wow! I've been reading here and can't believe that I didn't find you all before! You all seem so informed and compassionate! :)
I am Diana and my son, Nathan- age 4.5, is suspected to be autistic but we can't get in anywhere to have him tested for another 6 months. We have always known that something was different with him but we just didn't know exactly what. He did see a developmental ped when he was about 2 but at that time he was too young to get a clear picture and he was labled PDDNOS- I know that this is in the autistic spectrum but I really think that we can have a much clearer picture now and the NOS part just really irks me. I know it's trivial but 'not otherwise specified' isn't good enough for me. Why don't they just name it for petes sake! ;)
Anyway, here is a little about my son.
He was born with Craniosynostosis (premature fusion of the plates of the scull) of the right coronal suture (near the temple). He had a section of his scull removed at the age of 8 weeks and wore a corrective helmet for one year after that. He is globally delayed and has been in various therapies since he was 3-4 months old. (GOD BLESS EASTER SEALS!)
Nathan will only eat a few things (mainly peanut butter and chocolate) and I'm sure that that is contributing to his peculiar behaviors like lining things up in a precise order, chewing on and trying to eat non food items (PICA)- having blood work done soon for that, temper tantrums steming from changes in schedule or inability to express himself- he does have some words but finds it hard to bring up the right ones when he needs them (apraxia/dyspraxia), laughing hard at nothing, inability to calm himself, etc. He is fairly social though- that's about the only thing I see that doesn't really fit with classic autism (IMO)
I am now trying to learn everything I possibly can about autism in efforts to help my son as best I can. He was in school until Christmas break but I took him out after learning some disturbing things about his teacher (she put an austic child in time out- in another room w/ her only assistant- for an hour and a half out of a 2 and a half hour day!) so I am now home schooling him until that teacher is replaced -hopefully by the end of the year. If not, I will send him to another school next fall.
Well, I have more messages to read and learning to do here so i will sign off for now but I'm sure I'll be around with many qustions! :)
God Bless you all!
Diana ↓
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