Chaos247
06-24-2003, 07:33 PM
Hello. I am fairly new to Healthboards and usually I am on diabetes or thyroid but have been reading the support here and it looks great so I have a few questions.
My nephew is Autistic. My sister in law claims he is high functioning and I had my doubts. Maybe I do not understand high functioning but I would guess it to be alot better than he is. He will be 5 in November and is a very large child. He weighs 68 lbs. He was 11 when born. He spoke a few words until 18 months old then stopped. He also did not walk until 18 months old. The spinning items and flapping hands started earlier on. He still continues all this behavior and has added new ones since.
He is in a early education program. He does not speak at all. He can feed himself by hand but does not eat sweets. He eats walking around or on his back with his head tilted upside down. It worries me he will choke. He is very much into junk food such as potato chips. (Has only recently ate mashed potatoes). He is very limited on what he eats. Mostly meat and chips. He recently ate applesauce for his teacher at school but will not for his Mom and Dad at home. I guess I am asking how much of this is autism and how much could be helped (such as being a stubborn child which he does exibit signs of this but is easy to confuse the two.) He will not eat with silverware. He does wear clothes to school but will not at home. He is not potty trained and seems to not be interested at all. He even plays in his feces. He does not feel comfortable with other folks around and does not interact except with his mother and that is more like she is his servant instead of a mother son relationship. He knows he can depend on her. Does not interact with father at all. On a good day if he gets close enough and is in a good mood you can "tickle him" and he will giggle. This is mostly with family only. When his teacher changed at school it sent him into a tizzy,,bless his heart he hates change and I know that is part of it. He has several routines. He will spin items incessantly and loves to play with all the silverware in a metal bowl yet does not like loud noises from someone else. He loves to play in the water whether a bath or the water hose. He does laugh but only to himself when nothing funny is happening. This is only a short list of things he does I am sure I am leaving alot out but would this be high functioning? My husband and I do not think so. He has made very few strides in improvement and has been diagnosed since 3. Any advice would be appreciated. My sister in law is a very good mother and reads everything. I would love to be able to help her more. She never complains and has so much love and patience for this child. I would love to be able to watch him so she could get away but at this point would be impossible. She is aware of gluten free diet and vitamins but how do you get a child that cannot understand he cannot eat what he wants or one that is unable/will not swallow pills. He does take a Flinstone vitamin but she has to crush that and hide it in his juice. He will not drink milk.
Sorry this was so long. Thank you in advance for listening.
My nephew is Autistic. My sister in law claims he is high functioning and I had my doubts. Maybe I do not understand high functioning but I would guess it to be alot better than he is. He will be 5 in November and is a very large child. He weighs 68 lbs. He was 11 when born. He spoke a few words until 18 months old then stopped. He also did not walk until 18 months old. The spinning items and flapping hands started earlier on. He still continues all this behavior and has added new ones since.
He is in a early education program. He does not speak at all. He can feed himself by hand but does not eat sweets. He eats walking around or on his back with his head tilted upside down. It worries me he will choke. He is very much into junk food such as potato chips. (Has only recently ate mashed potatoes). He is very limited on what he eats. Mostly meat and chips. He recently ate applesauce for his teacher at school but will not for his Mom and Dad at home. I guess I am asking how much of this is autism and how much could be helped (such as being a stubborn child which he does exibit signs of this but is easy to confuse the two.) He will not eat with silverware. He does wear clothes to school but will not at home. He is not potty trained and seems to not be interested at all. He even plays in his feces. He does not feel comfortable with other folks around and does not interact except with his mother and that is more like she is his servant instead of a mother son relationship. He knows he can depend on her. Does not interact with father at all. On a good day if he gets close enough and is in a good mood you can "tickle him" and he will giggle. This is mostly with family only. When his teacher changed at school it sent him into a tizzy,,bless his heart he hates change and I know that is part of it. He has several routines. He will spin items incessantly and loves to play with all the silverware in a metal bowl yet does not like loud noises from someone else. He loves to play in the water whether a bath or the water hose. He does laugh but only to himself when nothing funny is happening. This is only a short list of things he does I am sure I am leaving alot out but would this be high functioning? My husband and I do not think so. He has made very few strides in improvement and has been diagnosed since 3. Any advice would be appreciated. My sister in law is a very good mother and reads everything. I would love to be able to help her more. She never complains and has so much love and patience for this child. I would love to be able to watch him so she could get away but at this point would be impossible. She is aware of gluten free diet and vitamins but how do you get a child that cannot understand he cannot eat what he wants or one that is unable/will not swallow pills. He does take a Flinstone vitamin but she has to crush that and hide it in his juice. He will not drink milk.
Sorry this was so long. Thank you in advance for listening.
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Joanne
06-25-2003, 05:03 PM
Well, first of all,I am no professional. I am a mother of an autistic four year old boy. I can give you some advice and some things that have failed for me. First the gluten/casin free diet. I am not really sure how well it helped my son. We really did not see the kind of improvement we were hoping for. He also started to lose weight. (he has always been incredibly thin). We decided to stop the diet after three months because of the weight issue. We did keep milk out of his diet. He was recently given milk by his gtrandmother and he was a living nightmare for a week. We make sure everyone knows he is not to receive milk. I have met quite a few people who have had great success with the diet. All autistic children are so different. Secon, the potty training issue. We needed a urine sample from my son. The doctor tapped a bag around him and we waited. We pumped him full of juice and water and we still waited. After four hours, we realized he was not going to go. We explained to our doctor we were taking off the bag and going home. A few days later, our son was in the bath tub. He was acting like he needed to go to the bathroom. We took him out of the bath and placed him in front of the toilet. He would not go. As soon as we put a diaper on him, he went. It was pretty frustraring but I realized he could hold it. I decide I had enough. I went out and bought him underwear. I put him in it and waited. He did go in his pants but he did not like the feeling of wet pants. We told him he had to go in the potty. (I had also sent away for a free potty trining kit from charmin. It is on their website) Our son has had a few accidents, but for the most part, he is potty trained. Third, about the vitamin supplements. Our son is on quite a few. Some are a liquid and he actually likes them. (The doctor has informed me it is because he is laking them so they actually taste good) The rest we get the capsules that you can take apart and add to juice. We also give put them in chocolate soy milk or sometimes I make him a fruit smoothie. He never even knows he is taking them. Finally, find a DAN doctor. They are usually pediatritians that specialize in autism. I have two (a pediatritian and an allergist) There is a list of them on the ARI (Autism research institute) website. One of my DAN doctors takes insurance (the pediatrician) the other (the allergist) does not. I also have a great neurologist for my son who doesn't mind me calling him often and is not closed to the chance that Ryan may benefit from having supplements. Now I have been the long winded one. I hope this helps you. Oh, one more thing, about the babysitting. If you can find any way to make this happen, I will personally tell you it will help his mother so much just to get away. Even if it is for an hour while she does her grocery shopping. Maybe if you try it for short times at first. I know how hard change is. It just takes time for change to become routine. Good luck.
[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited 06-25-2003).]
[This message has been edited by Joanne (edited 06-25-2003).]
Chaos247
06-25-2003, 06:23 PM
Thank you Joanne you had some really good points and advice. I cannot wait to talk to my sister in law about them. Soy chocolate milk would be great except he hates chocolate..he will not drink regular milk either so he would probably not drink the soy. Will have her ask her pediatrician about mixing certain vitamins with juice since I know it cancels some out on some types of meds. WIll definitely tell her about the liquids and capsules.
My husband said he would watch him with me so she could get away for a bit. We both love him so much and just feel helpless at times on what we can do. I did get a little "joy" yesterday. He smiled at me. Really made eye contact and smiled. I cried all the way home. It makes you appreciate the little things so much more having an autistic child, I have noticed that.
He is already having signs of knowing that doing it in the pull up is nasty. He will remove them..sometimes too promptly if you know what I mean.
Again thanks so much for your help you answered all my questions. I still do not fully understand high functioning but I am sure I soon will. There are so many informed moms on this board. To me it would mean he could someday take care of hisself and be in society working at the least. That he could talk and commmunicate in some way. Am I wrong? I could not see that in him at this point. But we have plenty of time..
Take care hope to chat again sometime!! :wave:
My husband said he would watch him with me so she could get away for a bit. We both love him so much and just feel helpless at times on what we can do. I did get a little "joy" yesterday. He smiled at me. Really made eye contact and smiled. I cried all the way home. It makes you appreciate the little things so much more having an autistic child, I have noticed that.
He is already having signs of knowing that doing it in the pull up is nasty. He will remove them..sometimes too promptly if you know what I mean.
Again thanks so much for your help you answered all my questions. I still do not fully understand high functioning but I am sure I soon will. There are so many informed moms on this board. To me it would mean he could someday take care of hisself and be in society working at the least. That he could talk and commmunicate in some way. Am I wrong? I could not see that in him at this point. But we have plenty of time..
Take care hope to chat again sometime!! :wave:
Joanne
06-26-2003, 01:00 AM
I am so happy he smiled at you. I understand fully the joy you get from every little thing from autistic children. My son was diagnosed at 2 1/2 years old. He had 2 words and was just in general a horrible little boy. Very violent and confrontational. Now at four Ryan has around 30 words and his temper is more under control. We used lots of sign language. Never give up hope. I also have dreams of Ryan going to his prom, finishing high school, getting a job, and having a family. I will never give up. I will continue to push him, try new things and eventually get him out of this horrible spectrum. Tell your sister in law to hang in there. At least she has you as her angel. Take care.
Chaos247
06-26-2003, 01:06 AM
Your son seems to be making great strides. I am so happy for you. It does give me hope to hear of things like that. My brother once said that the doctor said that Brandon may never talk, and that if he did that was great and if he didn't that was fine too. They have such a great attitude. (his parents).
I have really enjoyed chatting with you..Take care!!
I have really enjoyed chatting with you..Take care!!
smartgirl80
06-26-2003, 02:13 AM
Chaos,
I have been a teacher of Autistic pre-schoolers for 5 years. I am a very big believer in Applied Behavior Analysis and those are the methods I use to teach my students. Many of the behaviors you mentioned in regard to your nephew (flapping, hyperactivity, food preferences) are commonly found in Autistic children. Many of these behaviors can be brought under control, but only if his parents and all those around him are willing to stand their ground. His parents must start w/specific, small goals, such as getting him to sit for a 2-minute period and reinforce his attempts w/hugs, a favorite toy or a bit of a favorite food. These goals will gradually progress until he can sit still long enough to eat a meal of WHATEVER they put in front of him. Also, I have known many parents that tried the glutin-free diet and had little if any success, so I do not recommend it. Applied Behavior Analysis is one of the only methods that has been PROVEN to work w/Autistic individuals.
Good luck,
Melissa
I have been a teacher of Autistic pre-schoolers for 5 years. I am a very big believer in Applied Behavior Analysis and those are the methods I use to teach my students. Many of the behaviors you mentioned in regard to your nephew (flapping, hyperactivity, food preferences) are commonly found in Autistic children. Many of these behaviors can be brought under control, but only if his parents and all those around him are willing to stand their ground. His parents must start w/specific, small goals, such as getting him to sit for a 2-minute period and reinforce his attempts w/hugs, a favorite toy or a bit of a favorite food. These goals will gradually progress until he can sit still long enough to eat a meal of WHATEVER they put in front of him. Also, I have known many parents that tried the glutin-free diet and had little if any success, so I do not recommend it. Applied Behavior Analysis is one of the only methods that has been PROVEN to work w/Autistic individuals.
Good luck,
Melissa
Chaos247
06-26-2003, 01:38 PM
Thank you. I will pass that info along to them as well. I think they are afraid to discipline him or did not know if it would be beneficial or "mean". My sister in law says he just cannot seem to understand anything. I think he understands alot personally ;). I know they mean well and they are good parents, they are still pretty new to everything at this point and take all the advice they can get.
About the gluten diet, I agree, I do not know how much gluten/casin is in the things he eats, but my nephew does not ever drink milk or dairy and other things because he simply does like them. Thanks again for your help!!
[This message has been edited by Chaos247 (edited 06-26-2003).]
About the gluten diet, I agree, I do not know how much gluten/casin is in the things he eats, but my nephew does not ever drink milk or dairy and other things because he simply does like them. Thanks again for your help!!
[This message has been edited by Chaos247 (edited 06-26-2003).]
cjksj
07-18-2003, 01:16 AM
My autistic son is 10yrs old now and he did all the things you mentioned. He was diagnosed when he was 3 and I had never heard of autism. I can tell you it is alot of work and love that gets your children thru the rough spots and the parents too. I had just left my husband when my son was diagnosed and so I was on my own except for my family of course. Koty stopped talking about 18 months and just started talking again in the last couple of years. I had in a regular class room setting with pull out time for ST, OT and spec. ed. We tryed the pecs system which is a book with different pictures for him to point to. This was away for him to start talking to us. From there we just kept trying to get him to repeat the word of what he pointed to. We no longer need our pecs. He is now talking in short sentences such as "Are you done yet?" We just died laughing when he ask that. Of course every little think he says is elaborated on. It's kinda of like when you are training a puppy. We say great job talking or whatever it may be that he does. Flash cards are a big thing also for learning new words. Reinforcements are a must. When he points to a picture give him a reward. Something he likes. My son has been on no meds nor have we done any of the diets. He is a very picky eater, pizza, grill cheese, chips, hotdogs things like that. He only wants Dr. Pepper or sometimes juice, does not drink milk except in his cereal. As for potty training. Going outside was what he thought was funny, but of course we live in the country and can do that. Try putting something that floats in the toilet and have him try to go on it. I am a big believer in god can heal. My son has had alot of prayer and been prayed over. But that does not mean I haven't tryed alot of things also. I better stop rambling on now. I hope some of these ideas will help. Good luck.
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