hollymg

I think it sounds wonderful but as you said, each kid is different so follow your gut on yours. I used to go overboard on my son's room but now his color and theme obessions change more frequently and I have had to go more neutral to save myself some work of changing it. busy-ness might not be an issue--I just recall my son's room when he was 2-3 years old, pre-diagnosis...by HIS choice the wall by his bed was totally covered in advertisements for vacuum cleaners. Talk about busy! But he would lay there and study them all until he fell asleep.

It does seem to be a limited study so I'm not sure of its relevance, but I'll have to ask ds about it and see if he knows what I'm talking about... I suspect he daydreams all the time and just never turns it off! For his trouble sleeping he does play guided imagery CDs, don't know if that helps or if it is the music... As to big heads, I think the connection is not just size but growth, eg born average but then jumps in percentile the first year (like my ds's did, 20-90th percentile and holding, vs just 5 percentile in height). FWIW we are a family of big-headed shorties, with lots of quirks but only one firm diagnosis.

It has been an interesting journey for our pediatrician's office...our female doctor quit 2 years ago when her toddler son was diagnosed, and now she and I are friends from the autism mom circuit. Her dh and uncle still run the practice and are light-years ahead of where they had been with autism awareness, naturally! I guess that's what it will take, more family members of doctors to be affected and thus educated. She said before she had her child she just didn't have time to learn much about it, esp when it came to early detection; in her words, the asthmatic child having an attack down the hall always took precedence over the late-talker having a check-up. Interestingly enough when it came time for my younger dd to go through the series of check-ups/vaccinations, it was the doctor (in this same practice) who suggested to me that we hold off on the vaccination schedule because of our family history. I don't think he would have done that a few years ago... (don't have a GP, I suppose it is the same there.)

This is big here in the US, and a lot of people in my area are incorporating the ideas in it with varying levels of success with their toddlers. Training/strict regimen or no a lot of it just makes sense for all child development purposes.

ds has his first loose tooth and he is very excited, he has seen his classmates lose their first tooth and wants to join them. But I still wonder how it will go for a kid who feels every little bump and scrape so intensely, and panics when he sees a spot of his own blood...not to mention that strange and lasting sensation of newly exposed gums. any stories from those who have passed this milestone?

Dogs can offer unconditional love, are more patient and forgiving than other kids. I think the key is the right dog. Good luck!

I wonder if the problem isn't really the other children being immature...I say that because watching my son, he can be perfectly fine in a room full of adults and my mother takes him to her ladies' luncheons all the time and he is charming. But with other kids his age, yep, he is out of the loop. Hmmm.

AS son won't come near me if I've had orange juice because of the smell, and lately he won't touch metal because it leaves his hands "smelly." But no retching thank goodness, that comes from my NT daughter who used to throw up every night when I was cooking dinner because the smells bothered her (this is the child who only eats about 4 things). She is getting better at controlling the vomiting but still gets The Look and has to run out of the room. What's funny is that neither one seems particularly bothered by really smelly things like dog poo, just fruits and other food!

How are you doing? Getting to know my son has meant getting to know myself better, and I know my dh feels the same way...even tho we are not "diagnosable" it does have a strong genetic element and our son has it all over his family tree. I've always thought ds got more gifts than challenges from autism and so I have been grateful for it. I hope his early diagnosis will be the ticket to a happier life because we are embracing the quirks and channeling them instead of trying to stifle them. I can't imagine raising him without the added understanding and ammunition the diagnosis brought. The increased knowledge and awareness for me has brought a lot of soul-searching, and I now give myself permission to stop trying to fit a mold. I am digging in to interests and a new career path that seem to be a better fit for who I am learning myself to be. And seeing more things in my dh means even greater acceptance for traits I used to wish would change. I hope I'm making sense. Push hard to learn as much as you can because it can only strengthen you and give you more clarity. I hope you have a very supportive family. I'm glad you found this board, I'm a bit of a lurker but find a lot of food for thought here that has made things so much easier.

I wonder if my "problem" fits in the same category...some days I think I'll scream if I hear him say "mommy" one more time! Sounds bad but he introduces EVERYTHING he says with "Mommy? ....[insert sentence here.]" and then seconds later "Mommy. ....[insert sentence here.]" and so on... When my dh comes home after just a short time he'll say HE'S sick of hearing it LOL! I've tried to explain to ds that it isn't necessary because I know he is talking to me, but he'll say yes but sis is around too or something like that until I concede his point. I'm so grateful to be his mom and I waited so long to hear him say it, I feel horrible for complaining about this one!

Wow I could have written that post. My son is also 6. I don't know how we got him to stop but we did, almost as suddenly as the behaviour started. The only thing I can think of is that his wrists got really nasty from always being in contact with the wet spit-on sleeves, and we kept applying antibiotic creme to them. He loves biology so we gave him a detailed explanation of the cause-and-effect, and he quit. His favorite shirts (uniform LOL) are still the ones from the chewing period and they look quite nasty but oh well, at least these days they are dry so I won't complain!

fascinating idea. Occasionally I put epsom salts in my son's bath esp when I think he might be having some muscle aches or growing pains but I'd never heard of this. He likes it because we made a special mix by adding food coloring and ecalyptus oil (clears up sinuses!) and he enjoyed stirring up the concoction, even decorated jars for storing it. Now I have a new reason to use it!

From the "it can't hurt to try" category. Keep in mind I am in the US and from what I have read, homeopathy is more common everywhere else so I thought I'd ask my UK friends here for their advice and experiences. I just recently met a homeopathist and read a book she recommended, and now I'm curious about it helping my ds with some of his issues. She is not taking any new clients and there aren't many practitioners here, so I went to the web where I found a symptom checklist which steered me towards a remedy (if it matters they suggested nux vomica for "fastidiousness--I'm thinking of his bleeding hands from overwashing them!--and aversion to answering in conversation.") But the advice on doseage was very vague considering the circumstances, so I'd like to hear what is the best way to start, and for how long?

I used hypnotherapy to prepare for childbirth and to see me through it without an epidural (no medal here, I was just more afraid of the epi needle!). Don't know if it could help with obsession/addiction but I do still use the relaxation techniques and am trying to teach my son some to help him fall asleep at night. Getting some tapes is a good and economical way to try it out, and then if you do find a good hypnotherapist the tapes can support their work.

I would just add that in our case if you ask my 6 yo son what something says he doesn't know, but then on his own he'll read signs, labels, etc. I don't know why but it follows his general trend of keeping his skills/knowledge somewhat secret until he has it absolutely perfected. I think our guys like to do things on their own terms, not somebody else's!

My two cents is that it couldn't hurt. You see your child around the clock and they only see a little snippet. I felt autism in my gut when my ds was 6 months old but I kept it to myself. He started being evaluated for speech delay at age 1 and followed annually but autism didn't come up officially until he was 4; his behaviours are subtle and inconsistent so during our sessions they didn't see the red flags (and it was on his electrical outlet obsession alone that made them investigate further at 4). If I had said something earlier I think they would have been interested, would have asked more questions, would have visited him outside the office and probably diagnosed him by 2 or 3. In our case I don't think it makes any difference except I would have had the paper to back me up much earlier so I wouldn't have driven myself crazy analyzing things myself, but in another situation it could make a world of difference so I think you should give them your observations, perhaps soothe their egos by saying you want their professional opinion etc. but at least you have given them more information to work with.

Wow. My ds has clothing issues too and rotates 3 favorite shirts which look totally trashed, my expectations are low but when I insisted he put on a cleaner/newer shirt and pants to go to a nice restaurant (keep in mind these are still cotton ts and sweatpants--nothing buttoned, zipped or starched!) I discovered he solved his own dilemma by putting them on OVER the nasty clothes. Oh well, we were both happy--his comfy clothes close to his skin, stains and rips hidden from view, plus it is cooler now so the extra layers didn't hurt. I hope your ds's skin feels better soon!

I was SO ready for mine to go back that I mistakenly thought he was supposed to start Monday and I made an appointment...dh had to stay home with him.

Ds just turned 6 and still uses a sippy cup (hope that's what you call them in the UK so you know what I mean!). He can use a lidless cup, just doesn't want to. When we are in restaurants he of course uses a straw which is socially acceptable. I suspect part of the insistance is habit and part is sensory that he may not like his milk or water touching his lips. He has 3 cups at home that are his and only his, little sister knows this and will get the ones she knows are hers or purposely drink from his because she knows it pushes his buttons . I admit I haven't thought about it much because they are awfully convenient and of course I don't want to give him any reason not to get liquid... But then I worry I'm just being lazy and not doing my job in helping him move on. Should the cups disappear (they have already, he had more than 3 to start with of course) and not be replaced as is how he finally and uneventfully got over pacifiers when he was 3? Or should I not sweat it and let him carry on?

This hits a nerve because I just got my friend's letter detailing their usual year-long world travels with their THREE under-age-6 children, learning new languages and plans to renovate their million dollar house next year. As contrast, the title of my holiday letter was We Survive Another Year and under my 3yo dd's section was She Sleeps Through the Night! (Once).

I'm reading it now and would love to hear what others think. It has given me a lot to think about, partly in learning about my son but also some things that are resonating with me...

Wish I had thought of this one but a clever woman here in the US has this printed up: AWEtism...Life on the Brighter Side of the Spectrum

We're on our 3rd Halloween and he loves it but costumes are not easy, his first truly Halloween-aware year he had to be a washing machine. Last year I was so relieved he wanted to be Nemo, something I could just buy (lazy me, it was a rough year and I was tired!). This year he wants to be a record player so it's back to constructing with boxes and styrofoam. He's very particular and we have a few small discussions over how he WANTS it to be and what will actually WORK but we'll get there. I don't see him ever willing to wear a mask, I wanted him to wear a hat with a record glued on it to be the stacked record next in the que but he won't do it

I'm in America and I haven't found them! Do you mind sharing your source with me? I think clothing and sock issues in particular are the biggest problem with my ds!

My aspie ds never lined things up, but my NT dd (almost 3 now) always does and it made me wonder, but our experts say that as long as she plays with the cars (vroom vroom) in addition to lining them up that it is very normal. Tonight she lined up the stacking cups and got them in color order, but then she pretended to serve me tea out of them...