Posted on 01/04/2010 7:32:01 AM PST by blackandgoldfan
As many of you know, I'm the mom of two autistic kids. While I've been blessed that they are high-functioning, it has been and continues to be something we struggle with. It can be exhausting.
The last statistics I had read about the prevelance of autism spectrum disorders placed the number at 1 in every 100 kids. That's staggering. Could you imagine the outcry from the gay community if this was AIDS we were talking about? But yet the Washington DC voices remain silent.
(Excerpt) Read more at therightstuffbng.blogspot.com ...
While there are those out there who are too lazy to properly parent their children, there are MANY more who aren’t too lazy and are still dealing with this. Anyone who would use the diagnosis of autism (or any other disability)just to get out of parenting shouldn’t have kids to begin with.
So weird- I have relatives in the Boston corridor area and of their two children, one is certainly autistic but parents are in great denial...however, they are using massive social services rendered by MA and certainly understand the differences in the development of their children.
Blessings to you blackandgoldfan!!!
Autism has flooded my world. We are parents to a adopted 31 year old deaf/profoundly retarded and autistic son. We have a 18 year old high functioning autistic granddaughter in a group home, and my nephew who is 24 is non verbal and autistic.
I am sure before this thread gets well underway, we will be accused of not disciplining our “ normal” children! It is such a misunderstood disability! May God be with you as He is with us daily.
Polly
the autism in my world, nephew, granddaughter, adopted son, were all born to young women!
“•Uneven gross/fine motor skills — Usually the skills swing one way or the other. Their skills are either extremely good or extremely poor. Rarely is there middle ground.
•Not responsive to verbal cues — Your child may not be ignoring you. We used to scream Noah’s name for a response to no avail. After having a battery of hearing tests run (all normal), we now realize that this is a sign of autism.
•Little or no eye contact — We still have issues with this, especially with Cheyenne.
•Insistance on sameness of routine — Ever try to change an autistic person’s routine?? Not a pretty sight. Usually a meltdown ensues.
•Tantrums for no apparent reason — In the mind of an autistic, the smallest change or thing out of place can result in a full-blown hissy fit. We may not see the significance, but to them it is a catastrophe.
•Speech delays/absence — Noah didn’t talk until he was about 4. While there are other causes for speech delays, this is almost a classic sign of the disorder. Echolalia (parroting lines from movies or repeating what has been said to them) is also very common.
•A reluctance for social interaction — This is the toughest to handle as a parent. When your child resists your hugs, it hurts. Trust me, it can be overcome. Not easy, but it can be done.”
With these guide lines, my daughter would have been diagnosed as autistic, and she is not.
My daughter has a brain injury that caused significant speech (apraxia) and coordination problems. She also has sensory integration problems, so she didn’t like hugs, brushing hair, etc.
It wouldn’t be a problem if the treatment for these problems was the same, but they are radically different. Austim treatment is very detrimental to a kid with speech problems from a brain injury.
If your child is diagnosed with these symptoms, please have an MRI and and EEG to rule out brain problems. Also, ask about apraxia of speech. Some kids have that and their MRIs are normal.
AMEN!!!!!!
I agree wholeheartedly that physical causes have to be ruled out. If a professional doesn’t cover those bases, it is of no help to anyone.
God bless your daughter and your family. I hope she continues to thrive!
Food additives and/or fertilizers are another theory.
I swear this was not a big problem when I was growing up and the data seem to support that the occurence in the population is growing and not static, so some outside source other than genetics would seem to be the reason.
Maybe the Greens can attribute it to man made global warming.
Autism has a HUGE autistic component, if you have an autistic child, the likelihood that a sibling will be autistic is staggeringly higher than the general population. I forget the exact number but its huge.
Autism has a HUGE genetic component, if you have an autistic child, the likelihood that a sibling will be autistic is staggeringly higher than the general population. I forget the exact number but its huge.
My half brother, (younger than my own son) is high functioning autistic, he was born at 26 weeks and was a miracle to just survive. However it was clearly obvious from a very young age he had something most likely in that spectrum wrong with him, but my father refused for years to accept there was anything wrong.
Finally he allowed testing and began to understand and accept his limitations and abilities and life has been better for him, my brother and his wife since.
God love ya, polly! He has blessed me quite well with these angels.
We tried to discipline them in just the way we did with our older, “normal” son, but instinct told us that something was amiss.
The rules for all the kids are the same, but the consequences have been tailored for each child. When we were able to ground our older son, that didn’t work for the younger; taking away bike-riding privileges did. My daughter? Take away her music for a short period of time and she makes the connection. While there are consequences for the same infraction, we do have to find what works best for each of them.
38% of Autistic kids have epilepsy. These boys need to be tested for that before being put on Ritalin as that drug can cause death in kids with undiagnosed seizures.
I shudder to think of what I might be “diagnosed” with, were I a child today.
A lot of geniuses have undiagnosed Aspergers as that generation did not get labels...just were VERY focused on a subject and were seen as genius in their field.
Is ur ‘normal’ child female? 8x more males are diagnosed with Autism then female which precludes the ‘vaccine’ argument since it would affect both sexes the same. There was a good argument about ‘plastics’ affecting the development of male fetuses here on huffy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harvey-karp/cracking-the-autism-riddl_b_221202.html
Our older, “normal” child is male. Then our autistic son, and our autistic daughter. Dunno what happened between children #2 and #3.
Thanks for the posting. I am raising a son with Asperger’s and deal with many of the same issues. He is absolutely wonderful; we love him to pieces. By the same token, we worry terribly for him. Although he is exceptionally bright, he lacks good executive functioning skills (more so than the typical teenager). Thus, he does not perform anywhere near to his potential in school. But we are working on it. We had him going to The Melmed Clinic in Scottsdale, Az. for the past couple of years - they are WONDERFUL. However, we have just moved to Fairfax County, Va. and have not found a comparable facility. Any suggestions would be welcomed..........
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