autistic spectrum

[5pintshefound]

hello my fello lit-ters... ive been looking for information on Autism in small children, and am overwhelmed. I was wondering if any of you have children in the autistic spectrum?

~5PHF

 

[Mary Hall]

I've got Aspergers but i'm an adult.

 

[SweetErika]

IIRC, a couple of GB regulars, namely Recidiva and KRCummings have kids with autism and a lot of good info/resources on it. If they vanity search, they may be drawn to this thread, too.

 

[5pintshefound]

excellent - thanks girls...


my 2 yo was diagnosed with as being in the autistic spectrum, but thast honestly all i know about it, as of yet. im waiting on the paperwork to get here from the doc, to re-read it also,

ive read a few books no the subject, but im not completely convinced that this fits my kid... hes got some issues definately-- im just not sure what.

very confusing for sure

5phf

 

[glynndah]

I have a 21 year old son with autism. Feel free to PM me if you want more information.

 

[tryptamine]

Hi,

I have a psychology degree, and I work as a therapist conducting ABA (applied behavioural analysis) programs with young Autistic children.

The core deficits of Autism are pragmattic language difficulties (often they start to aquire language and then stop and go backwards at around two and a half or three years old), and social 'disconnectedness', as well as a lack of imaginative play in the children.

They tend to operate by routines, reacting badly if their routine is changed.

Other common issues are sensory issues...many Autistic children engage in a lot of self-stimulatory behaviour...this can include anything from rubbing their feet constantly, flapping their hands (the textbook example), or other things. Lots of kids do things like watch videos rewinding, staring at anything from flashing lights to smoke coming out of a chimney, toying constantly with beads, or whatever.

It's a spectrum disorder. What this means is that you can be 'more or less' autistic. Aspergers is characterised by the same kind of social deficits as Autism, but without the pragmatic language problems.

The best treatment for Autism is applied behavioural analysis, a program in which children receive full time therapy from a team of therapists that often consist of later year and postgraduate university students. This program teaches language, social and academic skills in a way that Autistic children can understand and learn from. I have seen children who were completely non-verbal at three years old get so high functioning by six that you can barely tell there's an issue with them at all. Unfortunately this therapy is so expensive most people can't afford it (you're employing people to work for you 40 hours a week, plus materials).

There are other therapies available as well each of which have a different focus, but ABA is the best overall for teaching most things, especially academic skills certainly. Autistic people can still learn (although mental retardation is common in Autism), but they need to do so in a different way.

In your position I would read up on Autism as much as you can, but make sure you stick to reliable sources. You can't just 'fix' autism and don't believe anyone who tells you you can. Also don't believe anyone who tells you your child is 'just retarded' or whatever and beyond help. Feel free to PM me if you like...I've had contact with a variety of autistic children in a therapy setting but I've only just finished my degree so I'm no expert. Good luck!

 

[tryptamine]

Oh also visit

http://www.wiautism.com/

That's the website of the Wisconsin Early Autism Project, a big group in ABA. The group I work with here in Australia is affiliated with them.

 

[5pintshefound]

thanks for the replies... heres some more background on my son... hes 32 monthes.. has only a few words {juice, dada} the reason, for what i can see, that the docs decided on autism, is the lack of words, the fact that he doesnt look for approval etc, when doing something, and that when he does something HES happy with, he pulls his arms back in front of him.

both ABA and FloorTime have been suggested to me, whcich is great.... BUT- we live @ an isolated base in the carribbean. and have hardly any resources available down here. We havnet talked to the pediatrician yet, and me and the kids get to stay down here, hinges on him-- if me an dthe boys have to leave, we will be doing so with out my husband. He will have to stay and finish out the remaining 19 mos on his current billet. now, i know i need to do whats best for my 2yo. and if moving to the states, and separating him from my husband is best ill do it, but im trying to explore every other option, so that we can keep our family together. from Aug 04 til Nov 05, my husband was stationed in the middle east, while we were stateside. and it was extremely hard being separated. my children didnt handle it well @ all. well. the 2 yo, was less than a year when my SO left, sohe didnt really care, but our then 4 yo, had severe issues with Dad being gone.

While we were in the states, i bought some books on autism @ barnes & noble, and so far, what ive read hasnt really helped muhc. The place where my son was diagnosed, had a preffered reading sheet, but it was old. most of the books were from 95-2000. seems to me, taht there has to have had more information come out since then?!?

ok, i guess thats enough for now...
thanks for listning/reading
~5PHF

 

[Mary Hall]

I find it slightly insulting that Aspergers is labeled a ''Learning disability'' when it is not.

 

[glynndah]

Autism takes in a huge amount of territory.The disability runs from profound with very little communication available to very slight where some social issues might be the only discernable clue.

There are lots of things you can do to help your child and your family learn to deal with autism. Many of them are easy, common sense things that your other child will enjoy and benefit from. Unless your son is severely affected (with a proper diagnosis-not just "some kind of autism thing") I think I'd go for keeping the family together. The trauma of tearing everybody apart might be worse for the little guy than what benefits the therapy would bring.

Once again, PM me. We've been through it all and we survived.

 

[tryptamine]

The only thing I would add is that for behavioural intervention therapies such as ABA to be most effective they need to be started as early as possible.

I'm not saying I think you should separate your child from his father in favour of a therapy program...I'm just mentioning it as one of many things to keep in mind.

Have you got a definite diagnosis? Who has diagnosed your child? It's not just a regular doctor is it? You need to go to someone who specialises in this kind of thing to be sure. Diagnosing autism requires specialised knowledge and experience. Not just any doctor can do it.

 

[Sprinkles22]

Hi.

My 8 yr old son has Asperger's .... or *high functioning* Autism, if you want to call it. We recognized by the time he was 2 weeks old that something wasn't what you would call *normal* about him. Even at that age he was displaying the social disconnectedness typical of autism. He was a *touch me not* infant; he hated being held or handled; he preferred solitude. His baby years were not pleasant times.

By the time he was a toddler we sought out a psychologist on our own ... unfortunately, our pediatrician was still going with a *wait and see* approach that he would outgrow his social anxiety. C'mon ... how many 2 year olds do you know with social anxiety?? We had luck in finding a great *play* therapist and altho our son was the patient, the therapy was more for my husband and I to learn how to deal with him, as opposed to him learning how to deal with himself.

Our son had already developed a tremendous vocabulary and was highly intelligent even as a toddler, which is why the pediatrician kept excluding him from the autism spectrum. However, he displayed the very typical anti social behaviors and inability to adapt to a changing environment. Even the smallest change in our daily routine would set him off into a fit of temper. When we went to therapy, my husband and I learned to identify the stressors and triggers in his environment and we learned to either avoid them if possible or we learned how to ease him into them if not avoidable. He was much too little to understand his own behavior and so he could not adapt, WE had to adapt.

As he's grown and become more mature, we have discussed his diagnosis with him and explained what it means. His intelligence is phenomenal and he is so much like a little adult instead of an elementary school child. He prefers deep thinking, philosophical discussions opposed to typical young child chatting. He is truly a wonder to talk to ... absolutely amazing.

We have very little problems with our son these days. He still suffers social anxiety and finds himself feeling over whelmed in certain situations, but we have open communications with him and he has learned coping mechanisms to calm himself. Each year I have a conference with his teacher the first week of school and we discuss his issues and I offer the teacher insight into *reading* his behaviors (such as finger tapping or pulling at his hair) so that she can be forwarned and avoid outbursts by diverting his attentions or removing the stressor. It is so much easier to avoid the situation than to have to extinguish it once it ignites.

I make no excuses for his behavior, and at his age now we hold him accountable for his transgressions. But I strongly support him and his difference from the other children. It's not easy being different.

Is my child disabled? No .. I don't think so. I think my child is GIFTED .. and I am the BLESSED Mother to have him in my life. He teaches me something new everyday

 

[5pintshefound]

The only thing I would add is that for behavioural intervention therapies such as ABA to be most effective they need to be started as early as possible.

I'm not saying I think you should separate your child from his father in favour of a therapy program...I'm just mentioning it as one of many things to keep in mind.

Have you got a definite diagnosis? Who has diagnosed your child? It's not just a regular doctor is it? You need to go to someone who specialises in this kind of thing to be sure. Diagnosing autism requires specialised knowledge and experience. Not just any doctor can do it.

believe me, we've been going thru all the possible scenarios for this... who diagnosed him? a team consisting of, a speech therapist, clinical child -psychologist, and dr specializing in early developmental intervention. as to the diagnosis, no! its so frustrating! we're waiting on paperwork to see exactly what they decided it is. .

Hi.

My 8 yr old son has Asperger's .... or *high functioning* Autism, if you want to call it. We recognized by the time he was 2 weeks old that something wasn't what you would call *normal* about him. Even at that age he was displaying the social disconnectedness typical of autism. He was a *touch me not* infant; he hated being held or handled; he preferred solitude. His baby years were not pleasant times.

By the time he was a toddler we sought out a psychologist on our own ... unfortunately, our pediatrician was still going with a *wait and see* approach that he would outgrow his social anxiety. C'mon ... how many 2 year olds do you know with social anxiety?? We had luck in finding a great *play* therapist and altho our son was the patient, the therapy was more for my husband and I to learn how to deal with him, as opposed to him learning how to deal with himself.

Our son had already developed a tremendous vocabulary and was highly intelligent even as a toddler, which is why the pediatrician kept excluding him from the autism spectrum. However, he displayed the very typical anti social behaviors and inability to adapt to a changing environment. Even the smallest change in our daily routine would set him off into a fit of temper. When we went to therapy, my husband and I learned to identify the stressors and triggers in his environment and we learned to either avoid them if possible or we learned how to ease him into them if not avoidable. He was much too little to understand his own behavior and so he could not adapt, WE had to adapt.

As he's grown and become more mature, we have discussed his diagnosis with him and explained what it means. His intelligence is phenomenal and he is so much like a little adult instead of an elementary school child. He prefers deep thinking, philosophical discussions opposed to typical young child chatting. He is truly a wonder to talk to ... absolutely amazing.

We have very little problems with our son these days. He still suffers social anxiety and finds himself feeling over whelmed in certain situations, but we have open communications with him and he has learned coping mechanisms to calm himself. Each year I have a conference with his teacher the first week of school and we discuss his issues and I offer the teacher insight into *reading* his behaviors (such as finger tapping or pulling at his hair) so that she can be forwarned and avoid outbursts by diverting his attentions or removing the stressor. It is so much easier to avoid the situation than to have to extinguish it once it ignites.

I make no excuses for his behavior, and at his age now we hold him accountable for his transgressions. But I strongly support him and his difference from the other children. It's not easy being different.

Is my child disabled? No .. I don't think so. I think my child is GIFTED .. and I am the BLESSED Mother to have him in my life. He teaches me something new everyday .

See, thats part of what im quite confused over. my son is extremely "lovey"-- hes always wanting hugs, and goes to people to have them pick him up. what started this process out originally, was, that hes delayed in speech and when we first moved here a year ago, he wasnt walking theawy he should... so we got flown back to the states for an appt with a neurologist. they did an MRI {came back that hes got a misshapen corpus collosum--doc said thats nothing to worry about} then he got really sick {URI, bronchitis, sinus inf} and on the way home from taking him to a walk in clinic, he had a febrile seizure in the car-- so i pulled over, and someone called the police, and the firetrucks showed up and the ambulance came, and took us to the hospital {a civilian one} so, because of that we got to stay an extra week and get an EEg or ekg {whichever one deals with the brain} which turned out fine. the nuerologist, decided that gabes walking, was because he has loose joints and ligaments... since then {that was early april} he was doing things like wearing weights around his ankles, to help him learn to walk right, and i am proud to say, that while we were in the states, he ran! for the first time! this whole time we have been trying to find out why he is delayed in speaking { as of now, has 2 realy clear words, DADA and Juice} the weird thing, is he knows a lot more words {even @ one poitn said refridgerator to the speech therapist} but he doesnt use them.

ok, onto why they diagnosed him... they said because he doesnt look for approval or praise when he does something, because he doesnt point to something to show it off to us, because hes speech delayed, because he plays by himself,

from what ive read, hes got to have some sort of high functioning autism, i just dont know the term for it. I tried calling yesterdayto the clinic that he was seen @, but they had already closed for the day.

i know my thoughts are pretty jumbled, and i would like to blame it on the stress of this...lol, but those of u that have read prior posts of mine, know that my brain doesnt go straightforward..lol.. it likes to take little sidetrips into the great unknown

 

[HeavenCanWait]

5pints,

that's the thing about autism, 100 people will tell you 100 different things about what it is to be autistic. Autism is infinately diverse, which is why I chose to workj with autistic kids. Where are you, geographically? I might be able to put you in touch with some different orginisations.

 

[eXplorer63]

Hi,

I have a psychology degree, and I work as a therapist conducting ABA (applied behavioural analysis) programs with young Autistic children.

The core deficits of Autism are pragmattic language difficulties (often they start to aquire language and then stop and go backwards at around two and a half or three years old), and social 'disconnectedness', as well as a lack of imaginative play in the children.

They tend to operate by routines, reacting badly if their routine is changed.

Other common issues are sensory issues...many Autistic children engage in a lot of self-stimulatory behaviour...this can include anything from rubbing their feet constantly, flapping their hands (the textbook example), or other things. Lots of kids do things like watch videos rewinding, staring at anything from flashing lights to smoke coming out of a chimney, toying constantly with beads, or whatever.

See that makes me wonder if I have some form of it or not. Even Mary's asked if I ever had a feeling I had AS sometime this year and the thought intrigued me I must say as to the outside world (those who care) may see traits in me but I'm not sure, maybe someone who knows can help out.

An early memory my mother speaks of is when a woman on a bus accidentally brushed against me when I was a child and I pretty much told her to "take your hands off me" and still hate being touched unless it's someone like Mary who I have a relationship with, then she as my girlfriend would be the only person allowed to touch me.

Also since an early age I've been credited as having "above average" intelligence for a person of my age (reading adult books with complicated plots while others in the class were reading books aimed at 8 year olds which was our age group of the time) although I sometimes acted "dumb" as some called it at random times for long periods, most notably after starting college 6 years ago where my intelligence level as I see it has decreased (not a knock on anyone with autism here at all, I just see myself as being dumber than I was during my school years but don't know why or when it happened exactly, what triggered it).

I also can't stop drumming with my hands and fingers and have been told off several times at work this year for the first time in my life for doing it, half the time I didn't even know I was doing it.

I've also been very big fan of wordplay, puns and have been very creative with talents in acting, musical instruments, art and creative writing (which have all been praised since I can remember) and enjoy the oddest things (my humour is similar to Tenacious D, Monty Python, Spike Milligan and other surrealists) although what bearing all of that has is beyond me.

Again, no offence to anyone who actually does have autism or knows someone who does but I figured I'd describe my childhood and adult years thus far and see if those with experience in this field thought my profile was close to being in the autistic spectrum as my girlfriend who has it even suggested I try to find out.

 

[tryptamine]

Alright well I'm by no means qualified to make diagnosis but...

You don't sound autistic at all to me. Creativity in language and music is certainly not an autistic trait. High functioning aspergers people tend to be good at the opposite sort of thing: maths, visuo-spatial tasks, and so on. I won't go into the complicated cognitive information-processing issues that are present in autism, but it's enough to say that the kind of creativity you describe is less likely to be present in the autistic as far as I know.

Autistic people also tend to be very literal and concrete. Your sense of humour is the opposite of this.

Not liking to be touched isn't really an indicator of autism on its own either.

Also, there is a bit of a misconception in the community that people with autism and aspergers are all geniuses underneath their social deficits (the 'rain man' myth). This isn't the case. There are some aspergers children who are extremely intelligent and some autistic children who are extremely intelligent, but there are also some autistic children who have mental retardation issues as well. Bottom line: being smart and a bit weird doesn't put you in the autistic spectrum.

One of the biggest issues with autism as I see it is that as the diagnostic criteria for the disorder has gotten broader (ie it turned into a 'spectrum' rather than just a flat out disorder) the definition is less and less precise. I mean, it's a spectrum, so you could argue that everyone is at least a little bit autistic. I personally don't think this is the case, but there are grey areas.

--

To the original poster...autistic children can be very friendly and like interacting with people. The not pointing to things that the doctors are describing is a thing in autism whereby autistic people will point to things that they want, but they don't point to things in order to draw the other person's perspective towards it so that the two people involved will share the experience. The idea is that behaviourally they know that pointing to something will result in the result they are after, but the understanding that what is going on is a shared experience between the pointer and the 'pointee' which results in this is not there.

Autism is a diverse thing. I would wait on the final diagnosis before I do anything more.

Disclaimer: I'm not an expert! Anyone who knows more than me should feel free to correct me...I've just got a psych degree and work in ABA.

 

[eXplorer63]

Right cause Mary's actually very similar to me personality wise yet she has AS which is why during conversation once she asked if I ever thought I had it too.

 

[tryptamine]

Autism and aspergers are not personality traits.

Think of it this way...

All of the various branches of psychology have different things to add to whatever issue is being discussed.

Cognitive psychology looks at information processing.

Autistic people have cognitive differences in the way they process information. They have difficulties forming broad representations of sets of things in the world. Autistic people are biased towards 'piecemeal' information processing...this means they can process information as long as it's in individual pieces, but it is difficult for them to collect these pieces and form representations of the broader things in the world that these pieces are part of.

This does not make them 'retarded' (stupid word though that is). It is a cognitive bias.

On a concrete level this means that they don't (without therapy) form letters into words, or words into sentences, and that sort of thing. Break a sentence up into too many different words and they will 'chunk' it, learning each word individually but never forming the whole sentence. Often autistic children will use sentences but without realising that these sentences are made up of individual words...sometimes they are just something that they have to say to get their desired result, but the person has no real conceptual understanding of what they are saying.

The theory is that when it comes to social things, this cognitive bias expresses itself in the person not being able to collect the various social cues in their environment and fitting it with a broader representation of social life to understand what is going on. The social world is a complex thing and you can't just interpret each eyebrow raise or grin individually...it needs context.

This (as far as I know) is why things like musical creativity is outside the scope of many autistic people. Creativity is a complex thing...it requires the sort of information processing that autistic people are cognitively deficient in.

So yeah...I seriously doubt you're autistic...just smart and weird. Lots of people are like that.

(ps please don't take my word as the golden truth, I'm pretty sure of my facts and I'm sharing what I know but I still encourage people to do their own research if this influences them!)

 

[Malaria]

my brother has Aspergers tendencies but mix that in with the rest of his behavioural and mental problems and I can't tell one 'symptom' from another