Hi,
I'm quite new to this world of Autism and very new to this chat forum.
I'm hoping if anyone can direct any light on managing autism and improving the quality of life for an innocent autistic child.
My 2.5 year old boy hasnt been fully diagnosed as the paedi has asked that he sees a speech therapist for 6 months first before he makes this judgement... but it has been 4 months and there has been no progress with his speech.
Can anyone tell me what their thoughts are and how I should go about managing and alleviating the frustrations for him and of course for the rest of the family.
He used to babble as a baby, and he used to say mummy and daddy but has regressed to not saying it at all.
He points out numbers and the alphabet correctly when I call them out, but wont repeat. he doesnt mimic and is not interested in parellel play.
He is uncomfortable being left with other people apart from my husband and I, even my parents whom he knows and sees frequently. He doesnt participate in group activities at day care. He doesnt feed himself with a spoon or fork, but will hand feed himself if its chips or finger foods he enjoys.
He awakes several times through the night crying for a attention to be resettled.
He cries like its the end of the world if I say sternly 'NO' at something he cannot touch or do...he doesnt play with a toy like its meant to be played with, however will keep grasp of it and sometimes sit still in a corner admiring it and staring at it, especially if the object is round or green. He will stare closely at the wheels of a car as he pushes it forward and back. He squeals and whines when he wants something as he doesnt know how to communicate for the object... which is very frustrating for both parties.
I have a 10 month old and he's only just started to really acknowledge him, otherwise pushes him away if he doesnt want him near his toys or around.
He loves watching TV, the wiggles, Special Agent oso, but wont interact unless I sing and dance with the tv.
He's only going to speech therapy which is not really showing any progress in his speech just sending us hundreds of dollars poorer.
Am I right to pull him out of this or persist?
I am now trying a gluten free, casseine free diet which apparently lessens the affect of growing autism...am I wasting my time and money on this diet?
I'm all out of ideas.
Can anyone shed some light on this and where I should go from here as I'm completely lost!
Thank you so MUCH!
Nat ↓
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| Name: jennyann | Date: May 26th, 2011 9:46 PM |
Hi Nat, well theres loads you can do and I have a 7 yr old who was very like your child is now.
ABA, casein free did it all lol
G/F diet did wonders as he was more alert and slept better.
ABA is an early intervention home program which taught him to talk and learn, brilliant stuff you should find loads on any search engine ...good luck ↑ |
| Name: Edwardliu | Date: Jun 9th, 2011 8:10 PM |
Hi Nat
Your son looks like my son Edward. He is autism when he is two years and four months. He is now four and a half. He speaks everything now and start to play with other children. He still have trouble to answer some question. But at least he understand what I say. He love me. He listen to me. He come home and tell me his early intervention teacher Tita tell him not to be nervous and don't be shy. When his daddy is away, he ask me "Where is my dad? How many days left for daddy come back? I miss my daddy. We go through the very hard time. Worry, anxious, desperate. I hope he can recover when he is six years old. It is very hard. We do diary free, gluten free for him. I think the very important is to find the DAN doctor. My son has very high mercury. Now his mercury level is normal. My son starts to say his first word when we try gluten and diary free food. I still remember when I ask my doctor how can I do that because my son only ate milk, noodle, eggs and chips. Now he eats everything. It is very important to let him get enough health food.
My son now is very good at reading. His reading skill is better than his sister who is nearly six years old. And she is in the best reading group in her class. I think it is very hard from the beginning. It is better you read the book " more than words" to teach yourself how to teach your son speech. Early intervention is very important too. Speech pathology, Ot, Sound Therapy is very helpful. I still remember it is very slow from the beginning. It is very hard to let my son to say go, more, up, mum. I do worry like a crazy woman. I can't sleep. But he is my son and I love him. I still remember when I told my friends my son is autism, most of them run away and with the polite word "If you need help, call us". Many of them scare that. Specially sometimes my son can't be touch by others. Only me. It is very funny we try everything and he can be touched by daddy, then his sisters. But he still can't be touched by other people. Who can help us ? Nobody. We tried to do some OT brush to him. Still not working. I worry a lot. Because he need to go to pre school soon. Then I read a book for a mum use dog to cure his son. We use the dog. At the beginning, he screams a lot. Then one day, he can be touched by my speech pathology, my OT, pre-school teacher. Now he liked to be hugged by anyone. Sound Therapy helps him to settle well now. He used to scare a lot of noise. Reject to go in public toilet because there is hand dryer there. It is good when he start to speak you will understand what is the problem instead of continue screaming. I can tell him when he told me what he heard. Even my daughter tell him " Edward, your ear is specially. The noise is not that loud. So it is OK. Don't be scare. " I am so lucky to have my little daughter here to help him. She play with him everyday and fight with him everyday now. She is still young and I never tell her Edward is autism. One day, she tells me her discovery. " Mum, Edward is autism. He is not clever. That why he need to go to Early intervention. " All I say to her is " He is very clever boy and mum love him." Now my son still very sensitive to noise. But he is not crying any more. He asks me "mum, what is that?" Sometimes he help me to do sweep the Leaves. He is very helpful. He do all the dirty job and tell me he is very good. One day when his sister is lazy to carry her school bag and I scold her to make her cry. Edward told me " Mum, I help her carry bag and he did it". I think I am lucky to have him now. I still remember at the beginning, it is very hard. Even you can't take him to the church. I do believe it is very important to let him believe. But how can I take him at the beginning. Now he is settle well and I take him to the church. And one day, he comes home to tell me " Mum, peter's mum is sick and Jesus recover him. I am sick and God recover me. We are lucky to have his wonderful pre school teacher to treat him so well. My speech pathology help me go through the hardest stress time. I still remember when we received the diagnosis and they tell us no cure for it. We are hopeless. I nearly suicide and my first HSC exam daughter save me. It is very hard for her to go through the very hard HSC time and nobody take care about her. It is very lucky for us to love each other. She is reading medicine now.
It is very important to believe your son can recover and try to do something for him everyday. At least, my son now can read a lot of books. He knows to do math minus and plus. He can go to the normal public school. He still has problem maybe can't be solved. But look, He improved a lot. I think he is my lovely son. He tries his best and he loves God. Sometimes it is very hard for me to teach him because English is my second language. And my son can only speak English. Sometimes I do hope I can get someone to help me and him improve his English. But who want to help? Money is big issue for us too. Everything cost us money. Very big expensive money. Food is expensive, medicine is expensive. Speech pathology, OT, ABI, Sound Therapy is expensive. Who care you? No insurance for that. I am
lucky to see my son good improvement. I still see a lot of my friends to try the same things as me but their sons, daughters don't improve as fast as my son. Each autism is different. All my believe is that each child the brain damage is different. Or maybe I see DAN doctor a lot earlier than my friends. I am not sure. Also bumble bee baby help my son to talk too. You need to watch the TV with him then use the flashcard to teach him everyday. I teach my son about a thousand times and he don't know how to speak car. But once he knows to speak, he knows all of them to surprise. Also, when your son is about 3 years old you can teach them www.reading eggs.com to learn computer game. Trust me your son can point to the letter that means he can recovery. Try the best as you can. I still remember when I my son is two years and four months, I scare he is never speak. He is like your son. Bubble mum, dad, milk when he is about one years old and then lost all his skill after one needle. He can't slide down his favorite slide any more. He not play with other kid anymore. He stares at the water, sky for no reason. He can't listen to my any command. He becomes the children we don't understand. He screams and pull his sister hair. He dances with tiptoe and flaps. When he is three years old, I worry he only can speak one sentence "I want xxx". Then when we apply m-b12 injection to him, he likes to speak but repeat the question again and again make me very headache. Then at 3 years and six months old, he improves a little bit quick. At four years old I can see big jump on speaking. Gluten free diary free help them sleep well. I do apply ABI when he is three and a half years old. But I only to do it's social skill for him. They are very experience. I like them. Hope this can help you. ↑ |
| Name: tangerine75 | Date: Jun 13th, 2011 4:23 PM |
| Reading all of this, especially Edwardliu, has helped me so much. My son is 2 years and 8 months. He has not been officially diagnosed but I do feel like he has a mild case. He has been in daycare and therapy for six weeks and there is alot of improvement. In that time I have been working with him at home everyday. I am determined to help him get better! It is all that is on my mind! At all times! I am losing my mind and going crazy. Extremely depressed but trying to stay focused on him improving. He knows who mama is I think but doesn't use his words. He has never called me Mama. I hope it happens. I cry and pray everyday. I am going crazy! Don't know what is going to happen. Reading this has helped me and made me feel that there may be hope. ↑ |
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