Anyone out there have a child with autism?

Question:I am so worried that my 3 year old son has some kind of form of autism. His dr. wants him to be evaluated. Could someone out there tell me what life is like having a child with autism, and how did you first know something was out of the norm with them?



Answers:
My nephew is autistic, and i believe he was dignosed about the age of 3. He is an extreme case. He is now 5. He still talks very little, and he has a lot of difficulty with change. For example, he has pinkeye right now, and it has been a madhouse here just trying to get eyedrops in his eyes.

He is very bright, however. He is very stubborn, and cries for hours on end if he doesn't get his way. He is not antisocial, but has a lot of trouble sharing things like toys. He sometimes daydreams so deeply that even loud noises don't shake him from them. He seems to function rather well most of the time. Just doesn't deal well with things he's not used to. He picks up on some things faster than most kids. Like the fact that he no longer calls his mother mommy. He calls her by her first name, because that is what we all call her.

He sees a speech therapist and and an occupational therapist, and it was his OT that originally pointed out signs. He said the first clue was that when he looked at something new, he held it close to his face and wiggled his fingers on it. Sometimes he just waves his fingers in front of his face like he's holding something we can't see. Another sign (or so his mother tells me) is that he seems to "talk" in his own language. Seems like babble to me, but he also seems to have his own certain words or noises from certain things.

May not be a lot of help in your own situation, but this is what I have observed.
Your doctor can help find out what the concerns are. They are often quite 'normal' but can be a handfull. If you are concerned about how to parent and care contact a disabilities resource center like DDRC in Colorado.
My newphew has Austism.
We knew when my son was 3 that he was 'different'. He has Asperger's which is high functioning autism. He will be going to high school next year and will be in all regular ed classes. he has never had any problems academically, but he does not have any friends. He has trouble socially. My suggestion is to just take things one step at a time. Everything will be ok.
My helpers grandson is 18 years old and was diagnosed when he was around that age. It is hard to believe there is anything wrong with him. He converses, runs marathons, and works. He is as normal as you or me. As most diseases, autism has a lot to do with your reactions and treatment of the child. Go to goggle search and type in autism or autism parents, or autism research, whatever your educational need is for this health problem. You must find a support group for you. Remember, your actions will reflect on his actions and growth. Read.
I don't have a personal child with autism, but I am a teacher and have had several autistic children in my classroom. Autism is a huge umbrella word. What I mean is that there are many different types/forms of autism, and also a huge range in severity. Autism covers a very broad spectrum. Thus, it is often called the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Without knowing your child, and not having spent anytime with him it would be hard to give any advice about his developmental gains or lack there of. Go to the Yahoo or Google search bar on your computer and type in Autism. You will get worlds of really good info. I pasted 2 sites below. From my own experience with the autistic children I have taught, they are generally very smart kids. All of the ones I have worked with have had trouble with social interaction and preferred to be left alone. They have all had some form of speach problems, some worse than others. They all had a very hard time with transition/change. They were easily fixated on something. I had one child who was fixated on the weather. He would constantly ask if it was raining or lightning. Another was fixated on playing games. Another was a wiz at reading words out of text or in text for that matter, but when reading text could not comprehend. He could read sight words as fast as you could throw them at him. Another was fixated on making things/inventing. None of them ever liked to have to stop doing a task and begin another without first finishing the first. They would become very aggitated. They usually want to be a perfectionsit at what they like doing. They often like to parrot what they hear. Have him evaluated. If it turns out he does have a form of autism, don't panick. There are so many great teachers, programs, thearapist and specialist to help you learn to work with children with autism and learn ways to teach them. If he does have autism, become an advocate for his education. And don't wait until he turns 4-5 to begin kindergarten. Start right now! Don't beat your self up over it, and don't go into denial. This will only delay the learning process for him. All children have a window of opportunity or learning. He is in his at this moment and it will have its greatest impact on him from now until about the age of 6-7. Educate yourself, so you can do the best for him. God Bless you and your child!
My 3 year old son is autistic and I am; by profession, an Autism Parent Consultant.

Autism is not a death sentence! Our son has brought so many gifts into our lives. Some of the "biggies" are : patience, tolerance, faith, strength, compassion for EVERYONE and reflection on ourselves as human beings.
I thank God everyday he just has autism and not an incurable, life threatening, disease.

There are financial strains, changes in sleep, and guilt, stress, worry at first. Our son is the youngest of 4 children. We had to learn to take time for our other children so they would feel "special" too. We had to learn to ask for and accept help from family and friends. We had to sacrifice outings because we had to train a babysitter, use family members or take our son. We have to explain to people why he doesn't answer them. We had to become advocates and warriors to fight for the medical and educational rights our son deserves.

Of all of these things, NOTHING outweighs the pure blessing he has been in our lives..I hope you can feel that way too should you have an autism diagnosis.

Best wishes!
My brother seemed to be developing normally until he was about 3 years old. Then it seemed he started regressing. He wouldn't make eye contact with anyone, wouldn't talk (not even baby gibberish), didn't seem to hear when he was talked to. He "ignored" anyone who talked to him so much that we almost thought he was deaf. He lined up anything he could get his hands on. He lined up Legos and sugar packets for HOURS, sometimes by shape, sometimes by color and it had to be precise or he would scream for more hours. Tantrums are another thing too, at first. Not regular tantrums but autistic kids scream during tantrums like a killer is after them. They get so frustrated because they don't understand when someone tells them "no", not because these kids are selfish or bad kids, but because autism is a condition that effects the part of the brain that handles communication (both verbal and physical/body language). They don't understand the meaning of "no". They don't understand why they can't have something, even if it's dangerous. They just want it and see you as denying it to them for no reason. Autistics usually have little or no sense of social behavior. Autism is a problem with communication and intrepretation. Autistics fail to even understand their own emotions and how to react to their own feelings. They are not "retarded" as autism is not directly linked to the intelligence of a person. In fact, a good deal of autistics are savants(look up "autistic" on YouTube, there are some amazing videos by autistics that will blow your mind). The reason people assume those affected with autism are retarded is because since autistics cannot communicate, how can they be taught in school? It takes years to help an autistic communicate on their own and then, they can be educated. Autism also affects boys more than it does girls. I read something recently that says it has something to do with estrogen protecting the brain.
There's so much more to tell but these are just a few of the signs that your boy may be autistic.
Life with an autistic family member, for me because my brother is a mild case, is still very hard but I'm so grateful he isn't more severe. Day to day life can become aggrivating for everyone because of an autistic's rituals and habits that seem absurb to us. For example, in There's A Boy In Here (a must read if your child is austic), when the guy was a child he would throw tantrums if water was put on the table at restaurants because to him, water was tasteless and thus undeserving of being served with food and the fact that no one else could understand this, as he was unable to communicate it, made him incredibly frustrated. Other kids, due to their personal daily rituals, must have a certain number of waffles every morning or may put their clothes on in a certain order and undress in the same order.

I hope your child is not autistic but if he is there are a lot of programs that can work with him and help him develop the best he can. Some great sites about Autism are AutismSpeaks.com, Autism-Society.org, and TalkAustism.com.

Despite Autism being so common (1 in 166 kids will be autistic), no one seems to know about it, so please spread awareness. There's no cure for it yet but there are incredible treatments available in the meantime.
Good luck and sorry this was sooo long.
My son is autistic, he had developmental problems from birth. By the time he was 3 we had him in special ed at school.
I have to say, gagirl, blonde and bubble have all said it beautifully. I cant think of anything to add. Dont give up, and good luck.
http://www.autismkey.com/

Here is a website that will allow you to talk to many other parents who have children with autism. I hope it helps.
with ur son it was his speech nt developing and he was evaluated at age 3. he has made huge stides and is now 7. It is not that bad having a person in the family with autism. We find the hardest part is understanding some f his words.
my son is autistic.I first started to suspect something was not right at around 18 months but was convinced to wait and see if he would "outgrow" it.What clinched it for me was when he would not respond to his name being called.You know when you are out somewhere and you hear someone call your name,you can't help but look in that direction and see if the person is calling you,there is none of that with someone with autism.We started to think he may be deaf but when Sesame Street came on the TV three rooms away,he would hear that and be in front of the television in a second.
I would suggest standing slightly behind your child and call his name,see if he turns to look at you.
My son is now 22.Life with him has been a challenge but I wouldn't trade him for another. Patience is the key.
I think we could all learn alot from people with autism.They can not lie.They are never pretentious,they treat all people the same.
I agree with gagirl. I, to, am a special needs teacher and have taught many autistc pupils, and I can tell you they are all different with different issues to deal with.

Many people will tell you that autistic children are like this or that, but in truth, there are many possibilities.

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