its that time of year again to bring awareness and also look over the advancements that have happened over the last year in research and educating those that need to understand the severity of this issue and how these children that have been diagnosed are now starting to become adults. There needs to be acceptance and a place for them to be able to be a part of society so that they can make their contributions as well. As my signature line says, of you don't know someone with autism you will. I embrace the fellow orgers as well that have been touched in their lives with these special children and love our discussions that we have every year on the org here. I am always thinking of you and can't wait for you to share and hope you have some great stories of things that have happened over the last year.....

there are many sites that have information that also offer support and do some great work... take the time to read and be informed.....

http://www.autism-society...ess-month/

my great inspiration and she has also taught me a lot as well as me helping her over come her obstacles as well......

[img:$uid]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b400/purplekisses/100_1341.jpg[/img:$uid]

[Edited 4/1/11 20:00pm]

The subject of spectrum disorders is very close to my IRL heart! I, myself, am not on the spectrum, but a very dear loved one is. It has definitely provided steep challenges. But getting through them is wonderful, lol.

Sticky

luv4u said:

Sticky

ty woman

Thank you for bringing up the topic. I think the odds now are something like 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism. My nephew is in his late 20's, severely autistic, doesnt speak and lives in a group home. It was a challenge growing up with him during my teens, my mom was his legal guardian. Times are a little better now, and there's more info out there. I'm now a speech-language pathologist and work with a few children that are on the spectrum. I have much respect for the parents of these children for their patience and understanding.

i seem dead on to have asperger's.

PurpleKittyK said:

Thank you for bringing up the topic. I think the odds now are something like 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism. My nephew is in his late 20's, severely autistic, doesnt speak and lives in a group home. It was a challenge growing up with him during my teens, my mom was his legal guardian. Times are a little better now, and there's more info out there. I'm now a speech-language pathologist and work with a few children that are on the spectrum. I have much respect for the parents of these children for their patience and understanding.

it is people like u that help those that need the assistance to get to the next level that help in their journey as well. If my daughter was not diagnosed at 2, then she may have not have benefited from having the early intervention and working with the therapists that have been able to get her where she is today. She still has a ways to go but she was non verbal and with the help of the social interaction and her speech therapists, she overcame that obstacle. She still works on her vocabulary and being able to express what she is thinking but i am grateful since i had a great fear that she would never be verbal. So know that what you are able to do today will have a huge impact in the process to get those children where they need to go. Its never to late and maybe there can be some help with your nephew as well, there are so many things that they are learning and trying to help these individuals and it amazes me every year what they are able to do and help.

purplemookiebut said:

i seem dead on to have asperger's.

have u looked into being diagnosed and maybe working with someone?

purplekisses said:

PurpleKittyK said:

Thank you for bringing up the topic. I think the odds now are something like 1 in 110 children are diagnosed with autism. My nephew is in his late 20's, severely autistic, doesnt speak and lives in a group home. It was a challenge growing up with him during my teens, my mom was his legal guardian. Times are a little better now, and there's more info out there. I'm now a speech-language pathologist and work with a few children that are on the spectrum. I have much respect for the parents of these children for their patience and understanding.

it is people like u that help those that need the assistance to get to the next level that help in their journey as well. If my daughter was not diagnosed at 2, then she may have not have benefited from having the early intervention and working with the therapists that have been able to get her where she is today. She still has a ways to go but she was non verbal and with the help of the social interaction and her speech therapists, she overcame that obstacle. She still works on her vocabulary and being able to express what she is thinking but i am grateful since i had a great fear that she would never be verbal. So know that what you are able to do today will have a huge impact in the process to get those children where they need to go. Its never to late and maybe there can be some help with your nephew as well, there are so many things that they are learning and trying to help these individuals and it amazes me every year what they are able to do and help.

It's wonderful to hear how much your daughter has improved. Early intervention helps alot, though I've typically seen children with low IQ's on the spectrum not showing much improvement verbally. I think this was the case w/my nephew. There's usually a time frame for verbal language to need to begin & develop & I've never heard of a child with autism speaking after that.

purplekisses said:

purplemookiebut said:

i seem dead on to have asperger's.

have u looked into being diagnosed and maybe working with someone?

Sometimes spectrum disorders/ Asperger's is overdiagnosed and can actually be something else such as social anxiety/ ocd, etc... My advice if you really think you have it, get evaluated by professionals and don't just go on your own assumptions of what you are reading are the online symptoms.

Yay! I love that this has been stickied on The Org! I am a special education teacher who works with high schoolers on the spectrum. I love my job, my students are AWESOME!!! I'll take them over the general education classroom any day!! Big up's to all of you parents with children on the spectrum, you truly are "doin the work", as Prince would say... (this is The Org, gotta keep it relevent)

purplemookiebut said:

i seem dead on to have asperger's.

How so?

What a great thread. I didn't know April is Autism Awareness Month. I look forward to learning more about the spectrum over the next few weeks.

My son was diagnosed at 4. He is now six. He has come so far in these past two years, and we see successes each day! He is high functioning, never had a time he didn't speak, but we were really the only ones who could understand him. He just started pedaling his bike the day before yesterday!!! He is easily frustrated, high anxiety, and had severe adhd, and a behavior disorder. The journey has been really rough at times, and at others..full of joy. I wouldn't give up being his mom for anything in the world. <3

when you have time, check it out..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4XMlhCfp3Q

Curemark Completes Enrollment of Phase III Autism Trials

Monday, March 21st - 2011

RYE, New York – Curemark, LLC, (www.curemark.com), a drug research and development company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases, announced that the company has completed its targeted enrollment of Phase III clinical trials for CM-AT, its autism treatment.

Curemark has reached its targeted enrollment for the study of a total 170 children, who are participating in the CM-AT Phase III trial at 18 sites across the country.

“We have been extremely pleased with the enthusiastic response of our clinical sites during the CM-AT Phase III trial process. We now have the full complement of trial participants and will close the trial to enrollment and begin the compilation process for FDA submissions,” stated Dr. Bill Gannon, Curemark’s Medical Director.

“This marks a significant milestone for us and our research program,” said Dr. Joan Fallon, Curemark founder and CEO. "We are grateful to our clinical sites for their participation."

CM-AT targets enzyme deficiencies in autistic children. These deficiencies affect the availability of amino acids, the building blocks of chemicals that are essential for brain function. Curemark’s autism therapy has received Fast Track review status from the FDA.

bluesbaby said:

My son was diagnosed at 4. He is now six. He has come so far in these past two years, and we see successes each day! He is high functioning, never had a time he didn't speak, but we were really the only ones who could understand him. He just started pedaling his bike the day before yesterday!!! He is easily frustrated, high anxiety, and had severe adhd, and a behavior disorder. The journey has been really rough at times, and at others..full of joy. I wouldn't give up being his mom for anything in the world. <3

hey blues

thanks for sharing. It is not remarkable when they are able to accomplish goals either small or big? My daughter took a long time to learn how to pedal when she was in OT. I have yet to have her learn how to ride a bike and now she is to big to do it cause i can't hold the bike up cause she is a hair taller then me lol there are some days that she totally blows me away with things i did not realize that she knew.

we have a long way to go on how to determine the cause and why it has a different impact on each child. there are not 2 children that are alike with this diagnosis.

versiongirl said:

when you have time, check it out..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4XMlhCfp3Q

that is a great story and thanks for sharing the link.

there is so much that goes on inside an autistic person that we don't realize since sometimes they cannot communicate it with us. I know with my daughter she has a hard time still with expressing her feelings. When she does things or says things that sometimes do not make sense we kid and say that we wish we were in karissa world so it would make sense.

This is great, I have 2 nephews who have suffer from Autism/Aspergers, so glad awareness is being brought to this difficult disorder. I hope more funding goes into trying to find its causes and if the vaccinations are linked, etc. Also more state funding for programs, etc. I love it when things like this are made stickys.