April is Autism Awareness Month!

This disorder goes beyond the typical idea of what Autism is: non-verbal, uncommunicative, etc. More and more children are being diagnosed, and the Autism Spectrum Disorder can encompass Sensory Processing Disorder, ADHD, OCD, Asperger's Syndrome, and many other issues. While trends have come and gone with illnesses and diagnoses, please know that having a child diagnosed with this is not just another trend, but something that effects the child's whole life, and is quite expensive--very expensive for the parents.

This can effect not only the neuro aspect of physical health, but behavioral (obviously) and gastrointestinal, to name just a few.

In light of this, I recall a few threads about bratty kids in stores and such...some kids aren't brats. They are autistic. And parents are trying as hard as they can with this mysterious disorder.

If you want to give to a charity this month, I suggest AutismSpeaks.

i work in a special needs school one day a week and the children at the severe end of the autistic spectrum really do break my heart to be a parent of someone with severe autism must be so difficult.

As parents communication with our children is so rewarding and entering the world of severe autistic kids can be soooo hard and at times impossible

so i am sure any support we can offer would be great


terminology edit
[Edited 4/3/09 4:57am]

more people need to be educated on autism, there are many children that are not diagnosed until they start school, that is already 3 years of intervention therapy they could have been receiving... the earlier the better their chances are and the growth they can have.... i was lucky to have had a good pediatric dr that seen the signs in my daughter and was able to make the diagnosis when she was 2. she is now 10 and has made great progress... her cognitive has dramatically improved as well as her speech... she still has a way to go with her academics but she is on the right path and has the right people assisting her in her development.... remember 1 in every 150 children is diagnosed... i feel the number is higher since there are many that are not diagnosed yet.... there is going to be a show on discovery health monday...

http://health.discovery.c...utism.html

bluesbaby said:

my daughter used to have a meltdown in a store or mall sometimes... it was due to the over stimulation from all of the sounds... it was to much for her... so it looked like she was being a brat and that i could not control her and i am sure that those around me thought that was the situation... the more that they are exposed to more it helps them to learn to process the sounds and learn to handle situations when they are over stimulated... so the next time U see a child having a melt down... don't assume its a child just being a brat... there maybe more to the situation....

I care for several people who have autism. It really is such a complex disorder, and so much about it is still not understood. One of the women I care for is older and was institutionalized and routinely put in restraints in her youth. She is nonverbal, so who knows what else they did to her; she's unable to tell anyone.

My Boy

purplekisses said:

Very recognisable
"give him to me for a week... that will teach him"

Stickified

luv4u said:

thank you!

purplekisses said:

Im glad you posted this! I used to work with autistic kids and it was really rewarding.

Its always fascinated me and I hope we can continue to study it

Autism factoid of the day: more boys have autism than girls.

HowComeYouDontCallme said:

That's such a beautiful photo!

Serious said:

Thanks Martina.. It's a photo of last year... He's grown so much since then..

Much love and support to those parents with Autistic children, for all of those that have Autism and for all of the ppl that care for these amazing individuals.

Extra special appreciation for Ivy and Marion.
I love both of you and you are an inspiration to all of us.


[Edited 4/5/09 4:25am]

new factoid:

It was quite a few years ago that the statistic of 1 in 150 had some form of the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Real stats could be up to 1 in 60.

shanti0608 said:

Thank you Val

bluesbaby said:

That's true.. At Tims school there's an average of 1 girl in each class of 15 children

HowComeYouDontCallme said:

I am amazed at how many people I meet or reconnect with in life who have a child with ASD. And more often than not it brings tears to my eyes for our sweet kids and their parents.

bluesbaby said:

It's not easy.. I must amit.. It takes a lot of energy and commitment and you have to be very creative and resourceful..
But they are such special children and that brings a lot of joy!
Tim has a very high IQ and sees things in such a different way.. he's so creative, open and honost.. has solutions to problems you never even thought of.. His teacher calls him a little Einstein because he makes his sums (sp) in a way only he understands lol...
He's very affectionate to me and devoded to his cat and tells me 10 times a day that he loves me
That's what makes all of the discomforts dissapear for a moment.
[Edited 4/5/09 16:08pm]

shanti0608 said:

here's my daughter last saturday at a function for special kids.. it was hosted by the rotary club of scottsdale... it was a great day at a cool train park... they had a ton of things for the kids to do... there were a lot of families there with all kinda of special needs children... its nice to see those that take the time to give to those that need to have days like this .... somewhere where they can be themselves and not worried what other people are thinking...

Factoid of the day:

One child is diagnosed with autism/spectrum every 20 minutes.

bluesbaby said:

was MY suggestion mon

Mach said:

you are both very sweet, mon.

bluesbaby said:

Thanx mon

THIS is a very important subject !

I can do no more than offer my thanks for the time i spent with autistic children, it taught me much about myself, the world around us and how important it is to make this world a better place.