Not sure if there is any interest but I hope so! I’m a member of other autism websites but somehow the antivaxxors take over the conversation. Here I am hoping to have a more civilized, and helpful group for those touched by autism.
http://boardstest.straightdope.com/sdmb/group.php?groupid=16
Wait, if I do join this group, does this mean I need to be civilized? :dubious:
I am the mother of (and female half of the parneting team) of our 10 year old daughter who’s still almost completely non-verbal and has autism.
Oh wait…I can’t join. Apparently I’m not allowed to access the social groups and got this message when I clicked the link;
I tried.
Thanks for the invite. I thnk I’ve managed to join.
I’m the mother of a 6 year old autistic boy who is just starting grade 1 today in a regular classroom. He’s quite verbal, but has some of the behaviour/social issues one would expect with the diagnosis. His dad and I have been a bit nervous about the transition to the new school, but the school people have been very supportive and I think it will work out OK.
Evidently the link already knows I’m not civilized, as I’m not authorized to join :mad:
I’ll try again tomorrow.
Don’t bother. Access to that feature has been restricted. See this post.
When I get a chance to join, I will.
RyJae, I saw what you wrote in the thread in ATMB about the breakthrough your little one had today.
!!!
So very cool when something clicks and I am so happy for your daughter and for you! These small victories mean so much!
What breakthrough? Which post is what ATMB thread?
Dammit, search is disabled.
The ATMB thread about groups or social groups here.
RyJae’s litle girl did the “head, shoulders, knees and…” song with her therapists! She engaged and pointed to the body parts at the right time!
So very cool and I am still beaming for you both!
Thanks for the thanks. 
She has made some steps forward then steps backwards that was a good step forward. I used to post those things on autism speaks network and before that the AS forums. But now it is just a place for these kinda posts:
Hi my child was recently diagnosed PDD-NOS and I’m worried, how do I get help for my child?
And some bastard comes in with:
Contact a doctor who does chelatin since it was vaccines your child was mercury poisoned he can be cured!!!?!?!!?!?!
And then the sane ones spend a day arguing with the fool hoping to inform the parent before the AV get another one on board (Thanks Ms. McCarthy) it gets… old.
Isn’t there a shot or something we can give the AV and Chelation zombies to cure that?
Thanks,
Nate - Proud stepfather of a wonderful aspie whose mother and I wouldn’t change a thing about.
Yes it gets old fast.
There was a board for something I have that is classified as rare. there is almost no support and the one board that should have been good sucked because one person had to dominate every posted thread. I truly would have liked to strangle the guy. Too bad all the boards don’t moderate and ban asshole posters better.
I hope you manage to always find the patience you need to deal with this. I know it is taxing on you and the kid. The thing to remember is no matter how sucky a condition is the person that has it never gets a break from it.
We’re still in evaluations but it’s looking like my little Bella is going to fall somewhere in the spectrum. She’s 3.5 years old and the speech eval put her at around 13 months with expressive and receptive language delay. The OT has recommended therapy twice a week because she believes she has Sensory Processing Disorder. We still have a psych eval left next month but everyone agrees it’s pretty obvious. She does nervous finger flapping and has severe phobias. She has noticeable fine motor skill issues. She gets over-stimulated very easily and does not handle any diversion from her daily schedule. Night time is a nightmare. She is desperate for that oral stimulation but I had to wean her about six months ago. She is a light sleeper and never sleeps more than four or five hours at a go.
On the plus side she’s quite social and catches on fast when it comes to labeling objects. This is starting to make communication easier. A LOT easier! And I think she’s starting to get the hang of yes and no questions, even though there will still be an echo of the question, the last word or two anyway, before the reply. It’s hit and miss right now but knowing she is capable…finally…is a major thing around here.
I’m still shocked and I don’t know as much as I’d like at this point. Her father is somewhere between total denial and blaming me. He even had the nerve to ask me if I dropped her and never told him. If he knew anything about the anti-vax conspiracy theories he’d probably follow them no matter what experts say because after all they’re all in the pockets of the Evile US empire. It’s frustrating.
I agree that the boards and sites I’ve spent any time at lately are all like OMG VAX ARE BAD YALL! or worse. I’d be thrilled to be part of a group where we can leave all those conspiracies at the door and just support each other.
The quicker the evaluation the quicker you can get some services. Pay close attention to them, your input is very important. We don’t have a problem here, but many parents elsewhere get “guided” into the least costly therapy for the school district. The IEP is what is best for your child, and sometimes you have to fight if you think they’re trying to shortchange your child. And believe me after reading other peoples experiences, it is something they try. If you need any questions answered feel free to ask me, either privately or in the forum itself. Getting diagnosed is only the first step of dozens of steps going through the red tape.
I wish you the best, and I hope your husband takes some time to read about the life that is autism. A weak marriage before a diagnosis is probably going to need some therapy or something because it is not the easy life for the parents.
I have a 22 year old daughter who is autistic.
And now for a regress, she ate her own feces today. I’m a grown man but I cried, still sorta am. It just happened about an hour ago I was watching Meg Whitman and she was watching Spongebob and my wife and son where in the basement practicing his soccer kick. I looked over and seen her stick her hand in her diaper and lick it. I have a weak stomach, so this led to me jumping up and grabbing her while holding down my dinner. She had a shit mustache, it was so gross I can barely comprehend. I feel like a jackass for not smelling it or seeing her do it before she did it. She hasn’t played with her feces in a long while, and she has never sampled it, so this can turn out bad. Once she starts doing something, whether good or bad, she tends to repeat constantly. 
Right about now I wish I could just scream and cry, but this is autism, this is our life*.
*And I know no matter how depressed I am right now tomorrow she will do something amazing and lift my heart. It’s just the downside where she does things that screams in my mind “She will always depend on us…what happens to her when there is no us”
My soon to be 8 year old grandson was diagnosed at about 2 years old. We immediately started therapy and treatment, that included a gluten and casein free diet, vaccines without mercury, lots of socialization, and early school. He was in preschool at 3 years old. Today, he is a bright, active student who loves school, high IQ, plays Little League baseball and junior football. We don’t know what to attribute our success to, but what we did worked in our situation.
There is a doctor in Connecticut who specializes in treatment of Autism, and she is wonderful. I can’t remember her name, but I can get it if anyone wants it.
My soon to be 8 year old grandson was diagnosed at about 2 years old. We immediately started therapy and treatment, that included a gluten and casein free diet, vaccines without mercury, lots of socialization, and early school. He was in preschool at 3 years old. Today, he is a bright, active student who loves school, high IQ, plays Little League baseball and junior football. We don’t know what to attribute our success to, but what we did worked in our situation.
There is a doctor in Connecticut who specializes in treatment of Autism, and she is wonderful. I can’t remember her name, but I can get it if anyone wants it.
Kids without autism do this too.
But not usually at her age. And it really was a combination of her total behavior after school yesterday that led to my mini breakdown. But it is all good now a 4 hour nap and she is back to herself, ran outside when I took the trash out and made me sit on the porch with her. (She drags you where she wants you to be, we’re not supposed to allow her to do that) all the time for some reason) I got to watch the sun coming up and have my daughter snuggle against me for warmth. What more could a dad want? 