| Name: goodmommyof2 | Date: Apr 7th, 2007 10:56 PM |
| Don't apologize, you are not being narrow minder or ignorant. These are normal concerns of a mother with a child with special needs. My son is 7 and was just diagnosed with Autism. I have the same concerns. But rest assure my son is showing growth in the classroom, he isnt on the same level as the other kids in his class but he does improve just at a slower pace. He does particiapte in Title 1 and we may eventually get him a private tutot but his teachers see no reason that he can't excel in the classroom with everyone else. So hang in there. I am furtinate that my son is vocal but I have worked with lots of autistic adults in group homes and I do know that with the proper support even the severe cases can be taught how to live and function. One last piece of advice. I know stress can make you unable to sleep and unable to eat but trust me taking care of yourself will make taking care of your son a lot easier so talk to a doctor if you have to for your own health. ↑ |
| Name: ltl | Date: Apr 10th, 2007 3:15 AM |
| Thank you goodmommyof2!! ↑ |
| Name: shanak10 | Date: Apr 11th, 2007 1:43 AM |
Hello Sid and all of you parents of autistic children,
I am not sure if you had a chance to watch Oprah last week. She had a special show about autism. One of the points that she brought was the increase in autism. A doctor on the show commented that the reason might be the huge amount of chemicals that we use in our household. I have done some research about it and found some testimonials from people who stopped using all those harmfull chemicals in their home and the benefits they saw regarding their autistic children. If you would like me to email me some of the testimonials please email me at [email protected] and I will forward the testimonials to you.
Wishing you all the very best and strength,
Shoshana ↑ |
| Name: spongebob | Date: Apr 15th, 2007 10:13 AM |
Hi
I have two children who have over their short lives been diagnosed as autistic and adhd. The most important advice I can give is NEVER GIVE UP! and never accept the advice given by your doctors. Believe me after the last three years I will never again just accept the opinion of one doctor. My second daughter lost all her speech at 15 months and then went into her own world and I could yell her name behind her and she could not here me, she used to wander and spin round and round in circles etc etc etc etc!!!!! We put her on a total gluten and dairy free diet (which I used to joke about someone at my kindergarten taking on for her problem son) you must be very very strict on this diet and stick with it for a number of months for full results but they are extremely worth while!!!!! We also sent her to the Pfeiffer clinic in the US which was a big help and they put her on B12 injections, recommmended ambrotose from Mannatech which has been fantastic and other compounded supplements. Through a combination of all these we now have a little girl who has come on enormously and no longer spins and wanders and whose speech as come on extremely well.
I also have a younger son who at about 14 months also began to regress, he lost all his words, began to handflap, become extremely obsessive over some toys, hid from us and eventually did not recognise me. After many hours of research I found a book which I would recommend every parent of an autistic child must read."Biological treatment for autism and PDD by William Shaw. This most amazing book saved my son. The main fact I gained from this book was that many children with Autism have yeast infections in their gut and recommendations of NYSTATIN (a godsend to my son) in relatively high doses killed off the infection which has caused leaky gut which led to peptides damaging the brain. No peptides, meant no damage to the brain which meant after 2-3 weeks a normal child. Hard to believe but very very very true. I am just so so grateful for this wonderful book .I look at him and cannot believe the transformation. He is also on the gluten dairy free diet. Feel free to email me [email protected] ↑ |
| Name: spongebob | Date: Apr 15th, 2007 10:22 AM |
| Gluten and dairy free are good but soy can be just as big a problem and to begin with you may need to take that out of his diet too ( for several months maybe). ↑ |
| Name: ltl | Date: Apr 20th, 2007 2:12 AM |
| Hi Spongebob, you had mentioned high dose injection of nystatin, do you know of any possible harmful side effect? How do they measure dossage?...by body weight? ↑ |
| Name: Kirsty | Date: Apr 20th, 2007 9:40 AM |
| Hi Itl and others. I’m Kirsty and I work in a residential school for children with autism. Their ages range from 8 to 23yrs. However I hope you can find some of my suggestions helpful. When you speak to him remember what puddin said and go down to his level speaking to him with slow clear instructions and always use his name first so he knows you’re speaking to him also allow him time to process what it is you’re saying. Intensive interaction is really good check out www.davehewett.com or google intensive interaction. It is an approach to teaching the pre-speech fundamentals of communication to children. Also I wouldn’t worry about his spinning or lining up cars besides if you did discourage it I’m sure he would find something else to do. One boy I worked with liked to post things behind radiators well his mother decide to put a radiator covers on throughout the house only to find the next morning he had posted all her panties out the bedroom window. Either way try not to worry to much there are always ways to help you help him and somtimes you see progress then sometimes they have dips. Anyway you know everyone is here. Chin up :) ↑ |
| Name: kathy hudgens | Date: Apr 21st, 2007 5:52 AM |
| Its ok to feel worried autism isnt a death sentence . my son is 8 years old and he started out in a early education program at 4 he did that until he was 5 then he went to a regular school that offered special services they had a class just for kids that had special needs and that is where they learn how to behave in a regular class. not all kids will make it out of those special classes some kids need a special teachers aid to go to the regular class with them and some can go alone . Not to be rude I think you should spend your time thinking about how wonderful your child is and not how he is embarrassing you he may not ever be as smart as you want him to be ,but he can live a happy life and be a productive person .I just never understood other parents who would say things like my dreams for them have been shattered , get over it and start focusing on whats real not what you think it should have been I have a mildly autisitic son and not once did I sit around saying why me Im proud of my son and wouldnt change a thing about him he came out of me just the way he was soposed to I dont sit around praying for a cure I do pray that I give him the best life has to offer and its no easy job ive had to go to more doctors than I can count Ive had people come into my home to work with my son Ive had to hire an attorney to fight the school system to provide basic rights he deserved like P.E ART MUSIC so if I was you I would stop thinking about the life you dreamed you would have and start thinking about the life you have right now .Its not as bad as you might think Autisitic children are very special you need to except that he is different if you sit around comparing him to other kids and what he is not doing yet you will miss out on all the wonderful things he is able to do .my son had very little speech when he was little and one day he just stopped talking all togather he didnt start talking again until he was 4 thats when he said his name for the first time .I learned early on to focus on what he could do and just be happy with that .I will tell you how I got my son diagnosis I wrote down on a piece of paper all the odd things he did there were 57 things on that list it described who my son was I wrote every little thing I could think of it took me a week to do this I added new things everyday I didnt know what else to do my son couldnt talk and I knew when I went to the doctor all they would see was a 4 year old who couldnt talk I was his voice the doctor read my list and said your son is autistic I was releaved because I had the answer I needed so try making a list it will help you alot the sooner you get help for him the more he will be able to adjust to life ask the doctor about a sensory diet it has nothing to do with food it helps you learn how to touch your child and how to calm them when they are overstimulated your little boy may actout when he gets a little older due to the lack of speech they tend to get very angry because they cant communiate its important to learn skills that help them relate to the world around there a system call THE PICTURE ICON SYSTEM when speech is delayed you make flach cards with daily living items on it the pictures should be very simple such as a picture of food ,drink, toys and stuff like that they can pick up those cards and tell you, what they need it will be the same method teachers will use .my best advice for you is knowledge is power if you learn everything you can your fight wont be so hard Im still learning new things all the time and Ive been dealing with this for 8 years it does get better just love your son for who he is and you wont be disappointed . acceptance is the only way to find peace in your heart again life dose go on its just different . ↑ |
| Name: llpost03 | Date: May 9th, 2007 1:48 AM |
Why would all your hopes and dreams for him be shattered?
I am a mom of a 3 1/2 autistic little boy who is the wonderment of my life. I can't imagine a life with him being any different than who he is. You said that you made the diagoses, I would reconsider dwelling on that until you do have him evaluated by the Ped's development team.
I've known that my son was "different" since birth, but it wasn't until the offical DX was given that I realized that he's no different than he was before the DX. To me the only thing that may change will be the help he will get down the road.
He is now in a SPED preschool program with speacking children and it's night and day from the time he started in Oct 06.
I will not know if he will ever be in a mainstream school or not, he is just to young to make that predicition now and if I did that I could be setting not only myself, but him up for a let down.
Only God knows what is in store for him and I truly believe God chose me as his mother because I will love him no matter what....There is no if and or butt's about it. He is what he is and to me, dwelling or being heartbroken will only cause hurt and tension and your child will feel it 100%.
I don't mean to sound harsh, so please don't take it that way.
The best advice I ever got was to build my child up, don't cry him down with tears, you will flood him out with sorrow. ↑ |
| Name: puddin | Date: May 10th, 2007 6:14 AM |
I don't think it is wrong to say that your "plans and dreams were shattered". It is what you were feeling at the moment when you realized that your child may have more struggles than other "typical" children. It is easier when they are younger, but once they enter mainstream school the reality is there that they learn differently. My child is now 7 and he tells me he does not want to be different than other children. But he is. I don't love him less and am very protective over his feelings and happiness. He has dreams of what he would like to be when he grows up and I want to help him realize those dreams. So we choose to keep him in mainstream school and we make double the effort that typical children do to keep up at school.
I too went through a "mourning period" when he was first diagnosed for the son I thought I would have. But I did not drown my child in tears, I became more protective and proactive in making the best life for him with the knowledge that he needs extra help and love. ↑ |
| Name: ltl | Date: May 11th, 2007 3:11 AM |
| THANK YOU PUDDIN!!! I was in a "state of shock" when I first found out about my son. He is my first and only, and naturally, all parents want their kids to be healthy and "typical". As you said, I don't love my son any less, I was just overwhelmed with the initial realization. I am proactive, thus, I enrolled him in private preschool for typical kids so that he can be around typical kids for modeling, and he is also in private school for kids that are on the spectrum. He is also in speech thearpy 3 times/week and ocupational therapy once/week per the developmental pediatrician request. Although my son is extremely busy, I also made a conscious decision to have fun and play with my son and not consume myself with his condition as to pass up his toddler years. :-) I am feeling much better now and am accepting my son's condition. He's been in therapy and schooling for kids on the spectrum for a little more than 2 months now and he is making an amazing and rapid improvements. I also have accepted that we have to work twice as hard than the "typical kids" do but as long as we are doing something about it, it's very comforting. Thank you all for taking the time and reading my posting. ↑ |
| Name: ltl | Date: May 11th, 2007 4:36 AM |
| Hi Puddin again, from our previous conversation, you had given me an advice on how to perhaps gain eye contact with my son. In the past, I normally get down to his eye level only when giving him kisses or receiving kisses from him. So when I started to do as you advice and everytime I get down to his eye level to speak to him, he either give me kisses or turn his cheek toward me to receive kisses....so much for eye contact huh, haha. Actually it's getting better now, he's giving me more fleeting glances, but that's more than before. Also, when I said "look at me", he would, but briefly, and I'm so thrilled because at least he understood that command, and it will be just time before he may maintain eye contacts...Thanks again Puddin for your advice!!! ↑ |
| Name: terridell | Date: May 18th, 2007 4:57 AM |
| Please don't apologize for any of your feelings. When my grandson was diagnosed as moderate to severe on the ASD, I burst into tears immediately, and must admit that I grieved for 2 1/2 years. But I also read, studied and constantly searched to learn as much as I could about the disorder. One of most comprehensive books I ever read was "The World of The Autistic Child" by Bryna Siegel, PhD. In Chapter 6 she explains the complete grief cycle that parents and family members suffer after the diagnosis over the loss of our "ideal child". This helped me tremendously -- not only to understand my grief, but also to understand my daughter's denial. We all have our own ways of coping. I recommend the book. I recommend you take care of yourself and start eating and getting sleep as best you can. If you need to and are able, get some counseling to help. Your son needs you. I can worry with the best of them. Please try not to. Count your blessings. Your are fortunate to have an ABA school available to your son. He interacts with you. He is picking up new words. Slowly is the key to this whole trip. That is truly a very good thing. Spend as much floor time with him as you can. It's good for both of you. My grandson has made tremendous progress. He is now nearly 5 yrs old, beginning to talk, interacts with us and other children, plays games with me on the computer. At 2-1/2 he was completely inside of himself, self-stimming with his hands like a bizarre puppet show. Even just last summer I could visit him at his house and he would act like he didn't know I was there, would not even look up when I came in or left. Now he makes eye contact, says "Grandma", and cries when I leave. Try to take it a day at a time. Slowly but surely. I know it's tough now, but it will get better. My email is [email protected] ↑ |
| Name: C. Allen | Date: May 24th, 2007 10:34 PM |
| Hey, I have a son who is 5 on the Spectrum. He has been doing intensive therapies for over two years. He didn't talk when he started, and now he talks all the time! Just believe in him, and get him as much help as possible!!! Tharapies are expensive, and being a single mom, I got Medical Assistance for him. You may want to try that route. Keep your head up, my son will be starting Kindergarten this fall! He has made tons of improvements!!! ↑ |
| Name: ltl | Date: May 25th, 2007 2:55 AM |
| Hi C. Allen, I'm so happy to see that your son is doing well!! Will he still be in therapy throughout kindergarden? Thank you for your support! ↑ |
|
|
