enemy so help them however you can to feel comfortable. Good luck, Merry
Hi everyone, I just found this board and look forward to using it. I've been looking for a board similar to this for some time. I'm a message board junkie at times. Anyways, I have 4 children and my youngest Hannah was diagnosed with PDD in April even though I knew something was going on long before then. Hannah is 3 1/2 and pretty much non verbal. She's not potty trained and a long ways from it. She also has seizures and she's a little hypotonic according to her neurologist. You wouldn't know the low muscle tone by the way she gets around. Anyways, she's definitely a handful. At this time she goes to ST twice a week and OT once a week. I'm seriously considering the GF/CF diet. I'm reading a book called Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, Allergies, Asthma and ADHD by Kenneth Bock right now. Hope I got that title and author right. Anyways, this book really has me thinking esp since she has lots of EIs and now my ped is reccommending allery meds. I just don't want more meds at this point. She already takes two anti convulsant meds as it is. So, I'm going to be looking for lots of input on the diet. We tried the ketogenice diet last summer for her seizures and it didn't work, so I figure this one can't be any worse. Ok, guess I've rambled about Hannah enough for now. My other 3 kids are Victoria 18, who just graduated high school, Robbie 15 and Laura 11. None of them are on the spectrum or even have any of the 4 A disorders. I look forward to posting here and getting to know you guys. Kelly I've been lurking for several days and I have posted a few times. So I guess I should officially introduce myself. I have 2 children, one of whom is "normal" (whatever that means). The other is high functioning autistic, and he is a blessing. My "normal" child isn't really that at all. She has life threatening food allergies as well as some sensory issues. I suspect she would fall onto the spectrum if I had her evaluated, but she also borders on being gifted. I don't want to "fix" what isn't broken, so to speak. I figure she is functioning through life just fine at this time. My son is receiving services through the school system this summer, which is limited right now. We just moved so I am looking for a private OT for extra help. He stims alot, rarely makes eye contact with anyone, but he has become very verbal at home. He is a riot. My sister and I get so tickled at the things he does. My mother says it is sad and we shouldn't laugh. Personally, I'm not sad and neither is my son. He is very happy with who he is and so am I. He is very smart and is building a substantial vocabulary, thanks to therapy. I am enjoying the forums for now and soaking up all the information I can get. Hello, I am new here. My son, Jaden, was just finally diagnosed with PDD-NOS today after fighting with doctors in two countries for three years! We are military and had been stationed in England for the past three years and met with insane resistance to help for him. Today, we met with an amazing doctor here in the US and he set us on the right path. I am just looking for support and a place to bounce ideas off people. Talk to you all later!Hi everyone! I am a single mom and have been the whole way through. My son just turned 8 and has PDD although I have been told by another parent that he may have Atypical Autism. Whichever it may be, I love him to death. He had a seizure disorder when he was a baby called Infantile Spasms (although he was older than 1 when they diagnosed him for it) that went away when he was 3 after medication. He has recently started having seizures again but a different type (thankfully only about once a month and lasting 10-15 seconds). I have yet to have him diagnosed for this because get this- the neurology center does not have the resources to put him to sleep during an eeg. So I'm trying to find other avenues. But I am mainly in need of parent to parent support in regards to my son's behavior. It is extreme and I know I am not alone. I have been to many autism online support groups and all they offer is facts. I don't need facts as I already know my son in and out. I would just like to know I am not alone and that perhaps finding out how other parents deal with their child's behavior could help me with mine (real life experiences somehow help me more than facts from a book, you know?). I think there should be a day in honor of parents who get beat up by their children and who take it with patience and a smile. Anyhow, this site looks promising. If anyone is in the same boat, please send me a message! I am all ears! Hi,kimbakim My son Jacob is five and has the same behaviors.He is always pinching and biting.He just started to get seizures about 2 weeks ago.We set up an EEG and it was unsucessful because Jacob will not sit still and screams the whole time. They will not put him to sleep to do this,but they want to try again.I definetly agree with you on a day in honor for parents who getbeat up. My family is always saying that one of these days hes gonna seriously hurt me.I talked to doctors about this and we tried many things but nothing so far. WELCOME to the Board kimbakim !!! Also a belated welcome to firewifey03, rene439, MomtoLuke and ajcush... and even those who appeared in the earlier pages on this thread. kimbakim, if there's one difference you see on this Board... it's that it offers not just facts, but lots of inputs from parents who are in the situations that you have in mind. They've gone through it, done it.... and still come out ok, and still alive But like b9st8 mentioned, it would be great if the subsequent issues at heart with our kids(or ourselves) are mentioned in the designated areas. Parents of Children Living with Autism is a good place to start. Then there's also Autism Education Issues, Treatments or even Hangout with Friends. Check them out... and with time, you'll feel the family atmosphere we have here as we seek the best for our kids in this long and challenging journey that we face. My name is Audy and I have 4 kids. None of which are vaccinated. We try to eat mostly organic and natural foods. I am a Christ Follower and a Pastor's wife. Oh, and I am so human. I'm new here :) My name is Barb and I have 3 kiddos (see pic below). My oldest is almost 19 now and was vaccinated, my almost 8 year old was selectively vaxed and my son, almost 5 was never vaxed and was recently diagnosed with PDD NOS - with " features of autism spectrum which would be more consistent with the spectrum of Asperger's" per the eval. We are just getting started on this journey. Trying to get an OT eval and discussion of sensory integration therapy. School is out here for summer (I'm in Arizona) so am hoping to talk to someone in the special ed dept asap about an IEP meeting to get services in place so my son can do either half day kindy or get a classroom aide or something since the big issue is his agressiveness and inability to function in large groups and follow social rules - he either refuses to participate or gets aggressive He is also incredibly bright, loving, creative and amazing. He swims, he climbs, he love video games - but he wont' sit down and let me teach him to read and he wont' even let me put the headphones on to try the music an OT friend gave me. We recently started a casein free diet and will probably go gluten free as well. We've already been limiting hfcs and artificial colors - eating as much organic as we can afford. We've started a behavior chart and I'm looking into weighted blankets and some other things that sound interesting and possibly helpful. We're also Christian (I'm actually messianic, a Jewish Christian, but thats a story for another day) and we've practiced gentle attached parenting with all three of our children. Glad to be here , to meet you all and to learn everything I can from you who have already been on this wild ride for a while. Thanks for having me Hi mu name is Amanda and I have three boys 19,8 and 9 all dx with aspergers. Oh and my hubby believes he is undx AS as well. I homeschool the younger two and the oldest is first year at uni. Life is certainly never boring in our house. Amanda Hey all, my name is Becki and I am the mother of 3 beautiful children, two boys ages 8 & 4 and a girl who is almost 6. My youngest son was offically DX with autism about 6 months or so ago. I have known deep down in my heart that I was dealing with some form of ASD or PDD since he was about 18 months old. He was doing OT thru the First Steps program for a physical disability (he was born with a clubbed right foot and has had 2 surgeries to correct it) and we started noticing alot of autistic tendencies. We went ahead and started treating it as such on our own because I was told that they would not offically DX him until after he turned 3. We started first by teaching ASL for all his basic day to day needs just to help him be able to communicate and not be so frustrated, because the more frustrated he got the more frustrated I got naturally. That helped ease his temper and agression quite a bit. He probably knows about 30 or so signs now. He was very stubborn about it (which I have to say he gets honestly) and would refuse to learn new signs. We out smarted him by teaching them to his brother and sister instead and when he saw that it got them what they wanted he started doing them too. We would sign and say the words at the same time and that has also helped his vocab a lot too. I was critisized by a lady I worked with one day for teaching him ASL when he wasn't deaf, doesn't that just show how ignorant some people can be? Anyway our biggest things now are bath time and it seems that his agressive side wins out a lot more lately. Bath time has been a big issue for over a year now, he tolerated baths when he was littler but now he would like you to think that I am beating him to death when I ask him to go to the bathroom and get into the tub. I finally one day decided to go to Wal-Mart and get a detachable showerhead and just give him quick 2 minute showers instead of making him endure sitting in a tub full of water. That doesn't seemed to have helped much but it didn't make it worse either so I feel like I am ahead there at least. His aggression has become a major issue over the last few months. I know part of it is typical 4 yearitus but he has gotten to a point where he will chase after the person who made him mad and either hit or try to bite them. He is very smart little guy but you can tell that he is so frustrated that he can't seem to get out what it is that he wants you to know. He is also very animated and one of the most loveable children I have ever met in my life. He is always the life of the party in a manner of speaking. hey there, my name is Jamie, I have a 3 yr old daughter named Jordan. I am going through the process of having her tested, I have known since last yr something was a little different with her, she asked a kitten its name and when she got no response from the kitten she put it under a wooden box lid and proceeded to jump up and down, the kitten ended up dying due to breathing complications, i was going into panic mode, near hyperventalation myself, while she sat and laughed the whole time. I questioned over and over in my head, what could be wrong with a child who is so emotionless? That was just on instance. She actually has a lot of other behavioral issues and her family DR seems to think its ADHD< but her therapist seems to thinks its Aspergers, of course its a long process to get things figured out. She has been tested to go into the early preschool program locally, she tested out as being smarter than many mid-range 4 yr olds, only just turning 3, in most areas, but her social and speech were def holding her back, she has an extensive vocab, but has difficulties with many words.She did get accepted due to delay of social interaction and some other social issues, so Im glad for that! So I guess Im rambling, but I just wanted to say hi and tell a little about my situation. I am having some other issues I wanted to discuss, but I will take them on out to the forums. thanks for listening! Hi! I am new to this forum and I hope I'm posting in the right place. My name is Suzanne and I have an almost 4 year old daughter, Janey, who was diagnosed with autism last December. It's taken me until about now to accept this. One of the reasons for this is that I've been in this place before! I have 2 sons also, William, who is almost 14 and Freddy, almost 11. William was diagnosed as autism at age 2, as having Aspergers at age 4, and then from age 8 on having nothing (being fairly Neurotypical I guess you call it) This isn't a result of us "curing" him or any major interventions, and I think the original diagnosis was incorrect. He was a preemie (born at 31 weeks, weighing 3.5 pounds) and I think it just took him a while to catch up. Anyway, I guess when Janey started showing signs that should have been a red flag, I wasn't ready to admit what had become obvious to many others for a while.Janey is a wonderful girl! However, she is tough! She is verbal in her own way (mainly delayed echolalia type talking, or set phrases, but she has a lot of them). She is quite musical and knows 100s of songs, but often gets "stuck" on one and sings it until she is crying not to sing it and can't stop. She has the lovely habit of reaching in her diapers and covering herself with the contents, which is becoming more and more of a problem. Sleep is also tough lately---she seems to have about a 2 hour period in the middle of the night where she is wide awake and wants to play. I really would love to connect to other mothers of autistic younger girls. It would mean to the world to me to have another mother of a young girl to talk with! Thanks so much! Suzanne Hello - I have lurked for a while and found inspiration, ideas, and most of all hope. Thanks to all of you. I have three wonderful children. My girls (11 and 9) are NT and my only issue with them is the guilt I have that I have to take so much of my attention and energy away from them to care for their 2 year old brother ( DX with PDD at 19 months). My little boy was a surprise - I was on birth control when I discovered I was pregnant with him! But he has saved me. I had been on anti-depressants for over 3 yrs. Once I realized my baby was going to need an extraordinary mom it gave me this clarity of vision. I do not need any drugs now - only prayer, hope and hard work. Anything for my baby. My name is J.J., my second child, Ryan was just diagnosed, and I am totally lost! He is 7, but he has struggled wih different problems his entire life. He was born 4 weeks early, with water on his brain. Thankfully, he did not require a shunt to be put in to help control the pressure. He did not talk until he was 2, did not walk until he was three. He had pneumonia and jaundice and rsv within months of birth. Getting this diagnosis was a struggle for us, since so many of the other problems 'masked' the issue according to the physicians. He has one brother older, one younger, and a baby sister that seem to have adjusted. The problem is his dad and I. I am consumed by guilt. (the guy diagnosing didn't help...he must have come up with 5 different ways of asking me if I was on drugs when I was pregnant. Of course not...) His dad won't admit the problem and argues with everyone who tries to point it out. (He is NOT THAT bad, he is just misunderstood.) We have struggled with teachers and daycare help, so maybe finally we can get some understanding, but I don't think so. Mostly, right now, we all feel like we entered a new planet, and no one provided us with a guide for this new foreign place.Hi I am a teacher for students with severe disabilities. I also have a nephew with Autism. He is going into the 3rd grade this year. I would be happy to give suggestions to anyone. I have many professional years of experience with junior high age up through adult. Hi, my name is Tia- this is my first time at these boards, but from skimming some of the other parents welcome posts, I think I found the right place. I have 2 sons, with another son on the way. Ewan is 3 and was just dx a month ago with PDD-NOS - we have suspected something wasn't quite "right" since he was very small, asked about autism at his 1 1/2 year check-up and got the final dx just last month. What is strange is we first suspected not because he was behind- but because he was ahead, by 1 he knew his shapes, numbers, letter, colors, but he didn't wave bye-bye, or really interact or care about people much at all. My other son Liam is (almost) 2- and the older Liam got, the more he interacted the more it became apparent Ewan was far behind. (When he was evaluated some of his social scores put him at around 9 months.) Although Ewan has a large vocab. he isn't so good at using words appropriately and often quotes movie/TV lines instead of choosing his own words. He gets overstimulated very very easy- making any place with people difficult. so just a big hi and hope I don't bug too much with all my questions
I raised my son alone most of my life until I got married last year to a wonderful man and my son has now got 3 step brothers who live with us also! That has been a massive challenge, my son growing up an only child, loving his own space and having social challenges being thrown into a large family! It has it's bad days but has taught him a lot, like how to share, use his words, be more patient and deal with a massive range of emotions, it's been hard on the other boys to understand him and his behaviour as they can't "see" his disability, I would love to chat with any other families who are blended step families with a child on the spectrum. Take Care! Hello, My name is Shelly I live in Indiana with my wonderful Husband & I have two Beautiful daughters. My youngest is 6 & NT. My oldest daughter was just dx 7/25/08 with Mild Asperger's. And displaying other spectrum traits. I'm still a little confused by the DX. Showing other traits on the spectrum ? Does that mean PDD-NOS or Highly function Autism? When I questioned B's doctor I was told she is very complex little girl. Picture a Overlapping Circle Chart... B would be in the center with little pieces of this & that. So, I'm assuming that is PDD-NOS. Does that sound about right? Today I'm feeling blue about the DX & a little Frustrated with my previous MD's. We been questioning doctors about her since she was about 2. Why are her tantrums so extreme (oh that's what toddlers do) why doesn't she show empathy? (Empathy is a learned behavior) Why is she so shy? (She'll outgrow that) Why does she appear to be sad (she is just a very serious child) Why is she so rigid in routine. (Oh, some children are just more comfortable with routine) Why doesn't she pretend? (Some children are more imaginative then others) Why does she seem uninterested. (She'll outgrow that when she matures a bit more) Ect.......I guess now I know it wasn't all because of our bad parenting. We switched Peds 4 mos ago & after 2 visits to our new Ped she said..."Have you heard of Aspergers?" I think we should get her tested. Once I started researching it I knew she had to be on the spectrum. So, it really isn't a surprise. I guess I wish I would of known this 6 yrs ago. Look what we could have done for her in those years!!! So, Yep I'm frustrated! Thanks so much for this board!!! I look foward to meeting you all! It will be wonderful to chat with others who understand. Beware: I have lots of questions! Shelly
Wow. Not sure how far back to visit all these posts...
I'm Michele. Think I've posted here before, but can't remember. I'm making the effort to be more involved now. I have an almost 10 year old with Pdd-NOS. Currently going thru some complete med changes and doing ok, except for unprovoked aggression. Anyone in Kentuckiana area?? My youngest twins (I have 2 sets), Taylor and Colin have autism on different spectrums. Taylor is very severe with behavioral issues, overeating (sensory) issues, is non verbal and hyperactive. Colin is mild mannered, has echolalia but verbalizes well, and has very little behavioral issues. All 3 of my challenged children are incontinent and in need of adult-sized diapers. I have been scrutinized by many that don't understand what it is like being the parent of these children. Schools constantly call social services at the slightest "autistic" habit (Taylor has been known to change herself and do so, by hiding before school). She wandered away just recently and the only thing neighbor's did was call the police. She snuck out through a door in my basement, after my being up with her all night long. I sleep very little, and we are on very short financial funds. My husband is estranged and gives very little child support, although is getting better at providing SOME income to us. I cannot work outside of the home because of the constant problems arising with autistic children, the schools, the IEP's, illnesses, behavioral issues, and of course, wandering. Support here in Kansas has not been good at all and I find myself alone with all of this almost every day. Even churches can't connect, and support groups are hard to get to because you are so limited to the house. I can't afford alarms or new door locks--don't even own a drill so trying to find some way to ensure she doesn't get out again. I will have to resort to sleeping on the couch, by the door, since every lock I have on, she has figured out. She is growing more and more independent in many ways, but because she is nonverbal, you don't know what is on her mind. She must be watched constantly because of things she will try to do herself, with everything from cooking to going outside. Even sleeping must be watched because she gets up during the night and roams. I am at a need of support and came here to this site. I hope others here understand what it is like to always be under the watchful eye of everyone else, but little will try to help or offer resources. I have been advised that I could put my daughter in a care facility (group home--she is 10) but, God gifted me with this child. I do not want to give her up--nor do I think I should give her up to the state. I love her and all my children to pieces, and just need some support/some help if anyone understands what I am saying. Thank you for listening. I hope to be active on the board. I am writing our government officials all the time but, so far, funding for those of us with special needs children keeps getting cut, as well as financial support. I hope, together we can get others to understand that, we are no different than anyone else. We just have challenges that need to be explored and understood. God Bless, Kelly Hi, my name is Barbara and I live in Fort Worth, TX. I am 53 yo, mother to three grown children and grandmother to seven. I have serious concerns about my grandson, Ian. He will be four on Aug. 20. I have suspected he has some form of autism since he was about a year or so old. My son (27) is in severe denial, regardless of the fact that Ian is not potty trained, does not speak in sentences, only has about a 40-50 word vocabulary, echoes everything that's said to him, throws violent temper tantrums when things aren't just so, loves to line up his cars in rows, will only stack his Legos according to size and color, doesn't want to be touched or looked at, so on and so forth. He thinks disorders like this are to easily diagnosed (ADHD, so forth) and the doctor's answer to things like this is to throw medications at it. My DIL is realizing (finally) that things aren't as they could be since the birth of their second son, now five months old. I have concerns for the baby's eventual safety when he gets to where he can crawl around. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can work with Ian when they come to visit? Any suggestions as to what else I can say to my son that might help convince him Ian (and his parents) need help? Any words of advice and support will be greatly appreciated! Thank you! Hi Barbara.. I am so sorry you are in this situation. Your grandson sure sounds like he is on the spectrum. My best friends son is like your grandson sounds and he is now 8 yrs old. He can get pretty violent at times. Perhaps if your DIL is starting to realize things are not right, maybe it will be easier. I think when your grandson si there, try to be a part of his play as much as possible. I would not push him to do what you want, but join in his play and use words. Whenever, he wants anything, hold it up in front of you and say "Look to grandma", forcing him to give you some sort of eye contact and immediately give him the object. The big thing I find with my son is lots of rewards and praise with lots of clapping. I really believe as the youngest gets older, they are going to see the differences. Hopefully, you will be able to talk to them. Get a couple of books om Autism and see if they will at least listen. It may be harder for your son to as it is his son..It sounds like you can make headway with your DIL...I wish you the best..Please keep on this site and keep us posted.. Sarah Mom2Braxton Age 8, SBS & Autism Mom2Sarita Age #, Plain Bossy :) Hey Barbara,Sorry about the situation- but I will say this- my parents first noticed my sons autism long before my husband and I did. They mentioned they thought he was different, and maybe needed some more help when he was only a year old, but he was our first son, now in a way that benefited us- because we adjusted to communicate with him however we could. Anyway- it took til he was 2 before my husband and I finally agreed that it was something, as in something that we should pursue further (we had mentioned autism at his 18month appointment, but more as a "minor" concern). Finally at 3 he was dx. I will say that the big thing that pushed my DH and I to get him tested further was our second son coming along, so I'm sure your DIL will find the older her second child gets the more she can tell there is something about her first. All I can say is keep trying, see if they will enroll him in head start or some kind of preschool as the teachers there will be able to see he needs help, and maybe if they hear it from a source of "authority" they will listen. Tia- Mommy 2 Ewan (3) PDD-NOS, and Liam (2), and Kian (due in Nov.) Hello Everyone. I kind of already introduced myself before I saw this... LOL A quick recap, my name is Carrie and I live in South Dakota. I have a 3 year old son, Tyson, who is very very advanced for his age, and I have a 20 month old daughter, Kyann who has not yet be dx'd with autism, but I know we are headed in that direction. For a long time people kept telling me she was fine, but seemed behind because Tyson was so advanced. Her normal ped is JUST NOW admiting that she does appear to be behind, but doesn't want to 'worry about anything' until she's 2. So far I've gone above my ped and gotten Kyann into the early intervention program. We're about 5 therapy sessions in and we get the results of her sensory profile today. I also went above him and scheduled an appointment with a developmental ped (only 1 where I live), but that appointment isn't until Nov. 20th, only 8 days before Kyann's 2nd birthday. Like I said, she's 20 months old, she just now STARTING to walk. Meaning she'll walk across the room, but still for the most part prefers crawling. She has around 20 words/sounds that she uses, some just by mimicking her brother. She is actually very very good with those of us she knows. It's strangers that she can't handle. She'll make herself sick screaming in some strange places, and the next place she'll be fine in. For example, I can take her to the store or mall with me and people can talk to her and touch her and she's fine. But if I so much as pull into my church's parking lot the screaming starts. My husband and I have found that really we are her only advocates and we're doing as much research and trying to reach out to people who can help guide us (I'm SO excited I found this board!!). Like I said, we don't have a dx yet with her, but we both feel like with what early intervention is doing and telling us, this is the direction we're headed. Hi All...My name is Vickie ( or Willow on line ). I live in Kentucky and I have 4 children, ages 25g, 24g, 23b and 9b (10 in less than a week). Also have 6 grandchildren ranging in age from 3 months to 10 yrs old. My youngest son, Jake, was previously diagnosed ADHD with a specific learning disability in math. His most recent dx, which was finished in July of this year is... Asperger's Syndrome, Mood Disorder NOS, ADHD, Pragmatic Language, specific learning disability/math. He is prone to tantrums and aggression ( provoked and unprovoked ) as well as extreme mood swings. I have a great support person in my mother and with Jake's special education teacher. ( he's in 5th grade, main stream with some pull out in resource classes ). His dad is so-so, mostly just ignores most of what is going on. My older children are as supportive as they can be in that they live hundreds and in one case thousands, of miles away. Frustrations run high here on an almost daily basis. However, Jake and I are learning together and coping together as well. I am so glad that I found this forum! Just having other parents of special children to talk with, vent with...cry with, laugh with, etc...is a blessing! I am sorry I forgot to introduce myself before posting for the first time. I have 2 sons (3 years and 6 months old). Both have SPD. My 3 year old has speech issues after having advanced speech development. It just seemed to regress over a very, very short period of time. He has some weak muscle tone and has auditory issues. His speech therapist, OT and doctor all are concerned about autism/PDD. We are currently searching for a formal DX. Our 6 month old has SPD, reflux and something else that we can't put a finger on yet.
He does attend school in a contained classroom and I have had to fight every step of the way to get him what he needs. He has actually begun to want me to read to him and then he tries to read to me We moved into a bigger home with more land last year and we had problems with 2 neighbors who felt like our son had no right to be out of the yard..At first Braxton was escaping with the dogs and thsi led to neighbor calling CPS everytime. CPS finally told him he could be charged with a gross misdemeaner for false reporting and that stopped..However, this neighbor has come to my yard calling su names, etc. We have no idea why. He told his kids that Braxton was stupid, etc..We go on walks often and make a point to say hi to them, etc..I think he may be mellowing down some now, but it really affected me as Braxton's mom. I just thank God that my son is sheilded by his autism... Anyway, Braxton is doing pretty well. We are having problems with tantrums when saying "NO" and trying to deal with this. Hopefully, someone has some ideas to try. Sarah Just a quick hi from me - my name is Erin, and I live in Raleigh, NC with my husband and 3 children, ages 6 and under. My sweet little man, Marcus, (will be 4 in Oct) was dxd with classic autism this past February. He is currently attending a small private ABA school in Cary and is making progress. He is verbal and has a tremendous vocabulary, but is very echolalic and we still aren't to the point of having a real reciprocal conversation... my dream someday. My quirky fun-loving only daughter and oldest child, Jordan (age 6, entering 1st grade), has oculocutaneous albinism - a rare genetic condition. I used to worry about her so much and then we got the autism diagnosis. I'll now take the albinism diagnosis any day. Finally, I have a cherub of a boy named Brendan, who will be 2 in Octoer, NT. He's a ham and a flirt all rolled up into one. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and networking with people who understand. I can't believe I'm just now finding this forum... I'm a proud dad of a child that has PDD and maybe Aspergers. He is in 3rd grade and it's been difficult. My oldest son has emotional problems and has aspergers. The doctors told me it's to early to determine Aspergers until 10 years old. Anyway, I'm a special education advocate in NYS. If anyone has any questions about there son or daughter please contact me. School districts reduce related servces every year. Thank you for hearing my story. Wayne Rock. Im new here. I have twin girls and one of my girls have many delays. We are pretty sure she has autism just by the symptoms and the reports that Early intervention services have told us. We will find out more this week.Hello every one i'm so glad to have found this web site! my 11 year old daughter has p.d.d and after dealing with all of lifes up's and downs i feel lonely sometimes because i don't know anyone else with a child junes age to talk to. I have a great sapport system at junes school and at home but i have so many question's that i don't think the people around me can help me with like: dose anyone one have insite to how to deal with teen emotins, body changes and dealing with kids at school whom seem to think picking on my daughter is a sport! thanks so much for lisening patti Hello everyone! I've been checking out this site almost daily for a few weeks, and thought it was time to join in. I am so relieved that I found this site; it is so comforting to know that there are others out there with similiar problems and situations. My ds is 10 and was recently dx'd with ASD. He has been in special programing at school since he was 4, and is now in 5th grade. We have known since he started school that Michael had delays, so the official dx of ASD wasn't a complete surprise. I hope that the site will continue to allow me to be a strong advocate for my ds, and along the way I hope that I will be able to occasionally have support when I need it, and return the favor to someone else when they need it. hi my name is stefanie i have hfa an learing disibiltys im an artist an do gust speaking sometimes to patrent an teachers Hi, my name is Leslie and I have a son who is almost 13 with autism who was diagnosed when he was almost 3. It has been a very rough life to live and doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon. When he was diagnosed we were told he would never speak or be able to take care of himself. My husband and I divorced soon after, he stayed in the picture to help out by watching our kids while I worked full-time went to college (accellerated weekend schedules) and found programs to help our son. I was very lucky that after calling everyone in the packet after he was diagnosed ended up finding a group in Lawrence KS that ran a program at the university that used the ABA method and thought my son had potential. They worked with him for 3-5 while I fought with the DeSoto KS school district where he went to a special ed preschool. I ended up moving to Lawrence to get my son in the school district when he was ready to enter Kindergarten because DeSoto's only option was to put my son in a completely separate room with ALL non-verbal, mostly down syndrome children (I get frustrated just thinking about the day I visited the school that they said was my only option for him, even though he was starting to speak). Since moving to Lawrence, my son went to what was considered a cluster elementary school and we have had great success there. Now, my son is in Middle School and we face alot of different challenges, which is what brings me here today. [QUOTE=wings22] Hey does anybody have twins...they both have autism or just one i would love to talk to you let me know..Tanya [/QUOTE] i have a friend he an identical twin he hf like me an his brother is lf an live in specvil housing Wings-- I have 2 sets of twins. Oldest set, boys--one has spastic dysplegia. Other just has rebellism (in other words, he is typical..lol). Second set is boy/girl. Both have autism, but totally different ends of spectrum. taylor is nonverbal, severe behavioral issues, lots of sensory issues, and very high strung. Her brother doesn't speaks but isn't understood (we call it, Colinism, cuz his language is so unique). He reads and writes 2 or 3 levels above his grade so, when we can't understand what he is saying, he can write it. He also has sensory issues, but mild. Taylor's autism progresses/regresses/progresses. Colin progresses with each year, although in most areas, below his age level--mostly developmentally. God Bless, Kelly Hi, I have a 22 month old boy with ASD. He was diagnosed 3 months back and it was a biggest shock to us. I knew very little about Autism and knew no one with it. I am trying to find what I can do to help him. We started him on Early Intervention program few weeks back and he is receiving 3hrs/week ABA and 2hrs/week Speech Therapy. That itself is costing us 700 $ per month. I heard that 20-40 hrs of therapy is recommended. What should I do? Where should I go? I am in NJ and insurance doesn't pay anything and even with Govt sponsored Early Intervention we are ending up paying alot. What are the other resources to try to get additional therapy? Can we get any financial help? Harini Hi everyone! I'm Jayci. My beautiful 5 year old son, Noah, was diagnosed with PDD- NOS at three years old. I always knew I loved him, but when he was diagnosed, my love for him grew more than I could have ever imagined. He has made amazing strides over the past 2 years. He is more verbal and can actually carry on a conversation with me. I can't tell you how happy I was when he pretended to cook for me and we played store! He melts my heart. I am from Canada. i have five children ranging in ages from 20 - 11 yrs old. 3 boys and 2 girls. Our youngest dd has ASD She was diagnosed over a year ago now. I have learned to see the world in a new way. I have enjoyed reading the posts and decided to join. Hi, my name is Trinity. My only son Sam, 5, was just (today!) dx as PDD. He also has sensory issues and is having a pretty difficult time in kindergarten. Hi, my name is Kelly and I too have been reading for a while before I decided to post. I have 2 children that are not on the spectrum, but I have 2 step-sons that are. I have been with them for almost 4 years and have learned alot. We've learned to be vary creative. It's nice to be here and I hope everyone has a wonderful day! Hello! We have a 4 yr old son who has ASD. We are excited to chat with all of you about the every day dealings that go into raising a child on the spectrum. We have certianly had our challenges thus far but it's refreshing to know others are going through the same experiences. I hope we can help each other through these experiences. Hello everyone my name is Melissa I am 24 yrs old and the Mother of 3 My 3yr old son was diagnosed with Autism yesterday. I knew he was quirky and had some speech delays but I was certain it was just his unique way of doing things. I just want to know why is it "cars" that are always used as the typical autistic childs obsession? what is it about them? When my DS was one and first started showing the signs of obsessive behavior it was ink pens he loved but now it is cars. I look forward to learning all that I can and I am so greatful I found this forum because I feel so lost.I have two children I adopted from foster care as babies, my son was 2 months premature and my daughter was 16 months old, they are now almost 7 years and 5.5 years, there has been problems from the start but all the specialists always have had something else to say, the neuro and the psych both believe that my son is ASD but my daughter has several symptoms as well they were both etoh, thc and coc exposed, my daughter to god knows what
but it has been a long journey and I have seen a lot of drs everyone has something to say but no one wants to put themselves out there for some reason I guess they are waiting for some kind of severe injury, just because all the piees don't fall into place perfectly, however after I nearly lost my son at a festival, he was literally gone and found by security I had to make my own acceptance, Drs have been saying since the beginning that "there is definately something different, special etc, but we dont know what" ya well after 3 collge degrees, 18 years in law enforcement and living with these 2 little ankle bitters for 5 1.2 years, I have a few things to tell the Drs. Hello I am Angela. I also am very glad to find this site. My son is 6 years old and has been diagnosed Pdd-nos since he was 4. But we knew things were not right at the age of 1 year. Probably earlier than that after reading things from the DSM. My son just started school 2 weeks ago. He is mainstreamed.I just got a phone call from school today. They put my son on the phone right away. He told me he had gotten into a fight. He was actually crying (a little). They said they are trying something new this year by letting the kids talk to the parents so maybe they might think twice about making a bad decision. I am just sick about this. He had served 2 detentions last year in KINDERGARTEN. He tends to follow. Definately not a leader. I have told him over and over to just walk away if it is something that you should not join in on. He feels he needs to stick up for other people too. I'm still not sure what happened today. I had a problem with the dicisplinary actions with the school last year. They are trying something new this year. I gues I should give it a shot. I just know that I will never get the real story about what happened on the playground today!!!!!ange I have an ADHD son who has hit kids, SIX TIMES in SIX DAYS! So don't get too upset ... it could well be he would benefit from meds for impulse control. I would take copies of conduct slips to your doctor. Hi, I am from far away Singapore. This is such as a wonderful site full of interaction and sharing of experience. I am happy to stay!Hi all, In our home and haven, The Spectrum rules! Meet us: the attentive people-person husband the caring vet-to-be (son, 16) the fun-loving movie maker (son,13, PDD-NOS) the smart and lovely fond-of-horses youngest (daughter, 11, AS) me, the mom (AS/ADD) Good to be here… Raaf Hi,Unlike many parents of children with autism, I knew something was different about my son the day I brought him home from the hospital. However, it wasn't until our USAF clinic recommended early intervention services at age 1.5 that the mystery finally began to unfold. We've learned a lot, and have made a lot of progress. My son just turned 5 and has started mainstream Kindergarten. I'm here to learn about and share the tips, tricks, and lessons learned that we all benefit from as people who love and care for children with autism. Much luck to all, DJS Hi Everyone! I'm Rebecca, mother of Dezarae (Desiree) who is 3. We do not yet have our diagnosis, but we are on waiting lists. From all of the research that I have done about ASD, I am fairly certain that Dezarae will be found Autistic. We just finished our MFE with the school and the appointment to go over the findings is on the 30th. I am hoping that she will be able to start in the Special Needs Pre-school soon. Dezarae is just the light of my life. She fills my world with joy and love, and I could not ask for a more perfect dd. Right now it is just so frustrating not being able to help her on my own. While I am on all of these waiting lists I feel like each day is a precious opportunity lost to be getting her real therapy so that she can be making progress. I already know what the docs have yet to tell me, and being patient and waiting for them is very difficult. I have been reading these boards for a while now, and I am so greatful for all that I have already learned. It is so comforting to know that I am not as alone in this as I sometimes feel. I look forward to contributing, and to getting to know you all better! Welcome to both of you! I have found so much comfort and caring here. I know you both will feel the same. Glad to have you as part of the family.
God Bless, Kelly Hello everyone. I have a 5 yr old daughter with PDD-NOS. Her doctor thinks she is doing great and has only recommended a 1ml daily dose of prozac. I think she needs more help so I'm reading books and surfing the net like an obseesed person to decide what to do for her. She is very loving and affectionate. She can talk, in fact she babbles constantly but can seldom carry on a conversation with you. She is in mainstream kindergarten but she does have a para and I am told about challenging issues every other day or so. I have already learned so much from all of you just by reading your posts. Thank you so much to all of you who make this site a possibility.
Welcome SM! This site has given me so much info, just by reading what has worked, not worked and seeing others that go through the same thing as I do. Taylor was on Lenexa--and Clonadine--both of which reacted wrongly in her and made behavioral issues worse. I am now going the biomed route--slowly, cuz it is expensive--by using fish oils and b6 and magnesium. The KU Med center here just keeps trying new drugs and I don't really want to keep going through this, until we find the right one. It could be years before the right combo works, and really, after 10 years, I kinda have had it, ya know? The parents here seem to really know their stuff--I trust most of them more than I do docs, because many have the same results and really notice more than a doc that sees our kids only a few minutes, every month or so. I come here every morning to read, and then do research to see if Taylor fits in there to try it. I know you will get the same feeling of being in the right place. God bless and good to have you on board, Kelly hi my name is Krissie. I have three children. I have three year old twins, and a two year old. My twins were born 14 weeks early and were very tiny. Ryley who is twin A, shows signs if Autism. He does not communicate, does not interact with peers, has no pretend play, has intense meltdowns, hates crowds, watches Sponge Bob over and over. Now I notice that he hits his head and is mean to his sister and little brother. He also has a fascination with strings, and likes wheels. He is getting tested in November. I was just wondering if this sounds like autism. I would like to talk to other parents, and is there any other advice or information I should know? Or anything else I should try to watch for? I greatly appreciate any advice.. Please email me at KrissieHoward@Live.com with any ideas or advice. Once again thanks[QUOTE=Firefly] WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE] hi my names rachael i have a 4 year old with mild pdd nos i also have a 18month old son displaying obvious asd signs yet to be assesed my husband is mild asd asperger i came across this site by accident ,im glad i did i read all the goss and pic up great advice thanks every one who cares you are a wounderful group of caring humans cheers from australiaHi, my name is Tina and I will be 31 soon. Cody is NT but has speech therapy and OT for his ADD (which is clearly now under control). John is a long story but in short, he was not supposed to make it, he suffered brain damage in utero due a malfunctioning placenta, was deemed mild CP and he is clearly exhibiting signs of PDD-Nos and we are heading towards the diagnosis now :( At first they thought he had Angelman's Syndrome but the DNA/karyotype came out normal plus he started speaking shortly before we got the test done so we knew he didn't have it (AS kids do not typically speak). I am in a state of shock right now, trying to wrap my head around this new diagnosis and I hope I can get loads of information here. Thanks for reading, Welcome to all newbies. I haven't been over to this side and just noticed new names. Rho--welcome. I have 3 on the spectrum...I am sending you HUGS! Glad you are here. Choc--welcome to you too! My oldest boy has SD (Spastic diplegia), which is a mild form of CP. We don't know the exact cause. I am being contacted by specialists in law now, since I went to one site and signed up to their newsletters, trying to get me to find out the reason behind it--not sure if that is what I want to do or not. It's been 14 years and, really--I don't want to go through anything legal for money--I just want my son to do well, so I have been avoiding their emails. Tiger--Welcome! I found the best teacher for us is our kids. the spectrum is so broad and no two are alike in every way. Feel free to ask questions when you wonder if anyone else is going through what you do, and advice--I have followed so much on here, and tried new things, thanks to so many sharing and letting me know what worked and didn't work for them--then I find out what works and doesn't work for me--my kids will have no problem letting me know--sometimes, in unpleasant ways..lol Blessings to all and welcome again, Kelly
Hi there. Today we were told by our speech pathologist that our beautiful son William had a number of signs of autism. My heart sank - because I don't know enough about it - and it tears us up to think that our little boy who is nearly 3 is going to have to do it hard. I thank each of you for your comments - they help me understand and learn Hi there!My name is Dawn. At the moment I'm nine years into the joys and stresses of raising a child with autism. I'm the author of The China Doll, a picture book designed to teach children in grades K-3 about autism, particularly in general education classrooms and other social settings. (The first print run quickly sold out, and the book is temporarily out of print while I find a new publishing house.) I also have a story in A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism. To cope with the challenges of dealing with people who don't understand autism, I designed informational handout cards and t-shirts for use when I'm out with my son, and in 2005 I started Autism Gear to offer these and other awareness items to others who might find them helpful. I enjoy every chance to chat with others who know what it's like to have a house locked up like Fort Knox, and I look forward to being a part of this forum! Hi, Kelly! Nice to "meet" you! Thanks for the warm welcome. I just sent a message to the admins--looking back, I realized my original message might be misconstrued at trying to sell my books, but as one is out of print and the other doesn't earn royalties, I hope anyone looking at this realizes sales weren't my intent at all! My message was simply intended to let you know who I am and where I'm coming from, and everything I shared is all a large part of who I am. I'm not myself if I'm not writing or creating something. Sounds like you've got your hands full! You're quite right, every day is different, and it's always nice to know we're not in it alone. It also helps when others remind us to step back on occasion--sometimes I'm so close to the situation, I lose perspective and miss the obvious. People often tell me they're amazed at how well I deal with my son, which always surprises me because I don't feel I'm nearly as good as other moms I know. I think those occasional feelings of inadequacy and frustration are just part of the job. Thanks again for the welcome, and I hope to see you around the board! Welcome Dawn! You will find a lot of comfort, understanding and answers here. The people here are amazing. I just wish this was face to face! I would love to take a look at your books. I love that you had the initiative to do that as well. Kudos to you. I am 14 years into the spectrum, with all sorts of different challenges. I didn't know anything about autistic traits 14 years ago, and didn't realize Asperger's in my 13 y.o son until just recently--because he was diagnosed with DS (a form of CP) and I went with that. It wasnt until just recently I remembered all the things he did as a child, that pointed to autism-maybe cuz he wasn't as severe as his friend from EI that was severe, like taylor. It wasn't mentioned that he had Asperger's traits until recently and it all clicked in. My 10 y.o twins are on the spectrum, at different levels. taylor is severe while Colin is on the higher functioning, lower end of the spectrum. Each day is different, as you know. I wake up in the morning, put my feet on the floor and say, "Okay, God..youre in charge cuz I don't think I can do this alone again". He hasn't failed me yet, and it's a good thing cuz, there are days I feel I am failing, only to come here and realize, I am not. :) God Bless and hope to hear more from you, Kelly Hi, I am Stacy. I am a Special Educator and have worked with individuals with autism for the past 12 years. I have two boys (under 3)!!! they keep me extremely busy when not at work. I also run a website with free information about teaching children with autism. I am very much interested in getting information out to school teachers who are new to the field and don't have access to the typical paid trainings and conferences.
Rho Hi I am Craig. My daughter Allie was diagnosed with PDD-NOS in February of this year (2008). This forum looks like a great place to talk (vent) and read about others that understand us. Our daughter is 5 and has just started Kindergarden. She barely talks and does not know how to communicate her needs. She often wakes up through the night and does not want to go back to sleep for hours. She is very picky of what she eats and only eats a handful of foods. My wife worries constantly about her while she is in school as she cannot communicate. She has taken this whole thing pretty bad and has become obsessed at being angry at God and the world. Sometimes she tells me that it is my fault that Allie does not speak, because I am farely quiet. My wife is a different person, and is always mad and complaining at everything now. I don't know what to do or how to help her. She now sleeps with Allie (It helps Alllie sleeping through the night), but I end up sleeping by myself. I feel that I am losing my wife. Allie is a wonderful child and I love her so much. Hey all, I'm Elaine My son, Carson is 5 years old. He was diagnosed with Autism (High Functioning) a year and a half ago. He has since improved tremendously with his communication. He not only speaks well now, but he reads at a grade 3 level. I got him encouraged with writing (since there was no interest whatsoever) by giving him a nintendo DS (combining his computer skills with no writing skills - and making it work). Within one hour he knew how to hold the stylus pen and work the games. He has since written letters (not clearly but not bAD!), and reads encyclopedias, coffee table books on Nascar, and all sorts of other stuff that's way ahead of him. My newest concern is his lack of attention to his hygiene, and no help with people at his school. He is in SK and sometimes comes home with pee all over his pants/socks etc. It seems as though he gets no reinforcement or encouragement to follow through with instructions. I'm more worried about his social abilities and improving on that. I do also worry about him being so smart he will get bored. I'm happy/proud and excited for him, yet it's still so frustrating, even on our good days. My daughter is 2 years old, and he loves her to death... she recipricates! I love my family. :) Hi my name is Donna I have a son who is 20 years old he has Autism and its been a rough road for both me and him he brings me more joy than heartache and I wouldn't change him for the world he is in the special olympics with a number of gold medals we live in Newfoundland Canada I'm very proud of him Donna Hi, my name is Karen and my son has just been diagnosed at autistic at 5 1/2. I am really glad to have found this sight. I have never done this before so I may make a few mistakes, but then I have never had an autistic son before and I think I'm doing ok so far. I have found it hard to find other parents with autistic children to talk to, so hopefully I will find some here. At the moment we are having hard time teaching Alex to be gentle with new puppy, even thinking of giving it away, the puppy that is lol. He just does not understand the meaning of someone or something being hurt. This is driving me mad, so if any one out there has any tips, I am listening.Hey all i am Gavin.I have worked with people with Autism for the last 7 years and also have a stepson with Autism. I run a Autism social network here as well http://www.autismnetwork.co.uk. I hope it is ok to put that here. Hi, I'm Seleste from Singapore. My 2yr 8mth old son has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, and I'm desperate to know what I can do to help. Glad to have found this site. Thanks
Hi Seleste, The earliest you could get help the better for your child. I guess the first hurdle is to overcome the denial period of your son is autistic which I believe you already did. Next, you could either confirm on the 1st diagnosis by a second opinion or get recommendation from 1st clinic to understand which area of therapy is needed urgently. This could be motor skills, communication, life skills, speech therapy or any others. Once you know which area is needed, go for early intervention and start it as soon as you can. Visit this website for Singapore autism related advices. http://singaporeautism.blogspot.com which has some information for you to look for clinics for early intervention and other therapy. Let me know if this helps.
Hi, I am Fatima, and my son Y will turns 3 and 5 months on the 17 th. He is my youngest after having 1 DD (NT) and 1DS (NT) Y was dxd with ASD (classical autism). When he was dxd at the age of 33 months old he has exihibted a language delay (he had around 100 ~150 words) and even though he could use two words sentences he did not really use them daily (he had just started requesting but no shared interest). He was very difficult baby (hard to fall asleep and hard to calm down if he got upset-usually we did not know the raison for his meltdowns especially after his first birthday). But we never suspected autism, because he looked very happy and he was and still very good at imitating (he used to dance to music and laugh when we play with him). further more he started to be fassinated with letters and numbers at a very young age (by 2 he knew all the alphabet and could recognise small and big letters and also could count to 20) but he had only two words (for water and juice but no mamy nor daddy until he was almost three(I think that my son has hyperlexia on top of his autism dxs). Now that i rememer when the odd stims showed up or perhaps became more apparent -looking while turning his head to the sides or looking from different angle(at around 30 months) at that time also we noticed that he really was ignoring us especailly his siblings and my DH. We really don't know if the vaccines have any thing to do with his autism but we do now think that his real regression started at around 12 months and regressed further later on. He did have mild fever after being vaccinated them (being too busy with his siblings I now blame myself for not noticing any thing was wrong untill that dreadful day). When we accidently heard the word autism (a mother I was talking to told me that her daughter was just diagnosted with autism while she was hoping that she will be told that it is a language delay)-That was the shock of my life -MY GOD That is what my son has, he does not have a language delay We started ABA privetely(and still do for 10 hours a week)4 months after we relised that our son might be autistic by that time he had already 100 words that he used only to label. With ABA he learned mostly action words and to play more functionnely for his age (I hate that word A freind that I met on another discussion forum directed me here and I am really liking it (i has been 2 months since I started reading your posts). We live in Montreal, Canada Thank you for reading PS: really sorry for the long and rambling message (English is not my first language) My name is Angie I have 4 children my two youngest are on the Autism spectrum. My DD is 6yrs old and was dx with PDDNOS in Feb of 2004. She is in Kindergarden currently and doing fairly well with everything. She has a lot of sensory and personal boundry issues. My son who is the youngest of my 4 has a dx of autism with regression. He is 2.5 yrs and was dx in July this year. I have 2 older daughters who dont understand autism. My life is my kids, I get stressed out and upset by things they do but manage to handle it all well.. We have had genitic testing done on our son and also a EEG, EKG and MRI. They have found no genetic causes at this point we are still waiting on some more in depth test resutls. They did find he had an arrythmia during his EEG and there were some white spots found on his brain during the MRI but they arent worried about them. I hope to talk with you all more.Hi. My 6 year old was diagnosed with Aspergers 6 months ago. I have questions about IEP's, detox and allergies. We are in regular 1st grade classroom but having issues with staying on task, and absorbed by current favorites (drawing monster houses, indiana jones). He is academically on par, but teacher is requesting an aide so he does not fall behind. I am searching for answers on IEP's and Pennsylvania wrap around services, how to enroll, which are good/bad, etc. We started the GF/CF diet after a tonsils/adenoids removed in May and have seen some improvements with social skills and insight (ability to tell me why something is bothering him). I am also searching for a DAN doctor in Pittsburgh. We have been doing this on our own -we are ready to start enzymes, probiotics, detox and want some guidance. Also just started hive breakouts - 5 over the last 2 weeks. Blood panel came back negative for all the usuals (peanuts, wheat, dairy, soy). I have a hunch the soy is causing it so we removed soy now too - running out of things to feed him! Help! Anyone out there? Hi I'm new. I'm coming over from the Babycenter Boards because they've changed. My son was diagnosed with PDD seven months ago. He's four and in a PPCD as well as private pre-K with a shadow. He also does ABA with two therapists in our home two hours each day and we have an ABA consultant from Dallas who comes once a month to provide supervision and additional training for us. We started the GFCF diet six months ago and also elminated peanuts and soy because of allergies. We're doing a number of vitamins/minerals and also probiotics. He's always been a very verbal child with very few stims, but lots of disruptive behaviors (hitting, screaming, kicking, throwing, screaming). Since last spring we've seen some good slow steady improvements in behaviors, but they still flare up on a regular basis. During the past six months ABA and school has helped learn several letters of the alphabet, the ABC song, how to ask the "w" questions, how to write a couple of letters in his name, and most of his colors. I'm excited to join this group and learn from the vast experience of others! Hi all my son is rather young, 9mo but is exhibiting some "red flags". Are ped has suggested we work on these area now rather then wait for a dx. I can't wait to meet you all and learn from you Hello! My name is Shannon and I have 2 beautiful daughters: Katelyn, 27 months, who is being evaluated for autism/pdd, and Ashley, almost 5 months. I am so grateful that I found this forum because we are trying to help Katelyn before her evaluation so that we do not waste any more precious time. Hi, I am new. My name is Tina, and I am blessed with two wonderful children. Jasper is five years old and just started kindergarten this year. He is all boy and loves airplanes, friends, school, singing, and Spongebob. My duagher Makena is almost 4, and she is all girl. Everything has to be pink, and she loves dress-up, princesses, Dora, ponies, mermaids, etc. I love my kids to bits, and they are a real blessing in my life and I am thankful for them everyday. October 29, 2007 Makena was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. She is about a year or so behind but is making leaps and bounds. It was a tough process emotionally, but we all felt very much relieved when she was finally diagnosed and we could get her the help that she needed and move on with all our lives. I think that once I figured out that despite her "label", my sweet little girl hasn't changed...she is still the Makena I love so much, I was able to accept it. She is funny, smart, beautiful, she has big brown eyes, dark brown hair, and oh yeah, she has autism...and that really is the way it is. I am glad that I found this place so that I can find other's who "get it" when I am happy that my almost 4 year old daughter is able to put a sock on her foot! I hope to make some friends here and I look forward to getting to know everyone. :) Welcome JASMAK We are all here to help you.....Welcome Hello, everyone. I'm a mother of 7 and 5 boys. The older is dxed with ASD, anxiety and with ADHA features, the younger is awaiting the offical dx, possible with the same dx as my older one. Oh, I forgot my older one has eating disorder, too. I'm new to this board, but not to Autism. It has been two years from the time when my older son suffered a huge regression, and all signs of autsim suddenly showed up. My younger's speech stopped developping around 3ish, and some regression after he started early intervental preschool becasue it was not for kids with PDD. My older boy is making great improving since last year with the right placement. Now he is a PDD special Ed based on ABA with his younger brother who is starting make some progress. Now, emotionally, I have to say, I'm finally on the other side. I've found ways to deal with autism. I barely care what other people think of us. I don't give a damn for their dirty looks when they see my older son flaps his hands in public when he gets excited. For me their anxieties it is the hardest thing to due with, of courses, beside fighting the right services for them. They shut down completely when they are in fear. I'm a believer of ABA. I've learned as much ABA as I can from books. I run my household based on ABA and good old fashion time out. My kids see time out as "jail time". They take that very seriously. Our home life is happy with some short meltdowns, usually due to anxiety. Lucky us, We can travel without many problems. We can dine out, go to shopping, the parks, but no moives. Our family life is good. They are not on any diet, drugs and supplements. It seems all the conventional treatments, OT, ST, PT are working fine for them. However, I think they can be doing better if they can get more often of those sevices. I don't think PDD is the right term for most kids with autism. Their developments are uneven with some skills ahead of their age, some skills are delayed and some skills just right for their age. And alot of behavioral problems are due to their inability to commucate and lack of understanding becasue of their language impairs.I've become a mind reader and collect data about their meltdowns. Often conclude that "they need more STs" Life is not perfect, or even close to what I had in mind, but it's very rewarding. I'm lucky, even I don't get any help or support from my family, I have a great husband. We keep our vows for better or for worse. Autism breaks up alot marriages, but also makes some marriages stronger. I wish more people understand what is autism. I think it's just as important to educate people to understand people with autsm and their family as educate people about the signs. Well, it's a long post. If you new to autism, try all the conventional treatments frist like ST, OT and PT, and remember a new treatment at a time. My goal is intergate my kids into world with little alternations as possible. The turth is the world will not change for them. They have to adapt to the world. Good Lucky everyone.
Hi Just wanted to introduce myself. I have an 8yo autistc son and live in Kentucky.
I am new here too. Good luck to all of us. Hi all my name is heather.. and My son David was Dxed with ASD with Non verbal Dyspraxia. he is 4. he currently attends a wonderful center based program that uses the TEACHH Method. We also believe in 'being out there'.. and do alot with him 'in the community. I also run a mommy-group.. so he regualry attends plydates and events with NT kids. He is making def progress.. He is non-verbal.. But is def becoming more aware.. We also are GFCF.. and use some supplements. i found this site by accident. and am def glad I didhi, my name is Krissie. I have a son whom I think may be autistic. He is 3 1/2 years old. How did you know the signs or symptoms that he was autistic. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.my son ryley is a twin.they were 14 weeks early. i had no problem bonding with them. Ryley was a very fussy baby. He cried all the time for no reason at all. He walks and does all the normal things, well except for talking. He points and grunts and babbles and he gets very upset when we and others don't understand what he wants. He has also passed all of the hearing test. So I finally told the pediatrician I wanted him to be evaluated because a three year old is suppose to talk. His moods change for no reason at all, one minute he is fine and at the next he is on the ground having a meltdown for no reason at all. He definitely hates change and has to be in a routine,, and if the routine changes, he has a meltdown. He is mean to his little brother and twin sister, but very loving to us. At school and at home he would rather play by his self and watch spongebob over and over, and when yo turn it off, he gets so mad. Did you have trouble with potty training? HE screams every time we sit him on there.Also how do you deal with the people who stare? Being a mom to special needs children,cause people to stare like no other.His twin sister has Cerebral Palsy. Now you know a lil about him. So any advice or help. In your opinion does it sound like autism? also he refuses to sleep at night, and he sometimes screams in the middle of the night while asleep, and he hits and kicks as well. Sorry for writing a book, but you know what it is like, to where a lot of others don't. It also helps to talk to others... I have now noticed that ryley hits his head with his hand and screams constantly. at times it is worse at other times it is okay.i've heard about the gluten cassein and wheat free diet.what are your ideas on this? at times i just want to scream. I talked to another mom whos son is autistic and i told her the things that he does, and she said that he has it. Also he is extremely scared of water, and can't stand to have his hair washed. his teacher said that he has sensory issues. my mom said he acts better there, but she said maybe because there are no other kids there. could she be right? my mother in law said that she has always thought it was autism because ryley never smiled and it has to be dark b4 he will go to sleep, and he is mean to his siblings..help???advice???anything please/ He gets evaluated in November, and I am nervous a lil scared. I am not sure what to expect. You can leave your comments, ideas, suggestions to KrissieHoward@live.comThanks krissie also i was wondering if some days were better than others, because today was a good day except for him getting upset and he hit his head once. Hello to everyone on this board..I am very happy to have stumbled upon this site! I am a mom to 4 kids..2 boys and 2 girls. My oldest, Trenton is 7 and has been dx with PDD but awaiting an official dx of Aspergers, with the possibility of a comorbid dx of bipolar disorder. The diagnosis has affected our family. I'm sure much the same way it affects everyones family, there was a time of fear and uncertainty followed by sadness and an overwhelming feeling of grief, like the loss of a life, or the life that you had envisioned for yourself and your firstborn son. Now however, 5 years after original dx we are at peace for the most part I have learned how to laugh at every joke and cherish every smile and enjoy watching my beautiful son grow and change just the same as his siblings and I thank God every day for blessing me with such a kind hearted creative fun loving little boy.Good Morning Everyone, I am a 48 year old Nana of 6 (counting my husbands 3). I am fighting custody of my 4 year old grandson who was diagnosed with autism about a year ago. I have had him in my care for 2 years now. Tyler is our life now. I will admit, it's hard and I'm tired, but thankfully we have found a Church based Pre-K4 that just adores him and does everything in their power to help him. He really doesn't have a problem sleeping at night. He is on 60 mg of Vyvanse and Risperdal(I can't remember the dosage) which he takes twice a day. Our two biggest problems are his tantrums and being self sufficient. He expects everyone to do everything for him and if not then we go into melt down mode and this could last 45mins to an hour. I'm really not sure what to do. Do I continue to do it for him or let him have his melt downs? I have been wanting to talk with someone living with autism, but I think then it makes it real, but I want to do everything in my power to see that Tyler leads a normal life as possible. I'm really glad I found you guys and I hope we can all help eachother. Hi, this is for the people waiting for evaluations. You are doing the right thing! If your child has sensory issues there are ways for occupational therapy to help with that. I resisted the diagnosis but now that I see how the techniques have helped my child, I believe it. Also I had a good experience at a workshop on behavior management at the YAI organization, look them up. They talk about ways to get changes in meltdowns and all that, it helps if you try to notice the patterns of what triggers him and what happens afterward, called ABC analysis, then find a way to meet the need without the foul behavior. For my son it has gotten easier to have him reach goals for rewards, now that he is 6 and has been in a great program at school for over a year. They teach "let's be flexible" and let the kids practice adjusting to changes when they are relaxed/in a fun context, which you can do at home--such as let's pretend it's morning and have breakfast for dinner-- then when the child is successful at handling that change, you can remind them of it in different contexts, work your way up to actual necessary transitions. I think it's called SDI. We are still struggling with him about going to sleep alone and leaving the house with a 20 minute warning (!) on a non-school day, but I feel like I have some tools for that now. With him it's certificates or coupons that he can trade for a prize when he gets a certain number of coupons (just post it notes with the date that he succeeded at the goal). It took a long time to get there. You will know best what makes your child tick. I think it's okay to use sweets or whatever kind of bribe as long as you save it for those times when you get the behavior you want first. It gives them success and later they learn to crave success above craving candy. About self sufficiency, deep down most kids want to be proud of what they can do for themselves but our kids need a little more time and support, so the goals have to be broken down into small steps, more like what you would expect from a younger toddler even. As far as being a 48 year old grandma, you can do it, I am 45 and my husband is 54!! Talking to other people is worth it. Sorry to write a book or sound like Miss know it all which I am not, I just wanted to say that there is great hope for improvement. It happened here and it can happen there, the big thing is that you are not just fretting about it, you are addressing it and asking questions, more power to you. Kwamesmom, I don't feel like your a know it all. I really appreciate any feed back that is offered. I don't feel like I have the best support system. His pediatrician is in and out so fast and does nothing but change his medication. I have been taking him to a Genetics specialist for other reasons but not the autism. I really don't know where to go for help. I see alot of talk about ABC analysis and I'm not even sure where to go for that either. We were referred to a psychologist whom we spent 20 minutes with and he never once talked to Ty and diagnosed him PDD. We then attended ARD meetings at the public school system and they spent hours testing him and diagnosed him Asperger. So I honestly don't know what type he has and need all the help I can get. Hello my name is Bill and Im going to try and articualte my son the best I can Billy was dx with PDD NOS (I think they should call it TDK, They Dont Know)when he was 4 ish , he is now 6 and it has been a very trying time for my wife and I. There is so much that happens here that it is hard to know where to start and where to end.Right now he is having a meltdown for of course no reason. the crying will last for 10min but it will feel like 1 hr. I am here for advice, tips and tricks to help my son but I need s plsce to go where I can vent too,cause NOBODY really understands what we go through. my biggest concern is the school system, they are just so unwilling to do anything for my son, he had wetting accidents at school too, and he has a very hard time with fine motor skills, nothing comes easy to him and they just don't want to help, although the same is true for my daughter who is almost 7 and has ADHD and vision problems, their solution was to put her in the back of the classroom!!hi everyone, first i just want to say thank god i found this forum. I was getting so frustrated because I want to help my son as much as I can, and I felt as if I was failing. I am a mother with two boys, my eldest being PDD. He has made much progress in his speech and his mobility skills, but his behavioural and social skills needs more work. He is getting there tho. He is extremely shy. I am glad I found here because I need the support too.
Hello my name is Christine. I have two wonderful boys. My younger one has Autism. People talk about whether their child is high functioning but I have no idea...we were not told that when we received diagnosis. Anyway we started our official journey last May when he turned two. He is non verbal but is starting to try and communicate with us which is wonderful! He is sweet natured and gentle and such a blessing. My other son is only 7 months older and is very protective of his younger brother which is so great to witness. We have run into child care issues. We could not find an appropriate place to have the boys so I am staying home with them...which is nice but financially difficult. So I have decided to start my own place. I am going to have a child care center that will have both typically developing and delayed developing children...our focus will be children with Autism. Our curriculum and environment will be adapted and enhanced to support our children's development and therapy programs. I am anxious to open and watch our kids soar! Anyway...thanks for listening! Hello everyone, I found out today my 3 1/2 year old son has mild autism. My mind has been running all day about his future and what to expect. His biggest obstacle is speech. I'm very concerned about school and whether or not he must be in special ed and other things such as t-ball and so forth. Any info is welcome.Hi there..I am a mom to a 16 yr.old son with Autism. The last couple of months have been horrible. He is acting more "autistic" than he has in a long time. He keeps telling us to "shut-up" and has even started saying a bad word. We have tried talking with him and it isn't doing any good..we are now in the process of getting him into a dr. to help with this. My question is...Has anyone else had this issue? Is this normal in teens with Autism? It is getting really frustrating !! He has been doing so well for so long and so it makes it harder to deal with! I would love any advice or information anyone may have!! Thanks, lori Hi Everyone; I just found the site & it asks that I say something about how autism has effected my life. Let's see...as an adult autistic who has an autistic son (and two other great children who are not), as well as a person who is enormously submerged in autism research, I suppose that I could offer a few insights as to how the ASD's look from the inside. If I were forced to reduce to autism experience to a single word?...Terror. Constant terror. (Ok, that's two words, but it is more accurate.) The upside? Your child CAN learn, without medications, to manage an almost-bionic form of anxiety disorder. This learning process can take years an can get a bit ugly/messy at times, but what in life that is worth learning doesn't have a hideous, geeky, monstrous-zit-on-nose stage? hi Sams mom just looking for tricare info if there are any military familys out there. edited for content Hi I'm Lisa. My 12 year-old daughter has ADHD,ODD and a new diagnosis of PDD-NOS. I live in MA and trying to get help but I'm running into walls.She goes to regular middle school in a TLC Program and has an IEP,but I'm always wondering if she'd be better off in some kind of specailized school.How can I help her,at times she needs care like she's a toddler and other times she appears very grown up.She can be very difficult and aggressive. Any help would be welcome.
Hi, nanabooga -- I would recommend posting your question to the Education forum as you are more apt to get a reply that is meaningful. Other than that, welcome and I hope you read a BUNCH here! I ahve learned so much! Welcome to everyone, whether you be a parent and/or a worker that helps our kids. You will find support here, big time and glad that you found our board.I have lurked on this board for a few months, but decided it was about time to introduce myself. My name is Katie. My son was diagnosed with PDD when he was 3 1/2 yrs old, he's now 5 3/4 yrs old. At first I had a hard time accepting it. He also has a genetic condition called Noonan Syndrome. He has nystagmus with his eye. He is currently in kindergarten with learning support. He gets OT, Speech and Vision.My daughter is 4 1/2 yrs old. We are currently getting the run around for a diagnosis for her. She has 2 heart defects, PS & ASD. She had a balloon procedure on her PS when she was 5 months old. She also has a genetic condition called Noonan Syndrome. She has problems with her legs, which is a mystery. She is currently attending an autistic prek classroom and receiving everything in therapy(PT, OT, Speech, Behavior). My journey for Ky . . . It makes me mad
how everyone wants to push it off on to someone else and we can't get a
straight answer. Well apparently the ball must have been dropped with
Kylie too(because it was with my son Jacob when things needed to get
done and I was a real pain when it came to getting things done for him
and making sure his therapies best met his needs, so I'm sure the IU
just loves me, LOL) because when 2 previous teachers were still
there(in her pre-k class) I was told they were gonna figure things out.
I was also told that in the mean time to get wraparound(basically being
pushed on to someone else and something else). She wouldn't benefit
from this because they need a diagnosis. There has been soooo much
change that I think she has totallly regressed and can't find a way to
get back on track. She has spiraled out of control and hard to get back
on track. All of this happened in one week, another new student,
another teacher for that class(C), different school(W V), different bus
ride, different bus driver, different therapists etc etc. JG is the
behavior specialist she's been working on a Functional Behvaior Assessment
for Kylie. The school psychologist(S) came in last week to conduct her
observation for Kylie's re-eval. She sent me the GARS 2 and Vineland to
fill out. I won't find anything out probably until after the
Thanksgiving break. She gets everything just about in therapy.
I was trying
the biomed with Kylie with supplements. DMG, Cal-Mag, B6. We didn't
notice a change when we did the GF/CF diet. She hasn't been on milk
since she's been about 12 months old. She prefers just water for drink.
She gets no juice or she will go off the deep end.
Welcome! I hoipe you will join in on the other threads -- sounds like we have a lot to learn from you, and you from us! Cute kiddos! HI,my name is April and My 6 yr old son was just diagnosed with autism on the higher functioning side,I really have a problem with him being agressive at home and at school and dont know how to handle it,I dont think hitting or spanking is the answer and would really appreciate any advice on this.thank you.Hi everyone, My name is Dene, and I have to children. DD is only 2 months, so don't know if she's on the spectrum, but DS is 2.5 and although we haven't had an offical dx yet, we're pretty certain he has autism. Our family has just moved to Canada from the UK, so still getting used to life over here and looking into services available etc. How has autism affect my life? Well, I have a cousin who is 8 with autism, and thought I knew a lot about it... until I started suspecting my son had it! Having your own child with autism is so completely different. I also tend to research things I'm interested in A LOT, so I guess autism has taken over my life right now - researching and learning how to deal with and help my son, learning what the future MAY hold, etc. I have been reading this board for a few weeks, and it has been so helpful, and everyone seems so lovely. I am looking forward to joining in and getting to know you all :) Welcome, y'all. One of the best way to help your children is to learn how to understand their needs, and this forum will be a great help to you. In addition to parents of kids on the spectrum - with varying ages and varying abilities - we also have some young ASD adults that are not parents here who often advise us how autism feels from the inside out. When you get on the boards, its helpful to click the ACTIVE TOPICS tab way up top. We have discussions that are divided into some logical buckets, like Educational Resources...TV or News Articles About Autism....Alternative Medicines. If you get on, and only look at the Parent's Forum, you might miss reading the latest study results and so forth. Also, make sure you read through the forum rules. We have VOLUNTEER parents that work as our moderators, so you and I make their jobs easier by sticking with the guidelines. We're a pretty relaxed group, but occasionally squabble like siblings...if you bump into a hissy fit or two, no biggie. We flare up, then make up! Glad to have all of you here! Hello everyone,I am really happy I found this website. I have a 2 year old daughter diagnosed with ASP and we just started testing and early intervention. She does not talk or respond to any noise. At the present time we are scheduled for ABR, MRI and brain wave testing. I look forward to reading and responding to your posts. Hello all, We have a 5yo son with ASD and a 1yo son who is deaf, but god, they are the most beautiful children in the world. No seriously, they are, I have the certificate that says they are. I am glad to have found this site, I am also happy to know that we are not alone in the world. Anyway, thanks for being here and we will talk to you soon. LoGaN n' HaYdEn'S Dad Hi Everyone, I have seven children and 2 of them have been diagnosed with ASD. One is 4 years old and the other is 2 years old. I am deeply appreciative to have found this site. This is totally awesome. I applaud all parents who continue to fight for their love one who has any form of Autism. Hello, I am Rafaela, the mother of a 4 year old boy with PDD. We live in Spain because of my husband's work, I am from Peru and he is from Atlanta and we moved here when our son was 8 months. At the beginning we thought that our sons problems were "normal". He was shy, but we saw it logical because his only contact was mom and dad (and we don't talk much). By 2 1/2 he did not speak more than some words, but I am a stay-home mom so I thought it was because I covered all his needs and he did not feel the need to speak. We began to send him a couple of hours to preschool so he would begin to be with other kids. He began to be less shy and enjoyed playing with kids, but he began to ignore us when we talked to him, sometimes as if he didn't hear us. We again thought the reason was that I speak to him in spanish and his dad in english, and at school because we lived in Barcelona they speak to the kids in Catalan. It's commonly stated that children in bi-lingual households speak later than normal, so we thought it was okay... Finally around his 38 months he began to stop looking at you in the eyes most of the time and began to play opening and closing doors... so we took him for an assesment, we have now two different diagnostics SLI and PDD. He began speech and cognitive therapy and since the past month he began 20 hours of Lovaas therapy at home, plus some time of preschool. He is showing signs of improvement. I don't want to make my story longer.... I just want to say that I am glad to find this forum and learn about others' experiences and maybe try to help somebody with ours. Is anyone else currently using Lovaas or some other ABA therapy? I'm very much interested in learning as this is very new for us. thank you Rafaella Hi everyone I am the father of a 10 year old Autistic son who is non verble and also has Moubius syndrom He cannot smile of blink his eye's so it is very hard to see his emotions. My wife and I have been together for 16 years and do everything we can to help our son Dylan. I am happy to find this site and will contribut as much as I can. Hi everyone . Im mum to three beautiful children . My youngest son was diagnosed moderate autism at 2yrs old just over a year ago. He currently has a place in a teacch preschool nursery and so far hes been doing really well . This forum seems like a great place for friendly advice Hi All- My name is Sheila, and I have a great little boy named DJ, who turned 3 in October, and was diagnosed with ASD in March. He was involved with Birth to 3 until October, and is now in an Eary Childhood class. He is very smart, but has no language - although he has said words - they are never repeated. He loves jumping, swinging, playing outside, and crafty things. He's great and seeming to be learning new things every day. We still have a long way to go - and he is finally on the waiver waiting lisrt for therapy services - but it is a long wait. My biggest issue, and what I need support with - is my husband... he is in complete denial about DJ - and thinks that autism diagnosis these days is just a way for specialists to make money. He thinks children have to be REALLY impared to ACTUALLY have Autism. He does not want me telling people that DJ is on the spectrum, and says he does not think that theer is anything wrong that time won't fix ("kids just develope at different rates"- is what he says - "he'll talk when he's ready" - is another one of his faves). I've tried to show him things, and research, but he's just so stubborn. He does not interfere with what I do with the therapists in birth to 3 and now EC, but he doesn't think DJ needs any of it. I get very frustrated sometimes. Sorry to talk everyones ears off - I was probably not supposed to get so in depth in an intro thread - but I've never done this before. I'm new and I'm hoping for fellow parent's support. the Military has a new program for special needs to get services for active duty familys ECHO provides respite and therapys not covered by tricare any one getting services under echo?Hi, I am seeing a lot of names ... ONLY here! I hope you will all spread out and ask questions and tell us more about yourselves and your kids, in other areas of the forum ... Gray matter(s) -- your experience sounds quite like mine. Anxiety was my constant companion until adulthood -- my thirties, in fact. The paralyzing kind. do share more! My six-year-old grandson has been diagnosed with PDD with autistic tendencies. Everything has been delayed for him, but with good resources at school and wonderful therapists (speech and occupational) he is making progress. The 'tendencies' are arm-flapping and constant droning of a humming noise which goes entirely too tedious at times. After having been his caretaker for over two years, I've become accustomed to it, but my sister, who recently moved in with us is going crazy. I've tried explaining that I can't break him of it, but she insists I can. Has anyone had this experience? If so, how did you handle it. I call him on it several times, but he goes right back to it. He only does this when he's playing with his toys. He can watch TV for hours and never make a sound, go to the Movies, but video games and regular toys cause the arm flapping and noise. I appreciate any feedback.Thanks in advance, Ginger Hi, my name is Jeni and I am new to the board. My oldest daughter is 9, and was recently diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, Sensory Modulation Dysfunction, Developmental Dyspraxia, and Auditory Processing Disorder. We have reason to believe she has other issues that might put her on the autism spectrum, and I have come here to ask some questions before she is evaluated for that. I also have 3 other children. My second oldest is 6, and has a borderline ADHD clinical diagnosis (94th percentile, just under clinical diagnosis). My 3 yr old and 14 month old are neurotypical. My husband very likely would have been diagnosed with HFA or Aspergers as a young child. He continues to have auditory processing issues, sensory processing issues, and has trouble reading people and in social situations. Glad to be here! Hello, my name is Amy and my 19 month old son Joey was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. I just had another baby five weeks ago, another boy. I became pregnant with him right before I started noticing the signs of autism with my older son. Although I am scared I may have two children on the autism spectrum, I believe that everything happens for a reason, and that my second son was meant to be here because I don't think I would have had another child if I had known that one was on the spectrum. Hi everyone!! My name is Alisha Perez and i have 3 beautiful boys, Patrick 9, Isaac 7, and Joel 4. My oldest, Patrick was born on St Patrick's day, he's my good luck charm, was diagnosed with autism when he was 4. Me and their dad sepperated last summer and though he plays an active role in their life, 90 percent of time they are in my care. Autism effects our lives daily with how i talk to and handle certain issues with Patrick, how i deal with his temper,and explaining certain things to my other boys about pat. I am so proud of Pat for how he handles life, but every now and then he has his moments and gets really confused and agitated. I am so glad i found this forum, i have been feeling overwhelmed with some issues i am dealing with and have questions that i think only other parents in the same boat can answer. I can't wait to hear opinions, get suggestions and just get to know other parents and their children's successes. Hello! I found this forum while looking for info on PDD & after skimming over some of it, I think this might help me in coping with some issues. I am the mother of a 5 year old son (Patrick), who has PDD (NOS). He was born w/multiple heart defects & had heart surgery when he was 5 days old & another at 18 months of age. Besides those 2 huge surgeries, he also had a G-tube when he was 6 1/2 months old b/c he wouldn't take enough from his bottle to thrive. He didn't look malnourished, but according to the charts, he wasn't thriving enough. His cardiologist said the g-tube was necessary to get him strong for that 2nd heart surgery. He's also had 2 sets of tubes in his ears due to recurrent ear infections. Finally, he has had digestive issues that finally got diagnosed (when he was 3 1/2 years old), as lactose intolerance. I THINK that is all I need to mention. Anyway...it's obviously been a challenge since day 1 with Patrick. I embraced his outgoing personality & loved his exuberance for life (when he was a baby). His behavior started rearing it's ugly head around 3-4 yrs. of age. I feel so bad b/c I am so impatient with him & have a hard time with the repetitive questioning (after I answer him 10 times), etc. I know he can't help it, but I get angry anyway. Does anyone feel this way?? Am I totally heartless?? Well, I am giong to have to go for now, but wanted to introduce myself. I am way overdue in searching for fellow parents of kids w/PDD (NOS). I always feel too busy to stop to join anykind of group that would probably help me cope with the PDD. I look forward to talking with some of you real soon! Hi, I am new here and have been lurking for awhile and really like this site. I have 27 month old twin daughters that were diagnosed PDD-NOS just before their second birthday. At 12 months we were referred to ECI because the girls were gross motor delayed--not pulling up, unable to stand or sit unassisted. Over time we began to see other things, like no clapping or pointing, zoning out and disinterest in their environment. We now have ST, OT, PT, and BT through ECI and are starting Floortime, which I have been doing without knowing it for over a year. I hope to be able to contribute here as well as learn. Hello, I am new to this forum. I have a 9 year old son who is on the spectrum. I look forward to contributing to this forum and learning from your experiences. [QUOTE=Peace4kids] I LOVE YOU MICHAEL !!! I LOVE YOU YOU for the way you love, not only your own boy, but also other autistic kids who are on the spectrum... and I'm sure you would share the same empathy for any special child you see, as we, the parents of special kids do ourselves... GREAT work... fighting for the TOTAL BAN on these awful Isolation Rooms!!! And may your work be blessed with wisdom and courage even as we endeavour to fight for the rights of our own kids and others... Your closing remarks about your boy Michael were very appropriate... ALLOW HIM TO BE A KID !!! My ASD boy, daniel is 10 this year... soon he'll be in his mid-teens like your Michael and I'm sure there are a fair share of parents of teenage kids on the spectrum "roaming" our Message Board... It's the experiences of the path-finders like you that pave the way for us to follow behind... ADIOS.. and WARM BEAR HUGS from the BooBear of the East !!! P.S. A warm welcome to Natasha, twinsohmy, Ms Kitty, 42 gether, capricorn 1780, lijisma, absessoms... and many others who just joined us... Indeed we are a DIVERSE group with DIVERSE experiences to share with one another...
P.S. A warm welcome to Natasha, twinsohmy, Ms Kitty, 42 gether, capricorn 1780, lijisma, absessoms... and many others who just joined us... Indeed we are a DIVERSE group with DIVERSE experiences to share with one another...
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Thank you.
Hi all, I posted a few months ago that my son was constantly twiriling his hands and ankles and our doctor had mentioned a possible autism dx. Well since then we have had lots of test etc. and found He has moderate white brain matter thinning on an MRI due to trauma at birth, so he has cp hence the delayed motor skills. After meeting with the developmental ped. last week he said indeed he is autisitic, with no receptive or expressive language, lots of sensory issues, head banging, twirling etc the doctor said even though he is young (13months) He can def tell and we should be prepared for it only to get worse especially until we can help him learn to communicate. Though we are not surprised this is of course not at all what we wanted to hear, and our quite frustrated at what the road ahead looks like. Sorry to be so down, but I look foreward from learning from everyone. Christi [QUOTE=newyork]Hi I am new Just wanted to say hi and I'm so happy to have found this place [/QUOTE]Hello I am a grandmother, 57, raising two grandsons age 12, soon to be 13 and one who just turned 11 ,with Gods help. They have been living with me since 1999 with there mother, my ex daughter in law. She moved out In January and they remained with me. Right now they both have been diagonised as having severe Adhd and the youngest one also has OOD. I am so honored to be raising them ,but boy, can they be a handful sometimes. There parents hardly ever see them.My youngest son, there uncle, will take them occassionally so I can get some rest. I find my problems are not so much with the boys as with there parents..... They are great kids but sometimes this grammy wants to go AWOL with a bottle of wine and my anchovie crackers for some peace and quiet! One of my main problems is sleeping...I am not getting any! LOL and just like the boys when they don't get enough sleep I become as crabby as they are! And at times that is not a pretty picture as we all are running around getting ready for school especially if the cat or dog removes articles of clothes to play with during the night! One time we put there shoes outside and found them in the back acre 10 minutes before the bus came! Lots of wild dogs out here! LOL I lay out clothes they pick out so there are not lost underware, socks or shoes. I colored codes my oldest drawers so he knows where his clothes are and colored codes his hangers for both school pants and shirts. Because he has severe problems following directions I put up cue cards for him to look at when he does the dishes, laundry and when he is taking a bath and early morning chores and it seems to work well for him, if his brother doesnt tear them down just to watch him meltdown! I also, sometimes if they get up to go to the bathroom around 4 or 5am ,give them there meds so they are calm when they wake up and it does work. The boys are on AdderalXL 20 mg , two tablets a day with .o5 Risperdal in the morning and Imipramine 10mg added at night for sleep. I start out all there meds at the lowest level first and work up the perscription order mostly to monitor any side effects.......Since they started these, yesterday, I got to sleep a whole 6 hours....YES! And after playing three hours on the tramoline they are now in bed sleeping and its only 7:52pm....I try to have them get at least 12 hours of sleep because of all the engery they expound during the day. I am interested in the weighted blanket everyone is talking about. Could someone tell me about it and how it works. My oldest, who is 12, is being retested and I was told he may have a form of autism, so I am trying to read everything I can to help him and sleep seems to be the issue at this time and I have noticed that he loves lots of blankets when he sleeps.Could someone please send me some information on this blanket. Thank You, I am looking forward to learning all I can with all of your help. Annamarie Hello my nane is laura and I have a son name jonathan who is 3 years old. I donnot know where to begin . Frist my son jon is my life and the life of so many of my family members. I also have a child name cassy who is 11 and a sweet normal ittle girl. Jon was given the lable pdd-nos at 2 year old. He Is developmental deylaed in all areas area, he is also has ADHD , sleepind and feeding issues. We have seen many doctors who are just amazed at jonathan. Another thing is that my son has is that the DPT shot does not him and protection and the doctors cannot tell me why. We in my home live a very hect it life. When jon goes to sleep we all sleeep when he wakes up we all get up. He has to have all the lights on at all times and all the doors shuts. He is a very friendly and out goin child. that is all for nowHi, I'm John. My daughter, Amanda, was born 7 years ago. She was 2 pounds 12 ounces and 6 weeks early. She suffered a number of GI problems the first year and a half before she was correctly diagnosed by of all people a psychologist. After the medication started on that malfunction she grew rather quickly. She is PDD with extreme delays speech and motor skills. She didwalk until she was 3 and half years old. Fortunately she does everything on a major holiday. She learned to roll over at Thanksgiving, sit up on New Years, walk on the 4th of July, say "Daddy" on New years. Because of so many physical problems and her premie status her first few years we didn't get an accurate DX until last year. Up until that time we were just trying to keep her alive and get through the day. I think many of you can relate. The hardest part with the whole situation has been been dealing with other people. Family and friends were not very supportive because as we all know, they just don't understand. But the past year or so many have seen the light about what a special child she truly is. She is our only child and the love of our lives. She has changed my wife and I believe made us better people. After hundreds of meltdowns I can handle one without raising my voice and I have lost that sad feeling. It is part of the way she is and she is getting better emotionally. At least now her meltdowns have a reason even if some of them are pretty odd. I wouldn't go through the past 7 years again for anything but I wouldn't have run from it even if I could. This little girl and my dear wife needed me and still do. The bast way to discribe Amanda's personality is she is a people person. She interacts extremely well with people she knows. She is the darling of my office ad spent countless hours here over summer vacation. Now that she is back in school people keep asking for her. She has a sense of humor and she loves to tease. She is a great mimic and has a cellphone fixation. She loves horses and is terrified of dogs. She is very loving and phyiscally tough. All and all, she is a great little person. Hey, My name is Genna. I'm 17, and my little brother has just recently been diagnosed as Borderline Autistic, and he's 3 years old. I'm his older sister and caretaker, and enjoy spending time with him! I'm doing a project for school on Autism and Asperger's Syndrom as well. I'm glad to have found this place. I hope none of you mind if I use this place as a rescource.
To Genna, I'm glad you are so interested in helping your brother. My middle son, "normal development" found someone in summer school that was Autistic. He tried to play with him and I was so happy. It is great you are taking such a great interest. [QUOTE=Adamsmom]To Genna, I'm glad you are so interested in helping your brother. My middle son, "normal development" found someone in summer school that was Autistic. He tried to play with him and I was so happy. It is great you are taking such a great interest. [/QUOTE]I actually find it quite "theraputic" to work with him. He's so happy, and loves to engage his brain in certain things, He loves having people play with him, and give him affection. Psychology is a major intrest of mine, particularly Special Ed. I wanna do Art Therapy or Art Education w/ Special Ed children when I "grow up." I already volunteer after school at the public school up the street from me. And thank you! XoXo, Genna. Hi Genna, my name is Cheri. I am the mother of a 4 y/o son with Autism, he was diagnosed at 13 months old. I think that is so awesome of you to take on the responsibility of your brother. It is a very hard task and a total lifestyle change that is difficult for adults, for you to be able to do this is a true blessing to your little brother. I am sorry to hear of his diagnosis, but I am glad to see that he has such a great big sister! I will be happy to help you with anything you need. You are wise beyond your years and I know you will be an asset to the Autism community no matter where you are. Good luck in school and I wish you and your brother the best. [QUOTE=Firefly]WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE] Hello! I am new to this site, but have been reading for about an hour! What a lot of great advice and just support. I have a 6 year old with not only ppd, but is legally blind developmentally delayed and has cp. However he is such a joy to me and his older sister. He attends the westren pa school for blind childern,which is an approved private school, and they are wonderful there. he has been attending since he was 3. They are so helpful in many ways. It is so comforting to see other people experiencing the same things as I do. I hope to use this often!!!Hi, I am new to the board, but not new to PDD-NOS. My son is 10 1/2 yrs old. DX at 7, also has anxiety disorder and ADD. I knew that there was something wrong since he was 3. The school psychologist told me she couldn't help me and that I should go to a private psych. I thought he would grow out of it. NOT . He has had O.T. for sensory problems and has a lot of problems with food and the tolieting. He is in a regular classroom at school and gets help with math and reading. He has a very definite receptive language problem. He does not understand facial expressions. We saw Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and he was totally lost by Willy's expressions. I also have a 6 and 7 year old, both no problems. Glad to be on the board. Hi All
My son AJ is 3 yrs. old. He was diagnosed with PDD. He is a special little guy. We have our ups and downs. The melt downs in public are the worst! Since he can't talk, he screeeeeches loudly! People are always staring at us. He still sleeps in his crib...it is the only way he will go to sleep. I have TRIED to sleep with hiim, but he just kicks me, pulls my hair, jumps on me then gets up. He is starting to pinch me, pull my hair, push me, and hit me when I tell him "NO" I actually hafta "sign" the word no, too. He is in pre-K...they specialize in autism. He can still learn, but it is completely different than his sister (normal child) learned. His tantrums and screeeching is getting worse as he gets older. I am hoping he will learn to talk, soon as I believe that is what the screeeeching is all about. He never walks...always on the run! I want him to be more self reliant when it comes to potty training, but i can't take the gate down. Also, he is pulling the chair over to reach things outta the cupboard, the fridge, freezer and gets up to the sink. My little Screeech drives me crazy at times, but I love him dearly!!! I am Mary. My daughter is almost 4, born Oct 27th 2001. She dosen't have a working thyroid. That was discovered after she was born and replacement therapy began 2wks later. She was dx in Sept 2004 (last year) as having PDD-NOS, borderline autism, w/greatest delay in speech and gross motor. She was a good, quite baby for the most part. I noticed how intense she was early on. SHe also freaked out when we drove over hilly roads. SHe was only about 8 or 9 months old when I first started to wonder. SHe wasn't crawling yet and she played w/the same thing for hours...sometimes to get her to stop I would have to pick her up and move her to something else. SHe didn't start walking until 16 mos old but never learned to climb or jump or run until a year ago. By 2 she was lining things up and her vocabulary stalled out. SHe was saying about 10 words at that time. By the time she was turning 3 we had her evaluated. She could talk a little but mostly repeated the same words over and over, all day. SHe seems like a typical preschooler in many ways and it can fool even me still. She can draw at a 5 yr old level, work puzzles at a 5 yr old level. BUt she is at a 2 to 3 year old level with speech and struggles to skip and hop. She stims by rubbing things...our face (started about 4mos old) and fingernails. She is very imaginitive. When her foot fell a sleep she wanted me to open her toe and get the bees out. On the bad days, she cries over every thing, has a harder time w/focusing and looks off into space. Her speech gets very abstract and she dosen't want to leave the house or cooperate out in public. So it is on the spectrum I suppose....and each chid being unique in their own ways. Anna is awsome in her disability and finds ability dispite the struggles to comprehend the world around her. It is that determination she has that keeps us hopeful. Hi everyone! I'm so excited to have found this board - my name is Melanie and I have a daughter who is 10 with mild PDD-NOS. It affects every moment of life. You are always thinking of how you can help your child navigate this world she doesn't understand like the average person. I've checked out some of the links from the very impressive list of websites and I love it here! Real people to talk to! I may come and go because my last semester of school starts this week and life gets hectic between school full time and therapy with my daughter. Plus I have an adopted step-son that is medically fragile and cannot walk or talk. He is 9 and is so cute we just breathe him in. We also have a blind, MR poodle and 2 guinea pigs that we watch more than TV. My spouse/domestic partner has mild aspergers's and I have PMDD. We joke that we should be a group home. I look forward to reading and collaborating with people on this site! :) Melanie WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! Hi! My name is Christie and my 4 year old son was diagnosed in August 2005 with PDD-NOS. He is extremely bright and his communication skills have improved tremendously over the past year. He is thriving in his new school (we moved to a new town this summer), but there are daily issues to deal with such as sleep difficulties, stimming in the form of Spiderman hand gestures, hyper-activity, difficulty in large crowds, etc. I am so happy to have found this site! WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU THAT ARE NEW TO THE BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS A GREAT PLACE FOR ADVICE AND JUST EXPRESSING YOURSELF. YOU ARE NOT ALONE , YOU CAN ALWAYS COME HERE TO TALK. GOOD LUCKHi I am new to this site, and am searching for information. My 7 year old daughter has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Her main area of difficulty is in social skills/pragmatic speech issues. I'm having a hard time finding support out there (in person or on the Net) for parents with PDD. I just might have found the right place here! Hi My name is Maria. I Have four boys Isaiah 2yrs who has PDD/Autism. He doesn't speak any words but makes some sounds. He receives therapy for speech and OT. His gross motor skills are fine...So They Say. Elliot 3yrs who has Developmental delays and ADHD. Elliot receives speech therapy 2x a week. Both Elliot and Isaiah see therapist and also see a Developmental Doctor and a Neurologist. Now there is Joe 9yrs ,he is an ESE student for reading and writing. Joe was speech delayed and has been in speech therapy since he was 3. Then there is my oldest David. David has Tic Disorder ( involuntary movement of the muscles ) it was severe when he was younger and now at age 14 it is so mild that you can hardly notice the tics. How has PDD effected me? I can't even begin to tell you all the test and doctor appointments and running around that I do. It has effected my life in a tremendous way. Communication is where most of the struggle begins. It is when your child can't tell you what they want . It is when you speak to your child and they don't understand the simplest instruction. then the behavior..Oh my Gosh...! My home is like a world war in the evening time Thank You for listening to my little intro.... I'm just so glad I found somewhere that I'm not alone and can be understood
Maria
Hi, I'm Amy. I have two sons, Adam, age 6, and Aaron, who just turned 8. Adam was diagnosed with autism in July of 2002. I am in the process of getting Aaron evaluated as well. Aaron struggled mightily in first grade with appropriate peer interaction, keeping focused on task, etc. His school is wonderful and has been more than helpful in trying to help him in the classroom, but I'm realizing he needs more. Adam is high functioning, just a brilliant kid - quicker than me most days! I love him to pieces but he just wears me out. He's sweet and affectionate, and knocks me out with how smart he is. He's also as mischievious as the day is long! He's enrolled in a special Social Communications program in our school district, which he thrives on. Can't say enough about the schools in my district - it's why I moved to where we live. My ex-husband left us in January of 2003 (told me he "deserves to have a life") and invovles himself in the boys' life in the most minimal of ways. He takes them overnight every other Saturday...unless he has something else he wants to do...and that's it. To be honest, I don't really like to let them go, but sometimes I just need a break. And I figure that as long as he makes some effort...Aaron is still at the age where he thinks Dad is the greatest, and I never say a bad word against him (well, at least not to Aaron!). I believe they need the freedom to make up their own minds about their father, and their father's lack of participation in their lives. I have siblings and parents nearby. They say they're willing to help out, but over time I've learned to ask less and less. My parents just can't keep up with them, and there are other issues with siblings that lead me to hold off until I really need them. So I really feel like I'm doing this alone. So, finding these forums is a blessing for me! I am burnt out. I suffer from depression as well, and some days it's hard enough for me to get my own head together, much less coordinate everything I need to do to keep our lives going with as few bumps and bruises as possible. Right now I'm in the process of pulling myself out of a major funk, and I'm trying to re-establish a lot of positive energy in our household. I hope to gather a lot of inspiration here. If you've managed to read through alllllll of this, thanks for "listening"!
Hello everybody I have been lurking now for 3 months since our 13 year old son had finally been diagnosed PDD/NOS. He also has ADHD and is on Ritalin for this. We are from Canada and finding that information as where to seek services for him is very limited. He will be starting grade 8 in September. He/We are looking forward to this. Thanks so far for all the info I have got. Anyone have any questions I will gladley respond. Hello to all! I actually have been posting for a couple of days, but just getting my story put in here. It is hard to sit down and talk about this and how it has affected our life. To be honest, autism is our life. I have a beautiful 14 year old daughter Nicole who happens to have autism. She is truly a gift from god. She has taught me more than I have taught her. I will try to put into words how this has affected our life without writing a book. I was 16 when I got pregnant with Nicole. She was born 4 1/2 weeks early and weighed 4lb 15oz. and was 17 inches long. And of course being premature she had jaundice, trouble with her lungs the first few days, and all the "initial parenting" things you go through having your first baby.
Hi everyone, my name is Shawna. I have 3 boys. My youngest was diagnosed w/ Autism in May of 2005. I work from home, and spend a lot of time working w/ my son. He will be 4 in November. His biggest issues are speech and social skills. We currently get services thru our school, and he is currently in a preschool 4 times a week & has speech therapy all 4 days. Next week he will start occupational therapy. I have worked really hard w/ him this summer - potting training is pretty much complete. If someone asks, "what's your name" he can respond w/ both his 1st and last name now. Nouns we have pretty much accomplished - but however we are now starting to work on the action words. My mother just recently sent me an email that she ordered a volume of Baby Bumblebee action DVD's for my son to watch. I am curious to see how they work. My biggest struggle w/ Colton is getting him to eat. My husband and I have always been pretty strict about other 2 son's diets - so Colton is a struggle for us. When he eats mashed potatoes he will gag. Any pasta works for him - hotdogs, bananas, chips of any kind, peanut butter, and pizza, pizza, pizza. Since I work out of my home and have to spend time working w/ Colton - I don't get out much - so I'm so happy to have found other people having the same issues as me. In the school district my son is in - they have only had 2 other autistic kids come thru there, so I don't really have anyone to "talk" to when we have our bad days. If anyone has any ideas on how to eat w/o gagging - I would love some suggestions! Hi everyone, My youngest daughter (now 2 1/2) got a dx of autism 6 months ago. Although we were not surprised by the dx, it has completely changed life as we knew it, to say the least! I have been reading posts on this board for about a month and finally got dh to help me register (I'm not the most computer savvy gal!). I am so glad to have discovered this site - it has been such a great thing to realize that we are not alone in our struggle with autism. I can't wait to get to know some of you better.
Hello everyone. My name is Sarah. I am from Iowa. I have a 6 year old son he is "normal" and he is above average in his class. Then I have my 3 year old who was just diagnosed with ASD and he does not speak yet, He is delayed alot but I am so thrilled he has all his emotions and he can feel pain and happiness. I have made the choice for once to stay home and accept financial help. Before I would take any yuckie job and deal with it my life has changed forever. I cannot just take a yuckie job that will wear me out. I have to come home and get up and down all day with my son. Not only that but with the screams and the screeching and the headbutting and head hitting. I need the patience which I do not have when I am tired from a yuckie job. I do go to school at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh online for graphic design. My goal is to work at home while raising Brady. I need other parents and families for this. I have worked with the disabled for quite a few years off and on but nothing prepares you for what we are dealing with. I said about 2 weeks ago that I wish Brady had been born with Downs or something that I could see where this is something that almost creeps up. Maybe I am morbid but at least I would be prepared. I will tell you all something when I first decided to have him tested last May was because I was getting my son around for school and Brady had come down stairs and there dad was still asleep after working 13 hours and my son who is now labeled as a runner got out of my house. Thank God that he was picked up by an honest person that took him to the police station. We now have locks on the doors that are up high and we wake up continuously through the night cause we think we hear him walking around. We already had suspisions but this sealed it for us we had to know and I am so thankful we did. I look forward to meeting with all of you. I live in Phila and am looking for parents to start a play group Hi! I am a stay-at-home mom (former social worker) and I have a 4 year-old boy who was just diagnosed two days ago with PDD-NOS with tendencies toward HFA and I have a 15 month-old baby girl who is hopefully NT. We were lucky to get a diagnosis - the dev ped freely admitted that he is seen as very liberal with giving out diagnoses. But he said that if society feels that early intervention is critical, then why should he NOT give out a diagnosis if there are issues that can be addressed? He said our son was on the mildest end of the spectrum and that he was having a very hard time figuring him out (yeah, me too! Anyway, we are in that initial phase after the diagnosis. His pre-school teacher talked to me about Asperger's in January and we went through the school evaluation process and now through the medical diagnosis process. As you all know, it has not been fun. But, we have been able to accomplish a lot in a relatively short time (especially as opposed to the horror stories of years of evaluations I have read everywhere). The school district would not qualify my son initially as they said he was too high-functioning and was learning just fine (never mind that his fine motor skills were at the 1st percentile - performing at a 2 year-old level!). So, we privately got him into PT, OT and tumbling classes. Those have really done wonders for him with those skills and for his confidence. He still has a LOT of other issues though and meltdowns have recently increased a lot. I fought the school district and they did an override to qualify him for services, but are recommending no direct services, just consultations. So, another battle on our hands! My son will be attending a mainstream pre-school (the one he attended last year) three days a week and the doctor is recommending that he receive SLP and OT through the school district as well. So, that gives me more ammunition for the IEP. My son does a lot of scripting (repeating/acting out scenes mainly from books, occasionally videos - he doesn't watch much) and stimming (jumping up and down with hand motions acting out whatever he is doing like pouring water and talking to himself repeating various phrases). He has meltdowns when certain things don't go his way - and that varies and I have not been able to distinguish any kind of pattern. He does have sensory issues and is currently in the process of being evaluated by a sensory OT. He doesn't seem to have tactile or taste issues - he eats very healthy and more than most adults I know. But, he is a very healthy weight - 38 pounds and 42 inches. He is not very coordinated - just learning how to pedal, falls over air (although this is getting better), didn't climb much until recently, can't catch a ball well (but can hit and field grounders well). He doesn't interact much with peers, but does with younger children (around his baby sister's age) and older children and adults. He attended a social skills playgroup this summer based on the Incredible Years curriculum and he seems to have made progress in this area. He will now respond to others much more when they ask him a question (without my prompting) like how is he doing, or say hi or wave when someone does the same to him. I'm glad to find this forum - thank you mark_dad for referring me here from the Parents.com board! I'm not sure what to tell everyone. I have an 11 year old daughter and a 9 year old son. Our son has PDD NOS. We were lucky that we found out at a very early age. 2 and a half. He was in all the eary programs provided with the government. In Canada they only fund programs until the kids are 6. We can't afford it on our own. So he goes to school with a EA. bUT HE DOES'NT HAVE SPEEch or ABa. If their is any one in the same position as I am Please post a message.Hello to everyone, I have been reading these post for sometime. I really enjoy the information I recieve from them. It really helps to know that we are not alone. I have a son 14, he has ADHD, OCD, AND ODD. Some of these things are lessen as he has gotton older. My next son is 12 he has mild to moderate Autism. Some days are better than others. I have a 4 year old daughter that has what they call adjustment disorder with features of pdd. I am taking her next week for a second opinion. Lastly I have a 1 year old girl whom I hope will have no disablities. Autism effect our life in so many ways, money, friends, family just being a normal family is impossiable. My oldest just wants our family to be normal just like everyone else. he has missed out on so much because of chris, Hello everyone! I am glad to have found this board and see this as another excellent resource in my autism resource arsenal. I have a 3 1/2 year old son who has a diagnosis of PDD-NOS. It was extremely hard to get a diagnosis for him (no one wanted to label him). We had him in EI (he barely qualified) and I would say his autisitic tendencies became more pronounced once he hit 2 1/2. His first word came at around 22 months but other than that, he seemed to be developing normally. He attends a contained preschool in our school district (started in March). His stim of choice is scripting and on most days is easily redirected (on his bad days, he is definitely harder to reach). In the last couple of months he has started mothing everything and spinning his body in circles. The spinning is very easily controlled...the mouthing is very difficult (he will resort to chewing his shirt collar when there is nothing else available). One of our biggest challenges is he is FEARLESS...will bolt, able to open front and back doors to our house (we just installed locks on the top of our doors and an alarm system that verbally announces what door/window is open) and he is an unbelievable climber. He started the GFCF diet at the end of June and is scheduled to see a DAN Dr. this fall. We are starting an ABA program at home this fall and are hoping that he will do really well with the extra ABA hours outside of school. He has a great sense of humor and keeps us on our toes. I am looking forward to sharing info. and ideas with everyone.... Hi all, I have a little boy turning 3 next month named Isaac. He was diagnosed with autism last December when he was just over 2. Life has changed ever since, ABA, OT, ST, have become familiar words in our house. He has had a lot of progress since we started an ABA program in February, he has gone from not following any direction or acknowlegeding any one was speaking to him, to now following simple directions, pointing to everything he wants, and recently it seems like he is trying to talk. It is still hard when I take him to the park and I see other kids his age talking and playing with each other, when he still keeps to himself (although occasionally he will push them out of his way or try to lead them to what he wants) it is hard not to compare sometimes. He is our only child and we love him to bits, despite all of his other issues (meltdowns, biting, obsessive behaviour) he is my greatest joy and is extremely cute.
I have lurked on this board for a few months, but decided it was about time to introduce myself. My name is Jessica. I am a stay at home Mom to former 26wker b/g twins. Zackary and Samantha will turn three on 9-01. Being born so early, we have always been involved with EI. Zack was officially diagnosed with autism 6 months ago. It was suggested we also test Sammy too - but it turns out that although she is delayed with speech and has echolalia and perseverance, Dr. Coplan feels she is just copying her brother's speech patterns. It is a relief, but we still worry another bomb will be dropped in the near future! Autism affects our life in so many ways. I think I always *knew* that something was 'off' so it didn't really come as a surprise. It just explained a lot. Zack is hyperlexia...knew all of his letters, colors, numbers, shapes at around 20-22 months, but only started saying "mommy" meaningfully around age 2 1/2. At almost 3, he is doing pretty well with ABA, OT, and ST. He is also starting to read words, so I hope it will help his progress. I am just so thankful to have my miracle babies. After a 3 months NICU stay and a shaky first two years, I still feel lucky - even w/the A-word in our house. Looking forward to this board, sharing information and providing support! Jessica Hi everyone! My name is Cheri, I am the mom of a 4y/o boy who was diagnosed with Autism at 13 months old. He didn't have his MMR yet, so I knew that wasn't the cause for him. When he was first diagnosed he was called HF so low in that category they were debating on whether to call him HF or LF. He was into head banging, rocking, lost his speech, became a very restricted eater and all those other fun things. He finally got into the correct programs at 3. He attends an all day M-F school program called LASSO (Autism) at one of the public schools. He also gets OT 2x week and ST 1x week with outside providers. Of course he gets those services through the school also. I joined the Northeast Illinois Chapter, ASA for support. About 5 months ago I was named VP of the chapter and just became President in August. I have had so much fun and have learned so much. I not only do tons of research in hopes of helping my son, but being on the board of an Autism chapter requires me to make sure I help all these other families too. It is an awesome adventure. Last fall my son had his follow up with his developmental pediatrician. I was told that since he had not made one improvement in well over a year, that I needed to brace myself for the possibility that Andrew will probably never be potty trained, talk, and of course, he would never be able to be on his own. Being 26, and a single parent, I was devastated. I mean, didn't we do everything while we were pregnant to ensure our children would be healthy? How fair is this! It took me a long time to be able to get that out of my head, and I decided that Andrew needed me, he needed me to find his "missing piece." Not the piece that would cure him, that is beyond me, but the piece that would help him improve and live a happy life. I knew it wasn't the MMR, so if I could figure out what his cause was, and remove it, we just might get lucky. After months of searching, I decided to switch stores, and buy only non-toxic products for my home. Products that had patents, approval from the EPA, ones that couldn't hurt him. From our cleaning products, to his shampoo and my deodorant...the only toxins in our home are the ones let in when I open a window or door. That was my son's missing piece! Then I found out that the products were actually on display at the Autism Society of America National Convention in Tennessee this summer. Andrew starting improving, his speech started picking up, he started showing interest in the potty at school. Coincidence, maybe, but I'm not taking that chance. Andrew first day back at school is this Tuesday, next year, my baby is going to Kindergarten! He might have to have and aide, but I don't care, his teacher said he will be ready and able to continue on. Hello I have a son Jon with Feeding issue. He only eats soft text foods. I would ask your doc about any feeding centers in your area I live in Philadelphia and I go to The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Feeding center and also ask you speech teacher about it .Hi All One of the speech therapist said get them to eat more crunchy foods as those are the muscles we use to talk. AJ is TRYING to talk, but only me and my hubby can understand when he is counting or saying something like all da (all done) pspis (poopies) things like that. We also use some sign such as eat, drink, more, help and the newest one I love you. What is it with rocks, water, and balls? Ds loves all these things. He would pick up rocks and throw them in water for hrs if I allowed. We have a big pond in our backyard and that is all he wants to do. I always try to redirect him to swings and stuff, it works sometimes but not always. Needless to say, dh is out there scooping tons of rocks out of our pond a lot lol. He also just loves water and balls. If I am in the bathroom brushing my teeth I have to let the water run so he can just hold his hands under it the whole time. Balls are the only real toy he tends to play with. He usually just likes to bounce them and watch them or horde them in corners. His corner behavior, as I call it, is odd and interesting to watch. He likes to take toys or balls into corners and just bat them around, mix them up, or sometimes line them, mix them, line them again etc. He also loves light switches. If you open the fridge he is in there pushing the light button on and off and on and off. Same w/ other lights he can reach. He likes to bang cupboards and close doors. I am having his eval come up soon so my mind is getting ready for it which is why I think I can't stop coming here and have been posting long babbles of thought lol. It's like my mind had a calm time, but now I'm sort of jello brained again and head is running 100miles per hour. I can't wait to get it over with! Amber Hello my name is laura and I have a 3 year old son anme jonathan who has Pdd_nos. I just want to tell you that you are not alone in this fight.I to have days like what you are explaining? Juat let me say yoooou have come to the right place.When we first thought that our son was Autistic, my husband bought a book called "Facing Autism" by Lynn Hamilton. The first 4 Chapters had me in tears, because they described my son exactly. The fascination w/ rocks, sleeping patters, eating anything then becoming a fussy eater - all sorts of things. But, in the same sense, I had finally had answers to why I could not understand him like I understood my 2 other boys. I had a lot of mixed feelings, and I still do. You have good days and bad days. I feel you .I have it the same way so good but mostly bad daysHi There is some sort of test in here somewhere. AJ had already been diagnosed with PDD, but I took the test anyway. It should help you. Does he make eye contact with you? Does he seem to play with parts of toys rather than the entire toy itself? AJ loved to put rocks through the fence, and he would do it for hours if I would allow him to. Does he interact with you? When he walks up steps, does he use the same foot every time? Does he have an awkward gait? Does he have an over fascination with running water and water going down the drain? Every child is different. If you suspect something is wrong, I would definitely go have him tested. hello I am tiffany and i am new. I have four children, all with disabilities an Iam a single mom. My oldest son has Autism. Feel free to private message me, I am in need of freinds
Hello everyone. I just found this site, havent lurked around too much, but am way too excited. I have been searching for a discussion board for quite awhile so i am happy to finally have found a place. I have 3 children. They are 7, 4, and 21 months. My 4 year old, conner, was just recently diagnosed with autism(only took 2 years ). He has the typical problems of autistic kids=speech, fine motor skills, behavioral, and also had failure to thrive as a baby which has resulted in muscle problems. Tomorrow we are getting him tested for Fragile-X. He is on some medications, but i am starting to think i said yes to medicine before thinking it through so am now debating whether or not to continue them. Hopefully tomorrow will give me a chance to cruise around here and read some posts. Its midnight and i should be in bed, but I just wanted to introduce myself Hello, I am a new member & very glad to have found this site. I have a daughter with suspected aspergers. I hope I am finally in the right place...........Hi , My name is john My son Nicholas is a happy 4 year old diagnosed with PDD and social integration.Happy I found this site Hi all, My name is Rana (pronounced Renee) I am married to Mike (10 years next month). We have two boys, Matthew 4 who was diagnosed 2 years ago and Jason, who is 10 months old. I stay home with the boys and love it! Of course I have a group of moms who get me out at least once a month. We live in the Kansas City area. Although I am from a farm and thought I would never live in a "big city". The only thing I miss is the stars! Ya just can't see them in town! Hello, I'm a new member. I'm a mom of twin boys who have autism.I hope to reply more often. I'm so glad that we have this forum to discuss many issues. Hi all, I have been reading the chat pages for a while now for my own sanity! I decided to register today. My name is Lisa I have two gorgeous sons. Mason is five and we are in the process of trying to get him diagnosed, we feel possibly with aspergers although maybe PDD-NOS. This site has been a great help for me especially when I feel I don't know which way to turn. Mason has shown autistic tendancies since around the age of two. His dad has said all along that he seems to be autistic but it has taken a long time for me to get my head round it and accept. Currently he has an obsession with electrical wires but we have had vacuum cleaner, lawnmowers, diggers and even the bible! I also have Regan who is two and although I am worried about his lack of speech and occassional lack of eye contact I am trying to hang on to the possibility that he will not have an autistic specrum disorder too. Only time will tell. Thanks for letting me waffle on and I look forward to getting to know some of you through the problems we all seem to share. Lisa Hello everyone, I just found this site today and boy am I glad. We feel like we are all alone in this journey we are on. My daughter has a four and a half year old son that we have been has autisim and we have been told he is PDDNOS no one has give us a sure answer. We are having a hard time getting help for him. I am hoping this site will help us deal with this. Thanks, Ann Hello everyone.......I have a son who was DX moderate Autism Oct1st.2004 he will be 4 Oct 17th.......he is non-verbal and has severe food issues, on the + side, he is very snuggly, loves to curl up with me and watch his DVDs, has good eye contact, sleeps like 10hrs every night, has never had a tantrum, hardly ever cries, loves to go shopping with me :) After reading alot of these posts, I really feel very fortunate. We don't go out much because he is a runner, no danger sense, and you always have to have a death grip on him, so sometimes it is easier to stay home, but now I don't feel so sorry for myself about not having a life outside of Autism. I now know that I could have it so much worse. My heart goes out to all the families on here who truly struggle with meds, aggression, sleepless nights. My hat goes off to you all. Keep smiling......JessicaHello, hello. My name is Jess, I live in Minnesota with my husband and our son. He's 3-1/2 years old and was diagnosed PDD-NOS two weeks after I found out I was pregnant with my second child. (This past March 2005.) Life has been a strange (and sometimes horrifying) rollercoaster since then. My son attends a regular daycare center, although he is still in with the 1 & 2 year olds because he is not potty trained. And he started his Specail Ed Preschool last Wednesday. As I approach my due date...ever...so...slowly
My name is Sara and I have a 2 yo DD that was just diagnosed a couple of weeks ago with autism. I also have a normally developing 4 yo boy and 8 month old boy (now, of course, I just finished reading "Let me hear your voice" and am hyper-watching my 8 mo). When did I notice....well, retrospectively, there was problems from birth- she was "too good"- too easily comforted, almost never cried, etc. After my first, I thought I had just got lucky! But when she turned 11 months she became a terror- constant temper tantrums, screaming, sleep issues, etc. She didn't walk until she was 16 months (she has ataxia issues) and her ped wanted to have her evaluated at 18 months for speech issues. I said no- I was treating her temper tantrums as a discipline issue (everyone told me I just needed to continue being "firm" and "consistant" I'm still in the Hello, I'm InmyPJs. I have been lurking here for a couple of days now. I am a recent 'transfer' from the adhd site, very similar to this one. I'm almost positive adhd is not the core of my daughter's issues. BUT I'm not positive she has PDD or autism, either. There's just something different, not balanced about her. She might be NT, possibly just "gifted" (I hate that term, it feels snobby I also have a nephew who is definitly somewhere on the spectrum. He and my girl were very similar until about age 2 1/2. They areclose in age. We have only recently wondered if she has issues. The two children are now so different (he has global DDs, his sibs have random DDs,- most have ourgrown) that we overlooked her possible issues. Hello Everyone, Mu daughter was born three months early at 2lbs 2oz. As many of you know, it was a traumatic beginning. We were really lucky in that she did not appear to come out of it with any brain damage. I knew as soon as she came homne that something was wrong. She did not look at me like other babies, and I had trouble bonding with her. She did not want to be held to bottle feed and so we had to prop her bottles. She had physical issues related to being a preemie, but the most striking thing to me was how difficult it was to bond with my own child. I was lucky because I had an OT from the very beginning who believed me when I told her that something was wrong. She and I assumed Liana was autistic and worked with her on that assumption. She did really well, but was still having trouble at 18 months. She did not speak at all. We had her officially diagnosed with PDD. And she began intensive speech therapy. She has two remarkable gifts. She sings completely on key. This may not seem like a big deal, but anyone who does music knows that for a child to sing on key from the beginning is amazing. She also can read at 2 years old. When she learns a new word to say, she can also read the word. I mean words like "elephant" and "monkey". It is amazing. she still does not USE the words, but it is astounding none the less. This is her story and I hope to find some support here. Thank you for welcoming us Hello everyone. I am Sabrina, I have 3 young children, and I am not sure if I belong here or not Hi everyone - I´ve been reading your posts for a couple of weeks now and have become totally absorbed........... I have two beautiful sons - one who is 5 and has ´normal´development and one who is 2.5 and we still haven´t figured out exactly what´s not going right with him. According to my ´research´ I think he has PDD. He is completely non-verbal and non-communicative - he does that ´pulling thing´whenever he wants something. But on the other hand, he is completely unfazed by different situations or people, smiles and laughs a lot........ I´m thrilled that I´ve found these message boards as I am currently in Brazil and feel pretty confused and lonesome. My little boy has just gone for a hearing test so we´ll see what happens with that! I hope I´m going to be able to offer the same kind of support and friendship that you are all so obviously good at giving. Hi Disneymom, Congrats on your degree. I"m going to college majoring in Elem. Ed. myself. I have a year and a half to go until I'm finished. I have a 9 yr. old diag. w/PDD and a 14 yr. old who a honors student with no special needs. I"m also a single mom. My hat goes off to you for being such a good mom to your kids and getting your education. Stay blessed, Angela Hi Everyone! My name is Maureen and I have four children. My oldest child ( a son age 10) has Asperger's and our next oldest, a daughter, age 8 has autism. Both were diagnosed between ages 2-3 but it's only now, as they get older and life seems to become more challenging that I am finding myself feeling isolated and confused. Kevin ( our son) engages in self stimming and claps with string. He's also obsessed with various things at various stages. He currently is in a regular 4th grade classroom for about 4 hours a day, special ed 3 hours a day. His behavior is pretty volatile- he's picked up some choice words at school and uses them with us and almost seems constantly angry- although physical agression is rare. He also has pretty severe sleep issues- sleeps MAYBE 4-5 hours a night. He's easily frightened and almost seems manic at times. Katie is our daughter with autism. My main concern with Katie is behavior as well but echolalia is also a major concern. She seems to engage in it mostly at home- at school it's not near as much of a concern. I am trying to get the speech therapists to help me figure out what we are doing wrong- but they just want to suggest a talker- and I am not sure that's the answer since she does have the ability to talk- she utters short sentences. Behaviorally, she has trouble at times in new places and the only places she likes to go are fast food restaurants. So as you can see, I am definitely needing support. Ironically, I am going to be graduating in May with my degree in early childhood education- I can assure you that most elementary teachers do not get NEAR enough training when it comes to kids with special needs! I consider myself lucky to have the experience with special needs I do! All of this given, I adore my children and they are the light of my life. I just want to make our lives better. Looking forward to meeting you all!
Hi Disneymom - welcome to the board.....I'm pretty new myself! Congratulations on your upcoming degree! I'm was an education major myself (in music) but I no longer teach, I'm a stay at home mom for now........we certainly could use more teachers with your wisdom and experience in our schools! Disney mom Welcome I am a newbie to this site as well congrats on your degree.I dont know how we manage with the kids and all I too have just 8 more classes until I will have completed a BS in Business and a minor in Finance. My hats
Single parent of 6year with PDD-autism, normal 17year old senior-13 year old 7th grader Hi everybody, My name is Vicky. I have a 5 year old boy with Aspergers. I am very happy to have found this site. I am also studying Teacher Aide and studying Autism. I also have an 8 year old with 'normal' development. Hoping to get some ideas on how everyone else deals with the siblings of PDD kids. Hi my name is Helen and I have an 8 year old son named Stephen with pdd-nos. He is doing much better now but during the beginning after he was diagnosed it was a very difficult time for my family and especially for me because I felt that I was all alone I didn't understand what the doctors where telling me I never could imagine that my life was gonna be touch by autism. It is nice to see that there is so much information on line now, back then I couldn't find much. I hope to keep getting more inf. from all the parents that come to this site. Beacuse I want to learn as much as I can to help my child. Hello everyone I am a single parent of a 6 year old boy who has PDD. I need help find a support group in the Phila area if anyone can help please let me know Thanks[QUOTE=TahmirsMom] http://www.asaphilly.org/resources.htm http://www.autismlink.com/services.php?state=PA®ion=& amp;servicetype=4 http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dd/aic/states/pa.htm http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/suppPA.html (Aspergers Support) The Philadelphia Autism Meetup Group
http://www.aspennj.org/SupportNearbyStates.html#SUPPORTPA Do a search, or contact your local MR/DD school, Autism school, or even mental health facility and stary asking! Leslie, I am no expert but I know my child. I personally have known things were not right since Mason was two. I didn't put all the little bits together until recently and then I understood what we had been going through for at least 3 years. I could not accept any thought what so ever that my child could be autistic. I had never heard of Aspergers until a few months ago and when I read what a child with it was like I felt I was reading about Mason. To me it was finally confirmation of something even though we have no diagnosis as yet. Mason has meltdowns but generally his are brought on by a change in routine that he can not accept or if he is in a large crowd of people. Mason is secure in his own environment but take his routine away and do we know about it. He has obsessions and has had since he was two. Not just interests but serious obsessions. He has some sort of auditory problem although I have been battleing to get this reconised for two years. He can not understand a sentence when you either talk to him outside where there is background noise or if you speak to him out the blue. I then have to repeat myself two sometimes three times. Mason has communication problems, he struggles to start a conversation with children his age and play. parties are a nightmare. He lays down the rules when he has a friend over and he never keeps friends for long as a result of his not letting anyone near his things. I know Mason has a problem and only you can really know your own child. If you feel Kylie is not autistic you need to challenge it. Have you read the criteria for autistic diagnosis? Does Kylie appear to match the criteria? Good luck with Kylie and let me know how you get on. Lisa Lisa, I am like you and have been reading this forum for some time before joining/posting. I am not sure what Kylie's diagnosis is because it is all so confusing to me. I want to just trust the doctors, but I have different opinions coming from different doctors. The original diagnosis was severe ADHD and developmental speech problems. Kylie is nearly 2 years behind in speech development. Hubby and I agree with that diagnosis. However, Ritalin and Adderall have both been tried and there are still issues with temper. She just began receiving ST. We were referred to a child psychiatrist for medication management who feels that Kylie is really autistic in addition to ADHD. We are not sure that she is autistic. She was evaluated over several visits with child specialists including neurologists and developmental pediatricians. We all agreed with the diagnosis, but now this doctor who has only seen her once for less than an hour wants to say she is autistic and place her on Resperdone. Hubby and I are not comfortable with that diagnosis. We are not sure that her socialization problems and anger are not stemming from the ADHD and speech issues. For instance, ADHD children have "lock in" and "lock out" behavior. How do we know that her blank stare is autistic or ADHD locking behavior? We haven't given ST enough time to see if it would help since she just started a month ago--and loves it by the way! I just don't have any easy answers, and I was hoping that someone here could help me distinguish between them. I am not opposed to medications or a diagnosis of autism if it is accurate. It is just that I am not so sure that is accurate from all that I have read. I just want to do what is right for Kylie, who is a beautiful 4 1/2 year old green-eyed doll. I don't want to rush to a decision and my mind is going a mile a minute. We need help now for her, but I just wonder if she was receiving the right medication for ADHD or the proper dose. The last medication was 15 mg Ritalin. It seemed to really help except some days in the evenings or after being out all day, she would have a meltdown. Her regular pediatrician explained to me that ADHD kids often have a hard time with stimuli and get overloaded very easily. So, although I do see some autistic tendencies, I am not sure where that line is between ADHD with speech problems and autistic, so I decided to ask the real experts! Sorry for going on and on....but I would really appreciate your advice! Hi--i'm gwen. i found and posted at this site at the end of august, but never introduced myself--i have two boys--my twelve-year old is diagnosed with high functioning autism, my 9 year old was diagnosed pdd when he was 3 1/2. they are total opposites in everything except that they both tend to perseverateon things. both had gastro-intestinal issues when they were younger--one with constant diarrhea, the other constant constipation. my eldest was developing typically until he was about 13 months, my youngest was about 2 1/2 when he regressed. my eldest has difficulty with language, both understanding others and finding a way to express himself in words; my youngest never STOPS talking. they are both interested and want to hang out with other kids--my youngest does much more easily, and has a group of friends--my 12 year old has a really hard time doing this because of the communication barrier. They are both very active, intelligent, and funny--my very verbal nine year old actually has a harder time with jokes than my 12 year old. Both boys have been on various meds to help with behaviors, but we removed the medications about 5 years ago and have used vitamins and diet (we has already removed gluten/casien from their diets by the time we went off medication). They both responded very well to these changes and we see a dramatic negative change if they get anything they are allergic/sensitive to now.In addition, my brother was diagnosed with autism when we were young, and i have add/ocd. thank you so much to all of you for your help and comments when i posted the first time...it's nice to meet you all. Hi everyone. my name is Shnnon and I am the mom of Shane (5), Seth (2) and Shella Rose (3months). My five year old has Asperger;s syndrome. His greatest delays are fine motor and social skills. He is very, very smary but socially inept. I joined this message board to see if i could find some ideas to help him improve socially. We live in Pa so theservices he receives are outstanding. he has wrap- around services. he has 20 hours of Theraoeutic Staff Support in the school and an aide for weekend outings to help him in social situations. Also he gets OT, PT, Sensory Integration Therapy and speech. A big problem we have is him becoming overstimulated at the end of the day. We are getting him a weighted blanket...any experience with these? his OT recommended one. Any comments help. Thanks Hi My name is Jane. I just joined yesterday. I was actually looking for a school for my daughter to go to when I stumbled upon this. Things have not been going well with my daughter's school. And there is no where that she can go. Services are very limited here and you have to fight for it. My daughter is 9 now. She was not diagnosed until she was almost 6. I knew something was wrong with her at birth but the pediatrician kept telling us that she was just developmentally delayed...what ever that means. She also has mild celebral palsy. Before she was diagnosed we did the Doman Delgado program out of Pennsylvania for 2 years. It was one of the hardest thing that we have ever done but we did not know what was wrong with her then. So we were willing to do anything and believe anyone that told us that that was the answer. We started on ABA right away after her diagnosis and it was the best thing we have ever done for her. I am still strugglling now. Seems like it is a constant battle. If not with the school, it is with the insurance company. Jane
Sara, I am interested to find out what you have found out about homeschooling because I am thinking of doing the same for my daughter. Only problem is the social issues. There is no school for kids with autism in Kansas. It would be so nice if all the aprents could come together and open one up because it is needed so badly over here, I am so glad that I found this site. since I have even been thinking about a chance of my son being on the Autistic Spectrum, I have been searching for as much data as possible. finding this site with first hand experiences and people offering support for complete strangers is so incredibly humbling. I can only hope that I am lucky enough to connect with all of you out there. My is 20 months and was recently (2 weeks ago) diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Leading up to his evaluation I new in my heart that he would be diagnosed but the actual moment of hearing it has shattered my world and turned it upside down. I have 2 other kids as well. I am still not adjusted to this diagnosis and have my moments of selfish breakdown, but I am ready to fight for him and get him the very best no matter what. I just don't know what I need to be doing to get it. He has a twin sister who is healthy (although somewhat developmentally delayed but gaining quickly). They were born at 29 weeks weighed 2 1/2 pounds. He struggled for life for several days but he is a fighter and has really beaten all the odds. He is just amazing to me! He had severe reflux as a baby for over 12 months and was in the hospital 8 1/2 weeks after birth before coming home (his twin sister as well). He was hospitalized for RSV and bronchiolits for a week last winter and spent the remainder of the winter on a nebulizer and in and out of the hosptial for close calls for breathing. With all this craziness aside, he is so happy, content, adorable, and just my little man. God do I love that boy. He was diagnosed about 2 weeks ago and I have been pretty much in a fog since. He has already been receiving EI services since about 10 weeks old. We have been on weekly visits with an OT and developmental specialist (speech as well) for about 3 months and since we have bumped up to weekly visists and 2 providers per visit (one per twin) I have noticed a difference in his eye contact. I am waiting for the day he responds to his name...I know that day will come! We start intensive sessions next weeks at 6 additional hours + existing the EI visits per week. He wil start out with the 'floor time' approach as I think ABA and anything too structure would not work well for him at this point as he can get easily over stimulated and anxious. I work part time in/out of the house and very concerned how we will balance this as the hours of service will only increase. I need to do what is best for him and are considering moving if we have to if the school system is not up to par. I know I am jumping WAY ahead but I am thinking of when he turns 3 and no longer qualifies for EI or these additional services and want to be sure I am getting him teh best school services as possible. I am so glad I have found this site. Thank you for reading my posting.
n I am Mary. My daughter is almost 4, born Oct 27th 2001. She dosen't have a working thyroid. That was discovered after she was born and replacement therapy began 2wks later. She was dx in Sept 2004 (last year) as having PDD-NOS, borderline autism, w/greatest delay in speech and gross motor. She was a good, quite baby for the most part. I noticed how intense she was early on. SHe also freaked out when we drove over hilly roads. SHe was only about 8 or 9 months old when I first started to wonder. SHe wasn't crawling yet and she played w/the same thing for hours...sometimes to get her to stop I would have to pick her up and move her to something else. SHe didn't start walking until 16 mos old but never learned to climb or jump or run until a year ago. By 2 she was lining things up and her vocabulary stalled out. SHe was saying about 10 words at that time. By the time she was turning 3 we had her evaluated. She could talk a little but mostly repeated the same words over and over, all day. SHe seems like a typical preschooler in many ways and it can fool even me still. She can draw at a 5 yr old level, work puzzles at a 5 yr old level. BUt she is at a 2 to 3 year old level with speech and struggles to skip and hop. She stims by rubbing things...our face (started about 4mos old) and fingernails. She is very imaginitive. When her foot fell a sleep she wanted me to open her toe and get the bees out. On the bad days, she cries over every thing, has a harder time w/focusing and looks off into space. Her speech gets very abstract and she dosen't want to leave the house or cooperate out in public. So it is on the spectrum I suppose....and each chid being unique in their own ways. Anna is awsome in her disability and finds ability dispite the struggles to comprehend the world around her. It is that determination she has that keeps us hopeful. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=speechy]Hello all..my name is Katie, and I am a speech therapist...brand new. I just started a new job working with 20 children with Autism...ages 5-18. I have an additional 10 with assorted other disabilities. I have fallen in love with all my kids...but i am here to get advice and support from others effected by Autism. I want nothing more than to form good relationships with the parents and help these children the best I can. There are many parents on my caseload that have been SO unhappy with the past SLP's tehy have had for their child...and I want to avoid this as much as possible. I am here to help THEIR child. I know that there are some professionals that do not consider the parents enough. I dont want to be this way! I feel like I will learn more by getting to know other parents (and professionals). I feel all of your advice will be SO valuable...so anything will help. I started a thread called "speech therapy" if you get a chance to visit and comment...or even ask me questions...it would be great! I may be able to answer some of your questions or concerns... Good luck to all of you in your everyday battles! I have read some of the threads...you are all amazing people! Katie "speechy" [/QUOTE]I have a 5 year old with a form of autism Pdd nos) she has the tense too bite herself alot or she constantly through tantrums when she doesn't get her away She has be having trouble going poop on the toilet but she can go seat on the toilet go pee in there.She also whinnes alot too. Hello there I am Coeli. I am a mommy to 3 children a 10 yr old boy , 7 yr old boy and a 1 yr old girl. My oldest son Austin was diagnosed ADHD at the age of three. About a year later I noticed other quirks about him that made me lean towards autism. No one would listen to me not the doctors the schools or anyone else for that matter. We recently moved to a new house and a new school and it has been hell. Now all of the sudden everyone wants to help me get him properly diagnosed so the can shove him out the door at there school. He is currently in the process of being pysch tested and other testing and his meds dr and his therapist are leaning towards aspergers syndrome along with his adhd. I hope I am in the right place to talk about this even though he isn't totally diagnosed yet because i am at my wits end. Thank you all for hearing me out I am gonna go look around now.Hello everyone! I have never posted on this board but I have looked over it many of times! lol My name is Heather I am a mother of 2 my son Kolby is 2 and a half and he is still undiagnosed. He goes to speech therapy and occupational therapy twice a week. I am trying to get him in to see a neurologist but they said it is going to take me a year to get in there. The Early Childhood Intervention came to my house about 2 weeks ago and he was accepted into the program but he was already recieving services to they could not duplicate them. On his developmental levels he is at a 6-7 month old level and for his receptive language a 6 month old level for his expressive language. They think Kolby has some sensory issues also (which Im confused about) so that is why he is in the occupational therapy. I do not know if Kolby is on the spectrum but every appt. I take him to that is what they always mention. "Have you thought about autism" and my response it always the same "Yes I have looked into autism quite often but, my son LOVES touch" I am just confused about this all and I hope that I can find some support here!
HELLO EVERYONE!
WELL, I DO NOT KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN, OR START, SINCE I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO TYPE/TALK TO MUCH, BUT I GUESS I WILL GIVE YOU A BREAK, SINCE I JUST POSTED A HELP!!! REQUEST ON BOARD, JUST SHORTLY AFTER I BECAME A MEMBER TO THIS SITE!!! ANY WHO, I AM A WIFE AND MOTHER OF 4 CHILDREN, WHICH INCLUDES MY FOSTER DAUGHTER ASISHA AND MY NEAR-4 YEAR OLD AUTISTIC/ADHD DAUGHTER, JENSYN, WHO WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM, AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 20 MONTHS, AFTER SEVERAL EVALUATIONS MY SPECIALISTS, IN WHICH I INITIATED DUE TO MY CONCERN OF HER REGRESSED DEVELOPMENT AND AN "ELIMINATION" OF VERBAL LANGUAGE, HOWEVER EVEN THOUGH AT THIS PRESENT TIME SHE STILL DEPENDS ON NONVERBAL LANGUAGE, SHE IS ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH NUMEROUS SINGLE WORDS. SHE STILL EXHIBITS NOT ONLY HER DANGEROUS ATTEMPTS TO ELOPE FROM OUR HOME AND CONTINUES TO DEMONSTRATE ODD BEHAVIORS AND SUSTAINED PLAY, SHE IS STILL VERY VERY INTELLIGENT, ACTUALLY TO MUCH FOR HER OWN GOOD!!! OH BY THE WAY, I LIVE IN KEWANEE, IL AND I AM JUST SHY FROM BEING 34 YEARS OLD AND MY HUSBAND IS 43 YEARS OLD, WHICH HE HAS BEEN "LUCKY" TO HAVE ME AS HIS WIFE FOR ALMOST 12 YEARS!! I DO NOT KNOW HOW WE HAVE GOT THIS FAR WITH ALL THE MOUNTAINS WE HAVE ENCOUNTERED!! ANYWAY, ENOUGH ABOUT ME, I CANT WAY TO BE GRANTED NOT ONLY AN ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SYSTEM, BUT NEW AND HOPEFULLY LONG-LASTING FRIENDSHIPS!! FEEL FREE TO TYPE ME A POST ANYTIME... I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO IT... OK....HI...I found you guys. Please bombard me with information while I still have a tiny bit of patience left. I have a 8 year old with PDD-NOS. I have a very silent parent for a LONG time cause I have been counting my blessings that he is high functioning. I am at the point now of either finding some kind of.....something....or I amgoing to go crazy. He is on Dexedrine and Strattera for hyperactivity but that's it. No special diets, no intervention for behavior or social upsets. I had him going to a phycologist but that got to the point of me giving HIM more information to pass on to other patients then help he could offer me so I stopped going. Sorry to start here and dump on ya...but I'm sure you understand where other people don't. hello My name is viviann. I need help. I am very confused and frustuated. My son is 10 years old and for the past 5 years his school diagnosed him with autism. He is high functioning autistic and is in general ed classes and gets pulled out for RSP. He use to get speech. They said he doesn't need it anymore but i believe he does so we are having another iep meeting. He is also in the Harbor Regional Program which is doing a re-evaluation. The H.R. doctor is in the middle of his assesment. He has met with my son and spent about 1 hour with him and from that meeting he believses that my son has a learning disability not autism. He is going to my son's school to speak to his teachers and then he will be able to make a complete assesment. I feel he needs a formal assesment with someone that specializes and is more informed and hands on. Someone who has spent a lot of time with childrens like him. I am not comfortable and satisfied with the qualifications of the people that are assessing him. Please someone advice me on where to find adequate help. Resources? Tutoring for kids with learning disabilities? I live in California in the LA county. Thank You for listening. Please advice. Emotionally tired and physicly tired just had a baby. Need to get help for my boy.help Hi Im Sarah and it sounds like my yougest son, Samuel, has Autism, although hasnt been officially diagnosed, probaly because hes only 17 months old and paediatrican is 'observing' him, she is running blood tests and urine tests, but seems reluctant to diagnose it. I havent pushed, as if you push here, they tend to back off and not listen to you after that. Sam has a lot of autistic qualitys and my nephew is Autistic. The paediatrician said a lot of children have delays and never find out what causes it, and wouldnt change how we treat him ie. physios etc. I do agree, it wouldnt change how i feel about him, i'd still love him, but i'd like some answers to see if it Autism like I suspect. . Would you stick with this paediatrician? Would you ask for second opinion??? I just dont know, HELP!!!!!!!Hi Sarah, I noticed you were from the UK so thought i'd reply. I agree with you that it seems the more you try to find out the harder it is. I am battling to get my five year old son diagnosed I am sure he has ASD. I have approached the health visitors time and again since he was two regarding obsessions, behaviour and memory/auditory problems not to mention the constipation episodes. No one put two and two together and although my husband has been saying since Mason was two that he was showing signs of autism I was reluctant to agree, I felt guilty for thinking that. I now can see the difference between him and other children. He totally ignores them on the way to school and it breaks my heart to think they will stop acknowledging him because of his strange ways. We have now been referred to a Communication Assessment disorder clinic which diagnoses Autistic disorders. It is a very long slow road. I have another son who is two. Already I feel worried we may be going down the same road and feel guilty for thinking it. Several weeks ago he stopped making eye contact with us but luckily it has returned. His speach is just starting but he has strange ways about him at times and I think maybe he is just a normal two year old. Only you can know your child. If you really believe he is autistic get a second opinion (if you can ,i know how difficult this is). Also I can understand the reluctance to diagnose because he is so young. Go with your heart. Hope this helps a little Hi I am new. My daughter was diagnosed really late. Her previous pediatrician told us that she was just developmentally delayed and that she may come out of it. Well, luckily we changed pediatrician. She referred us to a developmental pediatrician who helped diagnosed my daughter. I was relieved eventhough I was heartbroken. It did not changed the way I feel about her. To me she is always my baby, autistic or not. But the diagnosis helped me to get help for her. We have been doing ABA for 3 years plus now and I have seen a lot of progress in her skills, behavior.Will try not to make this into a novel LOL. My oldest AJ has Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus for which he has a shunt placed. He is a very bright boy, can tell you why leaves are green b/c of choloraphil (SP) why we dont float all around, gravity etc... He has not been diagnosed w/ Autism or any form of it. The has however been recently diagnosed w/ ADHD. Long story short AJ is now 5 as of Aug. 31, and began kindergarden on the 6th of Sept. AJ was a very late talker, dont remember exactly at what age prob. at approx. 20 months or so. When he was a toddler, he would rip handfulls of his beautiful blonde locks out. Once his speech ther. taught us all signs he stopped doing it. He was a very picky eater, still is. If we try to get him to try something new, he'll gag. He was on adderall XR, and he was have tics, being aggressive and would have meltdowns. I did some research & saw that it was prob. the meds, took him off it & started him on concerta, the tics have not come back but he's still having meltdowns, being aggressive when not getting his way....sometimes he'll punch himself or headbutt things. He'll have tantrums, meltdowns are a better description ... he'll cry, scream, get angry and basically throw a fit. Theres no reasoning w/ him while he's having a tantrum. He will get obessed about somethings & thats all we will hear about. The latest thing he's obessed about is balloons .. I HATE BALLOONS! We had a not fun experience at the mall today b/c of balloons. I hate the way people stare! I know there is more but thats all I can think of at the moment. He has an appt w/ a new dr. on Oct. 7th for his ADHD & plan on mentioning autism and will she what she says. ~Nise Hi, I'm a mother of a son who was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome at the age of 22. We spent many years trying to diagnose him. We are still dealing with the realities of it. I have never met anyone with an older child with this syndrome and would like to communicate with them. I am also willing to talk to parents with younger children with this syndrome and maybe share some experiences. hello. my name is stacy. this is the first time ive ever done anything like this.this site looks like something i need in my life right now. my son brock will be 2 in oct. he has not been officially diagnosed yet but our ped and our area ed agency have told us we are probably looking pdd-nos. there are days he seems like a typical toddler and i tell myself that he is fine and he is just behind and will catch up soon. then there are days i look at him and i feel such a heaviness in my heart because deep down i know he is not whole. when will i be able to say the word autistic out loud without tearing up? will i ever give up this terrible feeling of anger at God for doing this to my child,to my family,to me?i have always been a pretty optimistic person and i have relied heavily on my faith to carry me thru many hard times. i have always believed everything happens for a reason and there is a great plan for all of us.ive looked at many sites and read the wonderfully positive comments from experienced mothers mentioning how special we must be to be chosen to care for these precious children.when will i feel that way? i feel exhausted,angry,devestated,cheated,embarrassed,and very far away from special. i love my son so much and will do anything to help him but the journey looks so far and hard and i dont know where we will end up at.i know from reading many of these posts im not alone on this journey.i am glad to be in good company.Hi. I am a new member. I am greatful to you for your information . My son is nine years old . At his five years old I know that he is an autistic child . In our country we know a little about autism . My son has not any special educatar or training .Please advice me what to do next .Hello alloutofanswers, I wish I could say something to make it better. But I can't, I haven't even gotten as far as you have. My five year old has Asperger's. He is brilliant, his vocabulary is astounding and his math/science/reading skills are far above the average five year old. Yet, as you described, he doens't play. He doesn't know how. He doesn't play with his toys appropriatly. His 'toys' are anything electronic, cords, surge protectors, light switches. He looks at the kids in his class like they are the ones that are unusual. My greatest fear is that in a few years he will be ostracized in school. Right now he is in a small class of 12 and the children all love him because he is very funny. I worry about later on. His Psychologist says that the 3rd and 4th grade are the hardest before jr. high. Do you agree? Thanks!
Hello - My name is Amber and I am a proud and blessed parent of an 8 year old high functioning autistic/pdd-nos daughter. I look forward to chatting and getting to know all of you. I have been looking for a place to chat with others that are experiencing the same things that I am going through. Amber Hi, my name is Mary Jane and I have a 5 year old autistic daughter. SHe has been doing well so far till the end of the summer. All of a sudden she developed self-injurious behavior. She has total meltdowns at least 4 to 5 times a week sometimes twice daily. She will pinch herself to the point of leaving a mark. SHe is in a pdd-autistic class in our town, with one to one aide, teacher and a behaviorist in the class. I consider us lucky, we also get 10 hours of home ABA therapy after school which is provided by the school district. all her OT<PT and ST are covered in school too. ALl these give us enough leeway to get social skills program for her on the weekend and other appropriate activities without strapping our budget. We just got back from her pediatrician to get an opinion regarding her pinching. We were told that she might have to be medicated. Is there anybody out there that has similar problem and was this answered by medication? I am a Registered Nurse and medicating my daughter to calm her down seems so drastic to me. I will appreciate any suggestion you guys might have. Hi Mary Jane, My son has Aspergers and we al;so experienced some brief periods of self injurious behaviors. Of course my son's pediatrician wanted to medicate him for anxiety. As a teacher I see many children throughout the year that start the year un medicated and for whatever reason end up medicated by mid year. thjere are legitimate reasons a child should be medicated. We chose not to go that route. I noticed you said this behavior just started. at summers end. You also said your daughter is five and is in school. Often it is the stressful times that my son regresses to this level. Starting school, a vacation, holiday guest. Basically and change to his strict self imposed routine. Have you considered she is having trouble adjusting to school. Is it the end of the day when yu are seeing this more? That is how it is with my son. We find he becomes self stimulated and lets it out by becoming self injurious or agressive towards other people. My feelings are if you medicate a child to calm her down she may never learn the self calming tools needed to live a productive life in the future. I see way too many children medicine dependent. Also you then have the side effects of the medication and often you are left wondering what is her PDD-autism and what is the medication. I am not saying medicine is not your answer of course because I don't know your child's history and I am most definetly not a physician. Some of the tools we use are massage, warm baths, calming music and just recently a weighted blanket. My son used these in OT and has a lap pad at school and after seeing the results we didn't hesitate to get him one for home. This is his second night using it. Tonite he went right to sleep, no bouncing up and down for an hour and no slamming his legs against the mattress. The pressure of the blanket apparently calmed him. We also kept his hands very busy whenhe regressed, lots of smashing pay do..etc. i hope this helps. I get so overwhelmed at times too. I have a 2.5 year old and a new baby so dealing with my littls guy and then my babies exhaust me! [QUOTE=Firefly]
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE] AMber, I spoke to my neuro-developmental doctor and he said I can go as high as 3mg. So far she's been good the past 3 days without it, she slept late at around 11 or so but it's ok aslong as she did on her own. THe problem is she wakes up so early. ANyway, if this is the only major problem we might have right now I'll consider myself lucky. Her pinching has lessen which is a blessing in itself. GOod luck to everyone.Hi, My name is Robyn Ackerman. I have a company in IL. "Child Behavioral Therapy Consulting Services" and we provide all in-home therapies- as well as school consultations. I must say that my business thrives because of the constant input from the parents. This website gives me so much insight as to what parents are going through. thank you. Robyn Ackerman Director/Consultant Child Behavioral Therapy Consulting Services Hello Everyone. I am a single mother of a 16-year-old boy who was first diagnosed with ADHD, then with Childhood Schizophrenia, next was PDD-NOS, now the latest is Bi-Polar. I still think he is autistic. That is my official diagnosis as the person who knows him best. He can be a typical teenager as far as looking at girls. My heart breaks when the girls respond to him cruelly. He is extremely intelligent and would like to work for Nintendo some day. My job now is to help him achieve his dreams. I also have a 19-year-old daughter who is the best. She is so great with her brother and very protective. She is my rock. I feel very fortunate to have found this site. The message boards have been of great help, comfort, and information. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR SHARING YOUR STORIES!!! hi i have a 4 yrs old with autism... i was up late searching the net for sleep aids...bet ya'll know why... and came across this forum. i find it informative and comforting, can't wait to get to know some people!Hi. I'm new to the forum and going thru a lot of grief these days. My son Dylan was born in April of 2000. He was such a perfect little boy. He was beautiful. He could hold his head up very early, was eager to try new foods (as soon as he learned to crawl, he would get to your unattended plate before you could!), I have a picture of him in my arms smiling at 4 days old... My husband came home from Iraq to spend three weeks here with us in Georgia. I had moved since the last time he'd been home, and he was helping me unpack the photo albums on his last day here. One of the albums was Dylan's first album. We looked at the pictures together and realized that Dylan was fine until after his first birthday. The boy who spoke and asked for cake, said please and mama by 9 months lost all that. At 13 months he sat slack jawed and drooling, with puffiness under both his eyes. The awareness present in his earlier pictures was gone. My husband and I tried not to cry; we realized that something (probably something we'd done since we were responsible for all of his needs) caused our lovely boy to disappear into the darkness of his own mind. John left last Wednesday to go back to Iraq for another year. I keep looking at Dylan and sadly wondering and hoping that I can do something for him. He is on Ritalin for ADD and he has been diagnosed as "significant developmental delay". He needs Melatonin to help him sleep at night. His school isn't doing what he needs done, and I'm debating leaving nursing school (I have 3 quarters left) to just be with him 24 hours a day. This is killing me. The thought of my boy maybe never being able to drive, have a job, live on his own... it's eating me alive. Personally if I were in that situation I'd rather be dead, so to see him so young and not to have a better prognosis is killing me. He gets ABA. I have to fire one of his therapists tomorrow, because he isn't doing any good for Dylan. It makes my throat hurt to think of the little boy that could have been. I'm so angry at myself. I have to stay strong for my husband and my daughter but damn I just don't understand. The school doesn't want to help me, and all anyone can do when they work with Dylan is look at me with sadness and pity in their eyes because he is so sweet but he just doesn't understand the world around him. I'm tired of seeing sadness in other peoples eyes. Damn it, I can hardly control how I feel about it. What good is pity? Maybe if his teachers tried to help him. Instead he's being discriminated against. I can't handle the thought of how difficult his next 12 years of schooling will be... Thanks for listening and reading. Hi Carrie, my daughter was born May of 2000. She's a very beautiful girl and I have the same fears as yours. She needs melatonin to sleep now too but hte problem is she wakes up 4 hours later till it's time to go to school. Her school is very supportive though. I too have to fire her home ABA therapist sometime this week. I'm very passive and not good at firing people, but this time I have to. I have looked at alternative treatments and we're going for auditory integration training possibly spring or summer when she has a few days off from school. I am a nurse and because of that I can choose the days or hours that I can work so my husband can take care of her on weekends. I know it's hard for you since your husband is away. Hang in there though. THey may never run for senate or discover the cure for cancer, but they do get better a little eventually...... I'd like to think at least that it will. Mary Jane mother of an 8 y/o(straight A student) and 5 year old drop dead gorgeous autistic girl (just like mommy, probably including the autistic part, lol) Hello I am new to this site. I just found out yesterday that my 2 year old son has autism. I have known that he is different since he was about two months old. I am so happy to now know what is going on at least now I will be able to educate him and myself to this. I am feeling very confused and wondering what to do. i am waiting for the written evaluation to come back and enrolloing him in a day care the easter seals ucp in NC and hoping that this will help him wit his verbal and social skills. I'm scared, worried, slightly angry. My husband is not supporting me throughout the last 6 months of testing and know he is really not supporting me as far as the results coming back that Tanner is autistic. This actually feels good to read your posts and to see that I am not alone. Thank you all for your time and I hope to chat with someone soon. thanks, meganHi, everyone. My name is Tracy and I am the mom to 3 children..Hannah (10), Chandler (7), and Dustin(6). Chandler is my child who has autism, is mildly mentally retarded and also has that ADHD diagnosis. At 20 or so months, my youngest son's First Steps therapists noticed something different about Chandler, but you couldn't tell me that. By 3, I knew something was wrong and he qualified for preschool under DD and proceeded to tear up the preschool room. Finally, when he was 4, we got the PDD-NOS label, although he clearly fit the Autism criteria. His developmental ped was hoping that through therapy, etc. he would outgrow most of the behaviors as he was and is very verbal (spoken wise--his major delays are receptive language and understanding abstract speech, although he also does test as being delayed under articulation). Needless to say, that didn't happen and we recieved the autism label this past year. How autism affects our lives is a question that I can't answer? How doesn't it? EVerything is rethought for Chandler. It sure has made a lasting impact on each one of us...from getting divorced, getting remarried, not being able to work right now so that I can take Chandler to therapy 2x a week...basically still having to think of my 7 year old as a typical 3 year old. Learning the best way to communicate with him...gastro issues...you all know the drill... I do look forward to meeting you all. I live in Kentucky and will be graduating in December with my degree in Early Childhood Education. Still don't have a clue what I am going to do with that, since I have to work the hours my children are in school. There just isn't any after school care for Chan. Thanks Shannon for your reply. We have tried the weighted blanket. She slept thorugh the night for a few days. Now she's back again to sleepign for 4 hours, waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning and she goes through the day without napping. I think it was all the downtime she had during the summer that made her go off the loop. The doctor is going to call me today about the medication. I want to know what it is and I will hold off on it, I want to see if she changes as school progresses. It is overwheming. I find myself crying when I get home from dropping her off to school. I feel lost and I don't know sometimes how to help her. WHen she has a meltdown, one would think that she's possessed. It breaks our heart to see her like that. & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; I just stumbled onto this message board one day and it already made me feel a little bit better. It helps to know that there are parents out there who are going through the same thing. THanks again. hi, i'm kim and i'm the mother of 4wonderful kids. kathleen(13) and alex(9) are from my first marriage and are both in the gifted and talented at school. chris (6) and sara(5) are from my 2nd marriage and both have had developmental delays. chris was diagnosed at 2.5 years as having central nervous system dysfunction and receptive language delays. he is now in kindergarten and can read but still has alot of anxiety issues (he actually hand flaps which is why we figured he would be dx as autistic) sara was dx as in the spectrum at age 3. she is quite a handful. sara is in her 3rd year of preschool and the teachers say she does very well and participates. her language has gone from echoliac(?) to actual communication. she can make you laugh very easily. in their case early intervention (first steps in ky) was very helpful in bringing them to where they are today. i need to make an appt for next year to have them reevaluated. i look forward to getting to know all of you
This is a reply to momof2- Have you tried melatonin, a natural sleeping aid? My development pediatrician recommended it for my daughter when he found out that she would stay up all night long, literally. She has been taking this sleeping aid now for 4 years and is finally getting some good sleep and rest which has helped a lot in her schooling. Amber
HI, I am the father of an 18 month old beautiful baby boy who has just been diagnosed with PDD NOS by two separate child neurologists. I am still in shock and don't really know how to deal. I have already reached out to EI and have had several evaluations already. I hope to get him started with ABA and ST ASAP. I have been reading this site for a while with the hope of someone telling me that he will improve with his behavior and that someday he will lead a productive independent life. My wife is a mess and both of us find ourselves evaluating and testing him every time we are with him. Someone please tell me this gets better. I have never been so terrified in all my life. I will keep reading in the hopes that new and positive information will come my way. I tried melatonin amber. It helps her fall asleep but she still wakes up after 5 hours, sometimes less.Maybe I should give her the full 3mg dose. I was cutting it in half before. Thank you for your response.My name is Kim and I have an 8 year old son with ASD/PDD,ADHD. was speech delayed/lang. delayed. He's verbal now, but repeats himself all the time as well as stimming a lot. He is in ESE @ public school, should be in 2nd grade, but is still doing K-5 school work. Some days are good- some not so good for us. He can get aggressive at times out of the blue and I worry about when he gets older (bigger) and how we are going to handle things then... He is currently on 10 mgs Straterra every a.m. (ADHD med.) and we just started Zyrtec(allergy med) @ bedtime to also help him sleep (keeping my fingers crossed) at night! He will stay up untill 12-1 a.m. every night and I know part of his negative behaviors during the day have got to have something to do with lack of a full nights sleep. One good thing is for the past year he will sleep through the night with no night terrors like he used to have and I'm very grateful for that. He used to be into vac. cleaners and lawn mowers~ now it's cooking mixers (we cut the cord so he can't plug it in),pencils, erasers,grippers for the 1,000 pencils we have at home! I am so glad to have found this board and look forward to getting to know you all... Kim
Hi, My name is Heidi, I have 2 boys, Ben (4yrs) with autistic disorder and Jake (almost 6) with PDD-Nos and a "typical" 14year old girl Natalie. I have only spent a short time on this site and have felt validated with the struggles and challenges we all face regardless of where our children sit on the spectrum. Jake who can appear so "normal" is only a second from melting down and having violent behaviors. Socially it is so difficult for him. His anxiety level is at the high and his obsessive need for everything to be lined up in his life is hard to keep track of. Just when I think I've figured things out a little - it changes. Ben has more global delays with the sleep issues described here, feeding problems, loud inappropriate laughing and now some new sound "GEEEE". Both my boys are so lovable and adorable and somehow do connect to each other on some level. I feel the ulitmate responsibility of caring for them and trying to make their life happy and being the constant advocate in the school system. It is overwhleming, sad and rewarding all at the same time. My biggest fear is not having the right set of resources for them. Jake has come along way in the 3 years we have had his dx, but Ben has such slower progress it's hard to know what his capabilities are. Connecting to other parents is really the way I have been able to get more out of the "system" - very sad that it is a challenge to get people to help. I hope to connect here and get to know your story too. Heidi
Hello. My name is Julie and I am a speech-language pathologist. I have an ABA-verbal behavior background. I am very passionate about autism and look forward to possibly opening my own clinic which I envision being an all-around treatment center, tailored to meet the needs of each individual child, with an early intervention emphasis. However, that's far in the future. The bulk of my experience comes from spending countless hours of one on one time with an apraxic, autistic, hyper, wild, bright, manipulative, beautiful little girl! Hi, I'm Kellie. Mom to 3 sons ages 14, 12 and 7. My youngest son Jacob was diagnosed as ADHD/OCD at age 5 and PDD at age 6. My husband refuses to believe there is anything wrong with Jacob and so I am pretty much doing this on my own. Jacob has severe social delays as well as sensory issues. He can not stand to be touched. He is also repetitive to an extreme and often goes into rages set off by just about anything, after which he simply lays down on the floor and goes to sleep. We also have sleep issues. He will sleep for 3 or 4 hours at night and that is it. Academically, when we tested him last year his IQ was off the charts but sadly he can not function in a regular classroom nor can he really be engaged long enough to show how bright he is on a day to day basis. I am hoping to read some of the information in this forum and get some ideas on what else I can do to help my son. He is currently in therapy as well as seeing a psychiatrist 2x a month and a neurologist every 3 months. I have no support here at home so I am looking forward to becoming involved here. Hi, My name is Cheryl (aka Bubbles) I have a beautiful boy who is 8 with autism and a daughter 11 who i intellectually challenged. I came accross this website purely by luck and I would love to chat to parents about their experiences with Autism. My son was not diagnosed until he was 6. We knew there was something different about him but with my daughter having her disability, in a way I thought my son was "normal". I would not have him any other way. With his ever changing idiosychrosies that make him so wonderful. And I will admit most days can make me quite frustrated. I would love to discuss many things about Autism with parents, please. And thankyou for a great site. Regards Cheryl Hello new friends,My 3 year old son was just diagnoses high funct autistic with pdd nos. We are still in the intake phase when far northern gets my sons report I expect we will have our first IEP meeting. My son desperatly needs behavior mod and we are already doing speech therapy. If anyone has any helpful advice for me on how I might be able to start our own behavior mod at home for my son I would really appreciate it. Thanks for listening it really helps, espically when I feel so overwelmed at times. Colleen I just realized I hadn't properly introduced myself before posting my whining complaints. My name is Terri, I have been married for almost 15 years. I have three children. My son Paul is 14 and has ADHD. My daughter Mikayla is 11 and has had the blessing of being born close to perfect in every way. She is just a joy. My youngest Giana is 9 and has PDD-NOS. They also suspect she has OCD. I myself have OCD. My husband has CM (clueless Man).And we all live together in this alphabet soup of a home. I know some of you will know what I am talking about when I say what a mystery it is that sometimes the things that make you cry yourself to sleep later become the things that make you laugh yourself silly. Having one child with PDD who doesn't know the meaning of hurry up and another who is bouncing off the walls makes for interesting outings. We are never on time for dinner at grandma's. Then next to me is my Mikayla just shaking her head mumbling what a nut house we live in. I try to talk to her often about how much her patience is appreciated and although I know it is hard for her it isn't likely to change anytime soon. She makes me be silly, she makes me laugh...mostly at myself. Giana is recently diagnosed with PDD. Before this we knew she was "odd" and I had my suspicions of her being autistic. I really could not get any of the so called experts to listen to me. She had a neuropsych in June and this is the diagnosis they came up with. I think that it took so long because she also has a low IQ and significant language delays. She has Restrictive Lung Disease and hypotonia (low muscle tone). It has been a matter of putting the pieces together and figuring her out. As some of you probably have experienced, I am not getting any support fromt her school. I am taking it one day at a time, some days one hour at a time. I am thrilled to have found this place as an outlet and to share some of the tips I have found useful when dealing with docs and schools. Hi I'm definately a newbie. My name is Catharine and I live in Montreal, Canada. We have 3 yr old twin sons who are being assessed for autism/PDD. I've done alot of research since this all started (they got tossed out of preschool for behavioural problems after two days) and am glad to have found this message board. I"ve learned alot. It's been a rough couple of months with a lot of speculating, anger, GUILT, denial, etc. I'm sure I'll be asking lots of questions! Catharine Hello, I'm new so I hope I am posting right. I have a five year old nephew with autism. He is a very lovable and sweet little boy. He is usually with me on the weekends. We were told that Hunter has mild autism and it could possibly go away if he's worked with. I have a question and I hope someone can help. Last night we noticed Hunter jerking his shoulders. I was reading to him and he kept jerking and then he would wipe his hand over his face like he was trying to clean it, but nothing was there. Last weekend I noticed him blinking his eye's over and over. Is this a symtom of autism? Can autism effect the nervous system? I told my sister she needs to get him checked, but I thought maybe someone might know. Thanks, Deanna [QUOTE=proudauntie]Hello, I'm new so I hope I am posting right. I have a five year old nephew with autism. He is a very lovable and sweet little boy. He is usually with me on the weekends. We were told that Hunter has mild autism and it could possibly go away if he's worked with. I have a question and I hope someone can help. Last night we noticed Hunter jerking his shoulders. I was reading to him and he kept jerking and then he would wipe his hand over his face like he was trying to clean it, but nothing was there. Last weekend I noticed him blinking his eye's over and over. Is this a symtom of autism? Can autism effect the nervous system? I told my sister she needs to get him checked, but I thought maybe someone might know. Thanks, Deanna [/QUOTE]Hi ProudAuntie! Welcome to the board - I'm a newbie too! I'm new to all of this and my daughter still has not even been diagnosed so I'm far from an expert. I bet some of the more experienced posters here will know the answer. But what Hunter is doing sounds to me like a sensory issue. Hi, Deanna, my name is Mary Jane. I have a daughter who's 5 years old that's been diagnosed since she was 18 months old with autism and I'm also a Registered Nurse. THe symptoms you described might be a a petit mal seizure or a mild seizure. Some autistic kids do develop this. It's a good idea to tell their developmental pediatrician exactly as you described it here. I'm also new here but I welcome all of you and I hope we can all learn from each other. Good luck to everyone and hang in there. Hello! My name is Shae and I am the mommy to 2 wonderful girls. Our oldest is 9 and was diagnosed with mild CP a year and a half ago. And our other dd is 3 (almost 4) and was diagnosed with moderate PDD/Autism back in April. It has been such a challenge for my dh and I, since we didn't understand why our 3yo was acting the way that she was. She was born a month early, and has been delayed in everything that she has done. She will be 4 next month and is still in diapers/pull-ups, and it's crazy how much "advice" we get from people...and the bottom line is, she has no comprehension of what it means to eliminate in the toilet! The only person that has understood that, is the lady at the medical supply store that helps us get our diapers/pull-ups. Both of our daughters have sensory issues, but it has been easier with our youngest since we learned so much about it with our oldest. Our 3yo goes to PT/OT/ST once a week, and they did a series of tests a couple of months ago to see where she was on the development scale. She tested 1-2 years behind on almost all of her skills and development. Even our dr didn't think she was that far behind! LOL! Unfortunately (or fortunately), the first impression (most of the time) that our 3yo gives is that she is perfectly normal...and then when people get to spend more time with her (sometimes all it takes is 30 min to an hour), they realize that there is more going on there. Our dr has just started our 3yo on Buspar to help us through the rough times, but so far, all it does is knock her out...LOL...which can be good sometimes. This is very new to us, so we are trying to learn as much about PDD/Autism as we can. If any of you have resources that you can recommend, we would appreciate it so much. I will probably learn a lot from this forum as well, I just haven't gotten to read through much of it yet I am so excited and blessed to find this forum. I am looking forward to learning more and getting to visit with all of you! Sorry for the LONG post! I'm just so excited! Blessings~shae:)
My name is Jennifer and i live in Kitchener, Ontario. I have 2 boys, Nathan 9yrs old(depressed), and Christian 6 yrs old(very hyper active child). I am getting married next year to a wonderful man who has son, Nicholas 7 yrs old, who was diagnosed with having pervasive development disorder. He has a 'milder' form of this disorder from what I have seen and read on autism. Unfortunately, we only see him every other weekend and 1 to 3 times through the week. We would like to spend more time with him. I am hoping to make some new friends and gain some more knowledge and maybe new ideas on what would help in raising a child with PDD. Hope to talk to you all soon, have a good day! Hi everyone, this is Sond...I had to reregister today under a new name because I have forgotten my login password and my e-mail address that I used with the forum is no longer in existence. Just want you guys to know that Sond and Sonde are one and the same. Do you guys have any idea how I can get back under the old name? I can't change thhe password because it is mailed to my old e-mail address.
SondHi, my name is Corina, We have three boys; David, 18, Ian, 16 and Johnny 14. Our son Ian was just diagnosed HFA three weeks ago. He was diagnosed PDDNOS as a preschooler, but once his speech, drooling and toileting improved, he was mainstreamed and we were not informed that we needed to work on anything else. We then moved to a rural area and began homeschooling, so we've avoided a lot of classroom induced issues. Ian's psychologists said that they think the homeschooling has kept Ian very positive about himself and since our philosophy was to just tailor each child's education to their own personalities, strengths and interests it seemed to work. We always knew he was a bit "different", but he was social, (if awkward) and could communicate (even if it was in "novel speak") so we just worked around it... until recently. For the last few years our little "Professor Ian" (his preferred name from 8-13 years old) went from a math genius to hating math, stalling out and then flat out regression - after a lot of research we stumbled upon a new dx that wasn't available when he was a toddler... High Functioning Autism. We've told people that's what he was for the past three years, but it didn't prepare us for the shock it would still be when we got the OFFICIAL dx and the slew of therapy choices that would be laid out before us. We have just started a social skills group that is a six hour drive each way once a week for eight weeks, quite the sacrifice, but we've only got a few years to prep him for independence we figure. Both our other boys are actually scheduled for evals too, David probably leaning a bit towards Aspergers (but pretty socially "normal") and Johnny... who knows? It's like playing the "slug bug" game... suddenly you see them everywhere. Watching videos we now see that Johnny was speech delayed also, while WE think he's fine interacting verbally our friends and family see a much different side (withdrawn) and he definately has auditory and physical integration issues. My biggest problem right now is how to stop the fighting between Ian and Johnny - they are both completely unaware of how their words/actions are affecting the other and they both push each other to the stimulation/emotional breaking point... an at home mom all my life, I launched a company three years ago that just took me out of the home last year - it's been a real mixed blessing. The boys are independant, but now I feel like I need to be here to referee and work with their "new" abilities/deficits - ok, enough of the novel. Any ideas for "fighting rules" for teens before we all lose our minds!!?? Hi Welcome to the boards.... If you click the search button above you can search the word Risperdal and the threads that mention it will come up Here is the result.......... http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/search.asp?KW=risperdal& SM=1&SI=PT&FM=0&OB=1 Hey this is Char. I'm a 24 yr old mom and full time college student. My 3 year old, Darren, was just diagnosed with Autism last week. We kinda knew for awhile that this is what was wrong with him. Darren has always been a very well behaved child. (almost to well behaved) When he was an infant I could put him in his playpen with a toy and take a 30 min shower and I wouldn't even hear a peep outta him. He did seem to be delayed in all area's tho, and when he was one and not even crawling yet I was referred to the First Steps program. A PT, and DT started coming to the home once a week. I never even thought or even knew much about Autism those first two years. I was more concerned about the walking and his gross motor skills. But when he was 2 I was visiting a friend who had a son the same age as Darren. He was talking in 2-3 word sentances and pointing to things he wanted. Darren then started repeatedly hitting himself on the side of his head. My friend noticed this and asked me if a doctor even mentioned thinking Darren was Autistic. She said her cousin is Autisic and when he was little he acted very similar to the way Darren acts. I brought this up with Darren's doctor, and after a year of people pretty much jerking me around, we finally got an answer last week. So anyways, I live in Indiana, so you guys if you live around me hit me up. Hello, I am a PhD research student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, although I am originally from the US. I am currently researching imitation deficits in individuals with high-functioning autism and Asperger's Syndrome, apraxia, and how this relates to social cognition and social communication. I am a licensed speech therapist in the US and the UK. I am conducting my study through the University of Edinburgh, the University of Modena in Italy, and the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. My husband is originally from Austin, TX and after living in Austin, Houston, and Dallas, I am comfortable in Texas as well! I will be in Austin this January and was wondering if any families would be interested in learning about the study and possibly participating. I am specifically including children older than 7 years of age with a cut off at 18 years. Please feel free to contact me at heidi.ham@ed.ac.uk for more information. My nephew is now 5 and he has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, he is making progress with speech and communication and is now in school full-time. Thank you. Hi momof2 - I give my daughter 2 pills which I believe is 2mg - I did just 1 pill for a year but then it stopped working. So now she has been on 2 pills for the last 2-3 years and seems to be working good. Amber
I've been lurking a bit, but thought I should introduce myself and jump in! I"m Julie and I have 2 boys. Parker is almost 6 and he has Asperger's Syndrome. Bret is almost 4 and shows no autistic characteristics. We live in California. :) My friend Julie (screeech) invited me over, so thanks Julie! Looking forward to getting to know you all :) Hi. My name is Mary and I have a 3 year old who has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. I also have a 10 month old that we are watching closely for signs of the disorder (nothing so far thank God). I am a SAHM and I do carpool for school. My little boy just started regular school this year and he is doing really well there. I hope to get to know all of ya'll in the future.Hi My Name is Barbie and a mother of 3 boys 7.10. and a 2 year old...My two year old is the only child living with me ...i noticed some things when my son was about 6 mths old and he was always banging his head up against the wall pretty hard ,at first i thought well that can be normal for babies to do this for a soothing effect,but then i noticed he always kept his hand in the air and always looked at it Well I went to Eye Dr about when he was a little over 12 mths old and they said his vision was perfect ...so now I knew it wasnt that so the next mth i went back to my 2 yr old son (Shawn is his name) and he said his legs were stiff and he said he had quadoplegic in all for limbs i just thought that didnt sound right but he refereed me to a first step program(Early Intervention) he begin having physical therapy for the stiffness in his legs and he saw a occupational therap and delevepmental therapy and a speech therapy i went back to my son shawns dr again and ask what to do now so he was trying to make a referral to see a neologist but since i live in a small town called poplar bluff Missiouri..we dont have one close by but a few 3 hours away well shawns dr sent his medical records to the childrens hospital in st louis mo. and they wrote back and said since he was banging his head all the time it was best for him to see a phycoligist i was in shock that they did that as he was just about a year and i thought he was too young for this I was doing some rearching online about holding hand in front of face and wont look at you when you are talking to him or no speech at all,,and i read about autism..i ask early intervention if it was possible he had autism and they said yes but at a 1 yr old it is hard to be forr sure so i went back to shawns dr and ask to be sent to the autisic hospital in columbia mo.so he sent my sons records and they contacted me back saying there was a 2 yr waiting list to get in since we have few neouligist in this small towns everyone goes to that one place so its very book well my son is 2 1/2year and will be 3 on may 1st and he has no seech yet and he has stop putting his hand in his face but he is always banging his head and will do it where ever he is sitting ..like his high chair while he eats well i do got some good news last week ..i found out a child neouligist in cape girendo ..her name is elizabeth horton and i called and try my luck to get him to see her and she was out on vaction but return my call a few days ...this was the mth Sept and she said the earliest time I could see him would be at 9:45 on dec 14th..so im hoping this will see if he has autism or not or just a learning disabily i did sign him up for ssdi since at the age of 2 he still could not say anything and still when you call his name it is like he ignores you but i know it isnt his hearing cause i can try sneaking a candybar to eat and he can hear the candy wrapper being open and he saw a audiauxary i know some kids dont talk till late sometimes but at 3 almost and not just one word it concerns me...but i know hes very smart and understans u ..he know when i tell him to get his tippy cup ..he will go to his room and get it and bring it to me..also the same with his favorite blanket...he will go get it when i tell him too and get it and go in the rocking chair and hold his blanket and bang his head while the rocking chair i he also do not fear to mucxh and he can bang his head on tables by falling down and he be bruised but dont cry sometimes I bought a electronic Keyboard for my two oldest kids for christmas last yr because thier dad was paying for piano lessons for them so i thought when they come to my house on weekends they can play it my two oldest ever touch it but shawn my 2 1/2 yr can play for up too 4 hours at a time playing with the music keys and its hard to get him away from it and man i run out of batterries every 2 weeeks lol oh when he turn 2 last year for his birthday i bought him his first toddler ..well still even after a year he dont sleep in it at all but he takes the bed appart and the poles that holds the mattree up ..he takes them off and he brings one at a time into the living room and line them up in order he does this with alot of his toys...he would place them in a line and when he gets them all in line he picks up one at a time and takes it to another table or the floor and re lines them again he sleeps in the carpet floor in his room since he just takes the bed appart and he ends up just snuggling up in the floor with his blanket...but he wouldnt go to sleep at bedtime and it was either taking his bed appart or playing with his keyboard or scream for 3 chours banging his head on the walll i dont get to go to bed till 11pm because he screams from 8 thru 11 pm at night We Dont have any parent support groups or parent with a special need support group either and my family dont understand and i live alone with just me and shawn and noone to talk except jesus and pray for him and i just wish i had someone to talk too I thought if I explain the things he does if he mothers or fathers have simlar issues as mine and if you guys know if it is autism ...can you please reply and i love alot of feedback from everyone if you have a few minutes...i am kinda nervous for when he goes to this neouligist on dec 14th and since hes still only 2 /1/2 will this dr tell if he has autism or some learning disbility which i know he does since he cant follow simple direction with his therapy session and dont speech one word aat all I dont know what they do on thier first appointment with a neologist and what testing they will do for the first time going..will they also be able to tell at his age if its truely austim also has anyone here been able to get thier austic son or daughter on ssi dor no speaking or for austism shawns speech therapy said since he has no vocabulary that he most likely get it and i sign up in july and they are waiting for the results of a evulation shawns speech therapy did on him at first they was going to send him to one of thier speech therapy and i called and they didnt get any medical papers he was getting speech therapy so they ask for those records and cancel that appointment well first step decided to use shawns normal speech therapy instead of thier own to do a evulation on shawn since he knows her and i do know with what shawns speech theray said she thinks he will get it and said the way her and the disability office talk that they thought it was severe enough if anyone could answer these questions and if your child had simlar issues please reply ..i really could use a support group..oh by the way i am 31 yrs old I am going to post this message in other forums as I am not sure if this ones active or not and my message will be over look so let meknow what you all think and any advice ..anything would be helpful
New to the board here, this is my first post. I have a three year old daughter with an as yet undiagnosed disorder. At this point all we have been told is that she has broad spectrum autisim. She has had one evaluation by a peds specialist and due for another next month. She is attending school at Rainbows United and doing great! I'm glad to be here. Thanks for having me! Shelly Hello everyone. My name is Donna and I have a 5 year old with characteristics of autism and PDD. My sons name is Alex. He is non verbal and not mobile. He is globally delayed and is functioning between a 9 mont and 18 month level. I am looking forward to getting to know the website.
Thanks so much, Donna Hello everyone. My name is Donna and I have a 5 year old with characteristics of autism and PDD. My sons name is Alex. He is non verbal and not mobile. He is globally delayed and is functioning between a 9 mont and 18 month level. I am looking forward to getting to know the website.
Thanks so much, Donna Hi Donna! I'm a newbie too but I'll welcome you to the board like I've been here forever, lol. WELCOME~!! Hi my name is Jamie and my husbands name is Joe, we have two wonderful kids, Caden who is 17 months and Morgan who is 3.5 months. Caden has an undiagnosed disorder, he is language delayed ( doesnt say anything) but very advanced physically, there are some more things also such as head banging, EXTREMELY aggressive behavior, and a few others. I actually was questioned about Cadens behavior during a peds visit for my daughter morgan who contracted viral meningitis and GBS at 6 weeks. what a time huh? we were sent to the Uof M neurology where they did an initial assesment of him, and he is being sent for a special study for children with autism or at risk for autism under 24 months. Its been a tough blow for me, I think I am still Post partum, so im not sure what is hormones and what is real.. if that makes sense. My husband is pretty unsupportive except for picking out behaviors and asking me if it could be autism so I feel
pretty much alone, Im going to start taking caden to a play group (a
daycare) on monday for 5 days a week couple hours a day, while I sit
there, the neuro said it was imperative I do. I am also putting off my
nursing school to be at home with him and morgan. I guess I'm not in a
very good place right now, Sorry ifI have been a downer, Im gonna go
roam around now, thanks for welcoming me.HI, MY NAME IS KELLY. MY SON IS 26 MOS. OLD HE WILL BE DX ON OCT. 27TH. I AM ANXIOUS AND RELIEVED THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO SPEED UP HIS THERAPY WITH A DIAGNOSIS. HE RECEIVES ST AND OT. THEY ARE CONFIDENT THAT HE IS HIGH FUNCTIONING. I WAS THE ONE WHO REACHED OUT FOR HELP. I KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM MOS. AGO. BUT, THERE WAS ALWAYS AN EASY EXPLANATION TO LOOK THE OTHER WAY. LIKE, WHEN HE WOULD IGNORE PEOPLE. I JUST THOUGHT HE WAS SHY. ANYWAY, WE ARE NEW TO THIS WORLD, BUT, I HAVE BEEN VERY DELIGENT IN FINDING OUT ALL THAT I CAN TO HELP MY LITTLE BOY. MY SON IS A VERY SWEET LITTLE BOY. HE KISSES AND HUGS. HE LOVES DORA, HE CAN SPEAK FAIRLY WELL, BUT ONLY WITH DORA. HE TOLERATES CHANGE VERY WELL SO FAR. WE CAN VISIT PEOPLE AND GO TO THE STORE. HE HAS A 4 YEAR OLD FRIEND WHO HE ADORES, WHEN HE'S WITH HIM YOU WOULD NEVER SUSPECT A PROBLEM. HE POINTS TO THINGS THAT HE WANTS, SOMETIMES. I KNOW I'M GOING ON, BUT JUST LIKE ANY PARENT I ADORE HIM. MY HUSBAND WORKS OUT OF TOWN ALOT, SO IT'S JUST THE TWO OF US MOST OF THE TIME. I AM GLAD I HAVE FOUND YOU. WHEN I READ ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE DEALING WITH THIS AND HEARING UPLIFTING STORIES IT GIVES ME SO MUCH HOPE. I WOULD LIKE TO ASK ONE QUESTION. WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO HAVE MORE CHILDREN. I HAVE HAD 2 MISCARRIAGES IN THE LAST YEAR. WE NOW ARE SCARED, FEARING ANOTHER CHILD WITH ASD, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT GOING FORWARD AND HAVING MORE CHILDREN? Hi my name is Sherri and I have a 6 y/o son who was diagnosed w/mild austism spectrum disorder. Needless to say I have been having a hard time coping w/this since he started school and have been We have gotten reports from teachers and school psychologist that he all but the "normal" 6 y/o. He is withdrawn from his classmates and will not play w/them unless they specifically asks. They all love him and want him to be included in activities but he can't. He can't fully understand some of the lesson mainly the verbal one unless there is someone to help him. I found out yesterday that his teacher has been taking his lunch out for him to eat b/c he just takes his lunch bag and puts it on the table at lunchtime. He currently attends a pariochial school but my husband and I are in the process of trying to find a public school that will fit his needs. Well just wanted to say hi and really glad I found this site b/c I'm desperately in need of some support. Looking forward to getting to know you ladies........... Hello my name is Eleni, I have a nearly 3 yr old son who is diagnoses with moderate autism, as well as a severe receptive and expressive speach delay. not sure what to say about how its effected our lives, its pretty much turned it upside down. his diagnosis was fairly recent so we are still getting our feet on the ground. I'm not a parent but I'm going to write over here anyway a little. My sister has disabilties and one of them is that she is Autistic. Her name is Sarah and so I wrote the name Sarah's Sister instead of my own name (which is Rebecca but usually unless they don't know me very well or are annoyed at me people just call me Becky). I decided to call myself Sarah's Sister when I registered here and also when I made my online diary project part just about her. I did that for a mix of reasons, some of them good ones, some of them not really. I am 12 years old and my sister is 25 but I think its really easy to forget in a way that she is so old, its kind of weird that way. It has always seemed like I'm the older one in a way because my sister has mental retardation and pretty much has the mind of a baby and that's how she acts and so its just always like living with a person who is a baby and never grows up no matter how big or old she gets. Finally I am at least a little taller than her and I hope I keep getting taller (everyone else in my family is taller but Sarah just always stayed short and I hope it doesn't happen to me) so in a way technically I could call her my 'little sister' now because of it but that would still be weird in its own way I guess, or at least now I can once in a while think "you little brat" at her, which I admit I do sometimes. I did that even when I was shorter anyway. Its not all bad though, its just a mix. There is both that I really do love her and I am very proud of her at times but there are also times that I'm just very embarrassed of her and times that she can be so totally irritating and annoying and other things. I know she can't help it most of the time and I know I'm not perfect either. There are times where I think its sort of normal and we get silly and have fun together and its really not all bad. We actually have some things in common like we like some of the same kind of music except she also likes to listen to some country music (don't ask me why!). I finally told my mom about this forum page where I've been reading a little between doing other things and writing a little too and how there are a bunch of parents of autistic people here. She said she will look at it when she can and for now I can be here as long as its not a chat (I'm not allowed to use any chatroom things but I can use the web as long as I don't try to go anywhere really weird which I don't) and she knows somewhat of where I am since most of the time its really meant just for looking things up and as long as I'm not bothering anybody, and have the usual rules about the internet (You don't ever want to get my dad started on one of his lectures trust me!). I also told her about the online diary projects but asked her to please not look at them. Which reminds me because its about privacy, I am getting a lock on my door, my dad said tomorrow when he gets home he'll put one on my bedroom door and this surprised me. I'll bet its going to come with a big long How To Use A Door Lock lecture. I never even asked to have one. I think maybe its because of Sarah getting ahold of my favorite book even though I didn't really say much about it and the thing with my printer and other things like that, I don't know. They were also arguing a little lastnight and I don't know if that has anything to do with me getting a lock for my door or not but it might, you just never know. Welcome Sarah, I can't believe you found this website all by yourself! You sound like a very bright young lady. My daughters can probably relate to what you say because they have an autistic brother named, Paul , and he is 26. He annoys them alot but they love him very much also, just like you love your sister. I wouldn't worry too much about a little arguing because that's what parents do sometimes. Just remember to always tell your mom and dad that you are on the internet, because there are alot of sites that are not safe for kids (sound like you already know that). This would be a great site for your mom and dad to visit! Ginger - Mom to Paul, 26, Aspergers, ocd, add, atypical bipolar, Russ, 22, Melanie 13, Christine, 10 and Audrey 8.
Thank you. I was looking up autism again is how I found this website. I use AskJeeves and Google alot. I'm going to ask if I can use the private message part on here but my mother probably won't go for that. I want to ask you some things about Paul because of what you said plus also where you put "Ginger - Mom to Paul, 26, Aspergers, ocd, add, atypical bipolar, Russ, 22, Melanie 13, Christine, 10 and Audrey 8" I might have to make a new whole post to ask you because I don't think I'm going to be allowed to talk secretly with anyone on the internet and I'm not quite ready to talk about it. I will I think, its just that every time I think about it or try to write about it even anywhere at all and there is no way I can talk about it I just feel nothing but really totally completely sick to my stomach. It has to do with why I was looking up autism again anyway and why I even found you guys. Its one of those things I hoped just being quiet and they'd see in time they made a BIG mistake. nobody likes to be told they made a mistake and be corrected, not me and especially not adults by me so I have just been waiting but every week when I see the therapist guy there is it, the same terrible mistake written on the form at the end. Its not just him or I would think its just another somebody somehow confusing me with my sister, I am not supposed to know this but I know my parents think it too, and even they can't manage to confuse me with my sister. I need to go for now. I am going to try to talk to you about this later though I really will.
Sorry Becky, I forgot the sister part when I sent my post. I realized it after I hit the post reply tab. Have a nice weekend and hope you get everything resolved. Ginger Hello everyone, I have some questions regarding a two and half year old boy that I started caring for this week. He is with me two evenings a week for 4 hours at a time. He does not speak, holds small objects in his hands and turns them over and over, screams for no reason and is not hearing impaired buts acts as if he is. Facial expressions are different, his eyes never seem to focus on you instead its as if he doesn't see you. His parents are new to the country (from India) and I am not sure how to approach my suspicions to them. I have a cousin who is autistic (mild) and I feel that this beautiful little boy needs help. If anyone can advise me where to go from here please contact me. Hi, I wanted to introduce myself. My son is now 9 years old and was diagnosed with mild autsim at 3 yrs of age. His dad and I are divorced but both very involved in his life. Everyday is a struggle and a new challenge and we are encountering new issues since he is now entering adolescence. I look forward to having this site to come to and chat and ask questions. Thanks!I guess here is no better then anything else. No body cares, nobody listens, I posted looking for help, but no response. Maybe when my son kills me or someone else he will get some help. Thanks for nothing, LizzieLIZZIE, I AM SORRY FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH. I AM A MOM TO A 2 YR. OLD JUST DIAGNOSED, SO I DON'T HAVE THE ANSWERS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. I CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE THAT WILL LISTEN TO YOU AND HOPEFULLY GIVE SOME ADVICE. I HAVE FOUND THAT MOST PEOPLE RESPOND IF YOU START A NEW TOPIC RATHER THAN JUST REGISTER AS A NEW LOG-IN. THAT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE. IWAS REGISTERED FOR A LITTLE WHILE WITH NO RESPONSE, BUT THEN STARTED A NEW TOPIC YESTERDAY AND GOT 6 RESPONSES. PLEASE TRY IT THAT WAY .GOOD LUCK AND PLEAES DON'T GIVE UP. KELLY.Thank you Jaceysmom, I will, I'm just crying non-stop. I'm really at a loss. When he was little the problems were little, now as a teenager, almost adult, it getting very bad and I have begged for help and to no advail. He's quiet now watching TV (that will last about 10 minutes) I can not go on like this, I have older children, including a daughter with 3 small children. Her husband understandably will not allow her to come by with the children if her brother is here. He just left the TV got to go Bye...........[QUOTE=Firefly]
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE] I believe this thread was started for a quick introduction as to who you are, your child(ren) affected with PDD/ASD and in general how it affects your family. It states to post questions in a new thread. If everyone greeted and responded we would definately have 100's of pages and other new members posts would be lost. This thread gives quick refrence so other members can go back - look up a member and recall info about the age of their child(ren) and a dx or other info when they are posting a response to the members questions (if the info is needed to be helpful) with over 1500 members it is very hard to remember who each person is and important info about their child(ren). It also gives people members a chance to look through and find others in their area than can ask about resources as well as find others who have a child the same age or going through similar issues that they can find each other easier and offer/receive support they need. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND search robots are scheduled to come in here, gather posts, and display the information on the internet in searches. Hi. I'm Michele, SAHM to Colleen who is 3 1/2 and Lauren who just turned two last month. This past week, we took Lauren to a neurologist after finally convincing my ped that there was something "not right." This past August we went to an audiologist who said that she has nothing wrong with her hearing...she just likes ignoring us! Well, my suspicions were correct and the neurologist said that in his opinion it is Autism but we are going to do some further testing and evaluations. We just had some blood tests done (fragile x and 4 others I can't remember), are scheduled for an EEG this coming Thursday and have an MRI scheduled 12/7. Tomorrow I'm going to call around and get an appointment with a child psychologist. We are also going to set up speech and occupational therapy per his recommendations. I've been suspicious of some type of PDD or ASD (I think that's a newer term for PDDs?). It just really hurts to have it confirmed especially after our Ped telling me that she DOES NOT have autism. All the signs are there. I've been doing a lot of research and like all of you probably were, am feeling overwhelmed. I believe that she is a relatively mild case and my husband and I are determined to do all that we can to help her. Thank you for having an outlet for me. I cannot simply believe the abundance of material out "there" on this subject and it's nice to have a helping hand along the way. hi i am nwe and i have a 3 year old with austim he can't talk and sometimes with have total meltdowns but i still think he is the best son ever hi i have a 3 year old with austim i found out when he was two. He can't talk and will just have meltdowns[not just in the house ]people will just give us the "look". can any of you guys help?  he will be starting school soon he has no IEP!![i have to get him one]what if he has a meltdown in class??? i am just so so so scared my son is now 4 yrs old and was diagnoised with pdd at a year and a half. he speaks very few words but is getting better. his biggest issue now has been eating. he only eats oreos and cheese its he gags at the sight of real food..but the new school has been helping.. he is the most loving little boy..i just worry about his health with nutrition.. i have 5 other children who are older who all adore him..i am new to this site but it has been nice to see other ppl have gone through all this stuff as i am..My fiance Jen, mom of 3 boys, told me all about this site and thought i would join as well. She has informed me that it is a great site to talk to people who are parents to a child/children with autism or a form of. Jen's 2 sons are from her first marriage Nathan 9 years old he suffers from depression and Christian 6 years old is a very hyper active lil guy, and my son, Nicholas from my first marriage is 7 years old and is diagnosed with PDD-NOS. My son is a special little guy and i love spending time with him. He has quite the imagination as he enjoys to play with his stuff animals all have names. Nicholas loves to put them in everyday life situations like camping or school which is one of his favourites. He loves reading.One of his favourite books is Dr.seuss The sneetches on the beaches or Green Eggs and ham. He will do actions from these books to my parents and myself. I could tell quite a bit about my son since I feel despite his autism he has the potential to do bgreat things in his life. I hope that being on this site I can tell others of what am experiencing with my son both good and bad . Oeros and cheese huh? I wish my son would eat something like that. He eats pablum and toast w/ marg. Thats it! He just turned 4 and he too gags at the sight of food. Myself and his therapists have been working with him and the food issues for over a year now. We still have yet to introduce a new food. We are starting a new program next week and will let you know how it works out!! Hang in there. Hey....I could go for some Oreo's myself right now.....LOL....keep smilin'. Hi..my name is Wendy. I am new to this site, but definately not new to autism. My son was dx'd with moderately severe autism at the age of 3. He is now 9. He was dx'd after being...we'll just say 'not to kindly' asked not to return to 3 different daycares in about a 6 month period of time due to behavior problems. Yes, my husband and I knew something just 'wasn't quite right' with him before that, but we both had a major case of denial. To be totally honest, I still do at times. We just really didn't want to face it, I guess. I am a nurse and I remember telling my husband that our son had the signs of autism long before he was actually dx'd. We just couldn't come to grips with it. Made every excuse in the book...."he's just being a boy"...."he's just spoiled"...on and on. I'm sure some of you did the same. My husband has now totally accepted it. I've heard him tell people that he wouldn't change a thing about our son if he could. I know this is probably wrong to say after all this time, but me...I'm still grieving. Oh...sometimes I hit on acceptance for awhile in my grieving process, but eventually I slide back down to anger, bargaining, ect. Don't get me wrong...I love my son. He is my whole world. We are doing everything we can to help him. He goes to a public school but is in a class that only has autistic kids in it. 6 children with 1 teacher and 3 assistants that have all been trained on how to deal with the challenges of autism. They are great and all seem to care about him. As do his ST and OT. Hey...what's not to love? He is a great kid with a ready smile and if you ask him real sweet, sometimes...just sometimes...he'll give you a big hug!! Anyway...I'm glad I found this site. Thanks for letting me be a part of it. As I have just realized in the last few min while writing this...we all need a place to vent sometimes.[QUOTE=Wendy C]My husband has now totally accepted it. I've heard him tell people that he wouldn't change a thing about our son if he could. I know this is probably wrong to say after all this time, but me...I'm still grieving. Oh...sometimes I hit on acceptance for awhile in my grieving process, but eventually I slide back down to anger, bargaining, ect. Don't get me wrong...I love my son. He is my whole world. [/QUOTE] I hear you. It's ironic to me that my husband--who was completely in denial about the autism at first--is now totally fine with it. Maybe it's just another form of denial, that he can believe that everything will be just fine. I adore my son, he's the most wonderful little guy in the world, but I get so depressed and frightened and angry on his behalf. Today he told us "I do weird things sometimes." I can just guess where that came from. :-( Hi my son is 12 years old. I am learning all I can to help him to be the best he can.I just pray that I do the right things every step of the way.I have a lot of knowledge but am always willing to learn more and share with you what i know.
hi i moved a few days ago. The computer i used to have was REALY slow and not working i got rid of it. I have not been on a computer for so long i almost frogot what it feels like to type..lol i ma SO SO SO happy i found this board! My boss had told me about it once befor[i have known him for a long time] The person who used to live here said i could keep the computer I could not stop saying thank you[she was getting a better one] Anyway i have two LOVING kids hailey who is 6 and has austim she can't realy talk she can only make sounds like mmmmmmooooooommmmmmm brad who is 4 he acts like her i don't know if i should get him tested or he is just trying to act like his big sister?? i think this place is great!!! Ps. my user name is mom of 2 loving kids it was to long so it only say mom of 2 lovingHi, I actually have been here for a little while, but forgot to post my intro! Sorry about that... I am mom to a wonderful 10 y/o boy with PDDnos, amongst other things. The docs are still trying to figure out how "special" he is. So far they've come up with eczema, GERD and Urticaria Pigmentosa Mastocytosis (all dx'd at 2 months of age and blamed for everything under the sun that made ds different); ADHD (added at 6); PDDnos, GAD, SID, multiple LDs, and multiple food allergies (all added at 7); dysmotility (possible IBD) and Cyclothymia (both added at 9); and last, but not least, Benign Hypermobility Joint Syndrome (possible Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) (just added this past summer). Oh yeah, and we are waiting for test results for IgG and IgM deficiencies (which could help decide the whole IBD and EDS issues for us, too). He is in half-time special education classe and beginning to make some progress (Finally!!!). His schoolwork is significantly modified and he has lots of supports, too, and now he is almost on grade level (Yippee!!). At school, he also has adapted P.E. and use of the elevator because of the HMS. We are still awaiting the results of the AT eval and they have yet to complete the OT eval. He does get private PT and OT. He is GFCF, as well as soy, egg, peanut, onion, and lentil-free (made a BIG difference doing this) and has been for the last 3 years (well, 3 for the GFCF and 2 for the rest), going on 4 (gfcf, and 3 for the rest). He takes several supplements (SNT, zn, mg, ca, fish oil, pea protein powder, probiotics) and they also helped a bunch. He also takes several medications for the G.I. issues, mastocytosis, and cyclothymia. We have BHRS, but no longer need the TSS in school for him because he is doing well there. The BSC does observations and makes sure that things are going well. She also provides us with his PECS cards. However, he is doing so well now at home and at school that we are going to discontinue the BHRS if all goes well at the next G.I. visit later this month. We had, but have since discontinued RC services about 7 months ago. Ds attends a therapeutic playgroup where he has made his first and only friend this past summer. He also sees a tdoc about 1-3 times a month, as needed. Wow, I didn't intend to write a book Vic Hi! I have actually been reading this board for a couple of months, but I am just now getting the courage to post. Maybe not so much courage but maybe just facing the facts. I am a mother to a 2 year old who is most likely autistic. His pediatrician and therapists have told us they all believe he has autism, but just don't know where he will be on the spectrum. I have always known there was something, but everybody would tell me that he was just spoiled or wouldn't talk because he didn't need to. Finally when he was at his two year the dr. told me he wanted to send him for evaluation by a ST and then to Cincinnati Childrens for evaluation for autism. We have been on the list at Cincinnati since Sept. and now they are telling us we probably won't get in until Feb 2006, when originally they told us 2 to 3 months. In the meantime, Owen is in Birth to 3 (EI) where a Speech therapist, a Dev. Specialist and an Occupational Therapist come to the house to work with him. Our insurance also pays for him to go to another speech therapist twice a week. I am still trying to learn all I can and sometimes get confused about all the different terminolgy and abbreviations, so please forgive me if I seem clueless or ask questions that come as second hand to most of you. Owen does babble alot which the therapists tell us is a good sign that he will be able to talk one day. Since therapy has started his tantrums have become less frequent but he still gets upset and we can't figure out why. That's all I know to tell you without boring you to pieces. If you have any advice or any questions please feel free to ask or help. I am just trying to learn all I can so that I can help him.Hi everyone! I have just found this web site. I am sooooo glad that I did I am kinda new at the whole what is autism thing. I just have felt sooooo alone in all of this. My husband tries to understand and does a decent job, but he works a lot and doesn't have to deal with it very often. Our son is diagnoised with PDD-NOS. I am just sooo glad that I am not alone anymore.Hi everyone! Isn't the internet wonderful in that we can come together to share info and ideas? I have 3 beautiful kids. Caitlin 8, Curtis 5, and Jenna 2. Curtis was diagnosed with autism and ADHD last year. I was sick the entire 9 months of my pregnancy with Curtis. He has pretty much been spitting up since birth. No cause found for this. He was a little delayed until about 2. We got him EI services which didn't give much help. He has lost all language he has ever had. The only word he says recently is shower, shower, shower since he is obsessed with playing with our shower curtain. He has a curtain at school he likes to play with. He is not potty trained, has much difficulty expressing his needs, and therefore gets very frustrated. Trips to the store are stressful, we need 2 carts to hold 2 kids. Curtis pulls Jenna's hair all the time, but she still loves him. I think he just does it to get some sort of reaction. His attention span is usually very short, like attending to tasks 30 secs tops, except when it's the shower curtain! He likes tickles and hugs, and wants a cup all the time. He takes clonidine to help keep him mellow(er) because he is still very active and melatonin at night. Family gatherings have become unbearable and I cry when I see other boys his age talking and going to regular school. He is my bright little angel but brings many tears. I'm hoping some sort of diet or supplement can offer some improvement before we think of send him off to school. Lately, getting him to comply with any direction is a struggle. He smiles a lot, and used to enjoy watching movies, but he doesn't sit still long enough for that now. He likes changing his clothes and playing with buckles. I wish everyone the best of luck with their own personal autism challenges. Hello everybody, my name is Janis I have a 2 1/2 year old boy. He was diganosed with PDD-NOS. He only weighed 2lbs and 3oz at birth. He is truely a micracle baby. He can talk pretty good but understanding it is a different story (repeats a lot) He been in therapy for a while now. I think what help him talk at a early age was the speech therapy and she introduced him to signing time which Kyle loves and can sign pretty good. I am so happy about this website. Kyle's therapist told me about it. I am glad she did. Hi everyone. I've been lurking for a little while, but thought I'd introduce myself and tell you all a little about my guy. When my son was born at the end of a completely normal and uneventful pregnancy, he scored 8 and 9 on his Apgars. We were so excited! He was a very easy baby, not demanding at all, didn't cry a lot, etc. I hadn't had much experience with babies, but I soon started to suspect that something wasn't "right". I mentioned it to my mother and to my pediatrician, but they told me that I was just worrying about nothing, and to relax and enjoy my baby. He didn't babble or crawl, and by his first Christmas (10 months old) I still had to prop him up to sit. Needless to say I continued to worry. At his 1 year appointment I demanded action. We were sent to a pediatric neuologist who did an MRI and an EEG and ruled out CP and any visible physical damage or irregularity in his brain. I got him involved in Early Intervention with our county at 13 months. He qualified for Speech, Physical, and Occupational therapy. Meanwhile, he was diagnosed with a variety of things. He was hypotonic and had Sensory Integration Disorder. He had Verbal and Oral Apraxia. He had "poor motor planning skills" and "developmental delays". He finally took his first steps at 17 months 3 weeks old. According to his pediatrican, anything before 18 months in considered "normal" AARRGGGHHH! At 2 and 1/2 years old, my son had just 8 words. We and the therapists had taught him sign language earlier so that he could communicate and not be as frusterated (he had started biting his arm). I began to do research to try to figure out what was going on with him. I felt that he had PDD, but when I mentioned this to the Pediatrican, he said "PDD is autism. Your son makes eye contact and tries to interact, so he is not autisic." Can you believe that?! Unfortunately, I did. I still kept looking for answers. We enrolled him in special education preschool and had genetic testing done. His genetic tests came back fine, so we still had no answers. He was making some progress, but was noticably lagging behind other children his age. He began to talk a little. He began to really get into Disney movies. He especially loved Beauty and the Beast. When other children his age would try to play with him, he would say "see Belle, see Beast?" He would say good bye to inanimate objects (the swingset, the tree). In kindergarten he was diagnosed as having ADHD. He tried to interact with the other children, but was very socially awkward. He began to get really anxious and started picking at his lips and blinking rapidly. I took him to a child psychiatrist who almost immediately said, "Have you had him evaluated for PDD?" I had him evaluated at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC, and he was found to have PDD-NOS. This was earlier this year. He was 8 when you was finally diagnosed. In a lot of ways the diagnosis was a relief. I finally had a diagnosis that explained ALL of his issues. He is a super little guy. He talks all of the time (but does stutter a lot). He also picks up phrases from other people and television and uses them appropriately, so if you weren't familiar with him, it may seem like he's "normal", but then he'll not know how to continue the conversation (which is when the weird looks start). He is very empathetic, and a real caretaker (which is not typically associated with autism, but it's SUCH a big spectrum). He has a younger brother who has been really good for him. They play together, although the neighborhood children think he's "weird". He has 2 friends (a little boy with Asperger's, and a little girl with CP) that he enjoys playing with. We have up days and down days. Sometimes I catch myself in the middle of a "why him" pity party, but I try to pull myself out. I look forward to conversing with all of you in the future. I'm sorry this is so long, but it's so nice to finally have an outlet to discuss this. I feel that people with "normal" children feel sorry for me, and I just hate pity! I love my boys more than anything in the world and wouldn't change them for anything.Hi everybody! I am new to the group. I have been working with children on the autism spectrum for about 4 years now, and it has absolutely changed my life. I am currently trained in ABA and verbal behavior. Right now, I am working on finishing my bachelors in Special ed. I am looking forward to becoming a board certified behavior analyst and an RDI (relationship development intervention) consultant in the future. I have just moved to the St. Augustine FL area. I am looking fore new clients children ages diagnosis to 6 years on the spectrum. If interested in a home program, please email me! Hi there! Hey there! Ho there! I just needed to inform myself about my daughter and her sensory issues and other issues; instead of leaving the knowledge seeking to my spouse. At first I figured as long as one of us was informed the other could get the information learned from the other. I realize that is not really fair though. I can't let my spouse go this alone. My daughter is yet to have an official diagnosis but they say she falls under broad spectrum autism.Hi...my name is Joan and I'm not totally new. I came here once when this board began and didn't come back again. I guess the message boards were too new. I'm not actually sure why I didn't come back. Today I noticed the link on my tool bar and decided to try here again. My husband, son and I live on Long Island in Suffolk Co. Our son is 14 and has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, bilateral moderate hearing loss, Tourette Syndrome and ADHD. We knew when he was 2 that there was something wrong and he started getting private speech immediately. That speech therapist recommended Just Kids and our son was accepted for their summer program, so he was in preschool at 2. By 2.5, we found out that he had hearing loss and started him on hearing aids. Just before kindergarten, we took him to Dr. Pomeroy (way before the Cody Center -- those of you from LI will know these references) and got him diagnosed privately, thinking we might one day need this diagnosis. Of course, we eventually did. He went to a 6-1-1 kindergarten in our district (Wm. Floyd) and remained in District through 7th grade. Middle school proved to be too much and we took him out to spend his 8th grade year at BOCES Jefferson School, a school for higher functioning kids with neurobiological disorders. Most of the children there suffer from Asperger's Syndrome. There used to be a wider range of academic ability in that school, but the year my son went there, they were forced by NYS to offer ONLY Regents-track instruction. Loosely, this means he has to study material that is meant for children going on to a higher education. Our son, with great difficulty, actually got C's and made it through the year, but it became clear to everyone that this was not the direction his education should take. Over a year ago, we started looking for HS placements that would work for him. The difficulty is that every place is either on this Regents track or is teaching at the K/1 level. Our son is learning at about the 3/4 level. Our home District has Lifeskills classes in our HS, but our HS has nearly 4,000 and the DIstrict feels it would not be an appropriate environment for our son. Actually, I agree with them, but I am stuck. He has been accepted into a BOCES vocational program that is PERFECT for him. It is a special ed vocational program, taught by special ed teachers. He's big and strong and interested in Horticulture, so he'd be in that program. Problem is, the program is half a day and we have to have him enrolled in an academic half day program, too. And we WANT to. The only program that is half a day won't take students with IEP's that have behavior plans. Our son's does, because having a written behavior plan makes him less stressed. He's not violent, nor does he have misbehaviors that would warrant something like a time out room. He can be silly and giggly but not aggressive or mean. So we were left with only a half day for him and that is not a legal placement. The District's position is that we should put him into the program that is taught at the k/1 level. I told them this was a default placement and I wanted my son in a more appropriate placement to HIS abilities. The result is that he's been on home instruction all year. We have a lawyer dealing with this right now. Over the years, I've been very involved in autism groups and support groups and was even our SEPTO president for 6 years. This is not a clear cut case, but I refuse to just warehouse our son. I can't even call for an impartial hearing at this point because the day before our CSE a couple of weeks ago, the US Supreme Court decided that if parents bring a hearing, it's incumbent on THEM to prove the District is wrong. Until then, the District had to prove that it's right. YOu can imagine the sea change this is going to bring about. No one knows the legal status of our son's placement at this point. I'm waiting to hear from our lawyer. Hope to be on these boards often. Clearly, I'll need support and advice to get me through this mess. Hi - this is my first post here, I stumbled accross this board via a link onanother board I frequent. Anyway, I have an 8 1/2 year old son, diagnosed with autism, who joined our family by adoption. Donny has been with us for a little over two years - he initially entered our home as a foster child (our first foster child). It's been a long hard fight to adopt him, but well worth it. We got Notice of Placement last month, and now are just waiting for the final Adoption Order. Donny wasn't diagnosed with autism until just before his fifth birthday, even though he was glaringly "autistic" from toddlerhood on, looking back at his first documentation with child development. He was seen, on a referral from his preschool, when he was 3, and, while it is very evident from the report that he had autism, he then lived in a rural community, that didn't have the resources to diagnose him. They stated that his behavior was "bizarre", and recommended his hearing be tested and he be sent for speech and language therapy. Neither happened. Donny's history, prior to joining our family, is filled with violence and neglect. He was abused and neglected by his birth mother, who was/is a drug addict. His first foster placement, which was through a Satelite company, and thus not as regulated as if it were directly through the Ministry (child welfare), wound up being abusive/neglectful also. He was there for three years, was undernourished, physically abused, inadequately supervised, etc., etc. He also received no early intervention, even after his diagnosis. When Donny entered our home, he was described as severely autistic, non-verbal, self-injurious, aggressive, and developmentally delayed. He had a history of running away and fire setting. I'm VERY proud to say that today he is an entirely different boy. These days, Donny would be considered "high functioning autistic", although behavioral issues related to his background are a constant challenge. 90% of our daily struggles don't relate to autism, but rather relate to anxiety/trust/learned negative behaviors from his past experiences. Right now, we're actually having a really tough time, due to school issues. We had to change schools due to the whole thing, but it seems we waited too long. In two months, the school he was at, with their incompetence and abusive practices (they were segregating him, restraining without documentation, etc), undid two YEARS of hard work and progress
However, we're in a good school now, with a rockin' new TA, and I KNOW we'll get back on track (although it may take awhile). As for treatments and therapies: Medically, Donny is on Risperdal (was on it before he joined our home - we've tried to go off it twice without success), and Paxil (has been GREAT for addressing anxiety-related irritability and aggression). We do some biomedical things, including: CLO, methionine, taurine, selenium, zinc, cal/mag, enzymes, probiotic, GSE, MB12 (oral), B vit complex, magnesium sulfate cream, etc. He receives OT/PT once per month, and we incorporate sensory strategies into everything. He receives speech and language therapy informally from us, with an SLP overseeing. We're just starting an Intensive-Early-Intervention-style ABA program. Glad to be here!!! My name is Jason and my daughter is 8yrs old and has been diagnoised with PPD with borderline Autism. I am divorced from her mother for 2 yrs and see her along with my other 2 sons every other other weekend. however I hear from their mother many times throughout the week. She is one problem after another. She is in constant trouble at school. She lies constantly for no reason, She does not feel remorse when she does something wrong. For instance, today I had to pick her up at school she went to the bathroom and picked up her "poo" put it all over the toilet and than washed her hand and of course made a mess there. The worst part is this apperantly the third time and she has been suspended. They didnt put it together till today they have approached all the girls in her class twice and no one came forward. Finally they started a sign up sheet. When I ask her she has a differant reason everytime. Her school works to hard, someone hit her. she bleeds down there. I asked her if her mom checked it she says yes, I ask her Mom she said she never said that to her. We are at wits end am I in the right forum..Just looking for support. Hi everyone, I am the Father of a 3 Year Old Autistic Son. My 2 other children are 8 and 4 and the show no signs of Autism, but my Youngest does display ALL the KEy Features Of Autism, and Doctors just dont seem to see that it is Autistic. Though you name a element of Autism and he Has it. I have been doing research for about 1 year and i believe this is the diagnosis. HE lines all his toys up, he does not speak except on VERY rare occasions, He has a learning Delay, He tends to have Extreme trantrums if things are not EXACTLY how he would like them. He does not Eat normal meals. He also does not seem to understand why he is being repremanded when he does something wrong such as attacking his Brother or Sister when they inadvertantly move something he had set up his way.
It is noce to have a resource my wife and i can frequent and speak to others who might have helpful hints and tips. Hi, just want to introduce myself. My name is Beth and I have 2 boys, an 8 year old dx pdd-nos and an 11 year old. We have struggled lately with lots of melt downs and aggression, especially against older brother. My son is currently on prozac (for ocd) and abilify (to help stablize mood swings). He was moved to a special autism program at school this year because of behavior issues. Life revolves around trying to balance the needs of both kids. Guess I feel I'm not balancing so well right now. Beth- Your story sounds so familiar!! My son Skyler was on Prozac for a year. (between the age of 8-9. Prozac did help him with mood swings, and help him control his aggresive behaviors. It helped him so much!! HE is now 11 and is not on medications. Reevaluate in a year, see if your son is ready to wean off the meds. Skyler was, but I know others who weren't. Not balancing so well?? Taking mom time out will help you be more balanced when you come back to your kids. (Sounds easy right? HA!) How does your older child feel about your 8 year old. My daughter (13) has anxiety for Skyler to go to middle school with her next year. We start transitioning him this semester and Samantha is worried he will embarass her. Tammy Surber Hi everyone I'm new and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Barbara and I have 2 kids. Tyler is 5 years old and was diagnosed PDD-NOS a year ago. Mykayla is 4 weeks and doing good. Tyler was great as a baby, but he was distant from people. He started talking like crazy, then around 2 years old he stopped. He would bang his head on everything. He became obessed about how his toys were arranged. I never had a clue that anything was wrong. My parenting aide suggested a hearing problems because he stopped responding to what we would say. The test showed that he has perfect hearing. So birth to 3 got involed. Autism was suggested but never diagnosed. So he was put into school. At 4 years old we say a neurologist and PDD-NOS high functioning was diagnosed but they feel that he may have asperger syndrome. We are still waiting for more testing. In the past year my son is actually having conversations with people and knows his name. They told me he would never be able to do this. the major issue right now is his temper. He gets very violent and his is big for his age. so it gets scary. He has begun biting his hands and arms when he doesnt get what he wants, and hits his upper thighs so hard that he has left brusing. The drs say this is normal and he cant do any more for him medication wise. It is so frustrating to watch my child deal with this. basically i am looking for some advice on how to handle him without myself or him getting hurt. I have tried everything. thanks for reading this and giving any advice that you can. Hi im mamasoulfood, I have two boys 15 and 11 .The eldest has a diagnosis of autism ,the youngest giving school cause for concern. Im based in uk and found this great site by chance.It has been so helpful to read all your experiences and see Im not alone.Family rife with autism so strongly believe in genetics playing apart for some.Think its great to be able to chat and share advice,hope to be a regular visitor. I HAVE BEEN READING ALOT AND I FEEL BETTER JUST KNOWING MY SON IS NOT THE ONLY CHILD THAT ACTS THE WAY HE DOES AND THAT OTHERS KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO RAISE A CHILD WITH THESE PROBLEMS. JUST A YEAR & 1/2 AGO--I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT PDD/HFA/AUTISM ETC. OH! YOU CAN BET... I'M LEARNING NOW!! Hello, My son is 4 1/2 yrs old. He just graduated out of services with our local school system. He received OT, resource and speech from 2 1/2 through 3 and then just speech till last week. They tell me he is PDD-NOS which I guess is on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. His difficulties are in transitions, pragmatic use of speech, social cues and of course sensory. He has grown through and out of so much of it. We did the brushing program which got him off the heights of sensory issues. He would lash out at anyone who touches him. Now, he does it when he is tired and so much more mildly. I also have a girl who is 11 and a girl (ADHD) who is 8. I look forward to reading this board. DG Kia Ora all.....I'm Cathy from New Zealand.I have four loverly boys.....(loverly most of the time...lol) my third son, Madison (Maddy) who is 5 has just been dignosed with Autism. We were told that he probally has AS, but the pediatrian didnt mention it all which was right confusing. He is on the mild side of ASD, but is obsessed with anything electrical.....heights and windows are another problem and we r havin sensory problems with clothing and sounds, so any help is well appreciate!!!! Hes a parrot talker *repeats everything u say back* (roffles!!!) and can only sit in the front of the car without any tantrumin....hes a handful but we all love him to death.....as long as he doesnt climb out anymore windows Hi Everyone!! I am new here, I have an eleven year son who is autistic. I am so glad I found this board I hope to get some advice on some issues were having, which I will post in the other sections, hope I am doing this right...not real used to this yet. Thank you it's great to meet everyone! Hi I am Jo and I have 2 boys, James and Jordan. James is 7 and seems to be doing well but having troubles concentrating in school(Staying focused) but I am told that is typical for his age. Jordan on the other hand is my child I worry the most over. I had a horrible pregnancy with him, every complication you could name except Diabetes. During his birth his cord tore and he had to have a vent and 2 blood transfusions and then had a reaction to his sepsis prevention antibiotics. He just turned 5 in August and started school the same day and thats where my fun started. I have known since Jordan was about 18 months that something wasn't right but my ped said I was just worrying. He was at the end to about a month late on each of his milestones, didn't really speak and so on. Well when he started school theyhad problems with him like not staying with the class, not working on what the class was doing. Kinda doing his own thing and thats what got the ball started. Right now his DX is only ADHD but he is being tested for speech/ language,nuerology to rule out seizures, audiology for his hearing sensitivity, IQ testing to see what his placment should be. They have mentioned Aspergers and PDD and ASD ( I think they are the same thing but 2 different dr said them) and high functioning Autism. He is currently on 2 meds. He takes Clonidine0.1mg daily in 3 doses and Risperidol 0.25 mg 1/2 tab three times a day. At home I don't have too much problems with him except understanding his speech and getting him to do his homework. In school they have a hard time getting him to do his work and do what the other kids are doing, he doesn't play with the others just plays beside them usually doing the same thing and his newest thing is he has decided that he doesn't like PE so he tries to leave the class and go do what he wants to do. Thats my story and I am so glad I have found this site. I borrow ppls computers to get on line so my visits will be random but I really hope to learn alot here.
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Hello! I am the mommy of 2 cute kids, a daughter, age 5 and a son, age 3. My daughter was diagnosed in Jan 2005 as being autistic with developmental delay. She was also dx as being mentally retarded, but I don't think that was correct. I bet she refused to cooperate with the Dr during the IQ testing. There are also 2 other autistic folks in our family. My sweet little nephew, age 2, is newly diagnosed. He doesn't talk at all, just sounds and grunts. He is also getting very aggressive, he was asked not to return to daycare this week. His daycare lady is wonderful, but my nephew was attacking the other kids and it got to be too much. My sisters other son is being assessed for aspergers this next week. He has alot of OCD issues and is aggressive, and other things going on. We also have a 1st cousin that is most likely autsitic. Her mom refused to have her tested for autism as a child. The family doctor wanted her to be tested, but my aunt refused. Now as an adult my cousin is comfortable with knowing she might have autism, she has always been VERY different, so this was no big deal to her. I helped her find a doctor and now she is waiting for the date. I have been sharing what I have read here with my sister. She has her hands full as a single mom with two small kids. She wants to check it out this weekend. Hello. I'm new to this it is great to find a place where people can share ideas, stories, etc. My son which will be six in march has not been clinically diagnosed yet but he we have been told he has asperger's. Can anyone help me with any ideas on how to help him. He is like way out of this world and i just want to help him get grounded again. He is the Sweetest little boy. This is so hard becasue where we are from its hard to find a specialist and if u do find one its a very long wait or cost of testing is soooo expensive. any ideas please? fouracsrewild@hotmail.comHello my name is lettie i am a proud parent of three children 19 9 and 7 my seven year old is a boy who is a nonverbal moderate fuctioning autisic child I am a single parent and Originally was diagonsed with autisim in TN since then I have moved back home to MI where I have found a wonderful school that handles all autistic children they have truly given me hope in my life I truly think my child will talk one day but If not its ok because he can sign I love you mom and just would like to thank god that I have been blessed with children dont get me wrong it is very difficult the babysitter issue which has recently been resloved by finding a subsitute teacher from the school who knows how to work with my child and is very loving to him but down to the financial factors and I am a registered nurse but it still doesnt seem to make all the bills at time but I do have the support of a small family which is very important Hi everyone.. My name is Yasser and I am a father of 3 children. My youngest who is a beautiful two years old Daughter (Aya) was diagnosed with Autism a couple of weeks ago by a doctor who is a friend of the family and married to a psychologist who supported his view. Simply I am heart broken and still in a state of shock and don't know what to do.. I immediately got into the internet and started to read about Autism and its syptoms and I clearly now understand that she is Autistic.. She does not speak, not interact with us, no eye contact, extreme focus on the task in hand and blocks herself from everything else and endless energy (Jumping all day long).. I initially thought it was a hearing problem and took her for a formal hearing test and the doctors said she has good hearing, but only reponds to sounds that are familiar i.e. The etsy betsy spider, twinkle and the xylaphone.. but other than that no response to our voices.. I am glad I found this site, it almost gave me hope because there will be others who share the same experiences and can advise on next steps and what to do and whom to contact and so on.. I never thought that I could be that weak, I never thought that I could cry so hard and with so much pain.. every time I look at my daughter and she looks away and every time I try to hold her and she wiggles out of it, I get this bitter feeling and sense of disappointment and fear from the future.. My wife seems to be the stronger one, but she could also be in denial or simply busy with the 3 children who are keeping her very occupied, particularly Aya who constantly wants someone after her to make sure she does not harm herself from the jumping and running.. I would appreciate it if anyone can guide me on the steps to take to deal with this.. The only thing I keep hearing is that early intervention is critical to the success of the treatment.. But I really don't know how to go about it and whom to see and how to put a plan together to start the treatment journey.. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.. Yasser Yasser -- I hear your pain loud and clear. We have all gone through it. Pain can be good, though, if it forces you and your wife to pursue the best possible treatments for your daughter. My son is 14.5 and there were not nearly as many options for him when he was 2. Also, some of the research that has been done on autism makes a prognosis for a girl far better than that for a boy. There seems to be something in the female brain that can help girls overcome some of the symptoms by the time they enter school. Of course, this doesn't happen for all girls, but only 25% of all children with autism are girls and the thinking is that a female brain is more likely to "recover" given the proper early intervention. The advice you've gotten about early intervention is THE BEST ADVICE. You should ask your doctor about early intervention programs in your area, call your school District or contact the local chapter of the Autism Society of America. What you will be looking for is a program that offers 40 hours a week of ABA training. ABA is the only thing that has been PROVEN to work for autistic kids. There are other methods. My own son was exposed to the TEACCH method in preschool. But back then, ABA was reserved only for the most severe cases in our area (Long Island). The critical thing is to get your daughter into a therapeutic preschool. Federal law REQUIRES early intervention at no cost to parents. Each state has its own laws and some states offer more than the Federal government requires but no state can offer less. Most early intervention programs also offer parent training, especially if ABA is involved. Make sure both you and your wife take advantage of this training. The more you get involved, the better the outcome. Put your grief to work and your daughter will do far better than it seems right now.Hi my name is Laura and I am a mommy of two beautiful kiddo's. My son is 5 yrs old and has High functioning Autism, Distruptive behavior disorder and apraxia of speech. He is a hyper handful and his behavior can get very out of control times. We are currently in New Mexico but will be moving in May. Still not sure where I am so glad to have found this site. Hugs, Laura Hello, I have a son who will soon be 5, and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at 2 1/2. He is extremely intelligent and cute as can be, but can be a total handfull as well. I have found that 4 has been a really rough age for him (and subsequently the rest of the family!) But I love him dearly and hope to get to know some of the folks on this board. Thanks! (I think I originally posted this in the wrong section... so I'll just copy andpaste) , I am a single mother of 2 teenage sons and my little girl Leila. leila was doing fine, at 9 months she said her first word, "book". Shortly she began saying other words, kitty, daddy, bye-bye, pretty, ball,and a couple others I cant think of right now. Then about a month in a half later, she learned to walk, and stopped speaking. i thought maybe she was distracted by the novelty of walking but it is now December, she is 16 months old and has not regained speech. She no longer responds to her name, eye contact is minimal, no more kisses , changing her diaper is like wrestling a greased pisig... I have to pin her down on the ground with my feet on her shoulders because it is the only possible way of changing her! She does not play with toys properly, she has also started mouthing/ licking things and also seems to want to nurse like a newborn again, she hates her fingers or toes being touched and the child runs with abandon any chance she gets... practically all day long... running running running! Also likes to twirl socks. So all these combined with the loss of speech... ECI came yesterday for an initail screening and she has an eval scheduled with them next week. I was told my daughter has some definate sensory issues and coomunication problems ( DUH!) However I was told if I want an actual "diagnoses" i have to take her to developmental peditrician... ( not having much luck finding one... the ones I found have a 10-11 month WAIT!!!!) Meanwhile...I am saddned,as she was fine ... but then its like watching a light bulb go dimmer and dimmer... very slowly... I have so many questions... and I am emotionally tired... I dont know how I am going to get us through this.... Hello! I have a 7 year old son with severe ASD. He is almost completely nonverbal except for the occasional "mama", "bay, bay, bay" for baby- his name for both his little sisters and "guh boy guh boy" for good boy. He's not toilet trained, although when we sit him on the potty he does pee. He is in an autism program in a special ed school in West Michigan. I found this forum when we were doing searches on special education in Ohio, because we were briefly thinking of moving there. But the idea of uprooting him out of his current educational set-up and trying to get him into another one is so overwhelming that we decided to stay where we are. He's a sweet affectionate child most of the time, but at times he gets quite aggressive and bites, hites, headbutts. He's quite destructive at times. He broke several of his Christmas presents within a day fo getting them. We do have respite set up, although we don't use it as much as we could. I look forward to meeting other parents. Hello, My name is Joyce Pultz. My Husband I have a 7 yeard old son that has Asperger's syndrome and ADHD. I found out last year in January that he had all of this. We live in Oregon.hi. I know this is a group for parents, but I am a new special education
teacher and have found that parents sometimes are more knowledgeable and helpful than any book or training class. I appreciate all the help I have received from reading your posts, Please keep advocating and supporting your children Iam so sorry to about you loss.. TanyaHello! My name is Lynn. I live in eastern Iowa. I have 5 children one of which we suspect has an autism spectrum disorder or PDD. His name is Jacob and is 9 years old. We have been fighting for a diagnosis since he was 18 months old and have yet to get one. He displays 13 of 14 criteria from the DSM-IV but yet the Dr's say it is not severe enough to diagnos. He is in 3rd grade and is in special education. He is always in trouble at school because his behaviors are so uncontrollable. He has his recess priveledges revoked because he needs constant supervision outside with other children. He has not made any progree with his IEP goals and is at a standstill. I am currently out for blood because I am going to get a diagnosis no matter what it takes! I'm looking for a new dr to get a 2nd opinion.
My youngest daughter who is 4 also shows some signs of autism but not as severe as her brother. She does not play she will stand by her sister and watch her play and also lines things up around the perimeters of the rooms. We have just currently realized these and are going to make an appointment for her as well. HelloWhat a wonderful forum. I've been searching for a year for a place to talk about autism and many of the forums out there aren't used much. It's so nice to finally find an active forum. I'm a mom of three. Our youngest is 3 and a half and was diagnosed at 18 months with PDD NOS. We had many signs that he may be autistic as a baby but didn't know and the clues didn't add up until he 15 months. Hind sights 20/20 and I'm still trying not to kick myself. Overall, little man is pretty mild for a PDD NOS kid. His stims are starting to fade and he's talking now. He's enrolled at our local MRDD preschool and they have been the biggest blessing in our lives. He does have some sensory issues and they are getting better. His physical issues are becoming more typical for his age also. It's so confusing with him being a PDD kid. To us he's just little man and that's the way he is. Hi! My boy,Jordan, has autism and my other boy,Caleb, has PDD. I am glad i found this place because i need to talk to other people who have autistic children. Jordan is between moderate and severly autistic. He is very routine based and just recently he has started to talk he is 4. Caleb talks but he is very,very aggressive which i am not sure what to do about that and it drives me crazy some days. But i thought i would introduce myself. Thanks for reading gsgsgHi my name is Tanya i live in canada i have twin boys..Luke and Brian both have autism. Brian is high fuctioning he can talk he is potty trained and he is in school now and doing great..Luke also has cp as well and a lot of medical problems he is very low fuctioning but he is doing better now that they both are getting IBI,ABA ...luke is noverbal but is using pecs now..Luke and Brian are going to be 5 in march wow where does the time go..luke has a mind of a 18 month old now Brian is normal what you want to call normal lol but has a hard time with hes speech...TanyaHey does anybody have twins...they both have autism or just one i would love to talk to you let me know..Tanya Hello! I am new to this forum and happy to have found it! I have a 3 year old son diagnosed with PDD NOS in July 2005. He is in a special ed class with 6 other children. He is receiving physical therapy and speech therapy through the school. He has made great progress since starting school. We are just beginning this journey, and I am trying to figure out the best treatments for my son. Nice to meet all of you! Hi Everyone, I am excited to find this site. My son Jared is 5 and is autistic-mild to moderate. We are transitioning from a regular ed kindergarten class to a self-contained autistic class next week. I look forward to sharing and learning as a part of this group. Okay, so I did it a little backwards - I just found this post for new people, even though I already posted to a few topics last night. My name is Vicki and I am the mom of 34-mo old Nathan, who has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. I am looking forward to all of the information available on the message board and to communicating with people who know what we're going through. Hello, I am grandma to Corbett age 13, PDD. His mother, Shayla has learning disabilities. I first noticed Corbett was having a problem riding in automobiles when I was driving his mother to the Adult Handicapped Workshop. Corbett would scream and cry the whole ride and most babies I had been around loved car rides and went to sleep. A local doctor diagnosed him PDD and at age 2 he began going to Early Intervention classes. His behavior was very difficult but his nature and interest filled our life. He loved flowers and bugs, knew no fear and kept us busy. We live in He has a sister, Mariah age 7. His father is a truck driver and only home on weekends so they live with us. I have MS and my husband has worked in the coal industry for 36 years. We have 6 more grandchildren and Corbett has learned a lot from all of them. They include him in everything but he likes to observe and just be with them. He also takes Clonidine HCL 0.1mg twice a day along with Risperdal 1mg twice a day. He is a very picky eater, mostly protein. We supplement his diet with Ensure, strawberry flavored. He seems shaky in the evenings so we recently tried to add Strattera but he became very agitated immediately, so we stopped that. He only “stims” in the evenings with a small stuffed animal and the shakiness may just be part of the autism. It is a pleasure to find this forum. I belong to two MS forums and know how much a person can learn from them. I have forgotten so many things we tried with Corbett but remember a lot of different vitamins, etc. We have stopped all of them because he drinks about 4 Ensures a day and they have supplements in them already. He loves to eat hot wings and chicken nuggets. He will only eat curly fries and takes all the batter off the fish and chicken he eats. He loves bananas and apple sauce along with fruit juices. But he just doesn’t like breads or vegetables. The only way we get bread in him is Pretzels. He is a wonderful gift in our lives. He will soon need to shave and says he won’t. We will see in time. Looking forward to reading here and hope to post some, too. Hi, I'm Linda, mother to 7 year old Kyler who has PDD NOS and ADHD. We live in St Louis, and he is very hig functioning. He enjoys computers and reading,he is a whiz at math.
I am 41 years old, in the Air National Guard, and I am getting ready to publish a children's book about a little boy with PDD NOS and ADHD and why he acts quirky. I hope to get to know everyone Hello everyone~ I am brand new here and so glad I found this site. I am a mom of 3 boys 9, 5 and 2 1/2. My youngest, who will be 3 in May was just diagnosed with PDD, high-functioning. he has been recieving speech, OT and special ed services through EI. We will meet again with the neurologist in 6 months and soon get all his DNA blood tests done. ( help me with that!). We live in NY, James is not hyper-active and he does make eye contact, his social skills are over 50% delayed and he has major senseory disorders, also auditory processing disorder, he repeats and repeats mostly and has no sense of self soothing skills. James looks mad most of the time and does not want anyone to be "happy" sometimes. If a stranger or even ones he knows looks at him, he becomes very upset and angry. My pediatrician thinks he has aspergers, but the neurologist says that they can not diagnose any of that until he is closer to 6 years old. Right now, it's PDD, high functioning. The thought of putting him in a small school setting makes me so nervous, but we will see what happens.
Anyway, I wanted to introduce myself and I look very forward to getting to know you all! It's great to have a place where others understand you and we can all support and encourage one another! James is teaching me patience in a hard way, but I am taking every day one step at a time..:) Ryans Mom,
My son has the same issue with clothes, especially shirts. He has his favorites, and I have to make dure all the tags are removed from the shirts. Yesterday I went thru 3 shirts that he did not want. I finally told him go pick your own shirt, he did and it was actually one of the shirts I had picked out for him.. He just turned 4. Austin is a very hyper little boy, the doc does not want to put him on anything yet because he is so young, I rather him not be pu t on anything if possible. Maybe try letting him pick his own shirts? Austin is very picky with is shoestrings they must be tied straight and perfect. I feel what every mother is going thru. All I can say good luck and God bless you! hi everyone,My name is Jenn and I just joined this forum page. I have a 2 1/2 year old named Dominic who has PDD. I have been recewivng loads of info. on support groups and websites, and this site caught my attention. I'm so glad there are places you can go to to get answers, opinions, or just vent. We are from Columbus Ohio, and Dominic is enrolled at a school specifically for autistic children. If anyone is from this area let me know and maybe we can answer each others questions or just chat about our kids . Nice to meet all of you!Ryan's Mom, Same thing here, except its long sleeves....we have a really hard time in the summer with wearing tempature appropriate clothes...I been reduced to rewards for shorts and short sleeve shirts (oh and no jacket - he figured he's be ok with a jacket). Sam is 5 with PDD NOS and ADHD, very high functioning, the tried Abilify...it was a nightmare (less than 3 days and he was off), now we have decided to treat the ADHD and work on the behvior stuff with therapy. Search for the med on google or alta vista, it should prove helpful, also there are a couple of other sites, yahoo has a shadowkids forum for kids in the AS spectrum that are high functioning...might find some more help there. Good luck 0 and hang in there. Lizzy Hello I am a new member. I have a 10yo son who has many diagnosis'. Began at age 4 with ADHD, then hearing impairment/loss with aids by age 5. Genetic disorder by age 5 also but to date unable to find specific chromosome deficit. He basically has what is called dysmorphic features-sounds bad and no one would know looking at him-he is actalluy very cute. But he has small hands/fingers, external rotation fixation at elbows, displaced thumb, under developed cheekbones and possibly hearing loss related to this genetic disorder although he had numerous ear infections as child and required 9x tube placements, also with left inguinal hydrocele at age 3. Then diagnosed with CAPD, SID by age 6-7 and oral motor/langauage problems, apraxia. Then last year at age 9 PDD-NOS. One MD actually thinks Asperger's but with the oral/langauage issues doesn't meet that criteria. My son has been served in the hearing impaired/deaf classrooms since first grade because of hearing loss (he will be eventually deaf as it is progressive) and now he is at a residential school in Florida for the Deaf and Blind as we moved to a county which had poor services for these children and his needs were not being met. I have been very happy with the school and we plan on moving closer this year so he can be a day student (he's only been there since last August) With this new diagnosis and now abetter understanding of why he was different but never had an anwser this has opened up many more questions/concerns. With these many diagnosis and educational needs I think it can be difficult to have a program that is multifaceted for these kids. In many ways the deaf children have many charcteristics of these children socially and as a result this school does have social skills classes to address these needs. I am just now trying to put all this together and investigate appropiate interventions educationally, socially, etc. Is there anyone out there who also has a child with similar diagnosis-at least the hearing impairment and PDD-NOS and maybe the ADHD? I would love to talk with them about their experiences, suggestions, recommendations. If not thanks for letting me ventilate and if anyone has any information to offer please feel free to let me know. Best to you all in your everyday struggles, joys and adventures with these very special children who we all have been blessed with.
Hello. 4 days ago my 3 year old daughter (my angel!) was diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Since then my mind has been all over the place. I can't keep it still. I have cried, a lot, been angry, gone through the "why her!", been optimistic for brief periods, been in denial, (they have to be wrong.) I am so confused, I have so many questions, and I as far as I can tell we can't do anything until we get the report from the evaluation. I keep wondering is my daughter in danger of getting worse over the next 2 weeks? I want someting done now!!!! Most of all I feel so alone. My husband is away all day, and I have nobody to talk to about this. The few family members and friends we have told just looked at us like we are crazy, and think she was mis diagnosed, and insist there is nothing wrong with her and that she is nothing like "RAINMAN". I have noticed that there are a lot of posts here and I don't know if anyone will read this, but I do feel a little tiny bit better expressing myself. Thank you. Hello everyone. I am the mother of a four year old autistic son. We didn't find out that he was autistic untill about three months ago. So I am trying to learn everything that I can. I am a single mother, so I don't have the support of the faher, but I do have a great family. We are all trying to learn what we can. My son is the light of my life. But there are times after he is in bed that I get so mad at the fact that my son will lead a different life then other children. Then I feel guilty. At least I have a beautiful child. I have just stumbled across this site. And I can't tell you how happy I am to have done so. I now feel like I am not alone in some of my feelings. Thank you and have a happy holidayHello! My name is Robin and I have a seven year old son who is on the Autistic Spectrum. He wasn't diagnosed until he was five years old, even though I suspected it when he was around two or three. I was kept being told that he would "grow out" of his speech delay. I finally had to switch to a different doctor for him, and the new doctor pushed to find out why he wasn't talking (he did talk but it was mainly just repeating things from television and from books). It's been a frustrating experience for all of us. He was seeing an "autism" specialist for awhile. That didn't do much good (in my opinion) and then she closed up shop and moved out of town. Right now, he's in the second grade. He's very smart. He gets good grades. The only problems he has in school are with his behavior. He gets a thought in his head and he just focuses on that and it doesn't matter what the teacher or anyone else says. I am so happy to find this board. I go on our local Autism website every once in awhile. They do offer some good info, but I've always thought that they needed a message board. It would help a lot for people, like me, who are unable to attend the support group meetings (I work second shift). I'm so gald I found this sight! I have a 3 yr. old little boy. His name is Camden. At almost 2 my friend who is Occupational Ther. Assnt. told me that he was showing autistic tendencies. Camden would get into tight spaces we he was overwhelmed and have major meltdowns about minor things. So I took him to our pedtrician and he had me take him to an Occupational Therepist. She diagnosed him with Sensory Intergration Dysfuction. After she discharged him he regressed in his behavoir. His vocabulary is very limited and to me he doesn't comprend at a 3 year old leavel. He gets VERY obsessed with things (fruit, elephants, vaccum cleaners). Everything I read describes my son. I'm SO confussed and agrivated! In Febuary I am getting him evaluated by a Nurological doctor. I feel like I'm running in circle's trying to figure out what is wrong. I feel like my son is slipping through the cracks and not getting the care he needs. We have been to speech and occupational therepy. I don't know what to do. Any advice?Hi everyone!! My child is 7 years old and has a mild case of autism. I'm having problems finding someone who will watch after him when he gets out of school. Currently my mother is watching him for me, but it's preventing her from doing things she has wo do with her time. I've tried to enroll him in the Boys & Girls Club, but they told me that they aren't certified and qualified to deal with a child with special needs. What is the correct procedure to follow regarding finding a qualified childcare provider for my son? I appreciate any replies or suggestions given to me relating to this topic. Hi! I don't know if you have it where you live, but you might try checking with MHMR (Mental Health/Mental Retardation) and see if they can help. My sister works with the MHMR where we live and she has told me that at any time, if we wanted to, we could get my 4yo dd (moderate PDD/Autism) signed up for part time home care....she said that would be where someone would come to our house and basically watch her for a while, but they would also work with her in certain areas if we wanted them to, but that way if we needed to do something and not have her with us, then there would be someone that is state certified in all areas pertaining to disabilities, first-aid, etc. It is state funded, so their services should be free to you, but you would have to check on that for sure. I hope that helps!
Nice to meet ya all.
Well I have gone on long enough found some great items at www.iloveachildwithautism.com and the mother of an autistic child who runs it is great to work with and email with -- she seems very knowlegable about all aspects of autism Hi everyone, I'm new here but not to Autism. My son is now 17. He is severly Autistic and non-verbal. He is self-abusive, and with medication and behavioral therapy and modification he has been less abusive to himself for some time now. But recently he started beating me up daily, smacking and punching me in the face, back, and arms. He knocks me down. I have several cuts and bruises on my face and a black-eye right now, that I am ashamed to go out in public, because everytime this happens I get the stares and people assume I'm a battered wife. This happens when I tell him he can't have something, such as an entire bag of chips or if I stop him from eating butter or mayonasie or BBQ sause straight out of the bottles. I try to redirect him or offer a subistute but he will no longer hear of it. He also has cause extensive property damage to our home. I contacted Doctor's they tell me I have to be in better control of the situation. I brought him to the crisis center and they drugged him up let him sleep, then sent him home with me that same day and he beat me up again. I don't know where to turn. I don't want to lock him up, so to speak, but He is 70lbs heavier then me and I'm afraid he will kill me. I am a good mother, I have done everything the Doctor's tell me. I hear other people autistic children are so much better off then my son and I believe I must have failed somewhere. [QUOTE=Hugs4Lovebug]Hi there! Hey there! Ho there! I just needed to inform myself about my daughter and her sensory issues and other issues; instead of leaving the knowledge seeking to my spouse. At first I figured as long as one of us was informed the other could get the information learned from the other. I realize that is not really fair though. I can't let my spouse go this alone. My daughter is yet to have an official diagnosis but they say she falls under broad spectrum autism. [/QUOTE]Welcome to the board, HFLB. merry christmas from new zealand i am a single parant and have 3 kids ben is 11 and has kabuki sys and adhd. my 5 yr old is PDD and ADD where do i start jericho has always being a hard kid 2 look after and is making my life very hard. 1 good day is all i ask am i nuts 2 be glad that he goes 2 school and im away from the yellin and demaining of him. or 2 go out as a family and not worry what is going 2 go wrong or be looked as my son decided he needed 2 be a puppy in the supermarket. i get a small amount of help but nolthing for his behaiour all i can do is time out. i also work partime and have 4 cats that have learnt 2 run when they c jericho and 1 baby rabbit . Hi. I'm a mother of a 3 year old who has PDD with Autistic Tendencies. I've known since he was less than a year old that there were problems. Everyone used to tell me that my son would grow out of it or that everyone develops at different rates. My son is delayed in speech, has social issues, and extremely hyper. He is currently in speech therapy but that's not enough. I find myself frustrated that nothing is ever easy with him and then ultimately find myself crying because i don't know how to help him. We are currently battling with the school system...they don't want to supply special education even though we have had him tested and have a diagnosis. I find the worst part of my day is the two seconds it takes from me asking the daycare teacher how was he today until their answer...never knowing how it will be. My son is a very fun, energetic boy who needs help and i hope to start meeting people who are going through the same issues that I go through. It would be nice to finally have someone say to me "hey, my kid does that as well." I'm tired of explaining myself and my son. Does that make sense? Thanks for letting me babble. Welcome to all of our new members. Carrie, I also have a 3year old with autism. Come on over the parents of autistic children thread and to the hangout with friends. This board provides lots of support from people who are going through the same things that others are. I consider this board to be my second family.It's time to get this intro out of the way... by now I could write a book, so I'll keep it brief. I'm single, working mom with a very intense and awesome 6-year-old son. He was high needs from the beginning, but back then it was due to me "spoiling" him. To an untrained eye, he's just a cute, hyperactive, high-functioning boy. They finally took my concerns seriously after his pre-K early childhood evaluation, where he scored below average on everything except gross motor skills. Since then, we've gone through the whole shebang (medications, evaluations, day treatment, behavior therapy, respite care, special education, all-inclusive classrooms, etc). Everyday presents a battle. He's a complicated little guy with a bunch of diagnoses (ADHD/ODD/PDD-NOS, Conduct Disorder, Mood Disorder, and possible Early Onset Bipolar). He was recently reevaluated for his IEP and they're calling it Autism Spectrum Disorder with a significant Language/Communication Disorder. He doesn't fit any of those labels perfectly, though. When it comes down to it, almost all of his relatives have some sort of mental illness. He just got the full-blown version. It's hard not to feel hopeless and alone, especially with no support system, but being his mom and advocate is my #1 job. Hi everyone!! I am a mother of three beautiful children. Samantha- 13, Skyler -11, and Sabrina-9. My middle child Skyler is autistic. The holidays were difficult for Skyler. Going to realitives are so confusing to him. The smells, the noises, etc.. But we made it through!! I am interested any learning about other autistic children going in/ in middle school.
Thanks~! Hi,my name is Tanya i am 28 and i live in ontario i have twin boy's and they both have autism and they are going to be 5 in march wow where does the time go..lol and Iam looking forward to getting to know all of you here..Hi, My name is Sally and am so happy to have found such a great forum. There has been so much information, it's wonderful! My husband and I have 3 children, our middle child, Ben has PDDNOS. He is 9 1/2 yrs.old and basically non-verbal. He attends school, a special classroom is set up inside our elementary school, where, when he can handle it, he attends certain classes with typical kids. He absolutely loves to be with children his own age, even though he can't communicate with them. He also loves books, and movies. He has issues with writing, holding pencils, pens, crayons, ect. and absolutely hates getting his hands messy! But enjoys the computer, any learning game or fun game for that matter. Thanks for letting me share. Sally,
Hi everyone, My name is Greg. I am the proud 37 year old father of an extremely special 6 year old boy named Christopher. Christopher is diagnosed PDD/NOS. I am very happy to have found this message board. I hope to find friends here Hi all. I am new and glad to have found this board. I don't know where to begin. I have a 15 yr old boy who has just been diagnosed with PDD. Our lives have been a roller coaster with this one. We have run the gamut of doctors, hospitals, meds, etc. He has been diagnosed as Bipolar for the last 8 yrs. This last hospital stay they re-evaluated him and changed his dx ruling out Bipolar. His dx is now PDD, ADHD, ODD. I am more confused now then ever before. I know nothing about this new diagnosis and am looking for info. I was always under the impression that a PDD/Autism/ Aspergers dx was made much earlier in life. If anyone has comments, suggestions, or ideas I would love to hear them. Since I just found this site I am still navigating it and will possibly post else where on here as well. Thanks for listening Hi, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Holly and I am the Mom of 2 a son Austin who is 7 and a daughter Grace who is 4. We are just going through the process of diagnosis with Austin we are pretty sure he has Asperger's. He is such a great boy and I have always called him my "little man" because of some of his quirks like wanted to read factual material whether it's books or magazines, interests in the computer, his mannerisms. We never had heard of Asperger's before but when we read the discription of it we knew that was our son. He will only wear soft clothing and has to have soft bedding as well it was pretty funny going to the bedding section to buy satin sheets for a 7 year old, he has extremely sensitive ears and we have learned to have ear plugs handy, has 2 subjects that he is really interested in Star Wars and the computer. He has minor interests that used to be his only ones such as animals, he has trouble with his fine motor skills. I want to help him however I can to have a successful school career 2 weeks ago he didn't make it through a single day, he had to stay in the office because of how disruptive his meltdowns were. I just hope that I can find the help I need for him and for our family. A little about me, I am a stay at home Mom who sells Partylite to get a break from home once in awhile and to have some fun. I love Disney and we are always planning our next trip. I enjoy reading and camping. Thanks for listening. Hi, My name is Kim C. I have a 4 year and 10 month old son who was diagnosed 3 weeks ago with PDD and he registers a 21 on the Autism Spectrum. I've known he was a bit different all his life but his pediatrician wouldn't listen to me. I went over his head and got a private child psychologist to see my boy in action in his office and at his school. This was the key. This psychologist contacted my son's doctor and said he needed to be evaluated. I was referrred to the best doctor in the area! Jeannine Audet, M.D., here in Massachusetts. I'd recommed her to anyone. She and her team of Psychologists, OT, PT, and Speech pathologists, evaluated him and in two weeks I had my diagnosis. I can't tell you how wonderful it has been knowing I wasn't nuts. Not that I wanted something to be wrong, I just had this sweet, gentle and overly anxious child who was stuck in his development. My son is the sweetest most wonderful little boy ever. (of course I'd say that) but he appears so typical, until he gets over stimulated or frightened and then the obsessive verbal traits and hand fluttering start and the toe walking. He's almost 5 (April 24th). He speaks like a 3 year old, walks and has the fine motor skills of a 2 and a half year old and the maturity of a 2 year old. Yet he is as smart as a 5 year old. He can think in abstract ways and can apply critical thinking skills to some tasks, that are verbal. But he has the self preservation skills and self care skills of a 2 year old, so he gets very frustrated when he can't do what other kids do. He was in a preschool in a private school. I had to pull him out after only 2 and a half months because he was a menace with his clumsiness and he would sometimes cry all day. So he is back home. He should be in a full time program in March that will include all of the therapy he will need. What am I headed for. Will I face any battle with the school system that any of you can help me head off? I have many questions that I will be posting. Thank you so much for all of the help you can be. Best regards...Kim cntrygrl- My son is a few years behind your son but kind of the same situation. My son is 9. I have yet to get a Dx. We have an appt April 3rd at the University Hospital Children's Autism clinic. He was DX with ADHD and ODD at the age of 3. But I knew there was something more. They thought possible bipolar but didn't settle on that either. He is having lots of trouble in school academically and behavior wise. It has been a very long frustrating road for his father and I. The best advice I can give you is educate yourself on everything. This is a good place for you to learn! Thank you for your support mom_of_5. I know how frustrating it can all be. Orran's problems in school are related primarily to his behavior and defiance. He is very bright and enrolled in honors courses in an effort to keep him from being bored in class. Our goal was to challenge him academically. He is failing most courses, but it is not because he CAN'T do the work. It is because he won't do the work. He is also disruptive and misses quite a bit due to suspensions. His behavior and social interaction, or lack there of, that causes so much concern at this point. I am learning much through this site, and appreciate all the support I receive here.
He currently uses a laptop at school. He does excell at many things also, he ice skates well, he spells and reads well. He is in a regular class at a parocial school (aside from the laptop use.) He has some minor odd things he does, tapping,some rocking type movement in the morning and, he's very particular - he will correct you every chance he can. I want to know if anyone has a child with similar situation to chat with (parents). Or it would be great to find someone in Indiana to talk to or maybe meet. hello ladies i am a mother of a 12 year old with ASD you are welcome to chat with me any time i am in North Carolina but will be happy to talk to you and help in any way i can . just a mom Hi everyone... my name is Melissa. I'm the mom of three beautiful children. My oldest daughter is 7 yrs old. I also have a 3 yr old daughter and a 10 1/2 month old son. Madison my 3 yr old was diagnosed with PDD/NOS April 2005. She will be retested this summer to see if she's made any improvements since placing her in preschoo this year. Madison has a speech delay. She can say many of words but she just can't put them together yet. She can't express her wants or needs. She takes us to what she wants. She has no concept of danger, someone is with her at all times, we take no chances. This is just some of what we go through each day, that's why we take one day at a time. I thank God every day for blessing me with Madison. I couldn't imagine my life without my blonde hair, brown eyed little girl. Her smile and laughter will brighten up anyones day. We have good days and bad days at our house. Some days she will take a step forward in her learning other days she will take two steps back. There are plenty of times when things get stressful around here, but then she will say or do something she's never done before or just out of the blue she will give me the biggest hug and say wuv you. On thoses days I couldn't ask for more. I just recently found this site and I wanted to introduce myself and tell you alittle bit about my daughter. I don't know much about PDD/Autism, was hoping to get some ideas on how to help my daughter with the struggles she faces each day. By reading alot of the messages and stories on here, I now know we are not alone in this. Thank you for taking the time and reading about my little girl. melissa Hi I am currently an Occupational Therapy Student. I also work part time with a wonderful young boy who has autism. I will be graduating soon and look forward to working with more children in the future.Hello everyone, I am glad to find people who know what I go thru. I look forward to learning new things from all you wonderful parents. Thank you for being the best moms and dads out there! My name is Angel, and I have a 4 y/o with PDD, he is high functioning. HIs name is Austin, he goes to school 4 days a week. He is very loveable to all people. He does not talk and is not able to communicate. I also have a 5 y/o daughter her name is Samantha. I also was diagnosed with MS in Feb 2005. So that is a rundown of my family. Oh by the way we are driving my husband bald! with all the stress. Thank you for letting me join this group. My location is Dayton, OH.Hi, I'm new to the website. I have a 5 year old with I believe PDD-NOS, Drs. keep telling me its not, but everything I read proofs to me. The reason they say he's not is because he can look at people in the eyes. But he has major speech delays, major behavior problems, hyper active, delayed socially, educational wise. He's basically delayed in every area. My son is currently on clonditine and seroquel for his aggression. Have any of your kids been on this combination? It doesn't seem to be working for us. He's so hyper its not even funny. Any recommendations, I would appreciate any information you guys could give me.
Thanks aarons mom in missouir I really do sympathize with you. It took 11yrs for them to diagnose my daughter and I really had to fight for it. They said she was just naughty and gets over excited but I always knew there was something wrong. It turns out that she has Aspergers syndrome and all they have done is put her on Clonidine for her anger. I have to say this doesnt really work. We get no help from local authorities either I have found the national autistic society really helpful, they send info and talk you through stuff and have meetings probably in your area too.hello i am new here and it's good to find you all. i live in the uk and have an 18 year old son with autism. along with his autism he has severe learning difficulties, epilepsy and mild cp. he is 6'2" and sooooo handsome it's good to find so many parents in one place Hi everyone. My name is Linda and my daughter Emily who's 2 1/2 years old was recently diagnosed with Autism. We knew about 6 months ago that she was speech delayed since she was really only saying single words. So she has been in speech therapy since June. It has really helped, she still says alot of single words but she also says several 2 word sentences and a few 3 word sentences. I am still devastated that she has Autism and I pray that I can get through this. My husband has been very helpful. We suspected it could be Autism when she started speech theapy but both of her speech therapists did not think she had it. So of course I made myself believe that even though my husband thought she did. So my heart broke the day she was evaluated at MUSC in Charleston, SC and they told me she did have it. The dr thinks she will be pretty high functioning but I am scared to death!!!!! Emily will be starting preschool in August with other children who are developmentally delayed. Right now she goes to daycare and loves it! I've decided to stop working so I can put more effort into being involved in Emily's therapy and anything else she may need. I've started reading the book "Everything you need to know about Autism". I like the way it's written, very basic and easy to understand. This is a good book to start with to understand the basics. Right now Emily has 2 speech therapists and we're going to be getting her evaluated for an occupational therapist in the next few weeks. We also just found out that our insurance will cover 25 hours of ABA therapy a month so I'm inquiring on that too. I am just so overwhelmed right now and I do feel better when I talk about it. Some days I feel ok about everything and I know we will get through this and other days I feel like God is punishing me and I find myself asking WHY ME? I did everything right during pregnancy, and after battling infertility for over 2 years and a miscarraige I finally had Emily. I did everything right and some days I just feel like this should not be happening to me. But other days I feel "chosen" by God because he knew I would do what is right for Emily and get her all the help I can. Does anyone else go through this? I look forward to getting to know you all. Is anyone in the Sumter/Columbia SC area? I really would like to find a playgroup for Emily. Wow, this got really long, I better end it before it turns into a book! haha Linda L. Hi!I am new to the group. I am the father of beautiful 13 year old daughter and a special 11 year old son. My daughter is very gifted and my son has severe autism and mild mental retardation. Six weeks ago today, my wife and son were in a tragic car accident. My bride of 19 years was killed instantly and my son was airlifted to the Medical College of Georgia where he was in on life support for three weeks. My son is at home now and is going to make a full recovery. Praise God!!! A single father - whew! Thanks in advance for your prayers. Vernon in Georgia Vernon, I am so sorry for your loss! I'm not really sure what to say, I can not even imagine how you must be feeling right now. I will keep you and your family in my prayers! Vernon- I will keep your family in my prayers. I can't imagine how you and your family are feeling. I am not sure what to say. Please keep us posted on the recovery of your son. And the healing of your whole family. Tammy Hi All, I am from Missouri, my step daughter has been diagnosed as Educationally autistic in the school setting... I am confused...The school district diagnosed her WITHOUT a doctor...?any advice or help is wanted Hi everyone. I have been a long time lurker but finally decided to join. My name is Michael and I am the proud father of a 29 month old boy named Jayden who was recently diagnosed with pdd-nos. Hi, I'm the mother of a 3 year old who was diagnosed with PDD about 10 months ago, at which point we had already begun ST, OT, PT. She stayed with it until she turned three, at which point her therapists started saying, "well, she's doing pretty good, so we'll see her every other week" and so on. What's odd is that my daughter has never had much trouble sleeping, eats pretty much anything, and is the height of a 5-year old. She has a fantastic memory, particularly for music, and she will put things she says to songs she likes, but she doesn't use a name for me, only sometimes for other family. She will approach me for attention and give hugs sometimes, but she still is very distracted at times. Her verbal skills are good, and she's starting to learn her letters, but she mainly repeats her favorite songs or movies and she hesitates when I ask her a question about "why, when," etc. She has come a long way from her therapy, when she only said about five words, but it worries me that every teacher at her daycare says she seems just fine, and her timid nature with other kids is still noticeable. I'm glad to find so many other moms who are dealing with the frustrations of a child who may ask for something and later only whine and cry.Hi evryone, My name is emma and I have an 11yr old daughter that has only just been diagnosed with A.S (aspergers syndrome). I always knew something was wrong but everyone including doctors told me she was just difficult and challenging. We have always struggled with daily activities. I must admit I was quite scared at first, thinking that I was the only one. I am so glad there are other people like us. My name is Liz, I have posted a bit but thought I'd share our story.... My son just turned 5, he has PDD NOS and ADHD, I think we always new he was special, certain things he did always seemed a bit like he was from another world. Sam is very high functioning with an above average IQ, for him the social stuff is a real problem, not that he doesn't want to make friends, he does...he just can't seem to quite pull it off. Now he is in private therapy for play, behavior modification, and speech. Our local school system is working their way - slowly - through an evaluation and (I won't say luck) but we will have aN IEP when he enters Kindergarden next year. I love too ( and excel at) research, strategy planning, and negotiations so I'm hopeful those skills will come in handy. There is not a thing I would change about my son, he is beautiful, engaging (once he gets to know you) and one of the most loving kids I know. Lizzy Hi, my name is Julie and we suspect that my son Liam, 16 months is on the autism spectrum. He is nonverbal, stims constantly, does not point, wave or communicate in any way other than crying. He becomes frustrated at the slightest things. We are in the process of getting help through Early Intervention. We will be pursuing a diagnosis in a few months. Right now we are educating ourselves and trying to help Liam as much as possible. Julie - You hang in there...all of us are in the same boat...you will do what's best for him don't ever doubt that...trust your instincts. In the meantime if you need to talk or email...I'm here. My email is in my profile. Lizzy Hi everyone! My name is Amy and I am so glad I found a good place to chat with other families who have experienced what my family has experienced. I have two sons, ages 9 and 6. My youngest has PDD-NOS. He had a normal development, reaching all milestones at the appropriate times, until right before his third birthday. Then, he began getting frequent ear infections and high fevers, and not long after that he began exhibiting symptoms of autism. He has come a long way since first being diagnosed (improving his CARS score from 33 to 21) but we're going through an aggressive behavior period right now that is very difficult on all of us. Thank goodness for these internet sites! I don't know what I would do without them. I look forward to being a part of this great information exchange.Amy- I believe you just helped me with something! My son met his milestones and then started exhibiting symptoms just before he was 3. I never put this together, but he had severe recurring ear infections and was on long term antibiotic treatment. Does this have a correlation with autism/PDD? There does seem to be a lot of ASD kids who have had lots of problems with their ears, and I have read that there are many parents whose children developed normally until they developed an out-of-control infection. The theory behind this is that there are immune system problems in the child that can lead to autism.Lynn, I read your introduction and I just wanted you to know that I can totally relate to you. We are having serious behavior problems at school also. It really makes everything that much harder. They have placed my son with a home-school teacher until they can find what they call "the proper placement." I'm here if you ever feel like talking or just need a friend...AmyAmy - You know Sam was exactly the same as you described...normal development, normal (or above normal academically), but he always had frequent ear infections, then when we left CA and moved out here they got worse and he even had puenomia twice, lots of antibiotics. I wonder if its the antibiotics that trigger something (maybe genetic) in our kids? Lizzy I definitely think there is a connection of some sort, because every time my son is on antibiotics he has a meltdown. I would love to know if studies are being done on this. I have found an article about ASD and possible immune system defects, but it didn't specifically mention whether it was the infections themselves or the meds used to treat them that brought on the autistic behaviors.Hi am new to the boards and I wanted to say hi. I have a beautiful 19-month-old girl who has PDD NOS. I am filled with fear and just sadness. I have been in fear that something was wrong with her since she was 10 months and not really even trying to say Dada. She still does not call me Mommy or my husband Daddy. My family and husband seem to think she just needs some extra attention and stimulation and she will be fine. The doctors I believe down play the situation and almost had me believing that she could just be really laid back and it is to soon to really know if it is autism. However, the ADOS revealed she was Autistic and the CARS score was a 27, a 30 would be on the spectrum. My little girl will give eye contact but inconsistently. Her verbal skills are poor. She will not point to things she wants all she will do is cry and we have to try and guess what she wants. At daycare I observe the other children greet her and she has no interest in responding back with a smile, a wave or saying hi. We know she can talk because she will repeat words and some phrases but often the word does not match up to what she is looking at. Her play skills are very limited, however she imitates you if you show her how to play with a toy. From what I have read although the doctors want to say she has "mild autism" I think that is a load of bull. It seems to me saying someone has mild autism is like having mild cancer, you either have it and it sucks or you don't. It makes it seem like with early intervention she can become normal and from what I have read so far that seems unlikely. I will do everything in my power to get her whatever help I can get her and I pray every night that she will be cured or that this is all just a mistake and she is a late bloomer. I pray that the OT, Speech and floor time will help her escape this disorder. Sorry to ramble I am such an emotional mess right now. Thanks for listening and for being there everyone with all your stories.
Corrine, I don't know where to begin - first hang in there...we've all been in those first few days (or weeks or months) of the dx and its scary....but - and this is important...with early intervention your daughter CAN get better, she may always do things a bit differently but there is no reason why she can't catch up to her peers in almost every way...the key is early detection and early intervention. Read everything you can on the disorder, read everything you can on therapies to help, talk to your local school district to see if they have an early intervention program....my son has PDD NOS and ADHD...in the few WEEKS we've been working with him, we see improvements...it can get better. There is no cure yet for Autism - but she can improve. Try the yahoo group shadowkids....lots of great info there. Please email me if you need more info or just need to vent... Lizzy I need to vent. lol I have a beautiful 4 year old, Connor. Said Momma and Daddy at 12 months old. Never spoke another word until the age of 3 1/2. No eating issues, really, so for that I'm immensely thankful. Sure, he is still learning to chew correctly, but the vomitting has almost stopped, so that's good. You think they are getting so much better, and you start to feel normal, and the next thing you know it's a cold day, you are giving them a bite of hot dog, and you shock their lip. All heck breaks loose. They're screaming and shaking in fright, of you, of hot dogs, of food in general. It gets so old. So tiring. So defeating. I know it gets better. Every day, he makes amazing strides. He's a high-functioning autistic boy. I'm thankful. And tired. Always tired. I wonder . . . are you SURE that God only gives you as much as you can handle? 'Cause some days, it seems like he's forgotten what he gave yesterday. And the day before. And the day before that. Geez, am I a downer, or what? KC To hisown fool: You need to give yourself a break. These are all normal feelings. I have a sister in law who has a HF AS boy and she sometimes gets away and comes to my house for the weekend. You need to do that for yourself. You also want to not accept that there isn't hope. I teach that age group and I have some students with HF Autism and I can tell you that by Junior year there is a BIG difference in these kids. They are growing, their brains are developing, they are finding interests and yes, even happiness. They are still high maintenance kids, but there is always hope. I also think that you need to take care of you. You sound so overwhelmed. And mainly forgive yourself for feeling bad. You are human. As parents we forget that we aren't perfect. And that is also ok. As manic as my own PDD kid is, he is starting to see that Mommy isn't perfect, we spend a lot of time talking and when I screw up with him, like get VERY angry with him when he erupts into a tantrum. When he comes down off an obsessive spell and is past the rut of his own thoughts, we (sometimes) cry together and apologize and work through it as best we can. It's a battle they fight and we are along for the ride and yes it sucks, sorry about the language. But it does. You aren't alone. Let us know what we can do to help. -- Kim C Thanks, Kim. I know that my feelings aren't necessarily reality. Fortunately, I'm going to get just such a break this weekend. Hi. My son is a high-functioning 14-year-old autistic person. Like many of you, I feel overwhelmed a lot of the time and exhausted nearly all of the time. For some reason, it's gotten worse since he turned 14 this past Christmas. I think that part of it has to do with the suspicion/conviction that "this is as good as it gets." While he was younger, I could delude/comfort myself with thoughts of a better future. Not anymore.So, I live with the suspicion that I will never get a break from what I'm feeling now. I need a sabbatical from my life but it's not going to happen. I love him and resent him at the same time and he senses it which only makes me feel worse. I find myself often comforting him and assuring him that dad isn't mad at him. Hello all. My name is Bryan. I joined the Forum a month or two ago, but never introduced myself. So here goes: My wife and I are raising 2 children. An 11 yr. old boy who has no disabilities and a 5 1/2 yr. old girl who was just recently diagnosed with mild/moderate PDD-NOS. I must say that I have alot of respect for all of you out there with PDD/Autistic kids/grandkids. I know my wife and I have many trying times with our daughter. I can't even imagine what many of you are all going through. Kudos to all of you. I am looking forward to interacting in this forum. It's nice to read about others' experiences and also to know that we are not alone. Bryan Hi my name is Heather I have a 6 year old with ADHD and PDD he also now has seizures and a learning disablity. Well I guess that is all Im so glad i found this message board.
Thanks Hi, My name is Theresa. I am mother to two beautiful children, Cobi (3yrs) and Kyla (14 months). My son, Cobi, will be beginning screening for autism in two weeks. He has some speech delays and has been seeing a speech therapist for aproximately 8 months. He also sees OT and PT on a regular basis because I was concerned with some of his gross motor skills, which were thought to be caused by rapid growth, but now I'm not so sure. He was diagnosed with central precocious puberty last August and takes an injection every four weeks to regulate his hormonal development and growth. He is obsessed with wheels and other parts of vehicles. He loves to take apart his toys. He can name most construction vehicles and specific parts of each vehicle and knows his alphabet, but if you ask him to count he can't get past 2. He can't stand it if anyone touches his hair and will have temper tantrum if his space is invaded, but has no problem invading other's space. All the lights have to be on in our house and all the doors have to be closed. He insists that the blinds be shut and gets upset and panics if I play music of any kind. He is very good at completing puzzles, knows his colours and shapes, but has a hard time remembering his age and familiar people's names. He has an odd habbit of licking people and mouthing objects. He seems sensory seeking in some ways, but sensory avoiding in others. He has me so confused at times. lol Reading these boards has helped me to put some of his behaviours into perspective. I think he may have some autistic tendancies and it's a comfort to know that I am not alone. I am very curious to see what the specialists have to say about him. Hi everyone!! I'm Julia and I have a 2 1/2 year old son who was diagnosed with autistim spectrum disorder: PDD/NOS this summer. It has been quite a haul since we(my husband and I) have found out. Now my son is in special needs preschool thru our city and in the short time he has been in has made some noticable progress. My son is currently non-verbal although he does say some words and uses the "lead you by the hand" technique to get what he wants. I have noticed that he does understand what we say to him. We live our life day by day and try not to look ahead too much. We accept and love our happy boy as he is. To him, his world is great> sometimes I wonder if his world isn't the world to be living in! Hi... I am at a loss right now. I've been reading all of the posts as often as my son allows. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope with him and our whole situation. I'm a single mom, have been since he was 30 days old. My son's name is Clay, he is 11, turning 12 in April. He started having seizures when he was 7 months old. He has been seizure free for 10 years. After that it has been one battle after another as far as trying to "catch up", just accept that this is what we've been dealt, and not go crazy through the day. He is severly autistic but, loves to be rocked to sleep. He fights haircuts but, is willing to take a bath or shower and often has to be asked numerous times to get out. He is overly social but, will have barking fits, inappropriate laughter, you know the list of "signs. But, he has all these non-autistic things thrown in too. I have posted here before about my son's school having him only going to half days---that was months ago---he just started full days last week. I just gave up with fighting the administration. I'm tired---tired of fighting with school districts, with my family, and with myself. I am pursuing a group home type of enviornment for him and really am not getting ANY support from my family in my decision. Everyone keeps telling me how much improvement he has made over the past months, years, days, minutes, etc. I've finally let them know that yes, clay is improving but, the situation isnt. I've been called selfish (God forbid that I start to take care of myself), unloving, amongst other cruel things because of the choice of looking for PCS or group homes. I've gone through half of our local PCS providers list and most of them had already "heard" of Clay and all of his demands and flat out told me that he would be too much for them to handle. I dont blame them, i feel the same way 8 days out of the week. :) He was recently admitted into our local hospital/psych ward to regulate meds and to give me a break. His psychiatrist told me "YOU ARE ON THE EDGE OF BREAKING" he also added that Clay's meds needed to be figured out, along with the much needed break. I knew that if they started to toy with his meds while he was at home and he started having more violent behaviors or increase daily behaviors, there wasn't enough vodka in Russia to make the time easier---not that I drink all that much or while he is awake but, a "mommy drink" after he goes to bed, does this body good. :) Well, so he was admitted, 16 hours later---go ahead read that again, 16 hours later they called me saying that they couldn't keep him there, that they didnt know what to do with him and that i should call the state school and hospital's crisis team to deal with him. I asked them to give me a detailed description of what he was doing---what they described was all atypical behavior of a severly autistic child with a ton of ADHD thrown in---a.k.a Clay. So, laughing the whole time about the chaos I call life, I went and picked up my boy---where just the night before I was crying so hard for having realized our lives had gotten to that point of hospitalization, and now i'm just wondering---if they, trained personel, doctors, psychs, etc can't deal with him, how is a 30 year old, single mom supposed to do it. anyway, so he is at home, in full days at school, i'm looking for group homes, and for support for me. Now that our current story is here and updated, I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas of what to look for in a group home. if there is something/somewhere that would be better, any ideas or information would be wonderful. I am just tired, i'm tired of doing everything and i need a break. i'm not sure if a 24/7 is what i'm needing but, i know i hate weekends, I love going to work because it's my time to not be here. I have NO life at all. I just dont know what to do anymore. Thank you so much for any and all information! Clay's crazy mom, Jen Hi... I am at a loss right now. I've been reading all of the posts as often as my son allows. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope with him and our whole situation. I'm a single mom, have been since he was 30 days old. My son's name is Clay, he is 11, turning 12 in April. He started having seizures when he was 7 months old. He has been seizure free for 10 years. After that it has been one battle after another as far as trying to "catch up", just accept that this is what we've been dealt, and not go crazy through the day. He is severly autistic but, loves to be rocked to sleep. He fights haircuts but, is willing to take a bath or shower and often has to be asked numerous times to get out. He is overly social but, will have barking fits, inappropriate laughter, you know the list of "signs. But, he has all these non-autistic things thrown in too. I have posted here before about my son's school having him only going to half days---that was months ago---he just started full days last week. I just gave up with fighting the administration. I'm tired---tired of fighting with school districts, with my family, and with myself. I am pursuing a group home type of enviornment for him and really am not getting ANY support from my family in my decision. Everyone keeps telling me how much improvement he has made over the past months, years, days, minutes, etc. I've finally let them know that yes, clay is improving but, the situation isnt. I've been called selfish (God forbid that I start to take care of myself), unloving, amongst other cruel things because of the choice of looking for PCS or group homes. I've gone through half of our local PCS providers list and most of them had already "heard" of Clay and all of his demands and flat out told me that he would be too much for them to handle. I dont blame them, i feel the same way 8 days out of the week. :) He was recently admitted into our local hospital/psych ward to regulate meds and to give me a break. His psychiatrist told me "YOU ARE ON THE EDGE OF BREAKING" he also added that Clay's meds needed to be figured out, along with the much needed break. I knew that if they started to toy with his meds while he was at home and he started having more violent behaviors or increase daily behaviors, there wasn't enough vodka in Russia to make the time easier---not that I drink all that much or while he is awake but, a "mommy drink" after he goes to bed, does this body good. :) Well, so he was admitted, 16 hours later---go ahead read that again, 16 hours later they called me saying that they couldn't keep him there, that they didnt know what to do with him and that i should call the state school and hospital's crisis team to deal with him. I asked them to give me a detailed description of what he was doing---what they described was all atypical behavior of a severly autistic child with a ton of ADHD thrown in---a.k.a Clay. So, laughing the whole time about the chaos I call life, I went and picked up my boy---where just the night before I was crying so hard for having realized our lives had gotten to that point of hospitalization, and now i'm just wondering---if they, trained personel, doctors, psychs, etc can't deal with him, how is a 30 year old, single mom supposed to do it. anyway, so he is at home, in full days at school, i'm looking for group homes, and for support for me. Now that our current story is here and updated, I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas of what to look for in a group home. if there is something/somewhere that would be better, any ideas or information would be wonderful. I am just tired, i'm tired of doing everything and i need a break. i'm not sure if a 24/7 is what i'm needing but, i know i hate weekends, I love going to work because it's my time to not be here. I have NO life at all. I just dont know what to do anymore. Thank you so much for any and all information! Clay's crazy mom, Jen Clays mom....I feel your pain. I have a 4 year old son w/mild/severe autism. I have just recently started him on Risperdon for help w/ aggression, have you tried that? I have thought of foster homes and others like that for me. I'm not a single mom but I am pretty much alone with dealing with Shawn, all the decisions concerning meds, therapy, etc, I have made on my own. He was smearing poop all over his room at least 3 times a night, every night for about a year. I had had it! I always cleaned it alone and him after as well. I know it sounds harsh but I didn't want him in my home anymore, I couldn't deal with it. My family said to me," well thats what being a parent is all about", BULL! He won't eat anything but pablum still, is very agressive to his younger sister and hits me as well. My hubby is out of the house for work and then on days off he is either at his friends or his studio, I usually leave the house maybe one day every 2 weeks, to go shopping for groceries, fun huh? I feel like a prisoner doing this alone. Its not bad parenting to move him to a group home. you need it for your sanity, you won't be much help to him if you end up in the psych ward will you? Do what you need to do.....seriously. If you need to talk or cry or vent....IM me.I'm here for you!! Jessica Hi, My name is Tracy and I have a 21 month old son Lucas who was just diagnosed with PDD/ nos. He is now borderline. I always knew that it was something. At 12 months old he wasn't imitating certain basic skills, such as clap hands and touch head, and he was crying a lot. Didn't always look at you when you called him from far away or when backround noise was there. Everything else developed on time so I didn't pay attention to it. He seemed to learn new pictures and everyday routines.Then as the weeks went on, I noticed at 14 months, Lucas wasn't talking. He seemed to just like it when you sang and spoke to him. He would smile and laugh and seem interested, very awareand social. But I knew that there was a speech problem. Everyone thought I was crazy. I took him for a hearing test and he passed. I didn't know until now how many people thought the same exact thing. It's kind of spooky. It's all the same exact things that happen to these parents happened to me. He had reflux until about 14 months, I even took him to the hospital to look into his stomach. I didn't relaize how many children with PDD/ Autism had refux. I know that as the days go on Lucas will be expressing more noticable signs of having PDD. I don't want to wake up anymore, I'm afraid of what I'll see that day.Just like some of you, I have good days and bad days. My good days are when Lucas doesn't cry or tip toe much, I could go shopping and he laughs at my jokes. He seems like any other child but then there are days it starts from breakfast. Not wanting to eat and hand fla Hi... I am at a loss right now. I've been reading all of the posts as often as my son allows. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope with him and our whole situation. I'm a single mom, have been since he was 30 days old. My son's name is Clay, he is 11, turning 12 in April. He started having seizures when he was 7 months old. He has been seizure free for 10 years. After that it has been one battle after another as far as trying to "catch up", just accept that this is what we've been dealt, and not go crazy through the day. He is severly autistic but, loves to be rocked to sleep. He fights haircuts but, is willing to take a bath or shower and often has to be asked numerous times to get out. He is overly social but, will have barking fits, inappropriate laughter, you know the list of "signs. But, he has all these non-autistic things thrown in too. I have posted here before about my son's school having him only going to half days---that was months ago---he just started full days last week. I just gave up with fighting the administration. I'm tired---tired of fighting with school districts, with my family, and with myself. I am pursuing a group home type of enviornment for him and really am not getting ANY support from my family in my decision. Everyone keeps telling me how much improvement he has made over the past months, years, days, minutes, etc. I've finally let them know that yes, clay is improving but, the situation isnt. I've been called selfish (God forbid that I start to take care of myself), unloving, amongst other cruel things because of the choice of looking for PCS or group homes. I've gone through half of our local PCS providers list and most of them had already "heard" of Clay and all of his demands and flat out told me that he would be too much for them to handle. I dont blame them, i feel the same way 8 days out of the week. :) He was recently admitted into our local hospital/psych ward to regulate meds and to give me a break. His psychiatrist told me "YOU ARE ON THE EDGE OF BREAKING" he also added that Clay's meds needed to be figured out, along with the much needed break. I knew that if they started to toy with his meds while he was at home and he started having more violent behaviors or increase daily behaviors, there wasn't enough vodka in Russia to make the time easier---not that I drink all that much or while he is awake but, a "mommy drink" after he goes to bed, does this body good. :) Well, so he was admitted, 16 hours later---go ahead read that again, 16 hours later they called me saying that they couldn't keep him there, that they didnt know what to do with him and that i should call the state school and hospital's crisis team to deal with him. I asked them to give me a detailed description of what he was doing---what they described was all atypical behavior of a severly autistic child with a ton of ADHD thrown in---a.k.a Clay. So, laughing the whole time about the chaos I call life, I went and picked up my boy---where just the night before I was crying so hard for having realized our lives had gotten to that point of hospitalization, and now i'm just wondering---if they, trained personel, doctors, psychs, etc can't deal with him, how is a 30 year old, single mom supposed to do it. anyway, so he is at home, in full days at school, i'm looking for group homes, and for support for me. Now that our current story is here and updated, I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas of what to look for in a group home. if there is something/somewhere that would be better, any ideas or information would be wonderful. I am just tired, i'm tired of doing everything and i need a break. i'm not sure if a 24/7 is what i'm needing but, i know i hate weekends, I love going to work because it's my time to not be here. I have NO life at all. I just dont know what to do anymore. Thank you so much for any and all information! Clay's crazy mom, Jen [/QUOTE] clays's mom please email me at circlesgirl26@aol.co we have alot in comon. I have 4 kids my youngest is Christoper. He developed normal untill he was almost 2. He has become so different since! I have been through more crap within the schools, and child study team. They tell me I'm overreacting they will see overreacting when I have them in court. I have a appointment on 3-30-06 with a neuroligest to determine what is wrong. I know what is wrong, The system will tell me he is learning Disabled. Oh Really, I Know this allready!!! I've been through testing since he was 2! I thought he was deaf because he didn't speak I went through our state program for no child left behind, I've been through alot. If u ever need to talk? Im me r write.Hello! My name is Lori and I have an 8 yr.old son, Shawn. Shawn was recently diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. I feel totally lost about all of the resources available. We have a dr. appt. in a couple of weeks. The last one was just for diagnosis. Now I guess we will get into what is going to happen. Shawn has major mood swings, has been hitting himself, throws tantrums, has OCD problems, sleep problems and lots more. Sometimes I feel like throwing in the towel. I hope to get lots of advice from this message board! Hello everyone, my name is Janis and I have a three year old boy name Kyle who is PDD-NOS. He was born weighing 2lbs 3oz. Even the nurses in the NICU said he was a fighter, and still is, refuses to give up on anything. Bless his heart. I love him dearly!!! He is my whole life and then some!!! He is the type to have rountine rountine rountine!! I am sure you all understand that one. He likes things put back in place, even if the rug is moved, he wants it back. He does see a Psycologist and she is wonderful, she was helping me to have a sense of humor with all of this. You know, she is so right, because some of the things he does and its not normal for others, you cannot help but to laugh!!! I am so happy I found a place I can come to where people understands. Even some of my family members and friends don't understand. I hear a lot of, he is just spoiled, he needs more discpline, and so on!!! I know everyone hear knows where I am coming from!!! I am so excited to be able to talk and vent to other parents of autistic children, I look forward in talking to everyone!Hi everyone, I've been meaning to get here for weeks My name is Janna, I'm 35, have three sons, ages 15, 8 and my son that has brough me here, Dylan, who is 9. I don't want to make this a novel, but let me say I've had my share of turmoil with him over the last 6 or 7 years. He is diagnosed Bipolar/PDD-NOS/ADHD. With my son, I have spent the last 7 or 8 months trying to stablize the Bipolar, because this was the worst of his disorders. The rages, the out of control emotions, the destruction, it all had to be ceased before we could deal with the other issues. Now that the Bipolar is well treated (Lithium and Abilify), Dylan is a WONDERFUL child. However, he still shows very clearly alot of the PDD-NOS issues. Social skills, or lack thereof, is the biggest red flag for us. He is in an Emotional Support classroom at school with an IEP, and will be involved in social skills classes come the school year. I am currently seeking out OT for him (as advised by the neuropsych), and a private counselor/therapist specializing in Autistic kids. He has really transformed into a great kid, but he still is pervasively developmentally delayed. He is really clueless when it comes to interacting with others. He doesn't read facial cues well at all, and when other kids are tired of him, he can't get the hint. However, he is trying very hard, and it's getting better Look forward to chatting more. Janna Hi my name is Carrie. I am the parent of an adopted boy who has been with us since he was 15 months old. We have been thru the ringer of all kinds of dx and basing alot of this on what little family history we have or have been told by the birth mother. He has been on several medications for having the dx of being BiPolar. After about three years of different meds I just thought we are at the limit of what he can take, so I proposed to our psychiatrist to stop all meds because they were not helping my son. We were told that if we did he would no longer see us. So I went back to our regular doctor and we decided to stop the meds one at a time and it tooks me about three months to stop all meds. There was no side effects of removing the medications (3) and we gave it about a month to just give his body time to filter out and to really see what he would do. Our doctor says he now can see more signs of Autism in my son because there is no aggression, mood swings, those kinds of things that got him the dx of BP. The only thing that happened is that my son could not sit still at anytime during the day to do class work or to do any task that required focusing or concentration. My son would during the day complain about certain sounds, just be in his own world, and never and I mean never can stop talking or moving. So we went back and started him on Adderall XR 5mg a day for two weeks we had to increase to 10mg and seems so far like all is going pretty good. You can get his attention and focus on somethings. The problem that I am having is at night he can get to sleep on his own but after about two hours into his sleep he starts this flopping back and forth, saying it itches all over, but he is not completely awake ( strange I know) but I get no sleep. He is seven years old now and still "talks" to the TV and interacts with it as well. His vocabulary is amazing and so smart it is scary. His level of social skills is around the age of 4-5 years old. When we go out if there is alot of people in a place and no room to expand then he cannot handle the place. If you scrap your plate with any untensil he goes thru the roof and the melt down starts, at a resturant when the food arrives its hot and he cant wait or wont wait and reaches for it well in return it burns him and then another meltdown. At home it takes alot to get him outside he has no interest in it, going to school is okay because its his routine but anything else you will have a argument on your hands. Clothes he would prefer to go around in his boxers but he will put and keep clothes of certain kinds on. Also chews on them I give him gum because he has chewed completely thru all the theraputic items we have been given by his OT. He writes large and still cannot read. We live in NC have private insurance and boy all the things that my son needs we just dont qualify because of our income. I am on a waiting list for CAP hopefully it will start in August. School is going good but I really needs tips for the home its like I have it all in my head but can not get it out to make sense to others. I have a support group and an advocate and they are both great. In my group theres not another family close to what I go thru to have a person who knows what I am going thru to hang out with. I do not go any where all of my friends have "normal" kids and it is so hard for them to understand what I am going thru. I wish some days that my son could sign up for sports, play with all kids with out being critizize for what or how he does things. I am sure there are other parents that have those feeling and bot does it make for a guilty feeling for me. Thanks for listening hope to chat with someone soon. If anyone has any ideas please forward them on to me. I have always said that for others to understand what I go thru is to walk in my shoes just one day and I want a knowledgeable person to come and stay with us for a while and see what its like and help us as the things happen, you know like the nanny. All enviroments are different and all children react in them differently I just want to know how to help my son be able to go out there and feel a part of the community and not an outsider. Thanks Again Hello Everyone! I came across this site in a desperate search for answers. My 2 yr old son Nolan has my husband and I extremely concerned. Although he has not been formally diagnosed with Autism, we haven't ruled it out just yet. Since he has turned 2 in April, the signs that Nolan is not like other 2 yr olds has become more evident. He has a very small vocabulary. Through encouragement those words will come out. He doesn't crave or care for social interaction. I am thankful for this board. It has given me a direction on where to take our next steps with Nolan. It has allowed me to see that there are others out there that can relate and be there to talk to. Nolan means the world to us! He is a very loving, enthusiastic, and a ray of sunshine in our world. Hi, My name is Tara. While I have no children of my own on the spectrum, I also have many. I am an occupational therapist. I work with pediatrics with a variety of disabilities, but have a very special interest in the Autism spectrum and related disorders. I have already found myself getting lost reading your messages. I have so much to learn from you. Thank you, Tara Hello All, My name is Michele and I am the mother of a 6 year old Autistic boy and a 4 year old girl (the boss in our home Our son is currently in school and will be starting 1st grade soon. He receives speech therapy in school and at a private facility. He also receives OT. In recent months, his speech has improved greatly and he is not nearly as echolalic as in the past. He is very hyperactive, has major sensory issues and is not potty trained. We are currently using a physician who is very good (expensive, though.) We have him on several diff. types of supplements (B-12 cream, glutathione, TMG, etc.) Hopefully, we will begin the chelation process very soon. I am glad to have found this site. It has been very helpful. HI. I'm totally thrilled to have found this board and I really hope that I can learn fomr those that have been doing this for a while. My son Chad is 12 and is very High Functioning. He will be going to middle school next year so I'm kid of stressed about that. I have a question.. what does it mean when someone writes DH or DS HI everyone so glad to have found this. I have a 2 1/2 year old adopted son who was just diagnosed with autism and aspergers. He is a high functioning one I dont know how. He only has one word that he says himself but parrots or copies 6 other ones. IT is so hard being a single parent and dealing with this. He has a speech therapist but much isnt helping. It is like he gains things then loses them. It is so hard to see. I just dont know where to start, do I teach sign language, or how to I work with him. it is just hard . I am glad to have found this site will respond more as time comes. amy Hi there...I am also new. I have a son who will be 3 in September and they are looking Michael having PDD. We just had our evaluations and he will be starting preschool in the fall with 4x a week speech, 3x a week OT. I really hope it will help him some...he is very dealyed! We go to a developmental pediatrician next week - we'll see what he has to say. Anna Hello, everyone. I'm new here...my son Cole turned 3 in May. He was diagosed ASD on 7/11/06. My husband and I suspected it for some time but were waiting for a diagnosis. Coe is non-verbal, but extrememly affectionate once he gets to know people. Any advice and/or informantion you all can offer would be helpful. Thank you. Quickly here. Why is the dx unofficial? If your child has an ASD, he should be eligible for an IEP. My son has "very mild PDD-NOS", has normal intelligence, but is in a self-contained classroom. Hi, I'm Caren, and I just found this board. I'm so excited to read the posts and get more information to help us. My oldest daughter Katy is 3.5 and was diagnosed in December 2005 with Autism. She is considered high-functioning, so we have high hopes for her future. She is very personable, and most people wouldnt be able to tell she has a problem. She does have a speech delay, but with the therapy she had at school, she has learned a lot. We live in Germany currently, and are trying to get back to the states to get her in another program.Hi to everyone. My name is michele and I am a mother to 3 wonderful and beatiful children. I am married now for 8 years and my chidlren are anthony, 5 1/2, alyssa, 3 and daniella 2. Last year in February at the age of 4 1/2 my son anthony was originally diangosed with Intergrated Sensory after being evaluated by a developmentalist because of not potty training. After numerous doctors, we finally found a great doctor in April of this year who diagnosed him with aspergers syndrome and adhd. While watching my youngest daughter develop behind and seeing all the things my son did at her age and her not speaking and and not relating to the day care children that I used to watch, I knew in my heart that she may also have it. Finally after her 2nd birthday this month, she also was evaluated by a developmentalist and was found to have pdd, nos. It is very hard to have 2 children with autism, but we are blessed with special children. Thank you for this wonderful board and look forward to talking to you all. michele [QUOTE=Firefly] WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE] My name is nettashae. I have a 10 year old cousin who has autism. He likes to put his hands in your face and no one understands why he does this. If you tell him to stop he listens sometimes. Why does he do this and how can we stop him.DH is dear husband DS is dear son and DD id dear daughter, i think. im not very good with all of the short hand typing....welcome to the boardarfriend, Your son sounds exactly like the way our son was at age 6 or 7. We got some in-home-support which we still have and that has made a huge difference in our lives. She has taught us that we can't allow him to treat us as if we aren't important (I had bruises from him hitting me) and taught us how to explain feelings to him because the only feeling he understood was anger. Depending on his verbal skills and level of understanding he will be able to understand eventually how his behavior in public and at home will directly effect what activities he will be able to participate in and which ones will be taken away as a reminder next time to behave. Try to teach him how his behavior makes you feel such as "when you told me to shut up at the store it made me feel sad and I almost cried." This method works pretty well sometimes. Just suggestions, but you should look into the support-Behavioral Specialist 1. Good Luck! Hello, I'm a 26 year old divorced mother of two and while neither of my children are Autistic, I have a 15 yr old nephew currently living with me who is severly Autistic. My sister who is also divorced has recently moved up to KS with me to unable us to help one another out financially and emotionally. Please excuse any ignorance I may have, as I am just now beginning to dive into the world of Autism. My nephew was diagnosed at the age of 2, but due to many moves and shifts in his life, he has never really recieved the proper treatments needed to help him function as normal as possible. Now, at the age of fifteen, my sister is finding it increasingly difficult to find care for him while she works. He is extremely uncooperative, and does not speak at all. I am afraid for him and desparte to find answers. I hope this forum can serve as both a suppotive and informational arena for both my sister and I. [QUOTE=Firefly]WELCOME NEW MEMBERS When your ready, please post a quick introduction and explain how autism/pdd affects you. Please check out the links in the newbies thread and feel free to post questions that you may still have in a new thread. We look foward to to getting to know you better! [/QUOTE] I am Ryan's grandmother. He is 4 years old and has been diagnosed as PDD. I am sure he also has autistic traits. He is currently on risperdal which doesn't seem to do any good. I would love to talk to others with some of the same problems. Jeane Hello, My name is Jacquie and I am the proud parent of two beautiful children. I recently completed my cousework and I am eager to get a job teaching in the fall or start student teaching. Two weeks ago my son was diagnosed with PDD/ Austism. He is 29 months old or 2 years and 5 months. I cried the first week everyday. My mother is in complete denial. After the first week, I found myself slippping into a depression. And I find it extremely difficult to be around children over the age of 3. I ask myslf my me, did I do anything wrong? The doctors have no answers or cures. I always ask what will my son be like in 10 years? The regional center recommended a support group. I however, would prefer to get my support from the internet. I am hopeful someone out there will b Does your son have eye contact? Does he respond to his name? HOw does he play with his toys? He may not be autistic but a late -bloomer. Jacquie, I have a high-functioning autistic daughter. She is now 3.5 years old. When she was diagnosed about 7 months ago, I knew something was wrong, but never thought it was autism. I got depressed and started thinking, "why me?" a lot. Then I was talking with my husband and some friends, and they said that we should think about it as God gave us someone special who would need extra help, and thats good. I recommend reading a book (I'm reading it now) called "A Mind Apart". I cant remember who its by. Its really good, and it helps you understand why autistic kids act the way they do. I hope this helps! Hi my name is Amy I have a 28 month old son. He was just diagnosed with autism pdd, and discipline issues. We have a hard time getting eye contact when he kisses me, he wont look at me. I am using this as a start for a support group because it is hard. Zach has few words which is hard he can sign one thing so I will be working on more. He signs more to me so when he is eating he can tell me if he wants more. Our hardest part is that to me his cognitive skills are not going up we just did a six month ifsp and nothing has changed. This is so hard I am beginning to not be able to sleep at night any more because of the stress. ANy suggestions. amyi havent been able to get on for afew weeks, but ive been keepin up with everyones posts, i have my son kylo who was diagnosed with low to mild autism, adhd, odd, and separation anxity disorder im happy to say within a month the state got me into a apartment and helped me with getting my son on ssi. he was diagnosed 10 months and 24 days after i was told it might be autism, while i still stress about my son, i was told somthing important by his doctor: how can you take care of you child if you dont take care of yourself, and how can you keep up with your son if you die from exaustion. i still am fighting to get my daughter back Hello Everyone! I came across this site in a desperate search for answers. My 2 yr old son Nolan has my husband and I extremely concerned. Although he has not been formally diagnosed with Autism, we haven't ruled it out just yet. Since he has turned 2 in April, the signs that Nolan is not like other 2 yr olds has become more evident. He has a very small vocabulary. Through encouragement those words will come out. He doesn't crave or care for social interaction. I am thankful for this board. It has given me a direction on where to take our next steps with Nolan. It has allowed me to see that there are others out there that can relate and be there to talk to. Nolan means the world to us! He is a very loving, enthusiastic, and a ray of sunshine in our world. [/QUOTE]Hi I have a son who was recently been diagnosed with ASD/PDD. We have been struggling to find answers as too what is wrong with him. Thomas has been in a school based therapies since he was 2yrs old and all they could tell me was that he had developmental delays. And the therapist at the school stated that he "definitely does not have AUTISM" (because he makes good eye contact and he can be a very lovable child) so we belived them. We even had our primary doc tell us that he was just a little behind but he will catch up. But we still didn't feel right we knew in our heart of hearts that something was wrong... That's when we decided to go see other specialists and a psychologist diagnosed him with ASD/PDD. Now we are going to a medical model OT and Speech therapist and a phychologist to help us deal with all the control issues and all the demands Thomas needs from us. We also have a 14 month old and he is not showing any kind of "delays". After countless hours on the internet educating myself on ASD, I finally found this web site. We live in an area with little resourses available. So, I'm very happy that I have found a place to talk to people in the same situation that my husband and I are in... Hi my name is Melissa. I am looking to write a book on a child with Autism. I really only know certain things about Autism and really would like some help from any parents that would like to help me. Thanks!Hi everyone! I have a 9 year old son with PDD-NOS and a 5 year old daughter who is coded speech and language. It's been a long wonderful road with my children and I have no idea what will happen next. I always knew something was wrong- or rather not normal with my son's development. Everyone thought I was paranoid. Finally, at 5 we did get a diagnose. I only explain all this so every parent out there follows their intuition- don't blindly listen to experts- if you don't think the answer is correct keep researching and getting 2nd , 3rd even 4th opinions. We did and thank God it worked. We were told by experts our son had Fragile X, PTSD, but definitely not Autism -then we finally were pointed in the direction of Dr. Carl Cooley and he set us on to this road of enlightenment. My husband and I also spent an inordinate amount of time holding and interacting with our son from the beginning. I know this made a difference- he is considerate and sensitive to others- I know this had a huge bearing on that. The other day he came home from the playground and he had been playing keep away with some boys, and he was telling me about this girl named Sara and how he needed to help her to learn how to play appropriately next time he saw her. My son couldn't do that two years ago - he is developing so well. Now we are thinking of trying Chelation Therapy. If anyone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I don't know alot about the topic. I know it involves cleaning the system of heavy metals. I would like to know more. Thank you! KristinHi, I'm Jennifer. My 3 year old daughter is currently in the process of being diagnosed PDD-NOS. Well, the pediatrician, speech therapist and OT think she's PDD-NOS but it won't be official until the appointment with the Developmental Pediatrician in August. We've just put her in mainstream daycare to try and help with her socialization. She is doing pretty well there and the teachers are working with a Resource Worker to come up with various strategies to help her adjust. My biggest issue is my partner doesn't believe anything is wrong with our daughter and feels that I am over-reacting. It's putting a huge strain on our marriage because we are at such opposite ends about what's best for our daughter. Hi, I'm David. My beautiful 4-year old little David has been diagnosedwith PDD-NOS. He suffers mostly with his speech, other than that, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. We first thought the delay was a result of him being bilingual (we speak Spanish only at home) but at 3 I started to notice he has difficulty grasping the more abstract concepts. He's extremely good with visual and concrete things but has difficulty with the more abstract things. The psychologist says his eye contact is not 'normal' and seem to have communication problems. Ever since the diagnosis was made, I've been mourning the image of the child I had created in my head. It's been eating me. We're now doing research and preparing for what's to come. I love my son dearly and we will not let him down. I look forward to helping him and seeing him thrive.  hello to all, my 7 yr old son has been diagnosed since he was almost 3 with pdd-nos. until i was introduced to the 'net, there was no info given to me except to send him to special education, no mention of support groups, etc. WHAT A RELIEF!! my ped has been w/him since birth but all i heard ws leave him be he's a happy healthy boy, leaving me to wonder what did i do wrong? 4 years later he's made wonderful progress, despite me!, but there are times when i wonder why God in his wisdom would choose to bless me with this gift. i have learned to see the world with new vision bcuz of my son. such innocence and a natural compassion for others is indeed what keeps my spirit going. learning to pick my battles certainly has helped, recently he developed a new coping mech, and until i got 'net savvy, i didnt know why he had the need to constantly swing things around, to the pt of asking me to drill a hole in a 25 for him!! instead of using aba to eradicate the behavior, i now look for things approp to swing. although the socialization is a place where i am at a loss. he has no idea how to behave approp w/other children. i tried to treat him as if he wasnt different for awhile and that only led to tears frustration and guilty feelings for both. my misguided attempts to "normalize" him were from the heart though. i am a 35 yr old newly divorced mother who is trying to go back to school for her rn then msw, and its tough. my worst day with my son , i would not trade for my best day without him. my heart and prayers go to those newly introduced to living with these diagnoses and relearning all of the rules that once applied to child-rearing. we need to get behind this stem-cell research (only my opinion) that could potentially provide us with a clue or (gasp!) a possible cure. for some that is a touchy subject, but think of what the world would be if our pioneering forefathers had not been unpolitically correct with their research on cadavers, we no longer have to live that way. all 120 lbs and 4 feet 8 inches of my son tells me everyday that i am the best and those words make this warrior ready to battle another day!hi i am Wendy. i am the caregiver to my 11 year old autistic brother. i have been there taking care of him since day one. he was a c-section baby because his head was too big. so after 4 days of labor, they decided to do the C section. he was ten pounds ten ounces at birth. now he is about 5 feet tall and a hundred pounds. we knew something was not right from the begining. as a baby, he woud bang his head on our tile floor, and later, when he could stand, he would basiclly freak out everytime he had to make a b.m. then, when we asked his doctor what was up, she told us he would grow out of it. i swear to god, that is what she said. well, in the end, it ended up being that my older sister who at the time was working with special needs kids, got the idea that he was autistic and set up an appointment with our school district, and have him enrolled and that was when he was seven. he has been doing really great since then. he has a few melt downs now and then, but nothing like what used to happen. i am happy to have found this place. thanks for letting me share.
~Wendy~ HI! Im a SINGLE mother of an 18mo old boy Hayden. I am currently seeking a diagnosis because I have been having such trouble with health professionals. I'm hoping to get that in 2 wks from the county because I am still on the waiting list for the developmental ped. through Kennedy Krieger (8mos and counting). He has been in Kennedy Kreigers' behavioral therapy since a year old but Ive been fighting for him trying to get him help since probably 6wks old. Its been a nightmare of a battle but I refuse to stop fighting for him. Since birth things have never seemed quite right and the labor/delivery had many complications. Is speech was just evaluated through them with much concern, bcus he has trouble eating/chewing and cant speak. I am currently teaching him some minor sign language. I expect he will fall between PDD-NOS and ASD Hi function. He has many sensory issues but to most who arent near him often or when there is a flare up (were not out often!!!) they are somewhat oblivious due to his charm so to speak.....uh, maybe looks? I would love to talk to some other single parents, or people that have to fight the system for pointers for those of us who can't work in the best interest of our children! He is currently on a CF reduced wheat diet, but because of his age, problems eating, and avoidance of nuts, seafood, and eggs I'm finding it impossible to try GF at the moment. I look forward to hearing from anyone and reading the posts........as time permits. And am really glad I stumbled here by accident. Hi Jennimac. Stick with your gut! Mothers' know best=usually~ I recently read an alarming figure on divorce rates among children along the autism spectrum and all i can say is do whatever you need to do for your child no matter WHO disagrees. I go through that constantly with people because the world is so misinformed. You get the speal about the late talker, just quirky, he may be 5 before he warms up! THAT IS TOO LATE! The earlier you start to work on it the better your chances. And I truly believe there is great hope for pdd and hi function ASD persons. Best of luck! Howdie. My name is Staycie. My son is just about 4. He was diagnosed on April 14th of 2005 with Autism. I lurk here sometimes. I also have a dd who will be 2 at the end of August, she has probably been the most help in getting him into our world. He has made so many strides in the last year and a half. We are so very lucky that we have him, and he has taught us so much about life and love. Life isn't always easy, some weeks are easier than others. But my goal is to have him live a very happy self reliant life. He will be able to move out and live life on his own. :) But that is very far in the future, we live for today and work hard for all of our accomplishments. Hi there. I'm NIKI, SAHM/WAHM to 4 kids. I'm 34 y.o. We live in Arizona. My 5 y.o. son has just recently been diagnosed with autism and ADHD. not fun. to say the least! It's been a horrible up and down cycle since his birth. Now at least we know why and can start getting some answers. Glad 2 be hereHi, I am new. My son is 14 year old, autistc. We are having a really hard time with Public Schools here in Irving TX. Any comments? Welcome little flower; I don't know anything about TX, but if you post any questions, starting a new thread, under Parents of Autistic Children, I'm sure someone will be able to answer you.I'm John Charles, married to a wonderful woman named Dallis. We have a son Angus, who was diagnosed with Autism in Feb 2006 (late in the game), he will be 5 in November. He has had speech delays all his life, but the constant leaps forward in expressive language gave us a lot of hope. Then his peidatrician noticed 'those symtoms' and referred us to Kaiser Autism Spectrum Center. As far as fighting for services, I don't have a lot of experience. Although he appears as an NT kid most of the time, you would have to get to know him a little before you could recognise the autism. He gets his speech and OT services, and that is enough for now. He will entering a general education kindergarten classroom with a qualified aide at the end of August. We will see how it goes. Hello! I am brand new here and desperate for any and all information I can find about ASD. I have three children, my middle child was diagnosed in January. He is currently 30 months old and we have been having a pretty difficult summer.Anyway, just saying hello and hoping to get to know some of you better. Best of luck to all, Nicole Anna (5 1/2), Dominic (2 1/2)-ASD, Frankie (10 1/2 months) Hi, I'm new here. My 6 yr. old son is PDD-NOS; All the evals we had done just indicated speech delay causing overall developmental delay. I always felt in my heart it was more than that - something else was causing the speech delay. The new Dr. we went to in Feb. pretty much summed it up - one person can say it's speech - another can say it's a sensory disorder - another, auditory processing disorder, but when you put them all together, he falls on the autism spectrum. Lately, I've felt pushed to the limit. This past Saturday he had a melt down in McDonald's b/c it started to rain and he hates the thunder so he sat up in one of the play tubes and cried for an hour - I couldn't get to him, so I had no choice but to wait for the rain to stop and have him finally come down. I have to admit, I wanted to strangle him at the time. Other times are easier, but lately it seems to just be hitting me all at once. The older he gets, the more noticeable and apparent it is that he is different and it's hard to know when to treat him as such, i.e. not baby him and do things for him that he can do himself, but to really know his limitations. Thanks for listening. Hi, I just joined this forum although I checked it out a couple weeks ago before we met with the child psychologist who confirmed what I'd worried about since our son was a year old or so. We started with speech therapy at 17 mos and at the time it was noted that there were behaviors that were indicative of sensory integration dysfunction - and he qualified for OT services. But after a year of the therapies and a Mother's Day Out teacher who took the time to learn how to work with him and help him during the time he was with her 2 days a week, we saw improvements in speech and motor skills - but not in socializing with other children. Then we had another child and she became his therapy 24/7 - he had to interact with her and she's loud (generally in a cheerful manner) and in his space as only a little sis can be. After a year of therapy he no longer qualified and I didn't really want the services anymore - thought they were an inconvenience and nothing was really wrong - we'd been told it was "mild" tactile defensiveness and after reading "The Out of Sync child" I didn't see him in those pages - but he was only 2 1/2 so some of the behaviors had yet to emerge. We were always told by every pediatrician that met our son that it wasn't a big deal and that he "definitely isn't autistic" b/c he would give us eye contact. But I knew something wasn't quite the same in my wonderful son as in his peers. This past year has been a very crazy and topsy turvy year - things have happened that I will never understand that have caused us to live in several places and not be able to get our son the services that we thought he needed - speech and OT b/c he was slipping behind his peers again. But the military moved us and then a hurricane displaced us and then we moved 2 more times to fill various military positions and we had no consistency and continuity in our lives - and as a coping mechanism I made the biggest mistake I could have - I let my kids watch way too many videos - and my son started memorizing them all and trying to use that as his way of talking with us (except when he had a need to express like wanting food, drinks, to switch videos). We recently met with a developmental pediatrician who freaked us out by suddenly wanting us to have our son seen by a psychologist and enrolled in a preschool, which went against my sahm desires for my son. After meeting with the psychologist last week, she said that our son has PDD-NOS. We have seen tremendous improvements lately - it may be the speech therapy, it may be the OT work, it may be the 3 weeks we spent swimming and playing at the beach (LOTS of heavy work for him), it may the the peers that he suddenly wants to interact with, it may be the new baby in our family - adding to our family has improved his speech both times - but I don't want to be pregnant again He's 4 1/2 now and a delight (as the psychologist put it), but it saddens me as I worry about what the future will hold for him. Hello I am new to this kind of forum. I thought I would give it a try. My oldest son Matthew has autism and he just turned 14 in feb. Matthew up to that time was really improving in school. Got along great with everyone a few outburts here and there but overall ...good. Ever since he turn 14 on that very day he changed, he didn't want to ride the school bus, he didn't want to go to school anymore. He justed wanted to stay home, not even go to the video store which was his favorite thing to do. His ped. neuroligist suggested abilify. It seem to work but when we got to 15 mg we saw alot of uncontrolabe twiicth in his face. Matthew is a big boy 5'6" 200 lbs. Thats why the bigger dose was needed. Since we didn't seea real inprovement my wife weaned him off and he is still anger all the times hurting others as well as himself. Any comment on what any one else has done about anger outburst would greatly be helpful. On my last wit end. Hi Ponch. My name is Summer...aka mommy_of_five. I wish I knew what to tell you...but my youngest son is just now 2&1/2. But, as you know (having a child with autism for 15 years) there must be SOMETHING that set him into his "change". Maybe something at school? Something with his senses??? I don't know how, but I would try to find out anything that might have happened to him. Is he verbal in any way? Maybe you could somehow ask him if someone did something to him or teased him? Like I said, I am new at this...so, you probably know more about this than I do. Just hang in there...Don't give up....It has to get better some day! Ponch- Everything i have read states that when they hit puberty things can get bad. have you had him checked for seizers? that is one thing that stands out from what i have read. when we had our son in the hospital they were telling me that puberty is hitting earlier now and that can really mess with the meds. we go see the therapist today and i have to ask about these mood swings he is having. it is like a light switch being flicked. i hope you the best. I'm an Autism Line Therapist in WI, I've been doing this for two years, and had previously done childcare for a child with autism for a few years before that. I've worked with nine very different children through my therapy program, and am currently working with five of them for the summer. I'm currently attending a University to obtain a degree in Special Ed, and I hope to eventually become a Senior Therapist for the program I work for. -Jess Hello and God bless you all. I just found out my grand daughter is autisic. She just turned 3. I had thought for the past couple years her problem was that she couldn't hear. I sure wish that was true now. She lives in Florida with my step son and his girlfriend (the babies Mom) and I live in Georgia. I don't know much about autism but am going to find out as soon as I can find someone or someplace to teach me and my husband. She is a beautiful little girl and as any grandparent want the best, unfortunately her parents are not financially stable and may not know the severity of her condition. If anyone in here knows of a good school or therapist in the Clearwater area that could help them the info would be greatly appreciated. They can bearly make ends meet but they love their daughter, so this would be a charity case. I just don't want her growing up without any kind of help. We will be doing all we can but we aren't rich and can only do so much. They have applied for Flakidcare insurance but I don't know if it has been approved. We have been paying for her medical care since she was born. Thank you for your help in advance. I'm new here...just found this site tonight....and I am glad I did.I have 3 boys ages 6 and twins who are 4. Oldest has Autism/Asperger's/PDD/ADHD the dr's tell me.....and with the twins we are getting a diagnosis of PDD.... Now my friends tell me the twins are just mimicking older bro's behavior. I do wonder daily if they are just seeming like Autism....but if they were "copying" they would be copying EVERYthing....and they are not...... Oldest is very violent and I have to watch him totally for fear he will hurt the twins. The twins are soooooo laid back. But they have their own issues....trouble standing, walking, jumping, etc. They have some SI I know for a fact.....all of these things are not really oldest bro's problems. Oldest is on Risperdol. I hate it....but at the same time I do see a different child than the violent one I could not control. Well I hope I get to hear lots of comments and help from being around you all. Hi everyone! I am a sahm to 5 kids: 3 boys, 2 girls. I am trying to find support and answers to some of the things we deal with. Our biggest issue right now is my 7 year old who was diagnosed PDD-NOS but seems to be more "Autistic" as he gets older. He has meltdowns that can be very difficult. It's bad enough that he is screaming terrible things in public but he also hits and kicks and it hurts! It's so hard to stay calm and it's embarassing to the other kids. They also have a hard time with how he generally "treats" us (mom and dad). We are very open with the kids and we talk about the issues but it's still very difficult for them. My biggest problem is that I am so embarassed/frustrated/angry/hurt/sad when he acts out in public. I want to scream at people to stop staring and explain why he is acting out, while at the same time protecting him. Knowing he struggles with the issues doesn't help us control our own anger at the same time and the guilt for feeling angry. The stress this causes is, as so many of you know, sometimes unbearable. Doctors, psychologists, etc. never seem to tell us anything except that we are doing all we can. We've tried counting down during transition, explaining it all to him, etc. Sometimes it works, other times not. We've tried rewards, distractions, etc. The only thing I can do is get him to a quiet area and restrain him by holding him on our laps, hands, feet and head (he will hit us with all available body parts) held, until he comes down from the tantrum/meltdown. What brings it on for him is transition, usually from being outside or anywhere outside that he is enjoying (like the playground). How do you all deal if/when this type of experience presents itself? Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I hope to learn some things by being involved in this group, as well as hopefully help others by solutions we may have found. Hi Robin. I also am a mommy of 5. 3 girls, 2 boys...ages 8 to 2&1/2, oldest and youngest are boys, girls in the middle. Anyway, I just wanted you to know...YOU ARE NOT ALONE! My youngest was UNDERDIAGNOSED PDD-NOS. I see more and more of Classic Autism every single day. He is in therapy 4 days a week (4 total hrs.) and that of course is not enough. He also has terrible melt-downs...he doesn't do a lot of the hand flapping and stuff, just mostly bad behavior problems and non verbal. I know exactly how you feel in public...I just want to slap some of those "staring better than me types". I know I am better than that-Thank God. I mean, when a child is screaming-you can't help but look, but, go on about your own business, and stay out of mine! People don't and can't understand what we go thru on a daily basis. I don't know if you have viewed this film, but if not...take the time to. It is called AUTISM EVERY DAY...on AUTISMSPEAKS.ORG If you can't find it, just email sr_12116911@yahoo.com and I will send it to you. It is so true. That goes for anyone on this site...if you want to see it, feel free to contact me. Well, enough for now...stuff to do...as always! -Summer. Hi. i'm amy - mom to clare age 5 and luke age 3 (turns 4 in august). luke has a dx of pdd-nos sine 3/06. we had him evaluated for speech and hearing at age 2 but they said he was ok. clare had been evaluated at age 2 for decreased social, perseverance, echolalia but the psych said she was ok and she grew out of everything except she's a little obsessive at times (like me). luke's not growing out of it. autism affects everything in our lives. i've been turned into advocate and i have him in school w/ ot,st, and now play therapy. i also got some parent training paid for by the school district. i'm trying to implement a schedule with difficulty. i have luke on a crazy diet i still don't know if i believe in and i'm giving him vitamins and vit b12 injections which i hate. on the other hand i am a more patient mom than i was a year ago. and he's a pretty happy kid. and i figure that i'll definitely learn not to care what other people think and that has always been an issue with me. and i realize how much i love my kids. i sometimes get angry and take it out on them but i keep trying. thanks for this forum. amyHi I joined this group because my son may be autistic. Still waiting to see a neurologist. Well I joined because I have become extremely depressed over this because he's my baby and I hate the idea that he may have problems and I hate the fact that he is still waiting for a speech therapist and he doesn't coorporate in his developmental therapy.. And well quite frankly I just need a hug. Also I need help with patience the lack of comunication is FRUSTRATING I don'[t know what he wants and he can't tell me so usually it ends in a temper tantrum from him and me giving up so if anyone has any advice it will be greatly appreciated. Thank You. Alexsmom23, how old is your son? have you tried picture cards such as PECS? you can also go online to www.do2learn.com they have a section where you can pint out the picture cards for free!!!!! My son is going to be 8 soon and we went back to using a schedule for him because it is easier. He can talk really well now (no speech th.) but when he was small he couldn't. The picture cards of his favorite drink food snacks ect. really helped! wish you luck My is Sandee I am a mother of 6 year old daughter who was diadnosed with PPD-NOS about 2 years ago. Before she was fully diagonsed she had many behavoiral problems so much that we would both end up in tears by the end of arguement or whatever the situation was. Since she was formally diagonsed and started getting info on it I have learned to avoid certain triggers so we dont end up in tears or whatever else. I have just started to understand more of autism so I can help others understand it too. It does fustrates because my daughters father does not accept or is in denial anout the whole thing. Despite having the diagnoses from CHOP out of Philadelphia. So I feel like I am alone, although I do have support from my family and my finacce. So if anyone has advise on how to get a father to accept that his child has speacial needs sure could some advise. Hi there- I feel that mommy insticnts are almost always right- keep searchin until you find a pediatric deveopmental specialist, a pediatrician, a psychologist, or psychiatrist that will see what you are seeing!!!! Time is so important here- get intervention as early as you can! You have valid conerns and I feel so fortunate that I have a pediatrician who saw signs at 15 months in my son that I saw as well- and he was diagnosed with PDD this week at 18 months. Good luck to you and I wish you well! PS Where do you live? I live in the Houston TX area. He is two, he won't sit still for picture cards or well anything he hates to be touched and if I look at him it makes him angry most of the time. I can barelly get him to eat anymore, usually I am lucky if he will eat once a day, then other days he eats non stop. I am just always so tired from work and stressed from him crying all day that I usually just shut down, me and his dad are still together but I feel like I am doing this alone. Nobody wants my son around any more because of his temper and I can't take him around other small kids for their safety. So I really need help with a schedule because our lives are so hectic and how do you get a kid on a schedule who has fought it since birth basically. He has always been difficult, he's never been a good sleeper he still wakes up sometimes, I have no clue how to potty train him either because when I talk to him he either looks lost, runs away, or tries to bite me. I appologize if I sound whiney but I feel so lost.Hi alexsmom, I am in a similar boat as you. My son is almost 18 months and he saw a pediatric developmental specialist today who beleives he is in the PDD range. My son is very sweet and is a joy but he can not communicate at all- no pointing talking, etc. so I spend all day trying to feed him, give him drinks, make him take a nap, etc. I find that trying to avoid him being hungry, overly tired, or overstimulated helps prevent tantrums. I don't know if it will help, but we started a night time routine with Lucas by bathing him at 730 pm and then straight to bed. He fights it at times, but we make him go to bed when it is time. Nap time is the same way- like it or not he takes a nap. We have to let him cry it out at first and then go in and soothe him. He eventaully caves in and sleeps well. Try to be as consistent as you can be- make sure he gets enough sleep and try to sit him in a high chair at snack and meal times with a favorite TV show on or something else he likes to distract him long enough to eat. My son also has eating issues, he still can't eat a lot of solid foods. He is still on primarily baby food, although he can eat crackers, etc. Hope some of this helps! hai, I am new to this forum, but have been visiting your boards quite often.I hail from an asian country, where facilities for helping kids like mine are negligent, if not absent.I am learing through trial and error and also from internet and groups like yours. My son was provisionally diagnosed with autism at 3 , after we visited a speach pathologist.He was verbal but with only words and no sentences and the therapists noted that he was socialy awkward.It is nearly one year after the first diagnosis and after speach therapy for one year, he has progressed to 3-4 word meaningful sentences.But with lot of echolalia. Throws tantrums bye Hi, everyone. An introduction, and also a question. I have a 7 1/2 year old son that is diagnosed by a pdoc with PDD, ADHD, and Anxiety-NOS. He also has CAPD, and SID, and is developmentally delayed. I assumed that kids with PDD have anxiety issues, but she listed it, as a separate diagnosis. He has a lot of anxiety issues-darkness, heavy rain, thunderstorms, separation anxiety issues, and has a lot of anxiety with crowded places. Is this common with a ASD child, to have a lot of anxiety issues? Looking forward to chatting with you all. I'm new as well! I have a 4 year old . Not yet diagnosed, but shows some autistic tendancies...perhaps PDD is closest? His main symptoms started with delayed speech. And some behavior issues. Mainly not being able to tolerate anything out of the normal routine of his life. Down to what we buy at the grocery store.. Because he couldn't explain his needs and wants through speech he would melt down easily and become violent. Even banging his head into walls. We found out early on that he most certainly has sensory integration issues, mainly HYPOsensitivity (thus the head banging) He is very advanced physically, and has NO FEAR. He will climb anything, jumps and runs constantly... As a baby he cried a lot and could not self calm at all. He never EVER slept. He has been in an early childhood program through one of our schools for two years now & will continue this fall. He is doing very well there, although he still struggles with paying attention, following directions. Also has no interest in writing, although he loves to paint, now that he is more tolerant of being messy. His speech is coming along , and he's saying spontanious (small) sentences now. His articulation is still very poor and I don't think many people can understand him very well. The other night he told me he loved me for the first time ever I just want to find some other mom's out there that understand me, that understand HIM, and that I can talk to without judgement...because you KNOW what it is like to really be in my shoes New to the board. Sitting at the library currently with my son who is playing on one of the children's computers. I'm bogarting the one next to him-hopefully no parents will report me! :-) Other than creating "our story" I don't know what to put.... He's been diagnosed as PDD-NOS, because he is definitely in the spectrum, but understands more than HFA, but understands LESS than Asperger's. He does not internalize at all. Repetition with EVERYTHING. Temper tantrums. Inability to focus for any length of time-EXCEPT with computers. We're in Louisville, Kentucky. He'll be 8 in the middle of August. Going into the 3rd grade, uncertain what school at this point (long story). I'm 35, and have a daughter who is 12. I'm petrified of having another child but am getting remarried in Nov and my fiance is 9yrs younger than me. We want a child, but obviously are scared. We think his was due to several different things...... Labor was induced with Pitocin. Cord wrapped around his neck during delivery (2x's), aspirated upon delivery, pneumonia-in the NICU for a week. (lack of oxygen???) I ate tuna alot when I was pregnant-high in mercury. He had large doses of antibiotics at birth due to the aspiration and pneumonia. My daughter had alot of the similar activities at birth and altho she is "normal" she is very immature for her age and has a few characteristics that he has, just on a smaller level. Ok, that's enough for an introduction!!! THANKS for letting me get it out!! it's easy to want to find out " why" or even blame yourself...My son's delivery was also hard 23 hours long...he was under stress and non responsive when they got him out. I wonder if I should have done something differently... then he showed signs of infection and they put him on an antibiotic right away. I still question that.... I guess most of us never find out the " why" end of things...but right now I want to find out all I possibly can to help him. I am hearing that a child psyciatrist is the best thing to do first? I tried to ask our Dr about doing a more physical work up, a CBC & hair anaylysis and he basically told me it was a dead-end and I shouldn't bother looking. Needless to say we're shopping for a new pediatrician. I just want to make sure I leave no stone unturned you know? but why don't Dr's want to help? HI EVERYONE! I just wanted to share my journal with all of you. I spent a lot of time and cried a lot of tears while getting it all together. PLEASE, leave a comment and tell me what you honestly think?! http://journals.aol.com/rmommyoffive/SPECIALNEEDS/ THANKS! HOPE IT HELPS YOU OUT WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT AUTISM! -SUMMER. You shouldnt be scared to have another child in case the next one might have Autism to. Yes it is scary but think of what were blessed with having a child. Yes they are challenging at times but some days I thinks its fun, then sometimes I dont cause I never know what the day will bring/ Like is my daughter going to freak out when she is with my sitter or my fincaee or with her dad. Which her dad does not understand any thing of what going on with our daughter. Wjich ticks me off because I feel like I am alone with no support for him. I have other support between friends and family but I need his to. But dont be afraid to have another go for it. lol ANd good luck with your wedding plans If anyone out there has advise on how to get someone to execpt the disability I could use advise or how to survive has the only parent ealing with it.
nina marie, most pediatricians don't want to help because first of all most doctors aren't trained to think out of the box. second, alot are afraid of getting sued so that until these interventions are studied alot (not just once) they won't consider them. alot believe these DAN interventions involving chelation or diets or supplements are holistic (which they are to an extent) and that immediately in their minds is quack medicine. most of these doctors do not have the time or some maybe even the smarts to understand the biochemistry involved. the DAN doc i go to used to be luke's pediatrician before he was diagnosed but then left the practice. all i heard was that he was working with autistic kids. i called him and have been working wlth him for about 2 months with some improvement. i also happen to be a nurse and have talked to alot of docs at the hospital regarding this stuff. my DAN doc has basically become somewhat of a pariah in the pediatric community. trying to find a new pediatrician for my kids for regular checkups is going to be hard, especially since i don't want to vaccinate my 5 year old who also showed signs of pdd but was never dx and grew out of it.... keep looking for a good doc. it'll be worth it for both of us. amy thanks for your reply!I had always liked our pediatrician aside from the fact he always seemed rushed..... But when I would question Malachi's speech delay, and his sleep issues he brushed it off. Then this last appointment when I pressed him about looking into this whole- autism question he REALLY made me angry! If it were his son would he say " it's a dead end- don't bother" ?? I'm not extreme one way or another, I have given my children a few shots, but refused the MMR, and have been doing any of the shots very slowly and not till they are older. I'm just not comfortable with all this contraversy with vaccines! It's SCARY! I just want to look into every possible avenue to help my son. If a hair analysis showed an excess of metals, or a blood count was off in some way, I would like to know it! I have no idea where to turn or how to start, I just feel like I'm wandering in circles. I know there are many many autistic children, PDD etc out there and why on earth do we have to struggle so to find each other, be heard, and be understood? Seems so wrong.. When you say your " DAN Dr" what are you referring to? Would you say a natural Dr is the way to go? or a psyciatrist first? I can't figure out why there aren't pediatricians out there specifically specialized in Autism/PDD ARE THERE?? And where on EARTH are they? and does insurance cover them? RubyGloom, I hope you find someone to take your concerns seriously. Your daughter is definitely showing signs. Look into your local chapter of the ASA, see if they have resources for you to get a diagnoses. Here's a link that may help too: http://209.200.89.252/search_site/index.cfm
I have a 9 year old who has PDD-NOS. I am now concerned about my 2 1/2 year old. His speech is delayed. More-so than his older brother. He doesn't stim though. I'm going to get him screened soon. Thats got to be tough Donna having two. I have to give alot thats got to take alot of strength. The best thing I can tell you is have patiences. I think thats one think I am starting to learn. And try and avoid trigger spots, if behavorial is one of their problem areas. When it comes homework since they are getting school age when getting into a situation where you both or all is crying walk away for alittle bit and come back, if that doesn't work just let the teacher know what happened. If they are good teachers they should understand. And may send it home the next day for a second try. Or they may even be able to offer a new approach on how to deal with the homework I'm a stay at home mom of 5 year old twins, Dylan & Dustin and I welcome any ideas on dealing with autism.Both are in the autism spectrum. Thank you, Donna
[QUOTE=Jackie75]Quickly here. Why is the dx unofficial? If your child has an ASD, he should be eligible for an IEP. My son has "very mild PDD-NOS", has normal intelligence, but is in a self-contained classroom. [/QUOTE] Where we live, EVERYONE has an IEP. Even "normally" functioning children. Here, they treat the IEP as a boundary for the children, what they need, how they need it, etc. My son's IEP has changed several times since he began school based on his levels of functioning and dx's. I feel as if I'm reading about my son each time I read one of these stories. Tayler was not so much normal at first, but developed slowly. I just figured as most of you that he was a boy and boys mature and develop more slowly than girls. Having an older daughter who walked, talked and did everything else on time cemented this idea. thanks so much! I am definitely on the search right now, at the point where I'm ready to mow down any dr or anyone else that stands in my way! lol it's the momma-bear coming out in me
Hi, I have two sons who have been diagnosed with ASD. Peter is 3 and was diagnosed with mild to moderate autism right before Christmas in 2005. Nathan will be two in a month and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS in April. We are trying to keep to the same kind of lifestyle we would if the boys were NT. We go out to eat, we go to the mall, we go on vacation, etc. We have to make some accommodations for their needs (obviously) but we don't want them to think that they can't do the same things everyone else can. We also want to introduce them to as many social situations as possible. Our daughter, bless her heart, is a very giving and sympathetic person in the first place. Having two very special brothers has brought this out even more. My husband works full-time out of the home (I write part-time from home) so we try to have him go to at least one therapy appointment a week so he stays involved and knows what's going on with the boys. We are using sign language and music to engage the boys and we're finding that it helps by using different parts of the brain to process words. Peter is talking more (original speech not just echolalia) and Nathan is beginning to speak. fanny,With this food suppliment, my son's health is getting much better. He used to have mid-ear infection, eczema and sinus. Now all his problems are gone. Without the cold, flu and cought , he is much easier to CONCENTRATE TO LEARN. Especially good for your son if he has adhd. It will calm him down a lot. We have try this in our group of similar kids and it does work (way better than taking ritalin) and have no side effect. I know that taking vitmain C and B and some other food suppliments will help but to most of our kids, it is so hard to have them swallow all this tablets. This is a drink and it taste liske juice. My son loves it. No problem taking it. It has a cleansing effect, moving toxic from the body. If you like to try, please PM me and I will tell you how to order. I am new to this message board. I have a 3 1/2 year old son who was diagnosed in May with PDD-NOS. We have suspected it for a long time and are not devestated by this. He has been in speech and OT since he was 22 months old. He has made so much progress. A year ago at 2 1/2 he didn't even utter mommy or daddy. Now, my husband and I understand about 155 words, but other people probably understand about 5. He uses any word in only one context and does not generalize. He is developing very quickly in speech over the last 6 months. We are very excited about this. However, he never had behavior issues until now. We used to be able to go out anywhere and not have a problem. Now, it is very difficult. We are now at the point of looking at behavior interventions. He also likes things very clean. By the time we leave Walmart, everything is picked up off the floor and cleaned up. When he gets fixated on something, he doesn't give up. He has always been social with adults, but oblivious to other children. He has now started to enjoy physical play with other children (like chasing them). He doesn't know how to ask them to play. Often he comes over to me and points at a kid and moans about it. If the kid is a little older it makes them uncomfortable. I really want him to learn appropriate social skills, but without language this difficult. He is a great kid who loves to learn and figure things out. We love him very much and are devoted to a positive life for him.My son used to just chase kids all the time too...then it turned to bumping. He'd just go up & bump his body into them & they would not understand why he was smiling about it! He still bumps, but only if he gets really wound up, and mostly with his brother. He was walking up to kids on the playground & pointing right in their face & saying " What's this?!" and they would look so freaked out & walk away. But I finally got him to learn that we ask " what is your name" which he does, and then he says " it's Mal-keey!" which means " I'm Malachi" He's really trying now, and I see how he tries to mimick other kids to try to fit in. He's 4 1/2 now & just starting to do better with playing with other kids. He's never been anti-social, but just unsure HOW to be social, he loves other kids, but wouldn't know what other kids did to play, so he acted a little awkward, and still does really. I am so glad that I stumbled across this site. Maybe you guys with your great kids can help my family and I deal with the upcoming months of red tape and disappointments with doctors and teachers and appts. and etc. What I have read so far is a true encouragement that there is hope out there for all of our stars to shine. hi, my name is sara, i have a 4 year old son with pdd/adhd... it has been so hard trying to cope, i am in a small town with no resorces and little understanding. my son kylo just got his diagnosis last week but we have known for almost a year, and i still dont want to admit to it. i got a doctor for my son, and she has prescribed him prozac, which did nothing but made him more irridable, then she gave him trazadone, he has only been on trazadone for 3 months and has gone from 1/2 of a pill to now 2 1/2 pills, they are not helping so were about to change it again. hes not really angery, just easily upset, does anyone know what may be able to help? sara- my son is going to be 8 in august. he has pdd/nos, adhd, ocd. he has been on lots of different meds. he takes concerta 27mg in am and trazadone 50mg at bedtime. we were having a lot of problems so in may he spent a week in the hospital. that was so hard. he was on several different meds at that time when he came home they had him on a total of 4. 2 of them were mood stabilizers. he was having horrible mood swings so i called his psy. and told her i wanted him of the mood meds. she said fine. she really works with me. he has done sooooooo much better since i quit giving them to him. we have put him back on a picture/word schedule that has helped also. when he was smaller we used just pictures and simple sign. there is hope!!!!!! do you have a hospital in your town or a family service department? they may be able to help you with information. also contact the school district for special ed services. my son started with parents as teachers then first steps and when he turned 3 he started in the early childhood developmental program through the school district. there is hope!! he is going into 2nd grade this august and because it is a small school we work very hard to keep him in a regular classroom with just pull out services if needed. it also helps that they make sure he gets a teacher that will really work with him and me. we have a great iep team and i stay on top of what is going on which helps. good luck!!!!!! Hello! My name is Tanya and my 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with PPD-NOS last march. How has it affected our lives? Is it awful to say that up until recently it's been an absolute nightmare!?! My sweet caring 4 year old would suddenly turn violent and would abuse our 2 year old. She's moody and aggressive and completely undisciplined. I love her, please don't get me wrong on that but she can be very difficult. We've been in Occupational Therapy with her for about 2 months now after a huge fight with our Insurance and I think things are going better.They are treating more of the Sensory Disorder than PDD at this point because that seemed to be causing most of our contention in the home. We've learned to live with the strict routines in our home but she still gets so violent with her sister, hitting, pinching, kicking, pushing... we still don't really know how to control that. Then we add self abuse and that's a whole different story! She has pretty much free reign of the house too as no discipline works on her, nothing, she gets into the fridge and once smashed 4 dozen eggs into our carpet, she spills milk while trying to pour it evenly into a number of glasses... enough complaining.. off to read your boards and see if I can find something to use. Thanks for listening! Hi. My 7 yr old Timmy and I are new to the board. He was unoffically been diagnosed ny three drs. PDD-NOS. I've always knew tht my Timmy was different and needed different cues for maintaining an easy going day. As early as the age of three, I've noticed that Timmy was different. He liked to line up his cars and Thomas trains in straight lines, and heaven forbid if that are not perfect (meltdown), delay with speech at first, but when he started he used "big" words and phrases, he didn't socialize much with the children at dayvare (tends to keep to himself), and his tantrums (kicking, screaming, crying)like his whole world crashed. Timmy is also a very "anal" and structured child. He needs precise instruction and advance warnings to make his day run smooth. If you take ABC, and take B out of the equation Timmy can't function. Timmy really began to stick out when he attended first grade. His tantrums, screaming and crying got worse. He was always being removed from the classroom and unable to finish his assigned classroom work. A lot of his school work became homework. I asked abotu getting him tested. The school shrugged Timmy off with being immature. (Timmy entered kindergarten at the age of 4, school cut of here is the end of the calendar year-his b-day 12/27.) Here he was 5 and in first grade. The whole year stayed the same and he got promoted. He had excellent reading and math skills dispite of being removed on a daily basis. Summer came and he attended a all day sumer program for working parents. Timmy got suspesended several times for his outbursts of tantrums. It was a long summer and missed seveal days of work. The new school year started and Timmy again had difficulties completely his assigned work and socializing properly. This year I work almost on a daily basis with his teacher, adjustment counselor, and principal trying out different behavior management for Timmy and help him cope with his explosive behavior. I've obversed some nervousness within the classroom and his interacions with the other children. Finally got testing done found out that Timmy is high functioning (superior intelligence) with very low processing skills. After meeting with three drs., we've gotten an unoffical PDD-NOS. But because Timmy is making academic strides his not eligible for an IEP, but is on a 504 Plan. I'm fighting this now and continuing to get the official diagnosis (more testing schedule for sept-nov). Timmy got promoted to third grade and got terminated from his summer program after only two days. They tell me that they can't deal with his outbursts and he needs a special program with one on one, but according to the schol dept his can function in a normal classroom setting. (did i mention that the summer program is run by the school dept.) I have arrange for a paraprofessional to work with Timmy one on one for the summer.I feel solost. I fell like I'm failing my baby. I feel alone in the whole porcess with no understanding or support. Timmy is such a smart and good boy, if people would just give him the time and their patience. We have a long road ahead of us. Theresa L Molloy Hi, I'm Donna. My 9yr old son Justin was recently diagnosed with PDD. Right now I am feeling very overwhelmed. I also have a 10yr old son with cerebral palsy. I am not sure what to expect while Justin starts his treatment. I'm at a loss right now. I will post again when I have had time to soak it all in. Thank you.
Hello Everyone, I just joined this forum yesterday, after years of being in an unevenful msn group for autistic parents. My daughter Jewel, is seven and has moderate autism and very limited speech. She will be in 2nd grade this year, and does remarkably well in school. Her favorite subjects are math (adds single and double digits) and computer time. Her behavior is improving, used to cry for no reason almost every day last year, but hardly does that now. She is audibly hypersensitive, and that makes it hard to go to public places if they are too noisy. The thing we are struggling with is her diet, she is not on GFCF diet, and I am worried about her health. Her pediatrician doesn't see it as a problem (yet), since she isn't malnurished. I also am leary about starting her on a expecially gluten-free diet, since that is her main foods. I will search the forum regarding this. Talk to you soon, Jewel's Mommy Hi, I am a mother of two. A 3 year old daughter (PDD) and a 4 year old son (NT?) They are my life. My daughter of coarse consumes most of my life, but my mother helps with my son.My daughter is in ABA nine hours a week with a 2 and a half hour drive both ways. Thankfully she loves the car. Who wouldn't, her only requirement is to sit quietly and watch TV, her favorite. My son is starting "big school" monday and is soooooo excited he can hardly speak. But the catch, I am a stay at home mom, finishing a degree I started before the kids, and this semster I have to finish by doing my student teaching. I am freakling out!!! My husband (very supportive) is taking my daughter to ABA. I am grateful, but still stressed. The docs want to put her on zoloft, and I am not sure I want to. She is progressing fast, but of coarse they say this will make her progess even faster.
We habe a few issues with madison, with the worst 2 being bad eating habits, and she is very anti social. I cannot take her with me to public places as she gets very upset. I am very excited to have found this site, and hope to meet many parents who have the same issues.. thanks heaps Angela Hope I'm doing this right cuz I've never posted on a forum before. Hello my name is Elo and I'm new here. I have a 5 yr old autistic nephew. I would like to learn more about autism in order to help him and his parents. So far I've gotten ALOT of great info from this forum. I'm so glad to finally find a place I can ask questions. I'll be visiting often Hi Mercedesmom, Welcome, I have a link for some that I saw today. I had a parent tell me that they normally run around a hundred bucks. hope this helps Hello, my name is andrea. I am a stay at home mother of two.Mercedes is going to be 4 on the 22., And Gwendalyn is just over a year old. We found out that Mercedes was autistic about a year ago. I don't really understand all the things the doctor tells us but I'm trying.as far as I know for now is that she has a mild case of autium and obeseeive complusive behavior.And there is no medication that can help her. Anyway that a little back ground, But the whole reason I found this site is b/c I was looking up information an weighted blankets. Does anyone know anything about them, the best place to get them without breaking us? anyone with any information I would love to know anything thank youHi all, My name is Colleen and my 4th child, and youngest, is Jackson, who is an autistic 4 year old lil boy. We got the diagnosis a year ago, and I am still reeling from it. Everything in life has changed. I thought he was just being a difficult 2 year old. Now I have these challenges to lookforward to every day of my life. I am so happy I found an online support group. Our local chapter of the Autism Society just seemed a little cultish to me. It is really good to know I can ask questions of others who know what I am talking about. That's all for now.
Hi all! My name is Jessica. I'm so glad I found this place! MY oldest son DW is in the process of being diagnosed. At this point they're saying he is PDD-NOS but the more research I've done the more I think we need to have some real testing done. Anyway, DW is 4 and our little one Haydn is 20 months. I work from home and the hubby is a Marine. We are still trying to figure everything out and learn how to work with our son. I feel so overwhelmed these days. I am so excited to get to know everyone here and learn what I can. Hi, my name is Tamara and my son, Tre, was diagnosed at the age of two. He is now three and five months, and has been in therapy and school since his diagnosis. I have seen a new and improved kid! He was diagnosed PDD on the mild side of Autism. It has been very stressful but he is a strong boy and making the best progress. I am a Teacher in the NYC public school system. I took a leave of absence to dedicate my time to him; not being paid for a year (and now two, cause I extended it) has been the biggest stress. No pay, no insurance but having a very blessed family, I was able to survive. I am looking forward to meeting new people so I know I am NOT GOING CRAZY! I am not an expert, but if I can, I would help in any way. I look forward to speaking (maybe meeting the locals) to whoever I come across! The pieces of this puzzle will come together!
I'm the step-father of an eight-year-old sweetheart who is profoundly autistic. I've know her for a couple years but have lived with her for just over a year. Her older, nine-year-old brother is undiagnosed but displays strong Asperger's traits and their younger sister seems to be ASD free. I came from a world where all I knew about autism I learned from watching Rain Man, a great movie but really does nothing for autism save this: It shows us that people with autism are... *gasp* PEOPLE! Since, moving in with my new wonderful family I have encountered more rude ignorance, and petty selfishness in society than ever before, and I moved form the north-side of Chicago! Before moving to Washington State we were told of all the great programs they had only to find after we moved that there is a ten year waiting list. A ten year waiting list? In ten years she'll be 18 an uneligible for those programs... how convienent for the state. Today, my daughter (technically step-daughter but whatever) asked me to make her ramen noodles, one of her favorite carbo-loading meals. I make them, give them to her and she melts down screaming refusing to eat them. Not sure why, I probably missed a step or did something different than usual but the fit lasted for an hour. It's a much different world now that she's part of my life. But throughout the day, when she runs up to you and asks, "tickle, yes," or plays her little sound games with you, or urges me to pick her up and thow her in the air as she giggles, I know I wouldn't have it any other way. I think I'm going to rent Rain Man for every school administrator, insurance company, and rudely ignorant person on the street and with any luck, 1% of them will learn what that movie really has to offer. Anywho... I look forward to joining the fun here. I'll let my wife know about this place so she can check it out. The stresses and lack of support are starting to weigh heavy on our family. TresMom, What a cutie! He's precious with that little pouty lip. Welcome! Merry Hi my name is sugeyri and I have a 9 year old boy named andy. since he was two I always new that there was something not right with him. but he was diagnosed only two years ago with pdd. It has been very hard for me to raise him. His behavior is very antisocial. His speech is severely delay and he has problems interacting with other children. At this moment I feel fustrated because I cannot find parents groups or organizations for children with autism in New York City. I feel the need to help the crusade to find a cure, I can volunteer and help on the research.Thanks Sugeyri Sugeyri, I know how you feel. I know deep down that my 5 almost 6 year old suffers from this but so far they will only say Tendencies and OCD. But my youngest son who is almost 2 was recently diagnosed. Its very hard he doesn't have any words yet and has become very aggressive with everyone. It gets even harder when we are out in public and they both have their meltdowns I can even tell when they are comming down. I say alright count down to melt down we gotta go and go quick. I pray every night for the strength to get through the next day. I also participate in any and all studies that the hospital offers so that they can find more out about this...
hello to u sugeyri. My name is Kim. I am originally from Long Island. They have a group named LIautism on the web. They may not be "right There" But close enough. I moved 6 yrs ago to NC but some of the moms there still call me and check or email me. They have great groups on Long Island. I searched and searched the web for all types of cures and remedies and such just trying to do something as i was feeling completely helpless. My daughter now 8 just started talking at 5. She was completely non verbal(only grunted and pointed,) And socially? please, i have had the fits and fall outs in public, She had speech therapy, And now after me taking a less paying job, I am giving her dtructure and am VERY stern with her. I do not tolerate too much. Some may talk about me but my daughter needed it at that time. I have her on a gluten free diet and she is doing remarkebly well. Her behaviors have slowly diminished and her speech is quite well. I am no longer her "interpretor" When we go in public, i make her order her own food at a restaurant and i make her sign in for her massage therapy appointments and manicures too!!! Anaya is doing VERY well. She was diagnosed as Moderate in the Autism spectrum disorder by TEAACH in Greenville NC. I have had a long three yrs and i am only 29 years old but stability and stern parenting is what has helped my daughter as well as prayer. If i can help you in any way please contact me @anayasmommie@yahoo.com Hi. My name is Melanie. My middle son was diagnosed with PDD-NOS this past spring. He is now three years old. We are at the end of our rope here and are going to be seeing a DAN! doctor soon out of desperation. I noticed my son's lack of communication very soon after birth--within the first two months. I worry about this night and day. Anyway...just wanted to give a quick shout out.Hi, Im new to this board. Im Megan and have 3 very different little boys. We first found out a month ago my youngest (22 month) Jacob has Autism with not knowing that was even in the cards the Ped and everyone gave me the run around for 10 months oh its just the ear infections, Einstein did this, any day now etc. Which I listened to with my oldest son. But with this diagnosis shed a new light on my oldest son who was said just to be a "hermit" I am now begging for him to be retested because I know in my heart that this is what he has. Life in our house is quite interesting with our middle son having severe Asthma. There is never a dull moment in our house. But you know I don't think I'd have it any other way. I love my boys and who cares if they scream and shout when we are out shopping that is their right. I finally have stopped being embarrassed or withholding the family from going out. We just take extra steps in the process and cut it short. Hi! My name is Marie, my oldest son's is Austin. He is 4 1/2 years old.My other son is Asher, who is 1. Austin was just diagnosed with PDD NOS a little over a month ago. I'm still tying to figure things out and absorb everything. As Austin is my oldest, I wansn't around children before I had him, and didn't notice significant problems until he was a year old. His speech was significantly delayed - and still is today. He didn't really begin to talk until he was 3 1/2 years old. He never called me Mommy until that time. Now after having another child who is "normal", looking back I notice that Austin never could clap. Never participated in imiatation. I notice really a lot of things. Austin is so sweet and loving, so I never thought of Autism as a possiblity. I always had heard autistic children weren't affectionate. Then I heard about PDD NOS and thought he really sounded like the description. It took several evaluations and advice until I found a really good clinic that was actually able to diagnos him. I'm glad I found a support group. I'm trying to figure out the right paths to take. I have a 7 yr old boy with PDD-NOS. He was diagnosed by the age of 4. Right before he turned 3 I signed him up for a mom and me class that had a bit of art and a bit of gymnastics. I had a bad feeling something was way off. That's why I took him to be around other toddlers to see if my gut was telling me the truth. Felt that way since he was about 18 months or so. He had some language but it was hard to get his attention outside of the house. Some tantrums which now I know was because he couldn't express himself properly. He has an older sister (2 years older) that talked and did things he didn't do. When I would talk about my concerns with family I got a lot of "you are to nuerotic (spelling?)" "He is a boy...boys talk late" Well, needless to say I was right. After 2 visits at this class the instructor pulled me aside and said "GET RID OF YOUR PEDIATRICIAN, YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR SON TO A PEDIATRIC NUEROLOGIST" She also used the word Autism which scared me of course. Went home hysterical crying to my husband. Called our doctor and she got us into see nuero. First visit... he shows signs of PDD.... of course we had no clue... thought that was better than Autism... He should be fine, come back in 6 months if you think he needs to be seen again. Of course we were back, saw another Dr. in the practice and he diagnosed him with PDD-NOS. There is much more to the story, but.... He is in an awesome school with awesome teachers who bend over backwards to help in anyway they can. He's been there since right before he turned 4. He is in a Grade 2 transistion class with the ability to be mainstreamed for specials and subjects. Has been in transistion since kindergarten. His attention problems and impulsivity has held him back from chances for mainstreaming here and there. But as his teacher pointed out he has lunch in the lunch room with typical kids and goes to the assemblies and participates in events with the children. I am very greatful....
FORGIVE MY SPELLING AND SUCH.... MY KEYBOARD IS ON THE FRITZ...
 Hello everyone. I just came across this website today because I was researching the GFCF diet. My name is Julie, and I have a 5 year old son, Cameron, who has autism. He was actually diagnosed with PDD-NOS. He attends a special education preschool for children diagnosed with autism, which is really helpful to him. He also gets speech therapy, OT, and I have recently hired a social worker to come to my home for intense intervention with Cameron. This social worker gave me the GFCF diet to follow, and let me tell you, we tried it for 5 days, and during that whole time, Cameron ate one piece of chicken, a piece of celery, and some water. He threw up, had no energy, and slept all day. I couldn't get him to eat anything on the diet. My social worker told me to keep trying to get him to eat, and that he should feel sick from 7-14 days, as this is the withdrawal stage. I watched him lose a lot of weight, he got dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes were bloodshot. I couldn't stand to see him in this condition, so I've taken him off the diet until I meet with the DAN doctor at the end of the month. Has anyone met with a DAN doctor for the testing? After all the research on the GFCF diet, I think that it will help Cameron, I'm just having a hard time getting him to eat the foods on it. I think that part of the problem is that the diet that the social worker gave me is too strict. Cameron likes to snack on certain foods so I think that if I added gluten free snacks, he might adapt to the diet better. Anyone out there experienced what I am? I'm glad that I found this message board, I need help and support. Julie Hello Everyone,My name is Elaine and I have a 3 yrs old boy who was just diagnosed with Autism. My son says few words and doesn't follow directions or seem to understand us most of the the time. This diagnosis broke my heart and changed our family life. My husband is in denial and doesn't beleive in this Autism diagnosis and strongly beleives that our son will eventually grow out of it. My son doesn't have behavioural issues, is very affectionist, likes to see new people and doesn't have an issue with routine or repetitive behaviour. I am not sure what to beleive. Sometimes I get convinced by my husband and other times I beleive the doctors. All I know is that the future is very unclear to our son and I cry every night while praying God to take care of him. Hi! Glad to have been told about this board (someone on another special needs board gave the link out). My name is Tiffiany (or T). Here is a quick little bit about us...
Meghan was born at 34wks weighing 4lbs 3oz. She was in the NICU for 3 weeks with mostly As & Bs and feeding problems. (I know now after getting her records that she had a horrible first night and little was done about it). I was so sick myself that I couldn't really keep on top of them. I spent 6 weeks on bedrest after having her- I spent a week in the hospital after delivery, went home 2 days and back to the hospital for another week. My BP would not come down.
We live in east TN and I look forward to getting to know all of you and sharing this unusual journey we have been on. Tiffiany, Your birth experience sounds like ours with our NT daughter. She was born at 32 weeks and aside from a hernia, trouble gaining weight, trouble maintaining body temperature and needing to be monitored for stopping breathing she has no lasting effects except needing glasses and Seizure Disorder. We watched her like a hawk and had home health come in for the first 6 months and there were no problems in development aside from being small. Then 6 yrs later our son was born with a normal pregnancy and only minor little difficulties at birth and he was the one with the developmental difficulties and was diagnosed with SID, PDD-nos, ADHD-combined type and asthma. Then later with Autistic Disorder, Seizure Disorder, heart murmur and in Dec. 2005 Type 1 Diabetes. So, I guess you never know!! How does the CP affect her, If you feel like talking about it? Merry [QUOTE=Merry] Tiffiany, Your birth experience sounds like ours with our NT daughter. She was born at 32 weeks and aside from a hernia, trouble gaining weight, trouble maintaining body temperature and needing to be monitored for stopping breathing she has no lasting effects except needing glasses and Seizure Disorder. We watched her like a hawk and had home health come in for the first 6 months and there were no problems in development aside from being small. Then 6 yrs later our son was born with a normal pregnancy and only minor little difficulties at birth and he was the one with the developmental difficulties and was diagnosed with SID, PDD-nos, ADHD-combined type and asthma. Then later with Autistic Disorder, Seizure Disorder, heart murmur and in Dec. 2005 Type 1 Diabetes. So, I guess you never know!! How does the CP affect her, If you feel like talking about it? Merry
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She has gross & fine motor delays. She was late to walk. She wears braces. She is just learning how to climb. She has a hard time holding objects in her hands- can not feed herself with utensils, does not dress/undress. She has tremors in her hands now- we are going back to wearing splints on her hands to see if that will help. She does, however, walk great now. She is doing remarkably well! Hi, In november of last year, my mother was in a car accident and passed away. She left my autistic brother who is 9 to me. Our dad died the year before suddenly too. They adopted him from birth. I'm 30 and have a 5 year old myself. My husband and I have been helping her with him for years, but it wasn't like this. Full time no breaks, my son and my brother fight and Billy gets over whelming with all the little things he does. Some times my husband feels like it's too much, but don't know what to do. We just moved from michigan to Arizona to get him in a better school, but in this school he is just picking up alot more bad behaviors. He is in a Behavior school with just special needs children. I'm having alot of problems adjusting to not doing anything any more. It's really not fair to my son to not go out and do things we used to do, He has even said to me that i don't have time for him any more. I always watched Billy for my mom she didn't miss out on much I made sure of that but, no one is there for me. sara, hi. i'm a newbie so all i can give is my experience. if you live in a small town your resources may be limited but since your trying the medication route why don't you also look into more holistic avenues. try googling DAN (defeat autism now) they may have some suggestions as far as interventions since the meds your using are only going so far. we've done some dietary stuff with my almost 4 year old son who has pdd and is very hyper with really no results however i started him on b12 shots and we've seen big results in his socialization and speech. he's still hyper and becoming slightly more aggressive which may be the b12 or just him = the doc wants me to try actos a diabetic drug which they are studying on autistic kids. my point is try all avenues. also, is he receiving any special ed, ot st? amy
Tracy xx Hi-I am Carol from Florida-a teacher (changing to ESE High School in the coming school year)-single mom and I adore my 3 children(K.M.19 with ??Bipolar issues since 14)(Patrick 16 Autism at 2.5 and Seizure Disorder at 14) and (K.H. 12 healthy so far)-Patrick was very typical until just before his 2nd bday(but not as advanced as his older sis who was conversational at 1yr)I focused on remedial academics and speech for Patrick because he loved to work and his behavior was great (except for weird sounds and jumping...)and compared to others in his "Autism Unit" he was happy and ?successful-until 6 grade(middle school)and the warm and encouraging atmosphere turned to abuse -then the seizures started and lots of meds and only homebound teaching-I had to go to work(no child support)and my oldest daughter who I thought was healthy and gifted slipped away and we were devastated-I remembered "if you can't beat them, join them"so I switched to ESE and am interviewing at 2 high schools (that so happen to have "Austism Units"also) I pray that Patrick will be able to go to school this year! and my youngest daughter will continue to be healthy!I too feel very guilty for not being capable of providing for all of my childrens' needs or knowing how when and where to get them the help they need-I hope someone will read this and have some similar issues with their teenagers-must be a genetic thing because oldest 2 have same father and I was told he was diagnosed Bipolar recently after Patrick was diagnosed with Autism(never knew when we were married-just thought he was a brilliant engineer who was passionate about his work ??)and with my oldest daughter I just thought she was acting like a "teenager" who was so sad about her brother being so ??involved...Patrick now has to be prompted though every daily activity like eating,tolieting,standing,sitting,in and out of the car,dressing....he was never like this b4 age 14??and the rituals he has to go through just to answer a yes no question-and if you interrupt this process he gets very frustrated and makes you stand perfectly still until he can continue-his academics have improved slightly as has his speech but his independence and quality of life have suffered greatly-he is now over 6ft tall but still a baby face!!-just can't go in the womens' restroom anymore !so we are limited where we can go and for how long-now my youngest is getting embarressed-this is too hard for all of us-too much info??for this posting??hope to hear from anybody and thanks for op!! HI everybody! I am so glad to have found a sounding board like this. I have 9 year old twin sons that are autistic. It has been such a challange with them at times. It seems like one just gets over having some kind of issue and the other one picks up where he left off. I'd so love to talk with any other parents of twins that are in the same boat. I look forward to learning and sharing much here. Hey there! I'm Diana and my husband and I just got a dx of ASD for my son who is almost 5 (7/31), We have suspected it for quite some time but it is soooo nice to finally have someone confirm our suspicions. Life with Nathan is definitely a challenge but it's a challengewe are totally up for and we will conquer this together! I am thrilled that I found this site and know that I will be coming here for support and information for many years to come! God bless you and your familes! Hello. My name is Amy and I have 2 kids,Carter who is a typical 11y/o boy and Isabelle who is autistic and is 8y/o. After many years of therapy PT/OT/ST and dealing with seizures (status epilepticus) she was finally Dx. last year with High Func. Autism. I knew "something" was wrong with her when she was a baby and after trying to find someone who would listen she began having seizures. Not your "typical" seizures, the kind where you don't stop seizing without rescue medicine. This ruled our life for the last 5 years with 11 trips by ambulance to the hosp. and numerous MRI's,EEG's and blood tests.It made me tired just to write all of that.... Anyway, Isabelle is a sweet little girl who wants"friends" (although she does not really play with them). She loves art and creating things (although won't follow the instructions on art progects). She is a being all her own!!! Which we love!!! She has changed our lives for the better. Her brother is soooo helpful to her and us! He is protective and worries about her. And when other girls are not so nice-he tells them like it is and I am so proud of the way he has turned out because of this sister.....I fear one day he might be her caregiver when my husband and I are gone. Makes me sad but I know it makes him a better man...and It has made us a BETTER FAMILY because she is here with us..teaching us everyday. How neat your story is. There is always an answer somewhere. You son sounds like a super young man already. Count yourself lucky! I remember meeting a Mexican woman named "Maria" in a laundromat sometime last year. We got to talking and she told me about her daughter who had two children who was arrested and put into jail for carring dope on her that others had put into her pockets. I think her term was about 6 years. So Maria and her husband although very poor (with about six or eight kids of their own) took in their daughter's two children and Maria was saying how hard it all was. Her husband wanted to give the two up, but Maria didn't want to, and I told her, "But you've got to take care of them!". And then I noticed the older brother (about five or six) who had asthma who was carryied his baby sister (only a few months old) all over the place and taking special care of her. It so touched my heart! As I was leaving, I told her, "You deserve a pat on the back, Mama Maria! She laughed. But the real pat on the back belonged to that baby's brother. My name is Patti. My son Toby who is 11 now, was diagnosed with PDD-NOS last year. He was previously diagnosed with Asperger's/High-functioning Autism when he was 7 years old. Ny nephew Daniel is Autistic as well. Infact him and Toby do the same things, except Daniel is lower functioning than Toby. It was my sister-in-law who tried to show us that Toby had Autism. Toby loves leggos, computer games, and bugs. His favorite show is the Most Extreme on Animal Planet. He has one sister Liz, and one brother Andy. Toby is the middle man. They are all my tiny blessings and each day is very interesting.Sounds like you have adjusted and learned to appreciate your different but great life!Hi Every One I am new to this Just wanted to say hi and I'm so happy to have found this place. I have a 2.5 years old kid diagnosed with Autism. Life has never been the same. Currently he is on ABA, OT, ST, BioMedical. Very little progress till now. Hoping for better. Thanks Sundar Hi Elaine. Boy, after reading your message, I would think that you're talking about my situation, especially with my husband being in denial. When someone first told me that our boy might have autism, I told my husband that and he told me that Cameron's not autistic. I think that certain people think of autistic as being mentally retarded. I am learning about the different ways that children can be autistic. I was in denial for too long, and regret that, because I could have gotten my son help a lot sooner. Now he's in an excellent preschool program for autistic children, he gets speech therapy, OT, he's going to be starting ABA next month, and we are getting ready to start him on the GFCF diet with intense, in home intervention. I would listen to your doctor about the diagnosis though. I know that the "a" word is scary, but it's better to accept it and find the way to help your little boy now, while he's so young. I know exactly how you feel and what you're going through. It's just not fair, is it?
Julie Sugeyri, Everything I have seen is with the ribbon with the puzzle pieces of primary colors. You should go to the National Autism Association's web site and you usually can buy the ribbon in bulk from them or they can tell you where to find the ribbon. I have also seen some things in yellow but the puzzle pieces are the most common and the most immediately recognizable by everyone. Good luck with your walk. Hello. Wow this seems like an amazing place. There is so much information here, its going to take me a while to get through it. Thanks I am the mom to an amazing little boy named Collin. He is 3 years 3 months old and has been diagnosed with Autism. I love him just the way he is and dont hope to "cure" him but just help him cope better with everyday life. He has a big sister Novaly who is 5 who really watches out for him. She is so great! Although he does tend to clobber (well i dont know if thats the right word) on her a bit I look forward to getting to know everyone and hearing some stories and information. Hi my name is Jeff, I have a wonderful son of 8 who has autism-pdd. He was diagnosed around 4 years of age. Things were always challenging and have had hard times dealing with his anxieties, he has come along way but there is still work to be done. I have not lost hope. He used to be great with dogs but now is afraid whenever dogs are around and will run into the house. I try to talk to him that things are ok but he still reacts quite strongly. Frankly i am very concerned that this could effect his life to do things.I know he was chased by two dogs and i heard they didn't hurt him, i said that they were most likely trying to play with him. I do not know what i can do to help him with this and it can be very frustrating. So any ideas i would be truly thankful. Thank you. hi my name is linda(beccaposie, is a term my son used all the time, he made it up it means, clothing that doesnt feel right) I live in NB Canada,I have a wonderful son who is the love of my life,His name is Zachary Alexander,and is soooo sweet,thats when he is not telling me he hates me or Sitting on the floor at walmart ,refusing to take another step,until he gets a new train.(as i have been reading the message boards ,I know you all know what im talking about) Zachary was born at 27 weeks,he was abandoned at the hospital I went to be with him at the hospital,as a foster/adoptive mom,I brought him home at 3 months he weighed 7 lbs, His mother and father ,showed up at around 5 months, the stayed in his life just enough to make it hard for me to relax and enjoy Zack, until they volunteered to give up there rights to him at around 7 months. EI was involved from the start,it was them who first talked to me about autism. Zachary was almost 3 when he was diagnosed.Aspergers,he had alot of stimming and was scared of certain people to the extrem.he is a bit better now . he gets overwelmed easy,daycare changes are hard for him. Hello, I am Dr. Dan L. Edmunds I have had the joy of working for some time with children in the autism spectrum. I can think of a time where I met a child who was withdrawn, did not speak, and frequently engaged in self stimulation. After some time of using relationship based approaches and focusing on the inner strengths and abilities of this child, I was amazed to see that one day this child grabbed me by the hand, called me by name, and led me to play with him and a peer who was with him. This brought me such great joy to see such transformation and keeps me going in the work I do that it comes with challenges. I have been a critic of biological psychiatry and tried diligently to find means to help children be able to overcome challenges through relationship based approaches as well as examining dietary intervention. As a child, I had some sensory/ motor skills deficits requiring OT and though I have never been formerly diagnosed, some colleagues have suggested the possibility that I may be within the mild range of the autism spectrum, thus this furthers my interest and desire to work with, respect, and understand these children. Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D. Hello all. I am brand new to this board but am looking for help. My name is Jessica and Courtney is my little adorable 4 year old who was diagnosed with ASD late last year. I also have a "normal" 6 year old and a 7 month old who is progressing normally at this point. We got Courtney into the early intervention preschool and she's made wonderful progress. We still have some issues but we're getting there. Hello everyone. I have a 7 year old son who was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I also have a 14 month old (so far so good) and two teenage step-daughters (13 and 16).The diagnosis was a long time in coming. My husband, son and I have endured years of people's snide comments about my son's social behavior, and total disregard by a number of doctors who ignored our concerns. I'm actually relieved to now be in a position to get my son the help he needs and should have had years ago. Not quite sure how to do this... I'm Christy. My son,Will, is 5 years old & just started Kindergarten. He has a speech/language delay, the psychiatrist mentioned PDD & lumped the rest of his issues as a general "mood disorder". After careful consideration, and a stressful home life, we tried Ritalin w/Will & he had a horrible reaction to it, so we swore off meds for a while. That was a year & a half ago. He's on the Gluten/Casein free diet, we've had behavior management advice, and he gets a lot of support at school. The diet helps his hyperactivity-but we still have focus issues & behavior problems. Our problem lately has been his incessant whining & crying about EVERYTHING. He also obsesses about things a lot. So once he gets something in his head he won't be quiet about it & he's whining & crying about it forever. The boy is unhappy all the time lately! We were homebound today because we couldn't take him anywhere-he cries when he doesn't get his way, when he has to stop doing something, when he has to to something different, or when he just is bored & wants to whine & cry about something. My husband & I have had it. I have always ignored his tantrums before but when it's constant my nerves are shot before he gets to school in the morning. So now we're considering meds again. But I've read through the postings & I can't seem to find a good fit. Will is rarely aggressive-sometimes he goes into a rage but its because hes gotten to a point where he can't calm down. I don't know if antipsychotic drugs are the way to go... but where do we go? I want my happy boy back. Help!
Christy, Hello, I am the mother of a 11 yr old PDD-NOS child who was not dx until he was 10. Most likely because he is also hearing impaired and was less evident as alot of behaviors were being explained secondary to the hearing loss. It became more and more evicent that is was more and after a lot of searhcing to find a good health care provider we found our anwsers. It was at least 5 yrs of everything you described. I myself am a proponent of meds. He has been on themsince he was 4 yrs old. It was diffidult to do at that age but he quality of life is somuch better as his interactions with tohers is more positive. Like anything else you may need to unfortunately try many classifications of meds to find the right fit. Having a MD who is knowledgable and receptive makes a world of difference. We sawe a behavioral Peds for many yrs and loved him then moved and now see a ped psychaitrist who is also an adjunct professor so he stays current with info and is very holistic in his approach just not throwing meds at us. I also have worked with OT a lot and has decreased his anxiety with SI tx. and also the behavior managment which we finally did this last summer and was so instrumental in his decrease od temper tantrums. Also having an understanding of his inability to function well with change I have learned that if I do social stoires (I do them more auditory instead of pcitures) he does so much better whne his expectations of events do not happen as he expects. Anyway, I understand your sadness, frustration and difficulty with coping with his behavior. I did that for many yrs and still do. I find the more supports I utilize for him, myself and family it dimdishes our frustration and increase our understanding of the situation. When you ar high functioning you have so may strengths I think at time sit is difficult to have yourself, family and outsiders to be empatheitic and understanding of this disorder. Education is the key along with health care people knowledgable. You have to be mor eknwoledgable to recognize that some providers are not the right fit and lack the experience andknowlege to be helpful and at times can be hurtful. Keep looking and one day at a time. Good Luck, Marcie A formal hello everyone. I'm fourteen year old Jillian, and I have high-functioning autism. (Two years ago I had medium-functioning autism.) I know a lot about autism, having it myself. Parents can ask me questions, because what better way to understand autism than from a person who experiences it everyday?I hope that I can make a difference in the world when it comes to autistic individuals. Wish me luck with my home studies. Hi: I am mom to 3 yr old Alex, who has been dx w/ Autistic Spectrum, among other things (the short list: mixed CP, partial agenisis of the corpus collasum, PVL after a bilateral grade 3 IVH---- he was born at 25 weeks gestation---, he has a lot of feeding issues...that's enoough for the moment I guess). After EI ended, i fought the school district's placement, and he he goes to a year-round program at Easter Seal's Therapeutic Day School. he has made a lot of progress there, through ABA and and TEAACH (which I never spell right!). I know it is controversial to put a young child in aprogram that is not inclusion-based, but he was getting nowhere in his former inclusion-based program, so I wanted to try something else, not to mention I was not happy w/the district's placement. he get art therapy, music therpy, a ton of OT, sensory OT, PT, lots of ST, outings into the community, agreat ratio ofwell-trained staf at school as well. And he LOVES it. So I am very happt w/his school. His behavior at home is a different story. Wea re trying to get funding for in-home beahioral therapy, and currently have a lent "helmet" for his head-banging.
This is getitng long, so I will stop. .......I wish I would have founf this site a long time ago!!!! Angie
Hello all. There's loads of research information about ASD all over the internet. But what I need is practical information from people who live it. And it looks like this forum will help immensly. I'm a mother to 3 children - a 14 year daughter, 12 year ADHD son, and 2.9 year ASD son. Gabe (my ASD son) was diagnosed 2 months ago. He is the 4th child we had; our third was stillborn. The 4th pregnancy was extremely difficult: pre-term labor, GMD, High BP, you name it. He arrived at 36 weeks w/ apgars of '9'. I started wondering if something wasn't wrong a few weeks later when I noticed he was so very quiet and still. Everyone said 'he's fine, he's just a quiet baby'. But I couldn't let it go. I referred him myself to Early Steps (EIP), and he started PT and OT at 3 months. He was in PT for a year before he started rolling over. Now he's a power-climber. We can't keep up with him! We noticed he would make sounds (ie, ba.ba.ba) for a few weeks, but then he seemed to lose the sound for 3 or 4 months. This continued, so when he was 1.3, Early Steps dx'd him for ST. He's been in that and OT up to this month. He's still non-verbal. About the only thing he can say with any consistency is "no". Hmmm. Wonder why? Since his first encounter with Early Steps we've been trying to find out what's going on and why his body and his brain don't seem firmly connected and in full communication with each other. Among others, he's had 3 MRI's, 2 genetics tests (in addition to a slew of other blood tests), and I don't know what all. Everything, and I mean everything, has come up clean. So, we finally got referred to a neuro-psychologist who put all the pieces from all the doctors together and announced ASD. Since Gabe's birth, I've been trolling the internet doing my own research, and I was coming to the same conclusion. So, though logically it wasn't a surprise, it was a major blow emotionally. We are currently working through Transition to the public school ESE. That way he can (hopefully) get into a program in November that will help him. We do all sorts of stuff at home, but with both parents working full-time jobs (neither of us can afford to quit) and 2 teens, it's hard. Very hard. More than anything, I'd love a support group from which I can get practical information. It would be such a great help. Dear Elaine, Hi. My husband is sometimes in denial and so am I sometimes. If you would see my son for a few minutes you wouldn't think anything is wrong but spend some time with him and you start to see some autistic qualities(stimming, OCD, etc). There are some kids who do have speech delays/disorders and don't have autism. My son is kind of on the border and depending on who you talk to he has whatever they think he might have. I am learning to identify his needs because those are what I need to address - NOT his diagnosis. I do consult many professionals including teachers, ST, OT, a DAN doc, developmental optometrist, developmental pediatrican and neuropsychologist - again, not to change his diagnosis but because their specialties often give them insight into what he needs from their point of view. I don't take all of their advice but I don't have to. And I realize that whatever these people have to say, especially the ones who are diagnosing are basing their view on a snapshot of him at that point in time. And if there is one thing I've learned it's that Luke is a work in progress. I also remember that one study found that no matter if certain kids with autism were given a certain treatment (I've forgotten which) or a placebo, it was the PARENT'S FAITH in the treatment and in their children that predicted better outcomes for the kids. Not always easy to live with the uncertainty I've found but I'm getting better at it. Amy v I live in toledo Ohio.. My son goes to a school called MODEL , but there are 3 autistic schools in this area, Thats what trips me out.. they are recognizing autism in this area, but yet.. there is not any daycare that excepts these kids. Does not make any sense!! Thanks for inquiringI have two daughters. Kianna who is 8, and little Sierra who is 3. Kianna is a perfectly healthy and fantastic big sister to Sierra, who has not been officially diagnosed yet, although we have had a pediatrician tell us that she has Autism, and from all the reading via internet that we've been doing, we are absolutely sure that we do have a case of Autism. We are just in the beginning stages of getting her diagnosed, and I have found that we do a lot of waiting to hear from Specialists, so in the mean time I'm hoping that this forum can help us with some issues that we've encountered with little Sierra. For example: Potty training??? What does a person do? We have tried her on the potty on several different occasions, but the reaction has not been good. She pretty much screams, and cries, and tries to get off. Any ideas? Should we wait and let the Specialists help or what? Also what about the violent tantrums? How do you discipline an Autistic child for kicking, hitting, scratching and pinching their innocent sibling, when there has been no provocation? I don't know what to do. I feel like I shouldn't let her get away with it, but what's the answer? She can be quite unbearable with tantrums, and running off in public places. If anyone has any innovative ideas of how to discipline a child with Autism, I would love to hear them. Sierra is an absolute angel at times, and other times she is hardly bearable. I know that she does understand quite a bit, but there is also a lot she doesn't understand. She does say a few things, but she mostly babbles in "Sierra language". What is a mother to do? This all being said she is absolutely gorgouse and a real treasure, but also a handful. Her big sister is amazingly patient with her, and loves her to pieces. I feel like life doesn't deal you cards that you can't handle, but in this case a little help would be greatly appreciated. Sierra's mom, Your daughter most likely has sensory issues which may be the cause of her unexplained bouts of screaming, hitting..... We also had this problem with our son mostly directed at his sister (who is 6 yrs older) and myself. We just had to get her away from him and make sure we explained the reasons why to her so she didn't think it was anything she did. This gets better over time with therapies etc. but just don't allow it until then (as best you can). We have an in-home support person-behavioral specialist (BS1) who has helped us tremendously with his behavior at home (which was worse than out in public). My opinion on the potty training is this-I would wait since it seems she may not be ready. She has many other difficulties that need addressing much more than potty stuff. It will come eventually, believe me. Our son was age 5.4 before he was out of diapers but I believe that is rather late for ASD kids, especially girls. So keep your chin up on that and focus on the other stuff right now. I'm sure your pediatritions office could steer you to a specialist for that too! Good Luck and keep us posted. Hi, I am the mom of a 13 year old , 8th grader, with Aspeger's. Being labeled high functioning really doesn't not provide any benefits. He looks like he fits in at a glance, but has so many odd behaviors that he doesn't have any friends his age. We are going through therapy to try to help all the oppositional defiant behavior he has been having. I am happy to have found this board. I even saw a posting from a 30 year old. I am hear to learn as much as possible, because right now I can't see a light at the end of the tunnel for Dorian. wow mom of Dorian, You do have your hands full TEENAGER!!!!!! You are the light at the end of your sons tunnel.. The biggest thing that I have always been told is to treat these children as"normal" as possible. Dont let because he dont have friends be a crutch. he just has to find what he likes... My daughter who is 16, does not have that many friends either... she actually hangs out with girls a little younger than her(she doesnt have anything like autism) She is what they consider a Freak in school these days.. and she goes to private school and acts younger than the other girls her age(thank god for me). But these days are hard for any kid.. you just have to be there to lend a hand when they fall, and listen to them talk, and help when they ASK!!!! keep the lines open. and all will be fine.
Hey Merry, I don't know if this is a standard practice (the genetic testing for Fragile X, that is what my kids were tested for..both came back negetive) I think the reason we were refered for testing was the fact that both my children were having developmental problems. Guess they figured there had to be some kind of genetic link. There was another test that they ran that involved urine samples from the boys, but they did not have definite results from it when I talk to the genetics people last. Anyone else know more about if Genetics testing is standard for children diagnosed with autism or PDD? Hi everyone my name is Ellen. I am happy to have found this great place with all this info. My son Jake is 6 years old and has autism. It will be great to talk with some people who know what he and I are going through. You can call me Rennais. I have 2 kids (boys). One is 2 and has a diagnosis of autism ( I refer to him as Little One). The other is 6 and has a diagnosisof PDD-NOS (though I have had a few people suspect that later he will be dignosed as Asperder's. I refer to him as Frog- a nickname his grandmother gave him). We only discovered this a year ago. It's been a rough year to say the least. Just about the time I think I have a grip on the world around me I discover Idon't really. The boys have been in early intervention (Frog at age 4 and Little One at age 2). In the last year I have had so much information to process from psychologist, teachers, speech and occupational therapist, and people who think they have good advice....I think I'm tired. Frog has reasonable speech skills. Little lost all his speech when he was about age 2. We've been through genetic testing. There is no sign of genetic X. We live in Cali and have been refered to the MIND Institute (I guess it's a USC program). There's so much paperwork to do all the time. I'm not even sure how I've managed this far. I don't know if anyone will read this. I think I just needed to post it.Rennais, Ugh! paper work is really the pits!! If I had gotten paid for all the paper work I've done over the years I'd be a millionare. Do you mean Fragile X Syndrome? I have just been reading about that and it said every child with autism should be tested for Fragile X. I had never heard of it until a few months ago and my son is 9. We have never had genetic testing. Is this something most everyone here has had done? Any replies would be greatly appreciated. My name is Jerry Grasso and I have a six year old son who is mildly autistic. While he is mainstreaming more and more in parts of his life - a good thing we think, getting there has been bumpy and painful. Seems like we've read all the books, taken a number of seminars, and adapt all we have learned the best we can to the boy, but our interaction with other parents in our boat is limited. I'm hoping by joining this group, we are able to learn more about the 'everyday' dealings with parents/kids versus just the continuous 'clinical' we get from educators, doctors and therapists. Thanks, Jerry Grasso Xyy is a genetic condition. My son has an extra y chromosome on all of his genes. It is thought to be common, 1 in every 1,000 male births, but most people are never diagnosed with it. The only people that are usually diagnosed with it are those that have problems. These boys have learning difficulties, language difficulties, some have aggression problems, epilepsy is common, and they're very tall. It has been found that add/adhd, and autism/pdd kind of go along with the xyy. (at least for those that have problems) Not a whole lot is really known about it. Michelle Hi everyone,
The website Cure Autisim Now has a link to ultimatelearning.net which sells a software for children with learning disabilities, a portion of the sales go to the CAN organization. I recommend the book 'Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder' a mothers story of Research and Recovery by Karyn Seroussi, this is where I learned about DAN (defeat Autism Now)and Lisas' paper, from there to- CAN. I hope this helps.. Oh almost forgot, there is a summer Camp for autistic children been held in Dallas, TX - Camp Thunderbird- I do not have dates or fees yet but will post as soon as I get the info. Carlos' Mom! Hi, my name is Sarah. I am a 36 yr old, divorce mother of 3 daughters (previous marriage) and 1 son. My son Andrew just turned 3. He is Autistic and hyper active. The past 3 yrs have been challenging years taking care of Andrew. Everything that deals w/Andrew is a struggle. He is literally *out of control* and I stay at home for the most part because he is such a handful to take care of. I cant express how happy I am too have found this group for parents!!!!!! I want to surround myself w/people who understand what is like to deal w/this every day. It is truly a blessing for me to have found this site! :) hello my name is Julie. I live in England and i have 2 children. my youngest has Autism, and severe learning and communication delay. he is 6 next month. I find it hard at times as my son can be very demanding but i love him to bits but each new day brings challenges and im pleased i have found others to chat too here as i know no one with a disabled child where i live.thanks and look forward to chatting to you all take care Julie xxx
Hi, My son Jack is 3 and 1/2 and was diagnosed with PDD-NOS about a year ago. Actually, we started early intervention at 13 months, because PDD was suspected but since he was so young, the doctor wanted to wait before giving a diagnosis. When he was a year old, I had switched from our family doctor to a pediatrician, and the nurse practitioner we saw happened to have a son with autism, so she was aware of the signs, and recommended we get an evaluation. He received early intervention services until he was two, and from then on he has been in a special ed preschool, which has been great for him. He loves it, too! I am glad to have found this board, and look forward to chatting with you all! Jack's mom
Hi Rehana! You are sooooo NOT alone. I have my 1st eval for my 2.5yr old on Monday. I kinda know where it's going at this point. He's had early intervention for 7mos now and making huge strides everyday! He's actually starting to say "bye" to people! That's as good as it's been! My 12yr old has a PDD diagnosis but the Dr. failed to include his ADHD in his axis 1. So, after formally disagreeing with her I have yet to read the amended version. Anyway, my reason for responding is to talk about my 15yr old nephew who has asperger's. He was VERY verbal when he was an infant and a toddler, never really had a speech delay and is very intellegent. He's on the honor roll this year! He has some "quirks" but we know it's "just Stephen". There are alos some physical characteristics associated with asperger's. Check that out it too! Anyway, please feel free to get in touch. Sometimes we all need to talk. ~Allysen hello candida greene, thank you for keeping my spirits up. it is nice to hear reassurance from others out there in the world. today was my first day on this site and it made me feel a whole lot better about myself as a parent after reading a lot of postings. I wish you all the best with your son Shawn as well and thank you once again for keeping things in a positive view.
Rehana Hi I'm Sheila i have two children diagnosed with PDD-NOS. My son is 10 and my daughter is 8. I believe she is more aspergers than PPD. She is very gifted and mastered checkers at age 5 after two or three games, and recently has learned to play chess after, again two or three games. My son dianosis has been scattered with ADHD, tourettes, and now mild MR. We have searched for a diagnosis, an accurate one for the last 7 years. the battle has been very long and devistating, frustrating and is far from over. i have read some of the boards and can relate to all the other parents. I have dealt with lack of spousal support ending in divorce, to unsupporting family (most in denial till recently, my sons 10), major struggles with the school system and our local mental health agencies. To isolation and feeling all alone. I'm glad i have found this web site.hello everyone, i found this site actually today while i was googling for books on autism and i stumbled upon the remarks made in this forum from some people saying they were tired of reading all the books on autism and i started laughing to myself because i had my credit card next to me ready to order books for the first time. lets see, my son is 2 1/2 will turn three in june. he was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder in october of 2005. since then we started the early intervention, etc. and he is now in the transitioning phase getting ready for school i guess. i have to admit i still get sad when i look at him and wonder why this had to happen to him (i have a daughter who is 5 and normal and i have an eleven month old girl who i worry about everyday now since she doesnt babble that much). i guess i first want to mention that i am still kind of confused about him even though they have said he has ASD (the develop. pediatrician diagnosed him). My husband is in denial whereas i go around telling people he has autism. my husband gives me that look like "why are you telling people." his attitude is well the help isnt going to hurt him. my son has extreme language delay in my opinion. he is at a 1 year old level instead of going on three. his fine-motor skills are great but he does have sensory issues. everytime he says a new word or two together my family members say "see he is going to be fine he doesnt have autism." then i have to go through that whole "he is on the spectrum speech." but i guess what i am still confused about is because he does not have full blown autism does he have a PDD-Nos or is it asperger's syndrome. and asperger's i never heard of until his occupational therapist through out the comment that he doesn't think he has autism but asperger's. or is he high functioning autistic as another friend labeled him after watching him. i know it is stupid and i shouldnt care about a label but it kind of helps me in my mind frame. also, i can look about things in that area then. in the end i just want to help him and i am very new at this and it is hard when practically all your family members keep saying he will be fine. aside from the help he gets from early intervention and the advice from his teachers i dont have any outside friends with children with similar problems (i dont have much free time with the other two kids as well). my service coordinator even made me feel like a bad parent because i havent taken him to some mommy and me classes. but she doesnt understand my life and time that i have. i know that sounds selfish but i love my son to death. in fact this is the first time i am reaching out to people who may have an idea of what i am going through. oh well, i hope i didnt sound like someone who is just complaining i am just a little confused as to where my son stands in terms of his diagnosis. anyhow, that is a little bit about me for now ( i have to change a diaper). sincerely, rehana Hello rehana and welcome. I know what your going through. I have a 10 year old boy that they just told me has autisim. My husband thinks there is some miracle cure and if anyone knows of one send it to me..... Shawn is my middle child. I dont understand all the terms that go along with it. I suggest talking to your childs doctor. Sometimes doctors want to rush you but dont let them. Write down all your questions and dont leave till they are all answered. This is all new to me also but the one thing I can say is dont give up. My husband is going to therapy with Shawn and I hope in a way its helping them both. And please never let anyone make you feel like your a bad parent, your not. I have found that only parents of special kids understand parents of special kids. Your in my thoughts.Hello, My name is Marla and I have worked as an ABA therapist in a clinical setting for three years working with infant/toddler and preschool aged children. I found this board while searching for families to tutor for the summer. I have a Bachelor of Science degree in Therapeutic Recreation with a minor in Psychology. I have extensive experience with instruction of learning readiness, self-care, pre-academic, socialization, play, and language skills. I also have served as a shadow for typical inclusion into the community and have worked as a home tutor. I live in the Akron area am searching for families that are in need of a tutor for the summer. Hi, My name is Leanne and my second son Patrick (4 yrs old) was just diagnosed yesterday with severe Autism. My ped and I feel he is more in the moderate range. We have always known that he was different. He's just....MORE! His biggest delays are in communication and behaviour. He has a super vocabulary but doesn't communicate well with it (a lot of echolalia) and he doesn't play or interact with other children at.all. He is impulsive and doesn't understand even a little bit the concept of danger. He makes very little eye contact. He's big and strong so when we have to move him physically it is very difficult. His gross motor skills are fine and so is his learning (so far his "intelligence" is at par with his peers). His fine motor skills need work. Patrick also has epilepsy. The biggest impact in our lives has been the planning required to do anything with him. Very few ppl can watch him close enough for him to be safe and so that limits our "mom and dad" time. He really needs a hand on him all the time...literally. We've been waiting for this dx since september. Man, the red tape one has to go through just to get an asessment. We are still going through the grieving process right now and I'm just trying to reach out to others who understand. Great info btw for us newbies. Thanks! Hello, My name is Myriam my 7 year old son was dx last week with PDD-NOS. I feel lost and reliefed to know that he was misdiagnosed as mild mental retardation. His biggest problem is in speech and socialisation. I am reading Unraveling the mysatery of autism and pdd, he is off milk and dairy products WOW what a diference. We live in Dallas, Texas please if anyone knows of support groups, summer camps, schools etc. I will be forever grateful. Thanks!!! hi Myriam, i was reading your story and i was curious about you mentioning taking your son of milk and dairy products. what did you see happen???my son is 2 1/2 and has autistic spectrum disorder...his biggest problems as well are speech and socialization. i just wanted to know what happened when you took him off this stuff and for how long before you saw something happening. also what do you substitute for milk...soy??? curious friend rehana
Hi Everyone My Name is Mary. I am a stay at home mom with 2 children. I one child with autism (Aspergers Syndrome). He is very smart, he's four and reads on about a thrid grade reading level. He is just now starting to play with other children, but still would rather play by himself. He was a very quiet baby. there was not any response from him until he started speech therapy at 2 years old. He repeats alot of TV shows, websites, commericals. About 90% of his language is what he watches. Because of this he does have very limited TV time but he only has to watch it once to remember it. I also have another child who is 9 months old and we do not know what is going on with him yet. He has a gross motor and fine motor delay right now. He is a very responsive child. He will laugh when you talk to him, he will show that he recognizes me when I come into the room. The most troubling thing for me is that he is not gaining very much weight. He eats four bottles a day at 6oz and usually leaves about an ounce in the bottle. He also eats about 5 jars of baby food a day at 4oz each. He weighs only 14lbs and 8 oz. The not knowing is the worst for me. I wouldn't trade either one fo them for anything they are the cutest sweetest children you would ever meet!
Hi Rehana, We replaced the milk with soy, within the first day he was more alert. By the second day the slur in his speech was gone, he used to speak in a low soft voice, now he speaks in a normal tone and more clearly. We noticed that he no longer covers his ears when there is a loud noise. The redness in his cheeks is practically gone (wich by the way we suspected it was an allergic reaction to food since I get it when I eat too much bread) and the red/white cottage cheese like bumps on his upper arms that he had for years are gone. All this since Tuesday 5/02/06. Hello. I thought I had posted something, but maybe it didn't make it through. I am from Ottawa, and I am the mother to Clarissa, 4 1/2 who has PDD-NOS and Francesca who is one. Clarissa is in a special kindergarten with a specialized teacher getting attention to her issues. She gets some speech therapy. I'm looking forward to learning more. hi everyone, i'm Monica, I have twin boys who just turned 4. One of my sons was diagnosed with autism early last year. He has been in preschool since he was 3 and gets ABA, OT, PT and Speech. He has made super progress! He went from no words at all this time last year to at least 100 now!
Looking forward to posting here! Hi. My name is Heather, but Cafe is my usual online nick. I have fourchildren. Two girls, 13 and 11. Two boys 9 and 7. I had DS1 evaluated for ADHD and at the evaluation, they noticed some signs of PDD. DS2 has some major signs of it. I feel terrible for not getting them help sooner, especially for DS2, but I thought they would outgrow their delays. For my husband's side of the family, my boys really are pretty 'normal.' Odd and brilliant, you know. Both of them have always been personable and cuddly . . . anyway. Hindsight and all that. So now I'm trying to learn what I can and make sense of it all. To me, my boys really seem fine overall. They are a little harder to raise than my girls have been, but nothing major. I just want them to do okay in life, with other people, school, and eventually careers and families of their own. I'm reading over descriptions of autism and they seem very hard to get a grasp on. I'm hoping real people dealing with real kids can bring me a little clarity and wisdom. At this point, the school is hoping to get their evaluations done by the end of the school year so we have a handle on what to do next year. Hi, I'm new to the board and here's my story. I have 2 boys; a 7yr. old and a 4yr.old. The 4 yr. old was recently diagnosed autistic. The 7yr old is waiting to be evaluated for autism, right now I'm told he is ADHD and is on medication. I felt bad at first because I let people (family members included) tell me nothing's wrong when my gut said something was. They could have been diagnosed a long time ago but i really didn't know the signs. I just knew the 4yr old needed help because he was driving me nuts. He barely knew 10 words at 2 and was HYPERactive. I consider myself blessed because I do have 2 boys that I love so much regardless of what they are labelled. When I look at them I see my boys I don't see autism. I realize that finding out now rather than later is still a good thing and we can go down the long road of getting them the help they need and learning about autism together. Hello, My name is Trina. I have 2 beautiful boys ages 2 and 6. Today, after months of waiting, we finally got into the specialist. My youngest son was diagnosed today with PDD. I really have been eduacating myself on ausism while waiting for his appt., not sure the exact differences in the two. The dr. said he's too young to kno where he is on the spectrum, so thats why he said PDD. His father doesn't participate in his life so I kno I have a long, overwhelming road ahead and I plan to try to find "friends" on here to communicate with so I can learn as much as possible and maybe be able to help someone as well. All i kno is the next steps are OT and speech which we can't even get in for the evaluation until June. So I will probably be around askin a million questions and looking for some guidance and support!! Thank you!!!!Hey to everyone new. Welcome to the site. I hope it helps. It really has helped me and I have made some great friends, so far. Prayers for all. CandidaHi Everyone, I'm new to the group and would like to introduce myself. My name is Ann and I am currently training to be a School Psychologist. My interest in autism spectrum disorders began when my nephew Robert was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I have been immersed in the topic ever since. I'm looking for mothers of children with ASDs to participate in a study I am conducting as part of my thesis requirements. Interested moms, please email me your contact information so I can send you a packet of questionnaires - name and address, please. My email address is asirico@optonline.net Thanks. Hi. I'm Laura-Lee and the mom of an 8 year girl typical above averge and the mom of a 7 year old child who started out in this world typical until he met head on with menengitis and that changed our life as we know it for the last five years. J could talk well, toilet trained by two and social as the day was long. I once was a theripist with mainly aitistic kids so was always cautously thankful for the healthy family I had but always watching for signs. After we "lost" him - slowly the ASD symptoms appeared but it wasn't until age seven that he had behaviours and more ASD symptoms. Now I am struggling trying to figure out if it's because he's on meds now and never was before or if he just can't deal with life. He is becoming agressive, loud and defiant but on a good note he does talk more and his social awareness and eye contact are improving rapidly. Has anyone else aquired ASD in this way? Has anyone else felt that after giving meds their child's personality changed for the worse??? Help! I know I should be able to help him as a therapist but right now I am failing at most attempts but speech! Hi Laura-Lee, We tried ridlon (sp?) with our son and it did decrease his activity level but increased his autistic symptoms. He wouldn't talk to his peers and wanted to sit in the quiet corner all the time and be in his own world. I'm not totally ruling out medication in the future but right now we are not giving him the ridlon and are working on the attention and activity level other ways. hi my name is windy and i am interested in weighted blankets.. where do you find them and how do you know how much weight to put on a child.. we finally have a room for my son and he wakes up waaaaay too much the dr wants to put him on clonidine but i refused it.a ny help in this area would be helpful]thanks' breezyme Hello,My name is Stephanie and I have a 13 year old boy with moderate to mild autism,I also have a 15 year old boy that has ADHD and ODD and a 14 year old step-son that has autistic tendencies but has never been formly diagnosed.It affects your life everyday as you're constantly being the voice for these special children.They can't be advocates for themselves therefore you have to do it for them.It affects you emotionally as it becomes quite draining dealing with the self stims and behaviors.It affects you financially as you try so hard to buy educational supplies so that your child can be taught at home as well as at school.It affects your families as they don't always understand why he's doing that and why he just can't stop.It affects you because you begin to feel isolated from your family and friends.You most of the time feel that you are being misunderstood by people and the public school system.You get overwhelmed sometimes with having to be an advocate,teacher and mother.One thing that I have learned from all of this responsibility is that you can never show anybody that you feel defeated.You need to show that you believe in your child's future and that he is capable of reaching his fullest potential no matter what others think.When I first received my 13 year old son's diagnosis in 1997 I was told that he would never talk,walk or be toilet trained and to just put him in a institution and close the door and never look behind.Well I beat those odds because my son can do all those things and so much more.He just needs somebody to be patient and loving and teach him skills by breaking them down for him.I firmly believe that my son has taught many people how to look from his world.Having all these children has made me appreciate that they are truly angels from the great one above. Fedupp Dear Fedupp, I know what you mean about the isolation. I have 2 kids on the spectrum (3yr old Autistic and 6yr old PDD-NOS). We had to go to my sister's wedding yesterday(my husband had to work, so I was on my own) and I pretty much missed the ceremony because I was chasing my little one (the wedding was at a park and the arbor we were in was by the lake). My older child seemed fine playing with the other kids, but I spent hours chasing the litle one. I don't think I said more than 2 words to anyone there (including my sister and her new husband). I never got a chance to eat or enjoy a piece of cake. My mother decided I should participate in the toast so I was running around with a glass in my hand trying not to spill it. It does get isolating. Not only are your children different but the way you live and think is different than other adults. I was watching how alot of the parents there seemed to get so upset over little "misbehaviors" of thier kids and I think "Man, that's nothing, no need to get so upset". Just thought I'd let ya know we're out there with ya. Hi, I also have an 8 month old girl who is doing well and only has feeding issues - but she also has an immune deficiency. We are in the process of getting stuff set up for school. We have yet to have a meeting - and his third birthday is in June. We are prepared for a long fight because Will is SO high functioning - and he is doing SO well since we started ABA in February. I am just looking for a community where I can vent, share, laugh - ya know....just be US ........ Thanks Hi, my name is Michelle. I'm a stay at home mom with 4 children. Age range from 11 1/2 to 2. Kyle is 9 1/2 and was diagnosed with pdd-nos in 2003. He was also diagnosed with xyy syndrome last summer. This has been a very, very long and confusing road for us. Our school redid testing at my request last month. He now falls into the moderate range on the CARS scale for pdd. We also realized he is suffering from sensory issues. He is below average for his expressive language. Does not maintain eye contact, initiate or maintain conversations. Just a whole host of stuff that I used to just write off as quirks. I knew he was different when he was 2, but NO ONE would listen to me until he started school. I don't even know where to begin....my story is very long, as I'm sure all of our's are. Michelle Michelle, I know your story would not be unique as I have heard this from many moms. Our son is the youngest of 7 and so I had seen a lot before he came along and just knew I had a child who was not developing anywhere near "normally." Now that I know so much about autism and it's spectrum I know our oldest would fall on it as Aspergers and another who might also (who has mental health issues too). This is not easy but if you can find a network of professionals and families to brainstorm with and support you it will be easier. This forum (there are others out there too) has a wealth of knowledge for you. Good luck and keep visiting!! Michelle, Sorry, I meant to ask you ~ What is XYY Syndrome? Thanks! amanda, My prayer is that you are able to get him the help that he needs. Does your son recieve any other services right now speech, OT? Are you currently seeing a neurologist? Hi! I am new to this just found your site tonight. My son eli is 7 and has(not dx) aspergers. He is going to 1st grade this year with little assistance. I don't get much help at the school even though it is supposed to have an autism specialist there.I hope that I can find some comfort in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you d Hi, I am new to your forum . I am a mother of 2 autistic boys 10 and 12 years old. The youngest boy is non-verbal and not toliet trained and the older boy is high functioning. I just want to see what people are talking about.
I am going to the CURE AUTISM NOW walk in Chicago next Sunday. I hope we can find out what causes autism. As you know one out of 166 children are diagnosed . Hi my name is Kim and I have three children D.J. 14, Sarah who is 12 and diagnosed with MR, and Emily 9 almost 10 who was diagnosed with Autism when she was 8. I have only been on here about a week, but you have all helped me so much! I have very supportive people in my life but it is nice to talk to people who really get it. Anyway I am divorced and doing this on my own, because dad has some things he needs to overcome the kids do not go to his house but I supervise visits with him so its just us. I work part time and go to college. I am very blessed to work at my church and I can work around Emily's schedule and take her with me when I need to. Besides the Autism, Emily has terrible migraines that cause her to vomit all day long she misses between 30 and 40 days of school a year. Anyway I feel very blessed that I can support my family and be there for Emily. It is great to be on board! TandNmom, Thank you for your prayers!! He met all requirements to be released from speech and the teacher even said his english was so proficient that he should never have been in there anyway. OT isn't really needed either he had alot of that in pre-k. As far as a neurologist, no I can't seem to find one that I can be satisfied with. I am so frustrated with our school system, because he is high fuctioning they seem to focus thier only attention on the lower fuctioning children and he gets left out. He is capable of going to class on his own but sometime he needs guidance and they are not giving him any. He is supposed to be working on his socialization skills but they don't do anything in thier but put in videos and let him play computer. They are supposed to have him doing therapy throughout the day but no such luck. ...My name is Pattie, and I'm a mother of a wonderful 10 year old daughter that was diagnosed with PDD NOS a few years ago. My daughter is very high functioning. And very intelligent at the academic level. And very creative. Most people that peripherally know my daughter, say that you would only think she is an 'odd' child. Only people that have really gotten to know her have been able to see the effects of autism in her. Right now, she is fighting her therapies. She has a mobile therapist, a theraputic staff support person (a therapist of sorts), and she goes to an afterschool program three days a week for more therapy. At the moment, she does not want to do any of these things, and does not understand why she must do so. So I'm looking for information on how to explain PDD NOS to a child that has been diagnosed with it. I feel certian, that once explained, and understood, she won't fight it as much. However, I am having no luck in finding any web sites, or books, or anything geared towards autistic children for their understanding of the disorder. Anyway, I'd better stop now, before I turn this post into a biography of her life. Thanks for letting me join! Pattie Hi, I have 2 boys, ages 8 and 4. My 8 year old is a very intelligent 2nd grader (honor roll, no problems). However, my 4 year old has some problems. First of all he has been in speech therapy since he was 2. His speech now is almost normal. The speech problem was related to a hearing problem that was resolved with tubes. He has always had behavioral problems at home and daycare. They are better at daycare now. Here are his problems: 1) he has a real memory problem, it takes him a long time to remember names of other people, etc. 2) he doesn't identify letters or numbers (he can count to 10 and partially say his ABC's, he will be 5 in July and start kindergarten) 3) he asks silly questions (he just got a haircut this weekend, and he asked me the next morning, do I still have my haircut?) 4) he wants you to answer him or he continues to talk about the same thing 5) things are really hard to explain to him Does this sound like autism? Some days he seems completely normal. He likes to play with the kids in his class, no trouble with eye contact, no trouble with sleeping or eating.. I go back and forth believing he has autism or adhd (he is quite hyper). Thanks for any info you can provide.
Hi, My name is Kim and I have a 9 year old ds (ASD) and a 17 year old ds (nt). Yds is verbal, attends school (ESE) and gets ABA and lang. therapy. He does fine at school, but at home we are dealing with aggressive behavior. We always said no meds, but ended up giving them a try after he broke our sliding glass doors and put holes in the walls, ect. He is taking Straterra and Tenex and it has helped a lot, but still has "spurts" of aggression. This happens when our plans change (even though I try my best to warn him), if we say no to him and when he's frustrated. His teacher told me the worst he's ever done at school is roll his eyes toward the ceiling and growl at her. With dh and I, he hits,kicks and pinches us (mostly me). Anyway, can't wait to get to know you guys! moms~angel (he is an angel most of the time)
Hi everyone, I am the mother of two children, my son is almost 4 with autism and my daughter is almost 7, probably en route to an aspergers diagnosis but pretty NT most times. My son was diagnosed right around his 2nd birthday. He is in a 40 hour ABA program with 10 of the hours spent in a "typical" preschool with a shadow aide. He receives speech therapy too. He is GFCF and that has been helpful for him. I'm happy to find this forum. I have been browsing (lurking? I don't know) and am learning so much and enjoying reading all the posts. It's amazing how much I still have to learn. Nice to "meet" everyone! MCA2 I suppose I should properly introduce myself after coming on earlier today for other reasons. I am Tom, Candy26's husband and father of Leo and Jade. I am 27 years old and am currently serving in the United States Air Force. I have not come on this board ever mostly because I have been busy with deployments, my education, and other military related duties. I feel very |
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Hi,
Sorry.... 
. My three youngest are so full of energy that they could make a sane person crazy
. My boys are a handful and then some, but I have no regrets and I am not sad for my life. I don't pity myself. I love my boys with all my heart
, )and her brother was one of those "late talkers" who turned out fine, so I continued in denial until she turned 2 and I realized she was unhappy most of the time and so was I. I went back to my ped and we were able to get her in to be evaluated remarkably quickly due to it being summer- I started the process in June, EI evaluated her in July and qualified her for some services through them and then our health sciences university has a child development clinic specifically for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment of developmental disorders, so we got her in there. It wasn't a surprise when they came back and told us autism, but I feel like my heart broke that day and I'm trying to find the pieces. But she's pretty high functioning- has some words and one or two phrases ("I watch Blue's Clues") that she uses without prompting and she seeks out our interaction, so I have a lot of hope as to what proper therapy can do for her.
off to you 
!) My son was just diagnosed with Mild/Moderate Autism in July 2005. However, my husband and I knew that something was wrong when he was 15 months old. After a visit to the pediatrician for a series of vaccinations, approximately four to five days later, my son laid down for a nap and when he awoke, he was no longer speaking. Thereafter, we saw every doctor that was available but to no avail. We were told by several docs that he would grow out of it. 
