Autism----Do you know someone with autism?

Our now 8 year old son is Autisitic. His little brother is only almost 9 months, so it's to early to tell if he will also show signs of Autism. Since we already have one child that is in the Autistic spectrum, our chance of having another child increases to roughly 40%. We met with a specialist and she was full of wonderful information. She is out of Richmond, VA, so if anyone is in this area, there are people out there to meet with and get info from. With each case of Autism being different, it's hard, sometimes, to connect with other families. They might not have the same issues you do. Some children are high functioning, meaning you might not even know there is something "wrong". Our son, however, is non-verbal. He doesn't talk. He "sings", mostly what sounds like vowels sounds, such as EEEEEEEEEEEEE and OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Once in a while he will say "What" and "Why", but not in context. We do believe, however, that he has taught himself to read. What a lot of people don't understand that while Autistic children are different, they aren't stupid. They are often smarter than we even know, since they (some children) can't communicate. Also, they now say that the 1 in 166 might not be accurate. They think it is actually more common than that, now, especially in boys. I have written several articles on Epinions about my son and his Autism. Issues we've had and such. http://www.epinions.com/user-lisado

no i don't know anyone with autism but, i saw this movie once about two kids with autism and they were living with their mom it was really cool. this movie gave me an idea of what autism is and how kids with autism are treated in our society.

Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests in delays of "social interaction, language as used in social communication, or symbolic or imaginative play," with "onset prior to age 3 years," according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The ICD-10 also requires symptoms to "manifest before the age of three years." Autism is often not physiologically obvious, in that outward appearance may not indicate a disorder, and diagnosis typically comes from a complete physical and neurological evaluation. There have been large increases in diagnosed autism, for reasons that are heavily debated by researchers in psychology and related fields within the scientific community. Some believe this increase is largely due to changed diagnostic criteria and/or societal factors, while others think the reason is environmental. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders to be between 2 and 6 per 1000 births (i.e., between 1 in 500 and 1 in 166 births).The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) states the "best conservative estimate" as 1 in 1000. Although the specific causes of autism are unknown, there is a large database of links between autism and genetic loci that span every chromosome. Further, observations and studies that autistic children have generally larger head circumferences are intriguing, but their roles in the disorder are unclear. Research continues, however; researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, for example, claim to have found a link between autism, abnormal blood vessel function, and oxidative stress (the result of higher levels of free radicals). This suggests that doors may be opened to new medical therapies if researchers can find more evidence linking decreased blood flow to the brain and oxidative stress with the pathology of autism. With early intervention, intense therapies (most notably Applied Behavioral Analysis), practice, and schooling, some children diagnosed with autism may improve on their skills to the point of neurotypical children. Some autistic children and adults are opposed to attempts to cure autism, because they see autism as part of who they are or the attempts are perceived as intensive and unnatural in some cases.

i dont know some one who has it..

My youngest son is autistic, and so is his half sister.

I have a 5 year old son with Autism. As he gets older, he has become SOOOO much easier to handle. And I think it's more like 1 in 116 here in New Zealand - so we were told by our pediatrition. Starts to get scary when it hits 1% of the population. I put a quick website together about him, not sure if their are any rules about posting it (suppose the mods can delete it if they dont like it!) and I intend to write articles on him as he progresses - http://autism.cashhosters.com/_sgg/f10000.htm

My son is hihg functioning autistic. I find that he interacts wuite well with kids who are younger than him. When he interacts with kids his age, it is quite obvious that he isn't learning their social rules, and he really stands out. When he is with young children, like preschoolers, he is just like every other child ... with self centered play rules, etc. I'm not sure how long this will keep working out. My son has sensory issues - but they manifest in the way that he needs lots of holding to get satisfied - not in the way where he doesnt want to be touched. So, for us, it means we get lots of cuddles, hugs, and tickle fights. I really appreciate that, becaus emany older kids stop wanting that kind of attention.

My 9 year old son has autism and is non verbal. He does say a few words but communicates mostly with grunts and signing.