IF YOU THINK HAVING MONEY IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT WILL SOLVE ALL LIFE'S PROBLEMS YOU MAY NEED TO THINK AGAIN...

1.TINA

I'm a 38yr old single mother of 3 boys that are struggling in their daily activities, my oldest (18) was diagnosed with Epilepsy, my 13 yr old was diagnosed with Bipolar, ADHA, ODD and I just signed papers for my 8 yr old son to have some testing done at school.. I myself have been diagnosed with Bipolar and ADHD but not until I was 30 after trying to take my own life. When I asked the Doctor why wasn't I diagnosed sooner with this she said that some people learn to manage and that the unhealthy situation I was in may have been a trigger...

In search of answers i've come across this website as I continued to read my eyes filled with tears because I feel like my life is falling apart.You see because I am having difficulties managing everything Children services are involved and I'm afraid that I will lose my children for good if I don't get more help for them and myself...I believe that my children and I may have some form of Autism

2.ANONYMOUS TO TINA

As a 39-year old struggling with depression since high school, I can understand looking for another diagnosis, another answer, when dealing with managing day-to-day life with mental illness. Frankly, I came to this site to see if I might fit any of the symptoms myself, as I can't quite pin down why I've been doing certain things in my life. The best advice and encouragement I can give has several parts: stay on the medication and be sure to take regularly - I don't notice missing a dose or 2, but my family and friends notice right away. It's frustrating, but it's true. Find a good doctor and a good therapist you trust and if the meds don't seem to be working right, speak up - you are your best advocate. Side effects are a given, but there are so many different alternatives out there now - talk to a doctor who really knows meds for mental illness. It may well be that you or your kids fall into the Autism spectrum somewhere - get tested.

On the same note, and this was the clIncher that took me years to figure out and caused me endless grief, what you are perceiving, may not be entirely what's going on. Just like I don't notice if I miss a dose of med, but others around me do, find some trusted sounding boards and ask them, 'Am I blowing this out of proportion? Am I getting frustrated at things I can't control and forgetting about the things that I can? Remind me again what I can control?'

You have a lot going on and 3 wonderful reasons to take care of yourself so you can be there for them. I had to check myself into a hospital for a while to get my depression under control and it was the scariest, smartest thing I've ever done

3. ALYSE PHILLIPS

I've known something was "different" with my daughter from the time she was a couple months old. She has no desire to be held and never has. She is 2.5 now and still chooses to play alone. At the park if there is another child on the equipment she will go somewhere else to play. She also rocks most of the day. She is now talking but only "parrots" .At 1.5 she would learn a word use it for a week then we woukdn't hear it again. I took her in for testing last year and because i had taught her sign language she didn't qualify for any help. How do i get someone in the medical field to realize there is something different about her and that ASD is an entire spectrum of issues not a cut and dry diagnosis? I want her to succeed and I know with proper support she very possibly could become more comfortable in social situations and her day to day life.

4. DCLAREX

Hi, my daughter is 13 months and has delayed physical development. She can't toll over, crawl or walk unaided, she makes no attempt at trying. She's been to a physio who gave us exercises but we've had no improvement in 6 months. She is so clever and ahead of her age when it comes to feeding herself, speech and recognition. A pediatrician told us her social skills and intelligence are about a year ahead. I don't seem to be getting answers from anyone. Does it sound like a form of autism? Everything I read is about social development but she loves being around people she makes eye contact and shares with other kids. Her physical skills are that of a 4 month old except she can sit up.
If somebody can help or advise I would appreciate it as I'm going out if my mind with lack of answers and reasons ......

5.Disqus_TuVub2wRUB

I'm a mother of a 3 year old girl.. most of my friends are saying that she has an autism.. we went to the doctor a year ago;;; and she told me that everything is fine with my daugther ;; she was just late in talking ;; be coz until now she cant create a sentence ;;; but she can identify some of the things.. she called mama but not very often;; and when she need something she will pull my hand and showed me what she wants.. i am very worried.. what are your thoughts about these kinds of behaviors????

[caption id="attachment_8038" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!... VOICES OF PARENTS WHOSE CHILDREN ARE DYSLEXIC/AUTISTIC

attention deficiency![/caption]

6. DNTEACH5

I believe my nephew is showing signs of Autism or Aspergers. He is very intelligent but is highly antisocial. He has a few friends at school but he keeps to himself when he is with family. He would prefer to stay in the car during family gatherings or sit on a couch and read a book instead of interacting with family. He has some peculiar mannerisms too such as slowly opening a present by carefully removing tape. He also was upset at school one day because a peer stopped the long-term timer on his I-pad...it was running since the beginning of the year. His way to deal with this problem was to lay on the classroom floor for 10 minutes. He is in eighth grade and mom is so concerned for him next year. He is now in a private school/catholic school but the school doesn't go past 8th grade. The school believes he is gifted, but has not mentioned the autistic mannerisms as such. What are your thoughts on these types of behavior?

7.SARAH RAY

My son who is 13 has autism . We just found out he has it for yrs I knew but could not convince doctors to check the doc.just said he was a slow learner I'm so glad to finally get a diagnosis

8. MONICA K.TO S.RAY

My son is 16 years old and was diagnosed last year. We have seen many doctors and all of them gave inaccurate diagnosis. With this new found information, I sometimes feel guilty for trying to force him to be someone he just could not be. Now, I have changed all his doctors and he has new therapists but because he is an older child, many of his behaviors appear to be permanent. Overall, I remain hopeful as our doctor and therapist are very optimistic about my son being able to respond to the treatment. It feels good to finally be able to trust what the clinical professionals say about his condition and treatment.

9.STEPH TO MONICA K

My son is 17yrs. old he is wants to work. We have been practicing on interviewing . It has been very challenging. He has a hard time with eye contact with me. When he does he smiles really big like he's blushing, then forgets what he needs to say. He is very smart and articulate but he gets so overwhelmed with interacting with people. My concerns are life after high school. Have you made any decisions on the transitions of the real world? If so, please share. I know my son likes to work with his hands more than reading or writing. He likes math but he's not passionate about it. He loves building car models. Too bad our U.S. car industry is plunging. Just wondering if anyone can help me with childhood to adulthood situations. Universities or Colleges?

10.VELSBABY TO STEPH

Good luck to you Steph. My son is now 20, soon to be 21 years old. After graduating with a REAL diploma from high school, be seems to be stagnating here at home. He was diagnosed with PDD-NOS at age 2 and Psychosis -NOS at age 16. He is very oppositional and feels he knows what is best. He gets nothing done, refuses to do regular daily living skills, etc. I am trying to get him to go to a group home. I didn't imagine life after high school to be like this. I don't know what to do for him or with him. I suggest you really look at his choices and plan better than I did. I thought I had planned well, but I did not.

from Autism Speaks

Autistic Spectrum Disorders by Abigail Marshall

Autistic Spectrum Disorders include problems with nonverbal communication, socialization, and empathy. Children with an autistic spectrum disorder have difficulty understanding what other people are saying, need help to play with other children, enjoy routines, and find unfamiliar situations difficult. Symptoms can range from very mild to profound social and cognitive delays. The disorder is not associated with dyslexia, but it can coexist with dyslexia. Many children with autistic spectrum disorder also have difficulties learning to read and write.

Autism

Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. A child with autism processes and responds to information in unique ways. Although some can function at a relatively high level, many children with autism have serious cognitive impairments or mental retardation, and some never gain the ability to speak.

A child with autism may seem closed off and shut down or locked into repetitive behaviors and rigid patterns of thinking. He may avoid eye contact and resist physical contact, such as hugging, or may have frequent tantrums or remain fixated on a single item or activity such as spinning objects. It's possible that his sensitivity to pain could be higher or lower than typical.

FACT

Autism is about three to four times more common in boys. However, girls with the disorder tend to have more severe symptoms and greater cognitive impairment. Although autism is frequently accompanied by mental retardation, about one out of ten children with autism also are savants with exceptional talents in narrowly constrained areas such as drawing ability or playing the piano.

The severity of autism can be extremely variable, ranging from mild to severe. Children with mild to moderate symptoms are considered “high-functioning.” Two children may share the diagnosis of autism, but behave very differently and have very different skills and abilities.

Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's Syndrome is similar to autism, but milder in form. Children with Asperger's have normal or above-average intelligence. They do not have language delays, but often have unusual speech patterns; they may speak formalistically or without inflection, or speak in a rhythmic nature or with a high-pitched tone. They often have a very literal understanding of language, and have difficulty understanding irony or verbal humor.

Children with Asperger's usually want to fit in and have interaction with others, but they tend to be socially awkward and have difficulty understanding conventional social rules or the give and take of normal conversation. They are often obsessively interested in particular subjects and may become proficient at knowing obscure categories of information, such as memorizing baseball statistics or bus routes. They may enjoy collecting things such as rocks or bottle caps. Although diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome does not include reading problems, the condition is frequently accompanied by symptoms of dyslexia.

Semantic Pragmatic Disorder (SPD)

Semantic Pragmatic Disorder is a communication disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction, communication, and imagination. Autistic features are mild and concentrated in the areas of social use and understanding of language and communication. Children with SPD are unable to process all the given information from certain situations, often focusing on details without understanding the big picture. The condition is usually first identified because of marked delays and difficulty with speech and language development.

Hyperlexia

Children with hyperlexia demonstrate an early and intense fascination with letters, numbers, patterns and logos, and a self-taught, precocious ability to read, spell, write, or compute, usually before the age of five. At the same time, they have significant difficulty understanding and using oral language and with socializing and interacting appropriately with other people.

Although the early acquisition of reading ability makes hyperlexia seem very different than dyslexia, both conditions are rooted in difficulties with understanding and using language. A child with hyperlexia is often highly intelligent, learning best from visually presented information. The difference is that the child with hyperlexia can easily manipulate and understand written symbols for language and concepts, but has problems with oral language. Your child with dyslexia has difficulty with symbols but will be stronger with verbal communication skills and in understanding concepts that language represents.

It is possible for a child to learn to read early without having hyperlexia; many intellectually gifted children easily acquire reading skills as early as age three or four. Occasionally, a child with dyslexia will also be an early reader; dyslexia will be diagnosed when the child encounters problems with advanced reading skills, writing, or spelling as she grows older.