hi. Lukes mom here. I'm new to this site. I have a five year old son who was diagnosed PDD-NOS two years ago. It was and is at times overwhelming.
We live in a rural area and there aren't alot of services locally and no support organizations for parents. He has been in school, eci and pre-k and goes to kindergarten in August. He has and will be in special ed. He receives speech therapy, OT and PT and when we can get in, he see's a child pshycologist. She is 60 miles away and only works parttime. We have seen her twice and go once this month and can't get in until October.
He is a wonderful, very smart and loveable child. He has reached that age now where adults and other children can tell there is something different with him. He is mostly non verbal- as far as most people think. He does converse with us, but the (decernable) words are few and far between. He does chatter alot and I figure one day, we will be able to understand him more.
We try to work with him as much as we can, and he has come along way since his diagnosis. This is getting too long. I just wanted to introduce myself.
Thanks, Lukes mom

Welcome. Luke sounds like a fascinating boy. I'm a 24 year old woman with Asperger Syndrome, so I didn't have a speech delay; but I think his chattering is really a good sign--he's trying to communicate, even if he hasn't quite got the hang of it yet.

One thing I do know about myself is that I prefer to communicate in writing. Words are easier to read than they are to hear; easier to write than they are to say. Written language is slower and clearer. I think when your boy learns to read and write, his communication will become easier. I learned to read and to speak simultaneously (at about the age of two--hyperlexia is typical with Aspies), and when I think of a word, I think of the written word as well as how it's said. When I speak, I mentally "write" what I'm going to say before I say it. Autistic minds are often quite visual; and reading is a very visual skill.

Your coming online for support is a good thing. Being isolated is not a good idea for parents of special-needs kids, especially today: New ideas about educating the autistic mind are coming out every day, and if your son is to benefit from them, you need a network that'll inform you of them. (Obviously.) And of course, there's the stress that comes with any sort of parenting, added to the stress of the additional help he needs--that needs some outlet, or you won't be the best mom you can be. (My mother, who was quite isolated while raising me, often ended up yelling at me when she was stressed. I think if we'd had a network to depend on, she might've had it much easier.)

We are woefully short on child therapists... Your situation is something I've heard quite a lot. I myself have to travel to the nearest big city in order to connect with other Asperger's adults and parents of Asperger's kids. (It's quite helpful to do so--one doesn't feel nearly as alone; and the others often have faced the same problems you're facing.) But it seems you're doing your best; and that's all that can be expected. I sure hope Luke is OK with car rides...

Hi there
You sound like most of us mom’s. My son just turned 6 this month and he too is mostly non-verbal. Building the vocabulary is the name of the game. I think the best advise that I could give, is when your child goes to school or speech- go with him and be a fly on the wall. It has helped my son so much to make a special work area at home for him and reinforce everything he is learning at school and speech. If you do not already have a job you can volunteer or work as a teachers aid for his and other special needs classes. Educating myself has helped my son. I also have 3 other children and we have a lot of circle time games we do at home to help him become part of the family. Singing is the best way to communicate with my son. Anyways- Welcome.
A site I recommend is www.learningaswegoautism.com
Brandi:wave: