I might have mentioned that my son has special needs. It has been confirmed by his doctor at Kennedy Krieger Institute that my son has autism. We had suspected this for a long time. After being examined in August, the developmental pediatrician made his final verdict this month. It's hard to believe he has it since he is normal in other respects. He is in special ed preschool already. We will be doing more to get the services he needs. I just thought I would share.

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Birthdate: February 5th 2012

Gotcha Day: March 30th 2012

Hugs and prayers going to you.

I have one cousin, one cousin in-law and a couple friends whose children have been diagnosed with autism. Once they were diagnosed ( took a long time!) and were put in and adjusted to the proper programs, they did very well. The right teachers make a big difference.

I know it is a hard road but there are many support groups out there. One thing you must remember is that you need to be your son's advocate. Make sure he does get what he needs in school, etc and be very grateful that he is born in the generation he is in. I work in IT, and I have worked with quite a lot of people that appear to be on the spectrum, and feel bad that some of them did not have the help that children have now.

Also, always remember ( I read this last week ) - your son is a boy that is on autism spectrum, the autism itself does not define who he is.
Hugs!

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My thoughts and prayers are with you.

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Dis is da gamboi an da Gussee an angels BoBo an Emmikins

"What we have enjoyed we never lose. All that we loved deeply becomes a part of us." Helen Keller

I am so sorry to hear this news. How old is your son? From what you say, his case may be less severe? I have read that autism is much more common today, and that a lot of research is being done to find the cause, and to treat and manage the condition. You and your son will be in my thoughts.

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Dave

I am sorry for that. You and your family are in my thoughts.

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It was a relief to me when my son was finally diagnosed with his autism, knowing about it and learning how to correctly help him has made a huge difference for our whole family and for his school. Like all kids some things are tuff for them to learn being diagnosed allows you to know exactly what your child will need help with and it allows you to make sure they get that help. Many very famous scientist have autism some parts of it can be almost like a gift, how I try and think of it. He learned algebra when he was in the 4th grade by reading a book.
The thing to remember is to find the key for each problem, Trevor hated to read but he had an obsession with cats it took a year but we were able to get him to start reading and liking cat books. He will now read for fun and not just books on cats. Each step is often a process and sometimes hugely frustrating and progress is often made in inches then leaps and bounds followed by no progress. Just be patient and I sincerely recommend books by Temple Grandin who is autistic so you can see the work thru their eyes there is another one that whose name is escaping me I will look for it

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Boots, Sparkles and Tink Bridge dogs, Tuffy, Blueboy, Pudge, Maddie, Broker, Jet, Baily, and Reva

Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison.
This is the book changed our whole way of thinking and dealing with things. By the way the best thing I learned from a Austim specialist was if you have met a child with autism you have met one child with autism.
Each one is wildly unique which is why it is often overlooked or in the past under diagnosed. It can come hand in hand with ADHD or other touch sensativity issues so sometime it goes undiagnosed for years or in the case of my neighbor it was never found until he had a son with autism. There is lots of people that share this and many parent support groups exsist so feel free to lean its a weight that is best shared.

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Boots, Sparkles and Tink Bridge dogs, Tuffy, Blueboy, Pudge, Maddie, Broker, Jet, Baily, and Reva

I work with autistic children on a daily basis as we have two structured classrooms and several in the regular ed classrooms. Everything said before is true - every child is different, whether they are in the general ed classroom, Sp Ed classrooms or Structured Classrooms. Some can't speak, some are voracious readers, some function well in the regular classroom. Some learn some skills early while other skills come late.

Partner with your school and teachers. We celebrate all progress.

MercyMom

My cousin's boy is autistic and he is the light of everyone's life. Danny is very special indeed.

Your son has a very special Mom, so I know he will be fine.

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[IMG]http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii215

Tonka & Tucker

SNOBEAR at the Bridge
Dec. 23, 1999-March 27, 2010


SMOOCH at the Bridge.
Feb. 14, 1999-Dec. 7, 2010

Emily Perl Kingsley is a writer. Her son Jason Kingsley was born with Down Syndrome in 1974. Jason's story was the topic of an hour-long NBC television special in 1977, titled "This Is My Son," and with co-author Mitchell Levitz, Jason wrote the book "Count Us In: Growing Up With Down Syndrome."
In 1987 Kingsley wrote "Welcome to Holland" a widely published and translated piece which compares the experience of raising a child with special needs with traveling to Holland.

This is the most beautiful, heartfelt story I've ever read. Hugs to you and your son.



I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michelangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."
"Holland?!" you say. "What do you mean, Holland?" I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to some horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy a new guidebook. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

The pain of that will never, ever, go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.

But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

.

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9 & half short years in my life but forever in my heart http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...-my-buddy.html
"He took my heart and ran with it, and I hope he's running still, fast and strong, a piece of my heart bound up with his forever" - Patricia McConnell

Charlie could watch birds for hours and I could watch Charlie for hours too http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/...n-morning.html