How many of us are Autism Moms?

My daughter has autism. She did not talk until she was about 5 and wasn't potty trained until almost 6. She was diagnosed at 18 months and has had therapy and help ever since. She didn't look at me or hug me when she was young, I was just kind of there. She communicated with picture cards that she put onto velcro strips on the wall indicating what she wanted to eat etc. She is 16 now and doing great, most people wouldn't even know by just talking to her. However, she doesn't really have friends, she spends a lot of time in her room pacing and talking to herself. But, she is able to hide all of that around other people. I try my best to get her out and doing things, we play games and when the weather is nice we have been going hiking, it helps me and her to get exercise and my husband and I can spend some quality time with her.

When she was younger though and I was home with her trying to engage her for what seems like all day, I gained weight. I really had no time for myself or for cooking or eating healthy . Now, she helps me cook. It's another thing we can do together.

Thanks for posting this, I don't get much of an opportunity to talk about it, most people don't get or really aren't interested in what we, (parents of autistic children) experience.

Hi I have 2 boys on the autism spectrum . My oldest aged 7 nearly 8 has Aspergers with spd and dyspraxia . My youngest aged 6 yes very close in age lol has classic autism . Life for the last few years has been very stressful with both boys being diagnosed one after the other . I am in Ireland and there is very little help here unless you have money to pay privately for therapy . my youngest still is incontinent and has huge bowel issues along with all his other issues . My oldest is starting in mainstream education with asssistance but ny youngest is in special education

In the midst of all the chaos my marriage also broke down so I am a single mum also . My weight ballooned at this time but I managed to lose te weight last year and have maintained for over a year now .i find excercise a great way to ease stress .

Hi.

I'm a Mum with a 9.5 year old daughter that has just been diagnosed with Aspergers and Non-Verbal Learning Disorder. We always knew she was a very special kid but I talked myself out of getting her assessed in case someone thought I was a hypochondriac and/or trying to label my kid. The reason we finally decided to do something this year is because school has been hell. She has gone downhill and now we understand why.

She has her challenging moments but for the most part I'm greatful for her quirky side and her ability to just be herself.

It'd be great to connect with other Mum's who have kids with ASD's!

Vee

Autism mom here - two sons on the spectrum. One is 5 and has PDD-NOS, the other is 4 and nonverbal with classic/regressive and severe autism. Feel free to add me!

Me too! I have a 10 y/o (almost 11) with Aspergers (& a mood disorder). Diagnosed 6 years ago. Love him so much!

Not a mom but I am an Autism Dad.

Another Autism dad. I have a beautiful 9 year old autistic daughter who also has a unique genetic disorder. My daughter has been on a biomedical program for several years now, wondered if anyone else here was doing the same.

Struggled with weight for years and used least flattering profile pic to motivate myself whenever I log in, long term goal is to look more like Autism dad#1 two posts up Starting at 223 so some way to go!

I have an 8 year old son who is mildly autistic. He has made such good progress from where he was as a toddler, but we still have our struggles, for sure. We've really been dealing with his growing independent streak. But he is so awesome!

Mom of 5; 3 boys & 2 girls. The two oldest boys have a mild form of autism (PDD-NOS). The younger two are ADHD-like but not needing medication. The youngest girl need some therapy before kindergarten but is fine. I spent probably a decade devoting all my time to raising my kids. Now that the older four are in school all day, I feel like I am coasting. The 3yo still keeps me on my toes all day but he doesn't need nearly as much therapy as the older boys did when they were his age. I feel very blessed that the children have made enough improvement that they can be mainstreamed... not that they don't have their problems. But now I can do things that I really didn't have time to do before, like train for marathons and take up Tae Kwon Do. I feel like my life is more in balance than it was before. I thank God every day for the many blessings that He has given our family.

Oh, I forgot to mention: my kids are 12B, 11G, 9B, 7G and 3B.

Hi, my name is Kristine. I have a almost 6 yr old son with Aspergers and a 2 yr old that has some autistic traits. My oldest was just diagnosised this past fall, he is high functioning but life with him is very stressful. We are just starting to get services for him, I'm a little nervous about next school year when he will be full day (he has afternoon kindergarten).

Any other Autism Mommies that would like to add me feel free

I have a 9 year old who was diagnosed NLD two years ago and finally Aspergers a few weeks ago. Luckily we were already doing a lot of stuff for the NLD that helps with the Asperger stuff too - like schedules/routines/explaining what we are doing etc.

He is a lovely lovely boy, he has never been anything other than affectionate with me and his step-dad although he is closed to everyone else. He doesn't make eye contact, tends to go on and on, has an extremely rigid black-and-white view of things and can throw the most incredible temper tantrums (!), is very good at art & especially sculpting stuff and does not get on with other kids very well at all. Very much affected by visual/auditory stimuli.

I wouldn't change him though, as when he is in the room everything seems more interesting (can't describe why but it just does!).

We haven't had a lot of help yet, other than physio for poor motor coordination, but are on a waiting list for psycho-education (for us parents) and individual counselling for him - stuff like how to read body language etc.

He has also been skipped a grade at school and will finish primary school at 10 (usually here it is 12) and I am very concerned about high school and how he will deal with crowds/schedules etc.. but we'll see when we get there!

Feel free to add me.

Hello! I have a 5 year old son that has Autism. He was diagnosed at 33 months old, but could have seriously been diagnosed at 22 months old. We thought it was just a speech delay, but his SLP noticed a few "autistic traits" and motivated us (i initially did not take this well) to have our son looked at. Sure enough, Ethan was diagnosed with ASD and SLI (speech language impairment). He has definitely come a long way, but has so much more to go. This march we received a "go" for him to be mainstreamed into General Education Kindergarten. This has been huge goal we made for Ethan, and we are so glad he has been given a chance to have it come to fruition. He currently attends general ed preschool and receives 35 hours of Early Intensive Behavioral Treatment (EIBT) (intense ABA therapy, 1:1). His speech and language skills are still lacking compared to other kiddos his age, but Ethan is smart and very bright. He loves authority and being around other kids his age. We are also very fortunate that he does not have any violent behaviors and does not tantrum. He travels well and does better than most typical kids in restaurants/events.

One of the fun (i say this sarcastically) quirks to my son is that he memorizes tv shows, movies and books, and is a huge "scripter." It's odd because he speaks perfectly when he scripts, but the expressive language is difficult for him, gotta love autism.

He is also Gluten and Casein Free, all organic, on a high dose vitamin and mineral regiment and takes double probiotics a day.. This has helped tremendously on his concentration skills, gut issues, and immunity problems. His BioMed Doctor is Dr. Jerry Kartzinel, who's website is mendingautism.com. If anyone is interested in the huge benefits of BioMed treatments email me. My son suffered from a serious amounts of ear infections and random fevers (with no other symptoms, sign of a bad immune system, gut related), a lot of autistic kids have a weakened immune system, and most general doctors simply look over it, mine did.

I am also a huge advocate for parents creating their own vaccine schedule. I do not believe there is one bad shot, i believe that most of our kiddos bodies/immune system cannot handle the standard CDC vaccine schedule, so if more parents know they can stretch out their schedule, all would benefit.

my youngest is autistic, a year ago she was almost completely non verbal. now she talks up a storm. she's allllllllllllll full sentences now and can tell me exactly what is on her mind. i love it....most of the time lol

Hi! I'm not a mom but I'm a sister of a 10 year old boy with Asperger. I really understand what you all say even though I'm only the sister.

Has anyone tried the gluten-free lactose free diet? we will try it in a couple of weeks, it's supposed to help with the Asperger and de attention deficit

My daughter has been on the Gluten Dairy free diet for nearly 5 years now and we honestly believe she is much better because of it. It's hard sometimes to tell where her autism ends and the genetic condition begins but since being on it she has been calmer, picked up at school and no longer suffers with endless ENT infections.

Not quite an Autism mom, but living at home with my mother with Asperger's/anxiety, my adult older brother with mild Asperger's and my adult younger brother with high-functioning Autism. They all are at different places on the scale, but I have a lot of experience with the topic.