off kilter

Hi i saw your post and I'm not sure what your looking for as my son is only just 7. Does he talk? No! maybe some day . With alot of good help he has made great progess in many areas. His eye contact is super, alot of things that use to scare him like vacums,microwaves don't anymore. He stims very little now and when he does it's easy to get him to stop. He no longer walks on tip toes. He's not potty trained yet. Is he happy? yes!! Very! The thing that is hardest for him is communication he only knows a few signs,and is still is struggling with PEC cards. But at home and school he usually manages to get his point across. I never thought his receptive skills would take off the way they did this year . He really understands alot of what is said to him. The hardest thing for us is keeping him safe. he still has very little awareness of safety and it's like having a hugh 18 month old when it comes to safety. I have found as each safety issue comes up this board is great with ideals. Paul is lucky enough to live here in the Boston Ma. area with alot of services, he attends a school that has 50 students who all have autism.Paul goes to school in an enviroment that is perfect for him there are only 4 boys in his class and 6 teachers. the staff at the school "gets Autism" and realizes Paul is smart and works hard to help him develop what ever skills he has. Paul had been up to age 5 in a classroom that specialized in social skills and lang. delays at a reg. grammer school where he did well till the last year when it became more of a babysitting service because he was the lowest functioning child in the class. We then had a choice of moving him to a special needs classroom within the school system where the kids had a varity of problems or looking for a outside placement. We were terified if placed in a general special needs program Paul would continue to slip further and further down the chain because the focus would be on the things he could not do like talk or use the potty. So we found a outside placement but it was a struggled to get the school system to pay $65,000 a year for school. The struggle was much eaisier for us then for our friends who have children with Autism because of the severtiy of Paul's Autism. Paul should be able to remain at this school till he is 14. he then can move to their next level of school for ages 14 to 21 with the option of M-F residential and from there into a assisted living program and supervised work program. Paul is having a great time at school it is a very safe place for him and the school brings a real sense of acceptance to us as a family. It is amazing to attend special events at my sons school and see 50 children all with Autism. I will not lie to you it was hard for me to see kids also with Autism from his eary intervention program develope lang. potty train and move into inclusive programs at the reg. school and at first I was jealous but now Paul and the other kids are 7 and 8 I see the struggles those kids and parents have day to day with behavior issues, teasing, lack of friends etc. and Paul is lucky to be going to school in a cocoon. Every day is another happy adventure for him at school, he is thriving in a school that goes out of it's way to both be a place Paul can get a education as well as develop friendships ,job skills, learn to be as independent as possible and have fun.. Just in the last 6 months the school had a Ice cream truck make a stop during recess ( I think some of the kids hoped it would come every day), brought a moonwalk to the school, had a winter festival, pizza parties, super bowl rally, Paul thinks school is great. Paul has a best friend who is very high function and the boys are like brothers. Paul is still severly affect by Autism but he has developed a day to day life that is very productive and happy. He has just started Special olympics and I'm looking for a cub scout troop for him. He does need someone with him at all times and is very self absorbed but he doen't realize ( like so many of his higher functioning friends do) that he is different. I do miss playing with him like I did with my older boys. You know games like candy land and such. But that lose is mine not his. my husband says if this is the worst it gets it's not to bad. Paul has his own life to lead and what's important is he's happy and content. I would tell you know to start looking ahead to services, schools and programs in your area. it helped to know about the May center school system when Paul was 2 or 3. You can check their website. Of course we hoped he would never need that level of service but he does and knowing it would be there if we needed it helped. I called special olympics when paul was 4 to get information. I also did what your doing which is talked alot to parents who had older children with Autism. good luck on this path.