How many of us are Autism Moms?

A close cousin of mine has aspergers. He is doing so great, he graduated from high school and will be going to college. My best friend's daughter has austism, she is also doing great, she is in high school and doing co-op at Old Navy.

I have a 17 year old daughter on the spectrum, she was diagnosed officially at 8 but had various diagnoses before 8. We homeschool too. Every year in NC there is a Run for Autism and I usually sign up, but I think to myself..."I run every day for autism!" (on the treadmill) hahaha and after this run....my daughter will still have autism. but ok....i'll humor this.

I am an aunty to a young lady with autism. She is 15 and only just now finally got diagnosed . I love her to bits. I worry so much about how she will get on in life as an adult.

I am not a mom- but I work in a psychiatric hospital with kids that are developmentally disabled and 90% of them are autism. ( with the rest being downs, RAD, MR, aspergers ) and most with a combination of more then one disability.

My 15 YO is Autistic, mild form Aspergers, He was diagnosed when he was 4 YO, he didn.t speak (or eat) till he was about 3 1/2 to 4 ..... he drank milk by the gallon thou

His first 7 years were spent in a special needs unit but we wanted him to go mainstream as we felt he would be able to fit in (he has a younger brother and sister in mainstream) we fought through the system and managed to get him into main stream school, we also moved him back a year (he re sat primary 7), he struggles with bullying a little from some of the kids throughout the school (mainly the younger ones) ..... Im glad to say that the teachers are very much on top of it, so when theres an episode its dealt with very quickly and with minimum fuss.

This year Im so proud of him, he went to Belguim on a school trip and had great fun His main issues are his social skills, hes a bit of a loner.

My 7 yo has an ADHD-CT diagnosis and anxiety. He is being referred for neuro testing, probably will happen this summer (you know how wait times go!). Ped suspects Asperger's.

We've been up and down the roller coaster of diagnosis. He was first screened when he was 4, they said low IQ, exhibits traits of ASD, speech impairment (limited vocab). Well, his preschool teacher didn't agree with the low IQ, and the speech therapist at his school didn't agree with the limited vocab (nor would anyone who actually knew him). The testing was severely flawed (he did play therapy in the same room and he knew where the toys were and it was WAY too distracting, and he did NOT like the one woman at all (for starters)). I have heard from others that the one tester is a little overboard...and I agree. My husband didn't like her at all - and he gets along with everyone.

Then, this year after a meltdown at school just before the holiday break, we talked to the ped, did the Vanderbilt and that shows the ADHD and anxiety. He's on meds for the ADHD and that has helped a LOT. There were some hiccups at first - we didn't have him on an afternoon dose and he was awful later in the evening when meds wore off - and had a hard time sleeping. Adding the 2nd dose has really helped with that, as has the nicer weather / increased physical activity.

I am curious to see what the neuro testing says, because we also had him retested last year by a psychiatrist - who said no ADD and IQ of like 114 (compared to 80!! the first time).

I'm to the point I don't care what his diagnosis is. I just want to know how to help him!! He is super smart and I hate to see his other issues hold him back / make him dislike school.

Two of my seven children are on the spectrum, both boys aged five and fifteen.

Bubble (aged 5) was only officially diagnosed in January but, due to our experience with Mr15, we've known since before he was 2yrs old. He has now been statemented and has an LSA for 15hrs/week, ie. mornings. He goes to a mainstream school and fits in quite well. My only real complaint is that none of the teachers at his school, including his LSA, have had any Autism awareness training whatsoever.

Mr15 also attends mainstream school and always has done. He's never received any help. In fact, it is only this school year that his teachers have been made aware of his AS, despite me seeing the school SENCO at least once or twice every school year to ensure that they are up to date. She always assures me that his teachers have been notified. Yet, year after year, I attend parent's evening and find that most of them don't have a clue!

Mr15 is now in his first GCSE year and started his exams this week. I got a call from the exam coordinator last week asking me why I hadn't signed some forms for my son to get 25% extra time on his exams. I didn't know what he was talking about. Apparently, the SENCO is supposed to notify us of things like this. HA! The only reason that the woman's still in that job is because noone else wants the hassle.

It has taken the school three months to provide Mr15 with an appointment with the school counsellor. He's aware enough to know that he's 'sinking and we've been told that he probably has clinical depression. This isn't completely down to his AS, but due to some outside factors that (I do apologise) I can't talk about for legal reasons. The doctor has referred him back to CAAMHS and we are awaiting an appointment with them.

*aaaand breath*

My twin 4-year-old sons have been diagnosed with ASD since around 18 months old. While one twin has made amazing progress, the other still has major oral sensory issues, is more of a rote speaker than spontaneous, and is in need of more intensive therapy which we're now paying out-of-pocket for with ABA therapy.

With the never-ending parade of kids home sick, teacher meetings, IEP meetings, laundry, lunches & dinner, dishes, vacuuming, reading stories, clean-ups, I still find or make time to workout. It's rougher on some days than others.

my 13 year old son is autistic. It's been a grueling ride, but he's nearly recovered. Without meds. Or diet. We started with ABA and Positive Behavior Support therapy. His diagnosis really didn't affect me the way it does other parents. You see, despite the world-rocking that comes with "You son has autism" that other parents feel, this diagnosis was not the worst thing to ever happen to us. He has an older sister with a very rare, and very deadly, metabolic disease. Autism wasn't going to kill him, the way his sister's disease may kill her. Autism is just a different way of looking at and responding to the world.. all we had to do was figure out how to be his translator with the world until he figured out how to do it himself. And I don't mean to imply he was high functioning either.. he was non verbal and had behaviors. He was and is freaky strong for his size and age. He could be volatile. But we've never let his sister's disease run our lives, and we weren't about to let Autism do it either. And since we love them equally, we worked just as hard to recover him as we do to keep his sister alive. Now, both are in their teens and very happy and healthy. We are so very blessed.

My son Matthew is 8 years old was diagnosed with autism at 2. The only time I really stessed about his diagnosis was on the day that the doctors confirmed that he was not a typical kid. After that day I just said screw it this is the hand I was dealt and now I just take everything one day at a time. If people look at him when he flaps and yells and throws temper tantrums it doesn't bother me one bit. Who are they to judge me?

Also he has no brain to mouth filter which can be hilarious at times. My husband, myself and my 3 boys were in a mexican restaurant about a month ago. While the waiter was handing us our menus my son looks right at him and says "welcome to America" I just about died of mortification (and laughter in the car on the way home)

My mom is an autism mom with a son with autism (me).

I have a 9yr old "normal" daughter and my 13 yr old "different" son. He has a chromosome deletion called 15q11.2 microdeletion between breakpoint 1 and 2 that apparently is quite rare. He doesn't have autism but this deletion causes autism behaviours in most areas, he also has severe ADHD, sensory integration disorder, learning disabilities, heart defect, behaviour issues, etc, etc.

Even though he is not labelled Autistic I have been dealing with most of the same things you guys have. It is definitely a challenge, but so worth it!

My oldest was diagnosed at 3 with ASD. I felt relief, though my husband still does not believe it . He has ADD and OCD tendencies as well. No brain to mouth filter either, lol! He's a really great kid, I couldn't imagine life without him! He started speaking when we put him on a gluten free diet with me, and he may have Celiac disease like myself. We recently moved to a better school district and he seems to be making great progress.

I'm a mom of a 17yr old Asperger's boy who graduates this year!!!! * happy dance * YAHHHHHHHH Trust me the hard work pays off It's been a longgg gruelling year for us as he's terrified of the changes coming up. So needless to say this summer will be stressful seeing as how he's 17... doesn't think he needs medication right now.. how do you get them to take it? Shutting down because of stress of the "unknown" etc. Some days it's difficult not to eat for "emotional" reasons these days... but I am perservering!!

He wasn't diagnosed until he was 8... I knew something was different years prior but the pediatrician just kept telling us it was ADHD. He's ADHD, OCD and Asperger's.. quite a handful on days that aren't quite going his way.. but other than that one of the most gentle, kind and generous people you would ever meet.

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.