Autism? How many have children on the spectrum?

[jake03]

I have an Asperger's kid, and I promise you there isn't a better golden hearted kid on the planet....as a young boy he struggled with vocabulary and social situations, he needed a set of rules for everything, it was certainly a lot of work at times. He would get overloaded from a sensory standpoint, but he was learning, cataloging and figuring it out.

The biggest thing you can do for your son is to get him into therapy, because he will learn differently and early intervention is key. Several Dr's and professionals gave us early diagnosis and outlooks that weren't always great, but I can tell you that it doesn't mean squat because the variation from kid to kid on the spectrum is so great.
Get to work with him, I get frustrated at parents who ignore or dismiss the issues because they don't want to deal with the "disappointment" or they are just ill-equipped.
I credit my wife who was a tireless learner/researcher/advocate for my son, in school with Dr's and therapist, it is a lot of time and effort, but it pays off!

Today my son is in college living on his own and is in the honors program. He isn't a typical 19 year old but he literally is the best of us. Continue to dream big for that young man, we all are different created by God for a purpose and he has one.

I would say don't let any stone go unturned, the intervention and help he gets now will pay off huge for his future. My prayers are with you guys!!

True story here....He's always been one of my favorite people on the planet! And genius is an understatement...

Also, my children do not have any forms of autism, but as a result of the their heart to serve others, our family has been very involved with kids, teenagers and adults with forms of Autism, Downs and other special needs. I cannot tell you all of the lessons of love and joy I personally have received from them.

[bullets13]

I've taught several throughout my teaching career.

[Briar Friar]

Yes. Very minor for us on our 5 yo little girl. I saw it faint and early but still present. It was hard for specialists to put her on the spectrum but there was still indicators especially speech. We have her in speech therapy through the ISD. She wont quit talking now....delightfully and insistently so. We are working on talking nice...excuse me please and thank you...I still get lots of “Daddy do this/that...now”.

Good luck MrBodeen.

[CletusBodeen]

The school district we live in did qualify him for ECSC (PPCD) so he will get to start school as a 3 year old next school year.
He will get a lot of speech therapy.


He’s a little turkey but I wouldn’t trade him for anything.

[CletusBodeen]

Raylan is now considered limited verbal as he has began communicating some with words and a lot with sign language.

He’s a mess but he’s a sweet little boy.

[doeboy11]

As a Special Education teacher, I can say you dads/moms are doing right. Your dreams for your sons or daughters may be different but they may also come to be. You may dream of them being a doctor but they may become a person that finds out how autism, cancer, or who knows what is caused by. Try watching the Tempest Bledsoe movie, if you haven't seen it yet.

[FamousAmos]

My grandson is on the spectrum. He’s the kindest, most thoughtful, determined kid. An incredible blessing in our life.

[Jason Fry]

I work in the state supported living center system as a behavior analyst.

Kudos to those of you who have put in the time and work and therapy for your kids.

If you were a less capable parent, your child might require the kind of inpatient intensive services our system provides.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[brokeno]

No doubt all those shots these babies are getting are causing most of these cases. I've seen it first hand.

[CRM_95]

My youngest is 19, and he has Downs and is also on the spectrum. He's non verbal for the most part, but signs pretty well and if you're around him long enough you'll be able to understand some words. Probably the sweetest kid I've ever been around. Loves to be outside, LOVES to camp and hike lol. He sits with me in the deer stand and loves just being out there. We've set a goal to visit every state park in Texas and camp, and eventually we will get it done.

[Let's go Brandon!]

My youngest (3.5) grandson was recently diagnosed with Autism. He's mostly non verbal, except for what they call echolalia. He basically will repeat whatever he hears, doesn't "communicate" via asking for something or answering a question. He doesn't have "normal" fine motor skills you'd expect at his age, using a fork... he can, he'd just rather not lol.

He is listed as high functioning, savant. It's crazy how he retains things.
One of his favorite things started as watching kids alphabet sing along type videos on youtube. At around 1.5 yr old, he could recite the alphabet, recognize the letters and know what they "stand for"etc by 3 he would repeat the alphabet backwards like it was no big deal, then his youtube feed started popping up alphabets in other languages, before long he was reciting Greek, Gaelic, Cyrillic, Spanish and a few others . That moved to colors and shapes, even more complex shapes.

He had one of those 10x10" cubes with the various shapes on every side, and he could dump them all on the floor and push each shape through it's intended hole in a flash, even the ones on an opposing side, he would simply grab the block reach around or over the top and insert it. When he began to do these things repetitively, almost in a chanting type way, and hadn't started verbalizing by 2.5 we kinda started getting the idea that something was going on.

I can only hope we have gotten him into a program early enough that he will have time to make huge leaps communicating. He is though, a very happy and loving child to say the least, and while it's heartbreaking for me personally to not be able to sit and ask him "what are you drawing" or "how was school today?" I'm at least relieved he's not on the portion of the spectrum wherein he doesn't like being touched, hugged or wrestled with.

Hardest part for me was finding out, or at least being told that there is no "cure" for Autism and that they really have no way of knowing the cause, I just know it was "something". He's been with my Wife and me since he was born, and up until about 2-2.5, he progressed at expected.

While I realize now how much has been made about vaccines and autism, I never really paid it much mind before, and I find it hard to believe this just came on all of a sudden. I don't know if it's what's happened to our foods, vaccines or hell, even the drinking water.

But, that water has gone under the bridge. So I am determined that we'll get him through this as far as our love and knowledge of this will allow.

My wife and I have force fed ourselves tons of information recently, if anyone else out there with similar experiences is looking for advice, help etc, please feel free to reach out. And if you have anything in particular to share, I'm all ears.

[rut-ro]

My brother in law is non verbal Down syndrome with autism. When he was born Drs tried to convince my in-laws he needed to go to a state school and he would not live to see 13. They declined and brought him home, he just turned 58. I will say there is a special place in heaven for all parents with special needs children. My mother in law has done an amazing job keeping him active even though he has gotten a bit more grumpy over the past 5 years.

[Let's go Brandon!]

At times our son will say something so profound that it literally knocks you off your feet. And ditto what the dads above have said. Those kids are in there. They just can’t get out. And btw, they understand much more than you think they do.

True! My little guy is finding his own way to communicate.

I've always thrown the barrage of questions at him when I think or know he wants something... "you ready to eat?", "you want a drink?" "Where's your cup?"

And I have "taught" him that when he gets mad because his tablet batteries have run out that "we need to charge it..."

Recently he has started grabbing a hand and dragging my wife or me to the fridge, or a few times he has come to find me in my office, grab my hand, turn it palm up, place his cup in my hand and say "you want a drink"? Or with his tablet, reaching up toward the shelf and say "we need to charge it"

Man, the first time that happened, after filling his cup I had to leave the room and bawl like a baby I was so over joyed

Our newest habit is when he's getting ready to go to bed, he will come back to my office, climb up in my chair while I put on some music videos (his favorite is Lexington Lab band, check em out) and we'll make it through a couple songs while falls asleep. So far I think his favorite song is Rosanna by Toto.

He is absolutely the best.

[Drop Tine]

My youngest (3.5) grandson was recently diagnosed with Autism. He's mostly non verbal, except for what they call echolalia. He basically will repeat whatever he hears, doesn't "communicate" via asking for something or answering a question. He doesn't have "normal" fine motor skills you'd expect at his age, using a fork... he can, he'd just rather not lol.

He is listed as high functioning, savant. It's crazy how he retains things.
One of his favorite things started as watching kids alphabet sing along type videos on youtube. At around 1.5 yr old, he could recite the alphabet, recognize the letters and know what they "stand for"etc by 3 he would repeat the alphabet backwards like it was no big deal, then his youtube feed started popping up alphabets in other languages, before long he was reciting Greek, Gaelic, Cyrillic, Spanish and a few others . That moved to colors and shapes, even more complex shapes.

He had one of those 10x10" cubes with the various shapes on every side, and he could dump them all on the floor and push each shape through it's intended hole in a flash, even the ones on an opposing side, he would simply grab the block reach around or over the top and insert it. When he began to do these things repetitively, almost in a chanting type way, and hadn't started verbalizing by 2.5 we kinda started getting the idea that something was going on.

I can only hope we have gotten him into a program early enough that he will have time to make huge leaps communicating. He is though, a very happy and loving child to say the least, and while it's heartbreaking for me personally to not be able to sit and ask him "what are you drawing" or "how was school today?" I'm at least relieved he's not on the portion of the spectrum wherein he doesn't like being touched, hugged or wrestled with.

Hardest part for me was finding out, or at least being told that there is no "cure" for Autism and that they really have no way of knowing the cause, I just know it was "something". He's been with my Wife and me since he was born, and up until about 2-2.5, he progressed at expected.

While I realize now how much has been made about vaccines and autism, I never really paid it much mind before, and I find it hard to believe this just came on all of a sudden. I don't know if it's what's happened to our foods, vaccines or hell, even the drinking water.

But, that water has gone under the bridge. So I am determined that we'll get him through this as far as our love and knowledge of this will allow.

My wife and I have force fed ourselves tons of information recently, if anyone else out there with similar experiences is looking for advice, help etc, please feel free to reach out. And if you have anything in particular to share, I'm all ears.

This is the same experience we have had with my son almost to a T. He’s 8 now and is incredible. We will continue to do everything within our power to help him become the best version of himself.

[Lights Out]

My 15 year old daughter has Asperger’s. Scary smart! Mostly socialization issues/fitting in. Ear muffs were a necessity early when out in public. Very out going and wants to be friends with everyone. Kids can be mean. Especially 15 year old girls. The hardest part was when she asked us why she has this and why can I not be like everyone else. Now she is in theater and wants the lead role. She recently was involved in the high school improv group. A kid on the spectrum doing improv! Yep she’s fearless! She’s not different we are. We’re all different! You got this Dad.