Reaching out to other parents that have gone through this and gleaming from their experiences is certainly a plus for you! I don't think ther is one particular thing that will turn this around....it's more of a balance of many things that can give you a better quality of life. I have learned about some natural technologies that stimulate the brain to function and have allowed the child to communicate and have a life they never thought possible. It's involved so if you would like to know more, please contact me.....all I have is information, and maybe some hope. Blessings, Bonna  

The problem with regular Ped's doc's is that they have so speacial training in Autism. I don't know were you live, but do you have a Children's Society there, they do Autism testing. They did ours in 4hrs and you have a answer before you leave. They are very helpful.
You kida have to take the bull by the horns to get the begining stuff done. After that it's much easier. Make sure you get your child all of the therapy's you can possibly get will help you child reach his/her potintial. And yes having Autism is a true gift. I wouldn't change my little man for the world. Good Luck to you.
P.S. Taking milk out of my son's diet has help wonders. lactose was messing with his bowels  

I know the long road that you are on because my parents had to go on it with me before I was diagnosed with AS in 1993 when I was almost 20-years-old.  

Here is the best suggestion I can give you, and one I wish had been given to me. Contact your local Autism Society. If you are not in the United States, contact the regional offices at (800) 328-8476 or (301) 657-0881.

The second thing I would look into is Occupational Therapy. They deal with many faucets of autism and are a good resource to gain information from.

If you are in the US you can call 211 from any state and get a hold of United Way. Tell them your child is autistic and that you need help. It is computerized at first, but you have the option of talking to a "Information and Referral Specialist". This organization is amazing and too few people are aware of its existence. When you first call they will ask some questions and get you in the data base. That is a good thing, because when you call again they already have some preliminaries on you and are able to help you quicker. This service is not just for autism, it is for anything.

The last thing I would suggest is: trust your instincts. You know your child better than anyone. Believe in yourself, and do not let anyone take that power from you. You have all of the information already, you just don't know the right questions. As soon as you meet someone who starts asking the right questions you will be able to spew forth a fountain of information.

I also suggest going to www.themanyfacesofautism.com and pre-order my book. It will be out within the next few months, and it is geared towards helping newly diagnosed parents. The unique thing about my book is that it is not just from me, but from over 30 different families. We collaborated together to give a spectrum of advice for this spectrum disorder. Also, 50% of my profits are going back to autism charities.

You will do amazing things. This gift may seem to be a burden at times, but I promise you that it truly is a gift.

K. E. Richards



  

I am thinking about special diet for my daughter, but... the thing is she is eating only oatmeal with milk, nothing else. I tried to dont feed her at all for day, she wont try anything else. So, what kind of gluten free diet can be made for her? And another thing, she never had problems with het bowel system, and she doesnt have an allergy.   

My son is now 13. I remember suspecting something was not right when he was 6 months old. He got a formal diagnosis when he was around 7 (after a few years of testing). I remember feeling like I was in a foreign land. I asked a few questions and made a first step. After that first step, you will start connecting with all sorts of people, programs and services. Just today, I started the whole process again as my son is now entering teenage years. I spent hours on the phone. It's all worth it once you get started.  

You can also contact the school district... they can evaluate and help get him into specialized programs.  

You HAVE to have the diagnosis to get services...you don't need your dr. contact your local state regional center...they will do an evaluation on their own and get you what you need...check in the phone book or call social services..every state has one or several...you can try diets and vitamins on your own but this is the key to everything. A lot of Drs. don't want to ''label'' the child but you need it to help him...it expedites everything. If you have a problem check with your county medical clinic , they can refer you for sure, you may even get a diagnosis there...good luck!!  

Hi. I'm new to the website. My son was diagnosed in December, and we found out something was wrong in October. I had concerns before because he was speech delayed and tip toe walked, but he went through something in October for two weeks and then came out of it. I still don't know exactly what happened, but he has gotten a lot better since then. But, during this time, I couldn't get him to come out of his room. He wouldn't respond to his dad coming home (before he was scream in delight, smile, jump around and give Dad a big bear hug then become super jealous--not wanting me to come near him and his Dad.) He would daze out for long periods while watching his hand flap.

I handled it by just about having a nervous breakdown. I had a severe panic attack, and my husband had to take off work. And somehow having my husband home pulled Isaac out of it too. It took me about a week to come to terms with everything, then my husband starting coming apart and he has been better since we got the diagnosis. We just really got lucky with a new developmental peditritian. After talking to us for 30 minutes, she gave us the diagnosis. She noted his tip toe walking and mannerisms as well.

As for therapies, I have been frustrated because I would have him in therapies nonstop if I could. I want him to have the best of everything. However, he can't handle that much right now. So, we've started speech and OT. He is doing great with OT, and even though he is only doing one session for 45 minutes a week, he comes home so focused. He is eating new foods, and he always has a burst of new words afterwards. I've learned to start teaching him words when he gets home because it is definately doing something for him.

We will be seeing a doctor soon to start treatment for bowel issues, allergies, and vitamin supplements. So, I can keep you posted on what we see. Thus far, he has hated speech, and he comes home with a lot of tension and behaviors. We switched his speech teacher recently to try something different, but I don't think it was necessarily the teacher's fault or anything. Just knew we had to do something different.

We are trying to get him accustom to wearing headphones right now so that we can start him in some audio desensitization (SP?) soon. We are having some terrible problems with him being set off by noises. I'm ready to be able to use a vacuum cleaner and a coffee grinder again :) We are having to pay out of pocket for this, but it is the most severe problem we are having. So, I hope we see some results.

It sounds like you are being a good parent to your child. Doctors can be very frustrating to work with. I have noticed problems with my child since he was born--but my family and doctor all labeled me as an over-protective, parinoid mom. And, I really didn't want to believe anything was wrong with him, so it was easy to just think, 'if they are not seeing it, maybe nothing is really wrong.' But, I've observed my child for two and a half years, and I believe that makes me the expert on his behavior.

Good luck to you. I know we were blessed to get the diagnosis so easily. There are ways to get treatment without the official diagnosis. And, I've also learned that the label can be a pain too because no matter what, people have a stereotype in mind when they start to interact with my son. I've learned in meeting other moms that every child is different.

TAKE CARE and the best of luck to you!
Andrea  

Hi,
it took me a long battle to finally get my sons diagnosis. They have diagnosed him with ASD which basicallly means he's on the autistic spectrum, beng on the Aspeers side. My word things are togh, but I have no specialis help, he's in mainstream school, but he's not in the class. I'm in the UK, how about you?  

The diet is huge! That is definitely one of the first thing you should get your child on. It help 85% of children with autism they say, and it helped my son more than anything else. Does your child have digestion problem or no?

I had a chance to look in the library of this website. There is lot of good stuff to get you started. Go to the library and read article titled newly diagnosed. it explain a lot of stuff to get you rolling and send you in the right direction. good website this is.

excuse my english, it is not my first language. Take care