Children with autism???

good day.

My son is 2.5 and we found out he has autism this year in april. Do a little homework so you sorta know about autism and then just be there to listen. She has been hit with a ton of bricks and it takes time to dig your way out from that.

Steff

My son is two and a half and we found out in February that he is austitic. My first advice for your friend is to get her child on a gluten free/casein free diet. It goes beyond milk and wheat. It is very overwhelming at first but we saw a huge change in my son just after a week of being on that diet. It has been a huge help! She can also email me if she has questions. I don't know everything but I would like to be supportive and helpful in any way that I can. If she wants to email me just send my a private message and I will send you my email! :happy: Also a cookbook called The Kid-friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook is great! I absolutely love it! There are lots of things she can do but definitely start with the diet and see if that helps. See if there is a state program that helps with delays or early childhood intervention. Therapy helps a whole lot. If you need more help, let me know. :flowerforyou:

This certainly caught my eye. My son was diagnosed at 2 years old as well. He is 3 1/2 now and doing so well. There is so much out there now in regards for treatment for autism. First of all, tell her that you are so proud of her for knowing that something was not right with her child and getting the proper diagnosis, because early intervention is the key to his recovery. Don't let anyone tell her that he cannot recover, because he can. Mild or severe, you can bring them back into our world.

I could write a novel about my journey, but to keep it simple, if she hasn't already, have her contact her early intervention in the area (mine is called First Steps) it is where they come to your home and help with speech, occupational therapy, etc. It is free and it will pay for the most important therapy, ABA. ABA is applied behavior analysis and it uses behavioral modification to change the screwed up wiring going on in their heads and helps them to focus outwardly instead of inward.

My son is only 3 and 1/2 now and he is acting like a typical 3 year old. His speech is still a little behind, and he has a few emotional outbursts once in a while if something isn't right (what toddler doesn't), and according to specialists, he will recover (escape his diagnosis). I thank ABA for this, it is amazing. In the beginning, we were losing him (lost language, everything made him scream and cry, he wouldn't play, only watch movies) lots more, but this morning as I am typing this he is chasing his sisters and playing "supers" while wearing a cape and holding a wooden spoon. If that isn't a road to recovery, I don't know what is.

Again, the most important is get the right therapy for her child, and in my opinion, ABA should be a serious thought. The early the better. It gets harder to recover the older the diagnosis.
Good luck and you are being a great friend!

i do not believe autism can be cured!!! it can be helped with some help ,, but neveer cured, my son is aspergers, and he is in speech therapy he is not cured,
u have to have alot of patients and definetly work with the schools!!!!

As you have noticed already by all the posts, your friend is not alone. That, in a way, should be encouraging. There is so much information out there and so many services now available that it can be overwhelming at times. The best thing she could do is to try to get involved with a local support group so she can start meeting with other parents and learn about local resources. Someone mentioned ABA, that is fantastic. She can do some research on her own and choose therapies that will suit her child and her family. I suggest that she tries one thing at a time. I see a lot of parents trying different therapies, diets, vitamins, etc at the same time and if they see improvement they don't know what they attribute it to. I know parents can get desperate and want to try everything to help their children but it is best to try methods one at time, especially if it involves nutritional supplements, etc.

My son is 15 yrs old and is low functioning. His main problem is speech and he has also been diagnosed with mild mental retardation. The autism spectrum is huge. Not all children are alike and some might benefit from some therapies while others will not. You are a great friend for seeking help to offer support. I know it is shocking in the beginning, but her son will do great. The main thing is to be the best advocate she can be for her child especially with the school system.

Best of luck!!! Hugs :flowerforyou:

no i believe i am not bitter, i have done everything for my child , the behavior ,speech clases at age two and then ppi clases for 2 more years, and after that he has had speech therapy and so on, on top of going to ann arbor to see a behavior specialist,,, we have done everything, the only thing i have seen with him going and spending time at my exhusbands house where there is alot of children he has played a little more with kids than by himself,,

My 3 younger siblings all have Autism. So my advice for you to tell her is "Never Give Up!"
It is pretty hard dealing with an autistic child, believe me, I was the babysitter when I was 8 but everyone needs love

There is this program/building called Fraiser, I'm not sure if it is just in Minneapolis or all over but boy was it a life-saver for my dad. It is a pre-school/ daycare for special needs kids. It helped my siblings transition into elementary school and taught them basic stuff that my dad couldn't teach them. (ABCs and numbers) Maybe reccomend it to her? Or some other program like this one. My siblings started when they were around 3 but I think you can join whenever. My family was in the magazine one year. My brother and I were on the cover. lol

about my siblings;
Laura (13) is doing well. She was diagnosed at 4 since she hadn't started talking yet. (but now she won't stop talking lol) She pretty much passes for "normal" except when she gets shy, angry or sad. She isn't good with dealing with negative comments. She freaks out and remembers everything bad and blames herself. That doesn't happen as much as it used to though. She also gets obsessed with stuff pretty easily, not as much anymore, but i remember when she was younger there was this tiny plastic hippo that she played with ALL THE TIME and then she lost it and it seemed like her whole world was comign to an end. Thank goodness we found it but now she obsessed with her DS. She is taking classes at school for special needs kids to help them transtion into a job.
Jacob (11) also has hydrocelalis. He has pretty severe autism but he is super smart. He can figure out anything. (Like how to work our new VCR/DVD in less than a minute) He has a really really high reading level. He doesn't talk socially much. He repeats lines from Disney movies. He also likes to watch the credits while dancing and jumping all over the place. He used to scream a lot when he didn't get his way but he is doing better now. He used to never communicate his needs but I found out how. I asked him, "What does Jacob want?" Ta-da! Jacob now communicates his needs! We used to ask, "What do YOU want?" But I guess he hadn't grasped the concept of "you" yet. Anyway he lives in a group home now. (With two or three other special needs kids and there is staff there 24/7) My dad chose to put him in there because he was "too difficult" but my dad is just a selfish jerk. He won't even call! :noway: Jacob comes over every few months.
Joshua (11) he is a pretty typical annoying younger brother. He also has ADHD. He is pretty smart but doesn't try in school. Not very good at social stuff. Still has a mindset of a 5 year old. Fun to joke around with though. lol.


so i hope this helps some! :flowerforyou: