why is my son regressing

[autismof1]

i dont know whats going on with my son. last year at school he was progressing wonderfulyy. more speech playing with other kids

doing his work.lately his teacher says he doesnt do anything. she has to be right there in order for him to finish his work. and playing he hasnt been joining the other kids. he gets a book and sits by himself. hes not like that at home he plays joins his siater in play time and we all play together...im baffled i dont know what to do

[sbgrace]

How old is he?
My spectrum son retreats like that when he's uncomfortable. Lately my son (homeschooled) has been much less attentive. He's also having more stimmy days and is more volatile. I think the fact that he seems typical and doing well at home is actually encouraging. My son is "off" everywhere it seems. I wonder if the school environment might just be too much right now for your son. Kids at this time of year are sometimes more "squirrely" and maybe the expectations have jumped a little too in terms of maturity of kids or school work depending on his age. As a teacher I always felt the kids made maturity leaps in the 2nd half of the year as a whole.

In other words, I don't know! But my son fluctuates too.

[Kristine233]

Are they learning a new skill in school? Has something changed in his routine?

I found when my son (and daughter) were progressing in one area they would regress in others. Also when new skills were being taught they would pull out entirely from the group/class and not want anything to do with it. It can manifest in a myriad of ways but I've discovered its not uncommon amongst Autistic kids to regress a bit after they learn something new. They just don't have the same coping skills and it may take a bit more time for their brains to process and organize everything. Watch and see if he adjusts back within a week or two. Also ask about school routines, look at home routines etc to see if anything has changed that may have compounded it as well.

Hugs mama! Hang in there!

[Rebecca2009]

I found out recently that there are certain ages during which many kids with autism will temporarily regress...it's around age 7 to 9, then again around 12 or 13.  These are usually times of new spurts of growth and change, and the different things going on with them phsically can cause them to regress for a little while.  I was relieved to learn this because my son was going through this (he is 8} and it was helpful to know this is not unusual and would likely pass.

One issue we had this past summer/fall-- due to an increase in my son's medicine he was regressing WAY too much.  It turned out the dose he was on was far too high.  When we began to reduce the medicine we saw his normal behavior start to return. 

[autismof1]

 i am releved to know it is normal. i was very scared. the last thing i want is for him to go backwards we have all worked

so hard to get him where he is at now.thank you to all for the wonderful support!!!