I Love Some One With Autism

Hello, I do not know of anyone with autism. I am just amazed by all of your strenght in adjusting. You are what make this world a better place to live and I hope you continue what you are doing and I encourage everybody to follow your examples. God Bless To All Of You.

My son is 10 & was recently diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I'm very new at this & am not really sure what I'm doing yet, but it would be nice to have friends who understand. How is your son doing? Does he have a special gift like Raymond did? My son is exceptionally bright but has difficulty in dealing with other people. Many blessings, Gwen ******

My husband and I were the same way you were. Until we had our son we didn't have anyone in our families that were special needs at all. When the doctor told me he suspected Autism the first thing that popped out of my mouth (I felt stupid later on) was that he didn't act like the guy in Rainman so it couldn't be Autism. He is almost 9 years old now and is non-verbal. He was diagnosed with Autism when he was 28 months old. Our other son is 18 months old and is delayed so we starting the testing process with him next month. He still doesn't speak at all, either. I see some parallels to his older brother (no words at all, aversions to textures, hand flapping), but then there are other things that he does that his older brother never does (shows emotion, makes eye contact, plays with cars - actually knows HOW to play with them), so I don't know how much of it is delay and how much is "monkey see/monkey do", ya know? He is finally old enough now that insurace agrees with me that there is a delay and he should be evaluated for speech therapy and such. He is already in OT since he won't eat (at all - no baby food, people food, nothing - just formula - has problems with his lower pallet causing him to gag on anything other than liquid but we're working on it) but I really want to get him into speech, too, before he starts getting frustrated because he can't make his wants known. Since I am with the boys 24/7, except when the oldest is in school, I pretty much know what they want, but if I'm not around (which is seldom, but it does happen) others get frustated, and so do the boys, because no one knows that they want.

Both of our sons have Asperger's (high functioning Autism). It's changed our life immensely. A little over a year ago we couldn't even leave the house because our children were overwhelmed by everything. They both have a bunch of therapies now and we can do things most of the time like go swimming or for a walk in the park. It's been wonderful. Things are finally coming into place. I just keep hope that it will continue this way. The latest statistic I heard was 1 in every 150 for 13 year olds and 1 in every 67 ages 6 and under. That is a huge statistic. It's actually in the same report for the 1 in every 150 stat.

I also have heard about autism only for the first time. However, after searching for the details I understand what exactluy it is. I am sorry for your son that he has this type of problem. At the same time this type of adversities introduces us to ourselves. I know one gentleman whose son has similiar problem but I am not sure if it is same autism or something else. Will let you know about him if it is the same thing. Meanwhile love to you son.

I work with students with Autism as a speech and language therapist of varying ages. I love all of my students with all of their special needs. People, especially kids, with autism are very special and have alot to offer everyone. Keep loving and hugging your kids (even when they don't like being touched).

While I don't know if I have a family member with autism, I come into frequent contact with people with it. There are many different degrees of the disorder (I don't know if "disorder" is the right word, though). Some people can have autism and only seem a little "strange" while others are very obvious sufferers. There are so many stereotypes as to what autistic people are like, but they are all very different. With therapy, many can and have become respected contributors to our society.

Hello there. I understand how you feel. I have a cousin who is autistic too. He is 6 years old this year. Initially, It was difficult for us to accept he is autistic. We do not have a family history of that. Now, we have accepted it and have also embraced it. Actually, children with autism are really talented. They are usually exceptionally gifted in music or arts. I have helped out in autistic centers before. The volunteering was a challenging but yet fulfilling one. =D God bless you!