StuartD

The UN has officially declared today as Autism Awareness Day, to coincide with April being Autism Awareness Month.

The Globe and Mail (a Canadian national newspaper) ran an article on how important it is to be caught early, and what to watch for. As such, they contacted me since we have just recently had our son diagnosed with Autism. And it wasn't easy to do and is proving to be a huge challenge since.

If you are a parent and are not aware of what autism really is, or how to recognize it, I urge you to take the time to do some reading. It doesn't take a long time, and while it's not all that easy to diagnose as a parent, it is recognizable.

Our family said that our son was just developing a little slower, our doctor said he's just fine. It's hard to stand up against that and push for it anyway but if you feel it... do it. Take your child in get checked.

If you put it off and wait, it will be too late.


Click to read the online version

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MichelleB

Thanks for the heads up.

Quagmire

Great article there Stu. I'm glad that you still caught it early enough to be able to fix things. Cameron is a great kid.

Give my best to Nat. I hope she's all recovered now since the birth or Tyler.

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Evil Chris

Stuart, how long is the wait for evaluation?

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StuartD

We asked to have him tested when he was 2. That was last July.
They finally did some testing in November which mostly consisted of just asking me why I felt he had Autism. I explained everything and they were satisfied. It wasn't until February that we got called back in for them to sit down and play with Cameron for an hour and watch him for themselves. So from my first request to getting the official diagnosis was 7 months.

I started making appointments in November though, knowing full well that I could cancel if it turned out that he wasn't Autistic. But I haven't had to cancel.

We still have yet to get him into any publicly funded programs though. We're still waiting.

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Sarah_Jayne

My (much) younger cousin has autism and it is now that he is 10 that his social problems are becoming an issue. Prior to that people would excuse him away as being a little kid because he looks very young. I worry for him as they live in a very small town were abnormal is made to feel amplified.

pornguy

Read this.

Jenny McCarthy has announced that she may have found something that may cure Autism. She is telling the world that she might have found the cure, and no one seems to be listening. Jenny McCarthy had a son that she named Evan. When he got his shots for Measles, Mumps and what not, she noticed a change in him. After a short time, she took him to a doctor, and she was told that he was Autistic. It was later found that the shot he got, was what caused it. When Jenny asked the doctors what could be done, they said " Nothing " . Jenny refused to believe that, and has been working hard to help find a cure. The thing she says now that has made the most change in her son, is simply a strict and good diet, combined with vitamins, and supplements. The Doctors are saying that it will have NO Effect at all, but Jenny, and a LOT of other parents are saying that it does. Who to believe? You are what you eat. Check this link. AutismSpeaks.org

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czarina

sorry to hear about your little guy. I just took my son to have his vaccines, and I'm very scared because all I've heard about some of them causing autism.

In any case, you may wanna read about special diets improving their behavior and so on.

StuartD

Yeah, there has been a LOT of articles and theories and research as to what causes it. It's a difficult one to really catch because it's entirely possible the vaccines caused it, but... it's also entirely possible that she there was just no way to know before then.

A child gets vaccines before and at 1 year of age, well... there are no signs of Autism at that age to recognize or diagnose regardless of what has happened. There's no speaking, no temper tantrums, no social behaviors to really make a diagnosis of any kind. The vaccines COULD coincide with a developmental stage in the child's life that will make the signs and symptoms recognizable.

It's been a hot topic of debate because it's so hard for anyone to really narrow down, not even the top doctors.

All they really know with any certainty is that it's more prevalent in boys, and even more so in a sibling of a child who has Autism.

Jenny McCarthy is not a doctor, but she has done a ton of research and done some great work in getting through to her child. She's an inspiration, to be sure, but even she can't be 100% certain when top scientists can't be.

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StuartD

Oh trust me, I've done more reading than you could imagine on many many aspects of this.
It's how I was able to diagnose him early enough when my doctor and everyone else said to "just wait".

Being aware is the moral of the story. Know what to look for before... and if it turns out you need it, become as much of an expert as you can after.

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nikad

StuartD, make sure you get him evaluated for Asperger´s Syndrome as well, as there are many differences ;)

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LAJ

StuartD, thanks for sharing this!

We were concerned about our son when he was 2 due to a speech delay and some repetitive behavior. Nipped everything in the bud early on and it turned out he wasn't autistic. Got a speech therapist for a year. Now my boy is 4 and he won't stfu LOL...

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Evil Chris

I could have posted the exact same thing Jay.

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StuartD

Already done.
Also talked to a dietitian who specializes in children, and Autistic children.

As part of his Autism, he refuses to eat meat... it's a texture thing. So we have to find other ways to get those proteins and vitamins in him.

As I said, this is a HUGE ordeal to go through and envelops every aspect of our lives.

And none of it is cheap.

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StuartD

That's good to hear. But it's good that you recognized those things and had concerns just in case. As I said, it very well could have turned out that my boy wasn't Autistic and I could just cancel the appointments I made.

It's better to waste a doctor's time to find out your child is fine, than to just hope your child is ok.

I'm quite happy for you and Evil Chris, more so for your boys. It's great to hear

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sexy-babes.tv

My daughter (now almost 3) was diagnosed with Autism, about 11 months.

Glad we pushed and pushed.. we knew something was wrong but the doctors said she had "global development delay".. bullshit.. she was different, and I knew it.. I took her private and they told me what I knew.

She is getting lots of help now and is improving..(I'm really glad I pushed and pushed so we got her diagnosed early.. some kids don't get diagonosed till they are a lot older. Early intervention is the key...)

Its hard work, for all of the family, but I guess you just get on with it and do what you can to help them lead a normal life as possible.

Stuart, my wife and I went on a "more than words" course. I think it originally was developed in the USA. Might be worth checking out. We learnt quite a bit from it.

My wife has been to lots of "Pecs" courses, and our daughter is now communicating to us through the use of her picture cards. Its amazing, it might sound very trivial, but for her to at least be able to communicate with us makes so much difference!

Here's a pic of her.. Her name is Eloise..





The more people who know about autism the better.

Im seriously getting fucked off having to explain to people that she 'might' not be a genius, or an artist etc etc. (why do most people think autistic children have special skills?)

Austism is very different from child to child. Thats why they call it the "austistic spectrum"... anyway.. If you do feel that your young one is different, dont hesistate, get them checked out. Or just look at a few videos of autistic children on youtube... thats actually how I knew Eloise had it.. I watched some videos, and I thought.. MY GOD, thats my daughter.. the kids were acting in the same way, flapping their fingers, same blank expressions etc etc.. I cried for hours.. I never slept all night.

i told my wife the next morning.. we both got really upset, we both knew deep down, but we just kept saying she was "just different" and i guess didn't want to face up to the facts that there was something severely wrong...

Blimey.. I never meant to post all that.. but anyway.. Sharing info and your experiences about your childrens problems helps me deal with it..

thanks for reading!

nikad

It will be challenging, but time is on your side My son is Aspergers, diagnosed at 9 yo and cbt made a big difference, now he is one mf*** teenager with many friends and a normal life
I know about the meat challenge ( he´d prefer fish to beef and chicken when he was younger )
Good luck!
nik

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uno

People think when someone is lacking in a certain area that its overcompensated somehow in another.



When did this autism explosion start? It seems like a pretty "new" epidemic, no?

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StuartD

That starts for us this month actually. I'm really looking forward to it.
And thank you for sharing your story as well, and those are awesome pictures!

You said it perfectly. Every child is different and so is every Autistic child. Our doctor said they're like snowflakes. No two are the same, and that's what makes it so hard.

Thanks for sharing

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StuartD

Like cancer, it's been around for a very long time, it's just that no one gave it a name.
In school, did you have a "special education" class where the "special" kids were put? Where kids who couldn't behave right, or learn right or just handle being with other kids.

Chances are, those kids had Autism, or ADD, or some other disability/disorder that could have been helped.

But back then, they were just dumb, or slow or... well, "special."

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polish_aristocrat

StuartD, welcome back to GFY ;)

looks like you were almost gone in last few weeks

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sexy-babes.tv

I couldn't agree more :D

StuartD

Been busy in a LOT of aspects of my life. And through all this, GFY hasn't been the greatest source of optimism/good vibes.

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polish_aristocrat

I understand. If some things have been bad, I hope they're geting better.

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SykkBoy

Stuart, best of luck.

My oldest son has selective mutism, which is totally unrelated to autism, yet some people get them confused as the same thing. The best thing we can do as parents with children who have these types of disorders is provide education. We have to educate ourselves, our loved ones, teachers and other people in society.

Thanks for the head's up on Autism Awareness Day

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LAJ

Hell yeah Chris... I remember we called you and FB a few years back bummed out. You totally provided comfort.

Thanks again.

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sweetums

Thanks so much for sharing, StuartD....article bookmarked. Best to you and Nat and your two beautiful boys

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polish_aristocrat

Heh i didn't even read the thread !!

I just commented that i haven't seen you online on GFY recently, i somehow didn't link your post about autism (which I didn't read) with your child.

Sorry for this, and well, I still hope that things will turn out good.... i wish the best luck to you, your son, and your family...

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LAJ

YUP... the lengths we'll go thru for our kids.

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LAJ

OMG sexy-babes.tv... your daughter is absolutely beautiful.

Is it too early to set her up with my son on a chaperoned date... say... 12 years from now? ;)

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boneprone

On Autism awareness day Im glad to see CNN SHOWING THE TRUE CRIME OF AUTISM.

IN THE US MOST HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES WILL NOT PAY FOR AUTISM TREATMENT..

Avg cost of treatment for a child with Autism is 80k a year.

Autism is more prevlant than any other childhood disease more than AIDS, DIABETES and CANCER conbined and all data shows it is on the rise, has been on the rise in a distrubing Exponential form.

Yet Health Insurance in the US leaves parents in the dark.

God Bless the USA and its Mighty Dollar.

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Learn about it kids.

StuartD

Yeah, CNN is doing some great coverage of this. They've really taken the bull by the horns and done a lot to cover Autism today.

http://topics.cnn.com/topics/autism

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sexy-babes.tv

hahah.. I will NOT be letting any boys near her... I know what boys are like at that age

StuartD

Bump back up to the top.

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WonderWoman

My youngest nephew is autistic. It took them 18 months almost to get the full diagnosis.

He is a beautiful boy with so much promise and we fight tooth and nail with the system to get him the best education and care possible. They make it very hard to get the best services.

My sister is currently in a lawsuit with the school system because she caught a teachers aide dragging my nephew by his backpack loop while on the ground because he wouldnt budge.

We still have a longgggg way to go but hopefully it will get better.

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tranza

Here's a bump for a good cause...

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Quagmire

Chris & FB are two of my most favorite people in the business.

Both of them are down to earth friendly people. I've had many great conversations with FB over the last few years, and luckily been able to chat more with Chris the last few months and see him at shows.

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WarChild

Wow Stuart, I had no idea. Sorry to hear about this diagnoses but at the same time glad you found out now. They say the earlier it's diagnosed, the more they can do for the child.

A good friend of mine, kind of a wild trouble maker in his youth, spent many years working with Autistic children that were diagnosed very late. Many of them also had Turrets (sp?) but they were every single one without exception good kids once you got through it all. He used to bring them out with him when we'd go to movies, fireworks, any kind of event really. They loved being out with people that paid attention to them instead of locking them away in a home.

In any case, good for you that you kept pushing until you got some answers. Good luck going forward with your son, I'm sure he'll do well with the love and support of his family.

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StuartD

Thank you. And yes, much like Tourrettes, my boy has quite the outbursts no matter where we are. He's a good kid, if I ask him to do something, he does it. But he then screams after to express his unhappiness about it. It's his only way of dealing with that emotion. For many kids, that's quite normal really but in the case of Autism, it really can be the ONLY way a child can express that emotion.

And so we get all this judgmental looks from other people in a restaurant as if he's a bad kid, or we're bad parents... but it's just because they don't know.

I don't really care what others think, but you still can't help wishing you could just keep a low profile and not have those other people even notice you're there.

He's a good kid, I know it. Everyone who knows him knows it.
That's all that really matters.

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Sarah_Jayne

It is all about diagnosis. From what I have read after my cousin was diagnosed, especially with the more mild 'high functioning' cases in the past it may not have been picked up. I watched this one show on the BBC about a mother over here that has something like three or four boys all with various levels of autism. She is a really impressive woman. Anyway, during the show they went to a specialist and he talked about diagnosing a kid and watching the father isolate himself slightly in the room and he decided to investigate and it turns out the father had a mild form too and had just been consider anti-social all of his life.

Stuart have you read The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime ? It is a fictional book told from the perspective of a autistic boy. My family found it valuable just to get that insight. Plus, it is a good read.

sweetums

Bumpity....

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iMind

Hey stuart, if someone wanted to make some donations to charities that support autism research do you know where they could be sent?

StuartD

That's a good question but not one I'm able to answer for other nations. Each country has their own organizations and foundations that put up a good fight for the people.

Here in Canada, I've been getting involved with the Autism Canada Foundation. (AutismCanada.org)
I didn't make it a link because I'm not sure they'd want GFY showing up in their logs.

I'm hoping to revamp their site and add a lot to it, also get it more up to date. But they're a great organization and are at every government meeting, hearing and debate to talk about Autism.

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jact

It's nice to see a thread like this on GFY without any hate in it.

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