Hello everyone. I'm a newbie to the board and very happy to have found an autism support board like this one. I have a 3 year old son named Kyle who was diagnosed with atypical autism at 2 years old. He was also diagnosed with PDD a little later. I'm still confused by these diagnosis and the doctors don't explain to me fully what they mean (sometimes I think they don't even know what it means). I also have a younger son, Austin who is currently undergoing evaluations (he just turned 2). I have been so overwhelmed by all the information thrown at me by doctors and 'specialists' and by the research on the internet. Does anyone else feel this way? Diets, immunizations, secretin, therapies, special education, caregivers, heavy metal retention, biomedical treatments, etc. etc. etc. My mind is in a whirlwind and I almost don't know where to begin. It would be nice if I could get a definitive diagnosis for Kyle so that I could start a more individualized plan to help him. He is now 3 1/2 and goes to special education preschool at a regular elementary school. When he was born, he was 6 weeks premature and had to stay in the NICU for 10 days because of trouble breathing the first day, and then very bad jaundice afterwards. I noticed right away that he did not make a lot of eye contact as most babies usually do but seemed to look around us. As he got older, he seemed to be developing normally in every other area except for speech. At his 15 month well baby check up, the doctor expressed concern about his speech and recommended some evaluations. This eventually led to early intervention services. Some of the symptoms he had along with no speech was an inability to switch from one activity to another (he would have a massive screaming fit), and difficulty with change. He could not sit for circle and song time but would walk around the classroom avoiding the teacher and other children. He had a huge change in behavior after I took him off milk and dairy products. Increased eye contact and sitting and even participating some during circle time. I had also avoided getting him the MMR shot because I was worried it would harm him even more. The way the doctors and nurses treated me when I refused the shot was mortifying. They would continually point out that there was no real correlation between the two and would berate me for not getting him the immunization. Then treat me like an idiot when I still refused. I eventually got it for him a little after he turned 3 but it still makes me angry when I think about it. After we moved to Hawaii, he started the preschool program here. The special education teacher he has is very soft spoken and does not have any experience with autistic children. On Kyle's first day there, I asked if I could sit in the classroom in case he had one of his fits from being in a new situation. At first she said it was fine but when the day came, she asked me not to be in the class room as she was afraid it would distract the other students. I stood outside the whole time confused because in Kyle's early intervention class, they actively encouraged parent participation. Now in the school system, the discourage it and it's been difficult for me since I like to see Kyle's progress first hand. She also has only 3 other student's in her class but none of them have an autism diagnosis. One has motor skill problems while the other two have behavioral problems. They all talk well though and the hope is that Kyle will learn from this. However, he has now obtained some bad behavior himself such as not listening to me when I scold him (before he would) and some hitting behaviors. I'm not sure if I should try to find another school more suited to him or try a 'wait and see' approach. He has had some progress from being in this school such as cleaning up after himself and speaking a little more. I'm very tempted to start him on the gluten and cassein free diet and start him also on the vitamin B6 and magnesium in the hopes that it will help him even more. Would love to hear from other moms who have tried these. Sorry this is so long. It feels great to write about it though and I hope to find others in a similar situation. Thanks for reading and looking forward to meeting you!