Does anyone else have a autistic child?

[naturalmom2]

Hello Moms and Dads..
I have just found that the 3 1/2 yr old son is Autistic/high functioning.. I live in the South Everett area of WA. Just North of Seattle, WA. I am looking for any other parents that may have a son or daughter in the area for mutual support. We just found out on March 4. I am in a lot of schock, as well as sadness. My son has a lot of other issues as well as the Autism. He has sensory intergration dysfunction as well as Oppositional Defient Disorder. Food Allergies to wheat,dairy,soy and now we are thinking maybe rice milk...
I am also looking to see if anyother parents have found a good schooling path for there child. We are not great public school advocates we are looking more twords Waldorf...
Please feel free to email me for I am not on here alot, not much time..
Thanks soo much ...

[Arduinna]

You might want to check in the parenting issues folder, there is a subsection at the top titled "special needs".

[peggy]

I am going to move this to the Special Needs forum for you. I know we have other Mama's dealing with some of the same issues as you are. I'm sure they can be of help.

:hug I am the Mama of a "special" child myself..I understand how shocking it can be at first.

[khrisday]

Hi naturmom2,
My son has Asperger's, and there are some other parents here with PDD kids. One gret website with lost of information is
www.bbbautism.com
they also have a message board there.
We homeschool our son. I don't know of any kids with Autism that are in Waldorf school, personally. Some do well with Montessori model schools.
It's a difficult time for any family, some {{{hugz}}} to you.

[CerridwenLorelei]

I don't know about Waldorf schools either ..we homeschool too and tried Oak Meadow -kind of waldorf without walls meets montessori... didn't last long though
Good luck finding support in your area its nice to have :)

[JavaJerri]

I homeschool an 11 year old with Aspergers. Although I love the idea of a Waldorf education, it just does not meet his needs. He works much better with a system that does things step by step and is very concrete. Anything that leaves open end choices is just to much for him. For us, support is much more important than a specific curriculum.:)

Jerri

[joesmom]

she is homeschooled. i think you will get a lot of good advice from the mamas of autistic spectrum kids here. good luck as you begin this journety!

love, jenny :hippie

[naturalmom2]

I am now begining to see the overwhelming task of all of this. I had a melt down the other day and just cried. How do or did all of you deal with the news and how did you begin the task of searching for the right schooling and social activites for your children?
Thanks again for all of the support..

[CerridwenLorelei]

because we knew something was not right and had the ped from hell at the time and went round and round until we found the WONDERFUL one we have now
so our take was we know something and we want to know what because if we know what then we can get to getting him the assistance etc he needs
I did have mommy guilt for awhile though because I was very very sick at 25 weeks and spent a week in hosp. however it has become clear I didn't cause it nor did anyone else cause these things ( though I know of some abuse cases that end in tragedy of kids becoming special needs ) in their kids
Most of my support comes from online..btw
My kidlet started out with an unschooling approach he was pretty much give me the tools etc and let me learn it myself..but as he progressed with therapy he wanted some more structure so we began using Saxon Math and Phonics

Watch your child's cues. What interest him? Blocks? colouring ? etc ..
see if there is a homeschooling support group in your area that may have a lending library to check out curriculums and check the homeschool section of your library
www.nathan.org is for homeschoolers of special needs and might have some ideas ..if homeschooling is your option
If PS get the handbook for section 504 and go over it with a fine tooth comb before you tackle them because sometimes you will find yourself fighting for every thing he is entitled to..

Btw Welcome to Holland :)

[TreeLove]

I have 2 with PDD (on the autism spectrum). They are 5 yo identical twins. Life is hard, but the little things become treasures.:love

[apmomto4]

I'm homeschooling an autistic child. His name is Jonathan and he's 8. I couldn't imagine sending him in school!! He has sensory integration issues, on top of his autism, and the bells and lights and chaos of school would overwhelm him.

We also just had an appointment with a DAN doctor. (You can find them by doing a search for "Defeat Autism Now" on the internet). He's nearly 2 hours away, and it took 3 months to get an appointment, but he's on our insurance.

He's running blood tests, allergy tests, and hair samples on our son, to check his mercury levels (from possible vaccine damage), and he's also having us experiment with dietary changes.

In addition to the GF/CF Diet, some autistic children show promise when put on a yeast-free and/or Fiengold diet.

So we're trying those and adding in mega vitamin supplements.

Hang in there!!!

Kelly - mama to 4 (Elizabeth - 12, Jonathan - 8, Matthew - 3, Kathryn - 14 months)

[apmomto4]

Oh! I wanted to add....check the brand of rice milk you're using.

Rice Dream is NOT Gluten-Free!!!

You'll have to check each individual brand with the manufacturer.

Hope this helps!

Kelly

[khrisday]

naturalmom,
It IS a really daunting task. I thinknthat sometimes just acknowledging how very huge it feels to me ids helpful. Personally, prioritizing has beenhelpful for me to see where I really need to concentrate. The link that I gave you earlier, www.bbbautism.com has information on just about every type of therapy, and is a good place to start. They also have beginner's guides", and a message board there. Have you researched what is available in your area for spec ed preschools? That's a good place to start- see what models thay are using and how you fel about the methods. Check out what other resources are available in your community. Most places have some sort of parent organization that can help you- wether that be a parent traingin center, support group like FEAT, or a disability center. Ask the doctor who diagnoosed your son to give you some information.

[ArcherGal]

I have a

[pilesoflaundry]

My ds was recently dx'd with autism, he is also high functioning. It's been a very long road, we've seen a lot of docs, I knew something wasn't right with him since he was very young. at first I was dismissed and then he was misdiagnosed with adhd/bipolar (which I knew was wrong!) Fired his old psych and found a new and wonderful one that dx'd him. It's hard, the mommy guilt (I vaxed him) eats at me a bit. And now the stress of the docs, diet changes, therapy etc.! I tried homeschooling him and I can't do the structure he needs, I'm too wing it type of personality so I'm going to try putting him in the school system this fall.

[mommymarliah]

I am now begining to see the overwhelming task of all of this. I had a melt down the other day and just cried. How do or did all of you deal with the news and how did you begin the task of searching for the right schooling and social activites for your children?
Thanks again for all of the support..

I have an autistic son he is 4 years old and was diagnosed 2 weeks ago. I have known for a couple years something wasn't right but my doc just thought I was paranoid....I am sorry you are feeling overwhelmed. I have days like this off and on. One day I am fine and determined to get him what he needs and the next it is all I can do to pick myself up off the floor and go through our daily routine.....a few days ago I have one of those bad days and locked myself in the bathroom and cried for a good 20 minutes. I think those meltdowns are actually a good thing, they help us get some of the frustration out and renew ourselves. As for finding social activities and services I am using CDS...they have been very unhelpful and I have to call them constantly to keep them on the ball but I have him enrolled in an ABA preschool starting in the fall and am now looking for services to work through the summer. I ordered a home teaching ABA kit and am taking a ABA training course at a local United Way center.....I think the best thing you can do is find a local support group and talk to other moms who are going through this (so says the mom who is a loner and has yet to do this for herself ;)) I think there is much to be learned from other parents. *hugs* momma, it isn't an easy road but we can do this!

[saganaga]

I have just found that the 3 1/2 yr old son is Autistic/high functioning.. I live in the South Everett area of WA. Just North of Seattle, WA. I am looking for any other parents that may have a son or daughter in the area for mutual support. We just found out on March 4. I am in a lot of schock, as well as sadness. My son has a lot of other issues as well as the Autism. He has sensory intergration dysfunction as well as Oppositional Defient Disorder. Food Allergies to wheat,dairy,soy and now we are thinking maybe rice milk...


For support groups check out your local Autism Society of Washington:
http://www.autismsocietyofwa.org/

Check out this autism store for lots of great autism book ideas:
http://www.autismshop.com/store/customer/home.php?cat=279

[katytheprincess2]

My DS was DX'd with Autism (he is in the mod range) and also has borderline MR. We are still in the process of seeing doctor after doctor. I just wanted to lend you a :hug

This has been so tough for us already. I hope the road is much easier for you!

[shelbean91]

We got an autism dx a couple of months ago and are in process of getting therapies set up now that we're approved through DDD. We also got him enrolled in autism preschool through the public school a month or so ago, but that's about to end for summer.

It is rough and some days are better than others. I'm currently looking for a local support group to meet with.

[pickleboot]

zane was dx'd almost 3- i can't believe that- years ago with asd. he is enrolled in a special needs/ autism preschool through our school district and will be going to the main stream preschool in the fall.

we didn't have the shock of the diagnosis- we knew there was something wrong with him. we just had to wait until he was old enough for the evaluation to get a diagnosis. we look at it as a different way of dealing with life, not a bad thing all together.

when one member of the family is dx'd with a disability, it affects the whole family, and the whole family has it in a way. it is hard. really hard. there are days that i wish we could give him a pill that would make it all better. i wonder if we could have done something different. but, i also know from birth he had real problems, and they got worse as he got older.

hugs. it gets better. really, it does.

[mom2mygirls]

I just found out a month and a half ago that my daughter has PDD Iam trying to learn as much as I can about it she is almost 7 years old.