How many of us are Autism Moms?

I'm a 22 year old with Asperger's. I don't have my license yet, I have a job and a Bachelor's degree though. I was a very difficult child to raise as I was constantly screaming and escaping from the house when I was a toddler. I want to be independent so I can prove that I don't need to rely on others for everything. My mother and I are on this weight loss journey together so I'll do my best to support her and be helpful to make up for if I screwed up her life for being born this way.

I was a difficult child too. I was not an escape artist though. I liked to hide. And I was good at it.

I climbed, I escaped, sometimes I was a hider but not as much. I also got into fights at school a lot because people were either picking on me or my other friends. College helped me develop as a person quite a bit, even if I'm not working in my field at the moment.

Hi
I have a 10 yr old son who has ADHD and is currently being assessed for ASD.

My husband and I have custody of our special needs grandson. He has autistic characteristics but not to the extent of being diagnosed with autism. He is 10 years old and non-verbal. He is happy and the light of our lives. His comprehension of things is so so, but his overall mental development ranges from a months old to a few years old. He is "officially" diagnosed as mentally retarded. They thought at one time he would not even walk but now he RUNS. Raising a special needs child is very challenging but also has great rewards. I feel so bad for him sometimes because I feel like he misses so much. He does not understand holidays and such. Santa or the Easter Bunny mean nothing to him. On the other hand, all he knows is love. He has no comprehension of hatred or sadness. He has an atonic (head drop) seizure disorder and although the physical symptoms of his seizures are controlled with meds, his last EEG still showed his brain was having LOTS of seizure activity. A side effect of his condition is a sleeping disorder, so sleeping through the night is a rare occassion. He also is on meds to help him sleep. Even though he is my "step" grandson, I love him with all of my heart like he is my own son. We have had him since he was 13 months old. I would not take anything for him. I love my Ely.

Like many others here, I'm a single mom of an 8 year old who has been diangnosed through the realm as well. Started off with Sensory Processing issues, and poor fine motor skills. Did OT twice a week for about 8 months. Next step ended up being an ADHD diagnosis, and when he started having issues again had another evaluation completed through school. Diagnosis ended up being mild Asperger's. I was devastated, only because having been a psych major in college, I thought I would've known the signs better. Nope, no such luck.

5 years later, we've had our ups and our downs. He goes to a charter school (public, basically non-unionized school) which is fairly small so can provide him with the special attention and teacher matching that he requires. He has good days. He has bad days. For the most part, he's been stabilized, but let me tell you, deciding to medicate has caused major anxiety for me.

Stepping back to about 12 years ago, let me mention his older brother (who is now 19) was diagnosed with ADD, and I now question Asperger's. He's also been slow to develop, slow to get his license. Slow with the empathy and social skills (which I've always struggled with because I find that I'm uber-empathetic...or at least try to be). I had decided not to medicate him all those years ago, and now I'm thinking that although the past 12 years still would have been a struggle, they might not have been as difficult as they were.

Live and learn, we never know until 20 years later that our choices may have put our children on a more difficult path. Eh, I suppose that's what therapy is for! As far as I'm concerned, having been a single mom for almost 20 years, I've done the best I could with the resources and knowledge that I had.

As for me, here I am 8 years later with 26 more pounds to lose, and I've only recently gotten back into the exercise thing. I'm an emotional eater, so that's been my biggest struggle. After 2 weeks of regular exercise, and losing 15 pounds so far, even if no one else notices I FEEL better......THAT'S what matters to me since I'm doing this for no one else but me.

Feel free to friend me....

Hi, I am a mother of a 7 year old daughter with autism and a 3 year old daughter
with sensory processing disorder along with a few other developmental problems and sever allergies to foods Like Everything!. Feel free to add me its just us 3 and we have

been through it all.

My son is not autistic but he is Fetal Alcohol and also bi-polar plus ADHD. We adopted him through foster care. He was three days old when we got him. The mom had also used meth, cocaine, marijuana, and prescription drugs. We went through drug with drawls with him. It was horrible. He now had learning disabilities because of everything. We also can't give him anything for his ADHD because of his bi-polar. We tried and it made him manic to where he was putting holes in my walls. Luckily my school district has a wonderful school for special needs children. It's hard to be in public when he throws his fits because people don't realize he has problems. Physically he looks like any other 8 year old. Parents just assume I'm a horrible mother. I've even had a lady down the street from us call the cops on him because he punched her son and gave him a bloody nose. Every day is a roller coaster. Especially with the bi-polar.

Hi,
I have an 11 yr old son with Autism. He has PDD-NOS to be exact. He was diagnosed around 2 1/2 to 3 yrs old. He is verbal, but speech is one of his major issues. Also his lack of focus. He doesn't need medication, thankfully. He is my everything. That's one of the major reasons that I am committed to getting myself in shape. I need to be the best me for myself but also for him. Whoever started this thread - thank you so much. It really helps to know I'm not alone. :flowerforyou:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1322-autism-support
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/763-moms-of-special-kids

Thank you for the above links. :flowerforyou:

I have a 12 year old (and totally amazing) son who has autism. I turned to food when he was being diagnosed and raising him and two siblings while going through a divorce. Since then he has made strides but still needs constant assistance which has limited my time. I have just now been able to start doing things for myself (thanks largely to my amazing new husband). One of them is getting healthy. I started last year and fell off the wagon, so to speak, when I got laid off from work. I used this as an excuse and stopped my healthy lifestyle. I am ready to get back to it. My son is going to need care into adulthood and I would like to be the one around to do it!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1322-autism-support
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/763-moms-of-special-kids

I will definitely check out these links. I'm a single mom to 5 year old twins, one of whom has Asperger's. I am also prone to anxiety and depression, which, coupled with the challenging behaviors, helped contribute to my difficulties sticking with a weight loss regimen. I am all my girls have, so I really need to get healthy and strong so that I can always be there for them.

My son has Asperger's and ADHD (age 12) and my 8 year old has ADHD with impulsivity, and "social delays" . The stress of being a mom has definitely affected my weight.

My 3rd daughter is 16, she has global brain damage due to lack of oxygen during her birth, she has many complex problems cerebral palsy, global development delay. scoliosis, epilepsy...and more, one of which is Autism, she is non verbal, but we found she would mimic noises the odd time and hear her humming or tapping to music, so we started singing about everything we were doing she became a little more verbal, especially words that were said with emotion she would mimic and laugh (dad in the car swearing at other drivers ..oops!).

I know what a lot of you are going through, I had 4 kids within 5 yrs , my eldest also had very challenging behaviour was super strong and very intelligent but was never diagnosed. my 3rd daughter is only 2 years younger with all her difficulties and my other 2 were poorly babies with low immune systems due to infantile asthma.


Nice to meet you all and read your posts about your kids.... take it day by day and stay positive .. take time out for yourself and look after your bodies, mines wrecked with wear and tear by the time i was 35 lol