Who in your life is or may be autistic?

Give a bit of info about your loved one, without revealing anything that you wouldn't want to be public information, this is after all an online venue.

My youngest nephew, age 6, has autistic tendencies. 

His parents (now divorced) were worried around the age of three because he simply wasn't talking as much as they thought he should and wasn't very interested in socializing with other kids or even adults.

At that point he was too young to diagnose, but they were able to enroll him in a special school program with extra hours of instruction and that has helped him tremendously.

He's still in a special school program but apparently next year he is on schedule to get mainstreamed.  This is both exciting and very scary at the same time.  I have distinct recollections of how mean kids can be both deliberately and inadvertently.

His grandpa thinks that there is a cause from when he was first born and had an undiagnosed pneumonia for a long time.  I think any improvement for him will just improve his future.

So I wrote a post this morning, and I just logged in and wondered why it wasn't here.  Then I remembered that my 8-year-old (the child in question for this group) woke up and I had to drop everything and give him his meds because he wakes up at about 140 decibels and I didn't want him to wake up everyone in the house (too late).  Then, of course, I got distracted by something shiny (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree) and left my unfinished post.

So, anyway, I have three children:  My 10-year-old daughter (who has some Aspergian tendencies, and has an IEP, but is mostly neurotypical, if that makes sense), my 8-year-old son with Aspergers Syndrome (and ADD and anxiety), and my 2.5-year-old who has so far shown absolutely no signs of any autism spectrum disorder.  As a matter of a fact, my 2.5 year old remembers all names and faces of everyone he meets, and is probably the most social person in the family.  Which, for my family, isn't really saying a whole lot, but you get the drift.

We knew that my son, whom I'll call Joe, was unique at about age three.  We went through more specialists than I can remember, including having his hearing tested, testing for developmental delays, etc. before he was finally diagnosed at age 6 by Alexander Center in Eden Prairie.  We moved to Minnesota from Virginia in 2005 when he was 4.5.  The services available in Minnesota have been phenomenal, as have the schools. 

Right now, we're taking life one day at a time.

My son was diagnosed with Asperger back in April.

Between the age of one and two, he suddenly stop his babbling and didn't talk again. He was extremely afraid and stresses of his surrounding and people that he was not familiar with.

However, once we figured out how to get him interested in learning through visual and touch combined, he blossomed, though he still was not interested in socializing. Because he was so hungry at learning, that we did not paid much attention to his fear of socializing, thinking that he will get over it.

Whe the preschool he went to, expressed concern regarding his behavior at school, we decided to have him tested. After 2 long years, he was finally diagnosed with Asperger.

He is now in public school system in the regular classroom and receiving services as well. He is taken out for reading because of his level and they are trying to find a math group that he could join as well. He wanted so badly to have a friend of his own, but he is in essence still learning how to be friend very slowly. 

It really saddenned my heart to see him coming home crying because no one would play or talk with him, because he sometimes couldn't control his impulses and/or say what is in his mind without thinking.

Hopefully I can find some tips or ways to help him along.  

I worked as an ABA behavior instructor for autistic children and it profoundly changed who I am.  I was so touched by the kids I've met and worked with, the families that I've gotten to know, and even though I went into the job thinking I was going to be helping these kids, I know they were the ones helping me, which is a huge blessing.

Now, I'm looking into programs to go back to school and start in the hopes of getting board certified in behavior analysis.  I would be honored to work with kids like this in the future.

Wow.  All I can say is thank you, from all the parents of kids you work with.  It is professionals like you who help us get through each day.   You are very special.

Hi everyone. My name is Hillary and my son Zachary has mild autism. He was diagnosed PDD-NOS (the cop-out diagnosis) at 3. He is now 7. He's been in therapies and special schools since then. Now he is in a mainstream 1st grade class, no special ed. He still does group speech and OT after school to help with his language and motor skill issues.

My problem is he's overweight too. Kids with autism are usually REALLY rigid picky eaters and so is he. Unfortunately, all he likes is crap. I've tried the substitution route (veggie burgers, veggie chicken nuggets, etc.) but he KNOWS the difference. So now he's about 10 pounds overweight.

I'm trying to lose my weight and live an example of a healthy lifestyle for him, but he really couldn't give two sh*ts when we discuss "getting healthy". I'm working on it with his OT therapist and I'm fervently trying to find some kind of excersize type class for him, to no avail. We tried Martial Arts but he didn't have the focus for it.

Sometimes, you gotta make 'em do what they don't wanna do, unfortunately.  When I was working with kids, I had a lot of ones that didn't like to do work at the table, but they had to do it anyway. 

One thing that REALLY helped with some of our difficult kiddos was a choice board.  Pictures of things they like to do (video games for 10 minutes, dancing, bubbles, etc.).  That way, when they were being fussy about what they were supposed to do, we could ask them "What do you want to work for?" to motivate them into working.  Often times, if they got fussy during work, we'd say, "Remember, we're working for bubbles/dancing/songs/etc." and that helped too.  Other times, not so much, but that's when ya gotta lay down the law, so to speak.  It's tough, especially when kids are screaming and being uncooperative, but autistic kids can "spontaneously recall" bad behavior, so the more consistent YOU are the better.  It's tough, but I know you can do it, especially since your son has made so much progress!  Something like the choice board might help with your son.  If he eats his veggies, 10 minutes of video games.  Basically, rewarding the good behavior while he gets used to it.  Autistic kids are so much in need of structure and rigidity that change can be very upsetting.  He just needs to get used to eating good foods, it seems.  But until then, every time you give him the junk food, it's going to make it harder for him in the long run to eat good food, which means it will take that much longer.

Good luck, though!  Let me know how things go or if I can help in some way.

Hi, I'm Stacy and I have 2 on the spectrum.  My oldest was finally diagnosed (dx'ed) at age 18 with Aspergers and my youngest (5.5) has been classified as on the spectrum, but they are unsure of where to put him yet. He goes for further testing through a school setting in Sept 09.  The youngest doesnt' talk to be understood. He has been dx'ed with expressive language disorder. They know he can understand, he just can't talk very well.  He is in' a special Kindergarden that has and slp, ot, pt etc.  He was also dxed with mild/moderate mobility issues. As far as they know he is super flexible and it's causing problems with his muscles, ligaments, etc.

ok, so now that I've bored you through this long winded message, I'm just happy to be able to talk to someone who is going through or has gone through what I'm going through.

Hi Stacy!  Welcome to our group! 

I am the mother of an 8 year old diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.  Anyone here knows the challenges of caring for a special needs child, much less finding time to care for ourselves.  I am trying to fit me in and drop 10 pounds, the same 10 pounds I have been trying to drop for years!  I am hoping to gain support and encouragement!

God Bless!

I go to church with a little boy who has Asperger's and worked with him from age 3 on (he is now 13), and am also an ABA therapist. I worked with a 10-year-old for about five months and am now working with 8-year-old twins. I am about to graduate from my undergrad program and am planning on going into ASD research and/or becoming an ABA consultant.

Original Post by spillary1:

I'm trying to lose my weight and live an example of a healthy lifestyle for him, but he really couldn't give two sh*ts when we discuss "getting healthy". I'm working on it with his OT therapist and I'm fervently trying to find some kind of excersize type class for him, to no avail. We tried Martial Arts but he didn't have the focus for it.

 Do you guys have a trampoline or someplace to put it? I worked with a little boy who wasn't that into (and partly unable to be into) exercising but he really enjoyed jumping. We liked it because it helped him expend some energy but he was really into the sensory aspect. It's a thought.

Hi, I'm Louise and I have three children:- Jonas is 12 and has ADHD, ACD and we suspect OCD and ODD; Charlotte is 10 and although she has really good grades at school I think she also has ADHD, she certainly never shuts up from wake up to bed time; and Ryan is 3 1/2 has Di George Syndrome, Epilepsy, and Austism.

Ryan was diagnosed aged 18 months after 28 fits in 9 months, he is currently at nursery 5 mornings a week with a nursery nurse at a helper and seems to be coming on gradually.

Jonas was finally diagnosed last year, and what a sigh of relief I felt when he was diagnosed. I had always been made to feel like a neurotic mother and that I was a bad parent because of Jonas' behaviour, I was sent on so many parenting courses by social services that I began to feel unfit to be a parent. We still have loads of problems with school due to behaviour, and at home these problems get worse as I can not split myself in three to give all the children constant attention.

I am trying to get help from outside sources but being thwarted with every turn and a lot of the time not being listened to, but I will continue to persist I am sure they will get fed up with me eventually and will help.

Hello, I'm Mindy and I Have 3 kids John is 11 on Sunday has Asperger's and epilepsy, Yvonne 10 is fine and they both with my ex, my youngest is J.T. he is 4 and is a high functioning Autistic, he lives with and does not belong to my ex.

Both of boys were diagnosed about the same time, close to a year and half ago.

So far with all of the testing, J.T.'s autism is not genetic.

I live with my boyfriend and J.T. and every other weekend J.T. visits his father.

J.T. is also in Pre K special education school.

Mindy

Hi Mindy I am new here,will be a week on Sunday