My 4 yr old lil girl is really rowdy, she always has been since the day she came out of me. I tried to contribute some of it to growing up. Although her biological father not my husband. Had many many problems with learning disabilitys and such from what I know of. And That is not much since I only knew him about a total of 12 hours. Never to se or hear from him again except when he did my daughters DNA test. Yet he had ADHD , Dixlexia, learning disabilitys with mathmatics, and reading, and writting .
So When my daughter Grace hit Headstart this year and I was working as a Lead Teacher at a Daycare Center. I continued getting disturbing reports from the teachers from her preschool, along with some of her behaviors at the daycare center were far out of control. Home was esscalating but had not gotten to a degree of extreme yet. Still she would do this thing where she continued to sit on the couch, watch t.v. and rock vilolently back and forth as if she were in a rocking chair but shes not. She did it ever since she was tiny I would probley say old enough to sit up on the couch by herself. Yet the couch was not the only place, she would do it on the bus or try to buckled in or not, try and do it in her carseat in the car regardless if how tight she is strapped in, and she would do it in bed when laying on her stomach. Very quickly not stopping until she got tired enough to fall asleep or she was too hot. Also chewing on her fingers she only does it when shes bored, like when shes in the car or when watching something on t.v. that doesn't interest her. Now we have moved on to her shirts. Still the thing I find very funny is she is a cuddle bug, She would spend all day with her head in my lap, sitting in my lap, hugging you, giving you a kiss, telling you she loves you, following right behind you . Then you look behind you and she is busy with her own thing again until she notices. That is something that is not hers and she really should not be playing with it. Honestly shes not a bad kid just extreamly extra , super busy for being four years old. I mean what 4 yr old girl usually likes playing with gardner snakes , fish, and , worms? She told me they were her best friends when we went fishing on 4th of july weekend I caught her playing with the leeches she was giggling soo loud I look back here is my daughter with one sticking to her hand already. And the only thing she could say because of all of her giggles was " He Tickles Me Mommy , I Like Him " When it comes to keeping her in one area. I would give that about 7 mins if she is really , really interested and that is if your lucky. Otherwise uninterested shes out of there in 30-45 seconds .

After I took her to a Clinic of Specialist I walked out of there asking myself. Did they really go to college ? Because there saying my daughter has Symptoms of Autism which I would not Allow them to put her on any type of medication thus far. I told them that I want to treat this with meathods of behavior rehabilitation. Not medication, due to the fact I am Epileptic and was on medication since I was 5 yrs old. If she does not absolutley need to be, Which I can't Say I even agree with the Doctors. To me She has every symptom of having ADD if not ADHD. Especially since she has a history of it in her biological father side of the family . I have tried since Febuary 2005 when she was Diagnosed to learn more about the Autistic Spectrum. I do believe it exists for many children, I also believe some phycologist,sociologist, and children development specialist get a bit carried away with it when diagnosing it . Scaring parents like me I know my daughter has a slower time learning the other children but I don't believe it is due to autistic behavior. <img src="/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Sorry I kinda got a bit carried away with this it is the first time I have been able to really vent and let it out since shes been diagnosed. Well I mean since I have come to this realization. Which happened about this past June Thanks for listening even if noone reads it .
It Sure feels Better

Montebride [color:"purple"] [/color] [b][/b] <img src="/images/graemlins/wall.gif" alt="" />

My son was diagnosed with high functioning Autism/PDD-NOS at the age of 3. He, too, would rock back and forth in various places--sometimes violently. He even broke on of our rocker/recliners. (This behavior has long ceased, thankfully.)

Unfortunately, this behavior is indeed a part of Autistic behavior. Rocking, hand flapping, chewing on fingers, spinning, etc. are forms of "self stimulation" which are indications of the Autism spectrum. The Autism spectrum is quite wide, and not every child is withdrawn and uncommunicative, especially on the high end. My son has a wonderful personality, very sunny and happy, and gives hugs and affection freely.

I would never let my son be put on drugs, neither would I let him have "behavior modification" (ABA) so he can look and act like the rest of the robots (mainstream society) in the world.

It's been an arduous journey, but through love, lots of patience, and homeschooling, he's made remarkable strides. Even the psychologist that evaluated him recently was amazed. My son has begin to read (he'll be 7 in September), has been able to count over 100 for well over a year now, can count to 10 in Spanish and knows many Spanish words, knew all the planets of the solar system (and their characteristics) for almost 2 years now, knows some of the bones in the body, etc.

My point is that children on the Autism spectrum can be reached by other means besides drugs and behavior mod--the first lines of defense when society and "experts" don't know what to do with those who are different (and often turn out to be genuises.) Feed your daughter's strengths, offer her much love and patience (which I'm sure you do), and follow your heart.

Best of luck to you from one Mom to another,

Hi. I'm not sure whether you are going to like my answer or not... My son, he'll be 14 in Sept.,has Asperger's syndrome, or High-functioning Autism. It was about age 3 or 4 when we and teachers started noticing things were "off", but as parents my (then)husband and I wanted to chalk everything up to "he's developing at his own rate." His speech was delayed, but when he started- whoa! So we didn't worry, he began with sentences, it was like he was just soaking it all up and then spoke when he had all the appropriate information gathered.

Like your daughter he was a very loving child, and friendly, he knew no strangers. An elderly gentleman in Wal-mart goes, "You sure are cute. Why don't you go home with me and play?" (or something like that, he was teasing, Michael was in my buggy and I was rught there.) Michael just about leaped out of my buggy trying to get into the other man's. Scared the other guy half to death. Most kids that age (he was about 2) wouldn't go near a stranger, Michael didn't KNOW a stranger. So like I said- very loving, kisses, hugs, wanted to read stories, sit in my lap...until he threw a tantrum.

They were horrible rages, he would screak, kick, punch, pull my hair, claw me. I had to physically restrain him bysitting indian style and wrapping my legs over top of his and my arms around his body. Nothing could calm him down. He would scream when someone flushed a toilet or started the vaccuum cleaner.

He did the rocking thing, he also paced everywhere, and chewed either the ends of his sleeves or the collar of his shirt. For 5 years all of his shirts looked like they had beel sleeves on them.

Everything was horribly exacerbated when his dad and i divorced. We went through several counselors here in GA. At first he was diagnosed w/ depression/ ADHD/ ODD/ OCD and put on prozac (horrible) then ritalin (not quite as bad) eventually he was diagnosed with the Asperger's and put on Adderall XR and Risperdal adn he's made steady progress since he was about 10. He is doing great now. We had a little trouble with meds adjustment this past year due to growth spurts and adolescence, but got it sorted out fairly easily.

I have often wondered what it might have been like, though, if i had listened to the teachers when he was very little. Of course it might not have made a difference considering we didn't get the correct daignosis until he was 10.

"High functioning autism" isn't really an official word. In fact, the jury is out whether Asperger's is the same as high-functioning autism. My son doesn't have the symptoms of Asperger's, yet, he's "high functioning" on the PDD-NOS scale. According to the Autism Society of America:



http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Aspergers

Hmmmmm, at the time he was diagnosed, 4 yrs ago, I was told, and given literature, that said Asperger's/ High functioning Autism so that's what I've been going by. He definitely doesn't have any learning disabilities now, the child has scored high enough on all placement tests to enter college eve tho he's only going into the 8th grade! But he did have a delay in speech. But like I said, the wierd thing was when he started speaking he didn't build from the ground up with "baby words" then onesy twosey words, then phrases, then sentences, he STARTED speaking in full sentences. I have always thought (because this seems very much in his nature) that he was gathering all the information in order to speak like everyone else did, and then spoke when he was ready! I know that sounds crazy, but it is the only explanation I can think of. He has the "pedantic" speech of Asperger children, but he has ticks and the (searching for the word here) rituals or schedule (that's not the right word, but i can't think of it) that seems so needed by autistic children (I'm thinking "Rain man" here)

Honestly, at this point, he is coping very well, he has friends that not only understand him, but that help and encourage him (do you know how rare that is in 13-14 year old boys?!?) He participates in sports - kayaking & wrestling, and has shown and interest in track, he's 1st chair sax in band. And other than the fact that I'm his mother and I Make him miserbale and his life would be better with his dad (who lives in MS and has him for holidays, summer, playtime, and he can play video games all day long) he is a happy, adjusted kid - that's going through puberty! <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I think I may be able to help with this one because we had similar questions . I am mother to 3 PDD-NOS kids and here is what the doctor told me ADD/ADHD symptoms can be attached to a child with an autism spectrum disorder as a component of the Autism Spectrum Diagnosis which means you can see similar symptoms but that doesn't make it ADD/ADHD this is because of the way the brain is effected, there is also the possibility that your daughter has both conditions I have a PDD-NOS daughter who is also ADHD and I have a PDD-NOS son who has similar symptoms to ADD/ADHD but its a component of the PDD-NOS. The way they determine if its a component or a secondary condition is by the way it presents and the degree to which the child is effected.

Re the Drugs from what we are being told there are no drugs that will treat Autism Spectrum Disorder , the only meds I can think they are referring to is ADHD medication. I would not allow drugs until they can explain to you in great detail if the ADD/ADHD is a component of the Autism Spectrum Diagnosis or a separate one. because if its a component we are told medication will not work.

Welcome to the forum Montebride. My 9 year old was head banging at 18 months when in his crib, but not until he was 2 1/2 or so did we get the diagnosis of autism. Six months earlier he had the diagnosis of ADHD. It is a bit confusing when you get one diagnosis and then another one so not sure if both are accurate or only the latter diagnosis.

Have you looked around the ADHD section of the site? A search for ADD might bring up some articles with useful tips and links.

[url=BellaOnline ALERT: For anti-spam reasons, we restrict the number of URLs allowed in a given post. You have exceeded our maximum number of URLs.

Hello all! I'm new here.....been reading and "lurking" for a few weeks but decided to finally jump in, if that's OK! My name is Niki, and I have an adorable, happy, loving almost-4-year-old son with a smile so infectious it seems to light up the room <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />) He was diagnosed with autism in April, after a couple years of speech and occupational therapy to deal with his almost complete lack of speech and what we at first thought was just "unusual" behavior (staring at lights, obsession with taking lids off and on bottles, spinning wheels, anything round etc). At first I didn't think he could have autism, because what does the average person know.....he is very cuddly and affectionate, he seems VERY intelligent, he wasn't at all like Rain Man (duh! LOL) But the more I read up on it, the more I started to realize that was exactly the problem, so that by the time he was diagnosed, we were not at all surprised and just ready to try to deal with the problem head-on, and get him more help than a couple hours of preschool a couple times a week and limited speech therapy.

What finally convinced me to "come out of hiding" and post here was a comment made by Janet Boyer: "I would never let my son be put on drugs, neither would I let him have "behavior modification" (ABA) so he can look and act like the rest of the robots (mainstream society) in the world." While I completely believe that every child is different, and I mean EVERY child, whether NT or ASD or whatever, I have heard many negative comments directed towards ABA therapy in regards to creating "robots", and I have to admit I do not understand them at all. ABA has brought my son out of his world and into ours, and it has been a complete Godsend for us! He started doing an ABA program at home with us three months ago, and when he began, he barely spoke (only repeated words when specifically asked to, nothing spontaneous), and was almost non-responsive to all other people in general unless he wanted something himself. In three months, he knows all his colors, numbers, letters, can count to ten, can (and will!) answer basic questions like his name, address, and phone number, will follow basic instructions, and now voluntarily greets and says goodbye to people when we are out and about!! And I can assure you that he is NOT robotic in any sense of the word!
I think perhaps there are different "styles" of ABA out there, because what we do at home for about 20 hours a week is completely positive reinforcement-based, with absolutely no negatives or aversives (we are actually trained to not even use the word NO, although he doesn't respond to NO well anyway so it doesn't matter for us!) Yes, we sit at a table and do trials, though we usually have about 16 different "programs" we are working on all at once so I am not asking him to do the same task over and over, he'd never tolerate that, it's more doing the same group of 16 tasks over again randomly rotating them. But eventually, once he's mastered the skills at the table, we take them out into the rest of the world and he learns to do them there as well, and then they aren't as scary to him. We have noticed such a huge improvement in ALL areas with him, not just the specific things we've taught him! I am so thankful we were able to get into this program, which is offered here with the cooperation of Notre Dame University and costs us nothing but time and minimal costs for materials. There is only room for about 15 families in the program and about 100 on the waiting list, so we feel very blessed.

I guess what I'm trying to point out (sorry guys, if you let me stick around you'll find I'm very long winded! <G>) is that, while I've heard that there are some REAL bad ABA programs out there (kids being slapped for not responding, being made to go for hours without breaks, all sorts of horrors), and it may not be the best solution for every child, it is not so much the theory behind the program that is bad as the way it is applied. I just hate for people out there to immediately discount the idea without checking into it because they hear some negative comments about it, when I for one will tell anyone who wants to know what an amazing thing it has been for our family!!

Thank you all if you've gotten this far.......and please, to Janet Boyer, I hope you do not take offense at my comments! I just wanted to get out the "other side of the story" so to speak!

God bless you all
Niki

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the positive story!

It just proves every child is different and so is every doctor! Just because a "treatment" doesn't work for one person doesn't mean it will be bad for someone else (although I WILL stand my ground against Chelation!) My son was HORIIBLE on Ritalin, but I know some kids that have done great on it, while others have been completely horrified to hear my son takes Riperdal.

Everyone has to weigh their own options and decide what is best for their own child - medicine is not perfect so we just have to come as close as we possibly can.

HI Niki -

Thanks for taking the first step to join the forum and share about your experiences with ABA. We have never gone that route, but I am not against it had it been suggested or offered when my kids were younger.

I am starting in a few weeks an eight week course on parent training for floor time. The rules have changed here with Regional Center (CA) first funding for the parent training before any consumer can get the Floor Time.

We had an assessment a few years ago with another vendor and now want the Floor Time through the company we have social skills and feeding.

Thanks for the welcome, musicalmom!!!

I am in full agreement with you on the chelation....I am doing what I can to help my son overcome his difficulties, but I would much rather have him go through his life with communication and other problems than risk putting him through some risky and potentially deadly medical procedure with no real scientific proof that it even works!!

~Niki

Good luck with the floor time, Bonnie! I have heard some people thrilled with the results they got from that method. In fact, that was the first type of therapy I did any research on when we started suspecting autism, because a random parent I ran into at the mall was telling me what a difference it made in her autistic son. I knew it wouldn't be effective for Austin, simply because of his personality, but sounds like it's been a big success for a lot of people!

~Niki

Take any extra training your child qualifies for.It will be a tough road ,and any training for your child and yourself will help.It is up to you as parent to listen and sort out what will work for you and your family.You need to give teachers and trainers feedback if your not happy or your child will miss out.I live in Canada and the government only supports Special needs till the child is 5.Early intervention is critical and consant feedback is essential.I read about the drugs and diets.I just want Matthew to eat.We as parents need to tell these ABA program facilators what our child needs to improve our family life and then keep a open mind to thier reccomendations.Good luck, and have fun and try not to pull your hair out.

Hi, I too am from Canada, I get funding of $20,000 until he is 6 then I get $6,000. Is it the same in your province? I am from BC. My son is autistic, he is almost 4, and he doesn't eat anything except Nestle baby cereal, and I am desperate to get him to eat. What are you going through? Where are you from?

My son has been involved with early intervention since about 20 mos. and now is part of a preschooled disabled program. We were fortunate to have a grandparent vocal enough about our sons behavior that pushed us to have him evaluated. Looking back it was pretty obivious - the head banging, not understanding the concept of personal space,trying to squeeze through spaces too small for him, constantly chewing on things, little eye contact, almost no speech, going 60mph from 6am to 7pm w/o naps(how did we survive that?!), not really playing with toys just picking them up to put them right back down to run to the next one, fascination with lights and anything that moved and played music. We were of course takenback at first at their determination of pdd-nos (or autism spectral- however you slice the cake it's still autism)But autism is not a dirty word and unfortunately most people are not informed enough to realize the different ways and degrees autism can present itself(us included). Even now we have family members and friends that cannot believe his diagnosis - "he's too social","he's just a kid-kids are hyper" - you get the picture.And he is very bright and creative and is a complete social creature <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> definitely hypo-sensitive.
Anyway I am convinced it is never too early for treatment, It's been almost 3 yr's since then and I am convinced Early Intervention made a huge difference! It was just an hour visit a week in our home with a speech teacher and an occupational therapist but what they did to help us understand Isaac and help Isaac understand his world was amazing.He has come a long way and at 4 we are preparing to start him on Adderral in the hopes that with the medication and behavior modification we can give him the chance to focus and learn even more academically and socially. Your Developmental Pediatrician should be able to recommend a treatment plan you would feel comfortable with hopefully one that would incorporate more than just medication.

Hi there and thanks for joining the forum and sharing your experience. Good luck with the medication and behavior modification.

What state are you in? It sounds like you have some good resources.

Hi! Thanks we live in New Jersey. We are really thankful for the services we have received, we've been very fortunate to have therapists and specialists that are "on the ball". Currently we have a great doctor too - it did take us a few doctors to find her <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> We have learned a lot since Isaac's first doctor and now we make sure our concerns are taken seriously and we get a 2nd opinion if we don't feel comfortable about something - Moms know their kids best <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Isaac is currently getting services from our township now that he is over 3 yrs. old and I was anxious about losing Early Intervention and had heard some horror stories about schools special eduction programs but I am really happy with our schools special services unit so far.

Now potty training... that's a whole other story. Any tips for an ADHD hyposensitive little boy?

Where is everyone? I've been checking pretty regularly and it seems that no one is writing anymore? Is everyone ok? Kids ok? ....Feeling lonely here. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The chat is going to be on in a few minutes. Feel free to come to the chat room and join me.

http://www.bellaonline.com/misc/chat/

Well scratch that - I cannot even get into the chat and will have to send an email to the administration.

So basically my son Matthew woke up at 2:30 am and is now napping. Earlier we went to the grocery store for batteries so that Nicholas could play the new Game Boy advance cartridge he got yesterday while at Toys R Us.

At 11 am the new volunteer through the family friends program was here and met us and spent an hour with Nick. I put groceries away and then when she left put some fluids in my minivan and ate lunch and now here.

Yesterday we also went to the mall and my kids got somethings at Discovery Store.

October is hard on Matthew with the time change, he wakes up early until the time change.

I'm still here but I have been going to another web forum for parents like us. Its wonderful, check it out................www.autism-pdd.net
It's totally worth it....let me know what anyone thinks please.

That is a very active and high volume message board. What is your id over there? I cannot keep up with my yahoo groups and msn groups so to add another message board at this point in time is not ideal.

The board looks good, lots of sub sections to get lost in and I have no spare time to read all those messages. Probably suitable for those just getting a diagnosis or having smaller kids and looking for specific information and feedback like diets.

Since I have been taking a floortime training program I have started getting more emails from a yahoo floortime group and it is so informative. Now I know the lingo and understand so much more.

For relaxing I visit a Y&R board to learn about spoilers on the show and learn who is leaving, etc.

Then there is reading books and writing articles, organizing the paperwork of the boys and keeping all in order, sometimes watching TV.

Monday nites Two and a Half men is a riot and gives me plenty of laughs. It is on at 9 pm on CBS.

Thanks for sharing and stopping back by. Glad you can find support in various places.

Hi there from yet another Canadian (something in the water?) <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> We just learned yesterday that our 2 1/5 yr old grandson has been diagnosed as autistic. He started using words before he walked at 1 then just quit. He doesn't seem to have the sensory issues I've read about on this forum and eats very well; having read many of the posts I can see we have alot to be grateful for there! He just operates in his world most of the time and doesn't connect with people much eg. little eye contact, acts like he is deaf although his hearing is fine, totally absorbed by anything on TV and would stand right with his face against the screen if he could. He is very affectionate with Mom, Dad and 1 grandpa but only tolerates anyone else. He's pretty aloof - not quite the charming picture you imagine when you know you're going to be a grandma! Nonetheless, we live for trying to make him engage with us, laugh etc. He does his circuit at our place out one door in the next quite happily all by himself, but responds well to the chase game or if we go the other way and surprise him coming around the corner. He now anticipates that and enjoys that kind of fun.
It was the language issue that started the investigation, but we have come to see that some other areas are of concern too. We take some comfort in the fact that there is help for him at this age. I heard the news stories last year about parents fighting the gov't cutbacks to funding and access to care for older autistic and other special needs kids, and sympathised. Who would have thought that it might well be our family's issue this year too.
Thanks for letting me ramble. The news is still new and I'm on a big learning curve. I'm grateful for this forum!

The symptoms you described fit my son when he was an infant. He is now 18 and just graduated high school.. He had aspergers....

Hi I'm Logan's grandma and we live in Ontario. Logan is 23rd on the list for full funding in his region... he's just turned 4. I can't help but feel that the govt is being very shrewd in setting cut off times for big funding to coincide with getting through the wait list. He just might make it to number 1 before he is 6. At present, we are paying about $2000 per month for IBI and speech therapy time each week. The family has done fundraising and digs into its own pockets to buy some of these therapies that actually are working for Logan. He still does not speak,but it is clear he comprehends, whether he sees fit to respond is another matter... IBI has done amazing things in helping him learn to play, take stuff out and put it away, finish a task, sort and categorize, follow directions, and generally come into our world more fully. We are worried of course that he is supposed to start school in the fall... he is a smart little boy and a person all of his own- but far behind the average 4 year old. How does that intelligence get exercised when he gets older and he's still doing hand over hand work? Proud, worried and frustrated- Trish