Autism

[Escapay]

I don't have any family members with autism, but I watch All My Children, which features an autistic teenage character, Lily Montgomery (played by Levan Ramblin). I'm not entirely sure how true to autism they portray the character, but the actress does a REALLY great job in the role. Lily is very good with numbers, and can't stand seeing red (when she does, she crouches down and repeats "Red red red" again and again).

Escapay

[Sunset Girl]

I don't have any family members with autism, but I watch All My Children, which features an autistic teenage character, Lily Montgomery (played by Levan Ramblin). I'm not entirely sure how true to autism they portray the character, but the actress does a REALLY great job in the role. Lily is very good with numbers, and can't stand seeing red (when she does, she crouches down and repeats "Red red red" again and again).

I'll have to assume that's Chad's daughter? Heh. I haven't watch that show in well over ten years, back when my mom was still alive; I practically grew up on it and we had a great time watching it together (I found I had a hard time watching it without her). Wow, that was back when Sarah Michelle Gellar played Bianca! I'll occasionally tune in and be amazed at how many of the same characters are still there, but of course the whole thing has changed so much that I have a hard time getting back into it.

[Uncle Remus]

I don't think a person can ever stop having or grow out of Autism or Asperger syndrome but I do think that people suffering from it learn to adapt in situations that are difficult for them. It can be very stressful for them but they learn how to cope.

I have to admit that Glen_J is right about a person growing out of Autism. For me, it's the fact that I have overcome some areas that truly identifies someone with autism. Some of the traits I still have today are not really bad because I have seen many non-autistic people perform these similar traits. There are two people I know in my life who also have Asperger's. One of them appears more likely to have ADD than to have Asperger's. The other I could tell had Asperger's but as he is growing up, he is overcoming some of the traits too.
So I must admit that Glen_J and the other members, who mentioned the same opinion, are correct about a person not being able to completely get rid of autism. It just that for some autistic people, most of their traits can be controlled as they get older.

[Glen_J]

I read an interesting story about an ASD sufferer who in her teens specifically watched how the people around her acted in social situations. Like parties or dinners and other such outings. She felt terrible anxiety and never felt comfortable or knew how to act.

So...she studied the people around her. She's now in her twenties and described herself as an "actor" when she goes out or is involved with other people because she taught herself how to conduct herself by watching the people around her.

Now she still feels the anxiety and the uncomfortableness but she knows that she's behaving like the other people around her and she feels a part of those gatherings whereas previously she felt like she was there but invisible because she didn't know how to join in. She described it as "Acting normal" because she never felt she understood how to deal and cope in those situations. Now when she gets home she's totally drained because mentally it's taxing to be in a state that's stressful and anxious for long periods of time.

It's amazing the simple non verbal and verbal communications that most of us pick up without realizing that ASD people need to learn by rote or don't understand at all.......

GJ

[indianajdp]

As some of you know, I teach Special Education at the middle school level. Over the last few years I have worked with a variety of kids that have Autism, including two high-functioning kids with Asperger's. Autism is referred to as a Spectrum Disorder because, well, the outward (and internal) symptoms and characteristics vary so greatly among those with ASD that it's hard to finad any two cases that are alike.

Some people with Autism absolutely cannot stand to be touched in any way. Some can't handle even wearing clothes, their aversion and oversensitivity to touch is that dramatic. Others cannot vocalize. Still others may show little signs of Autism, but internally nearly every sound they hear is magnified. The slight buzz of overhead lights may sound like a freight train. They may only eat one or two things. Ever. one student I worked with only ate yogurt and drank juicy juice. Getting him to try anything else was impossibvle and sent him into hysterics.

Social skills? Forget about it (for the most part). Many cannot think abstractly and would think you were asking them to beat their head with a book if you told them to use their head when they read. Conversations are usually a one way street, as they, by nature are egocentric because they don't understand how to take an interest in others during a conversation.

I could go on and on and on.

One thing I will say about working with students with Autism...it's a tremendous challenge, but it's one I love. I've been tutoring a student with Asperger's since he was in 8th grade (he's completing the 10th grade now) and am very close with his family. In fact, he's the reason I decided to get into the field of Special Education.

On eother thing I feel the need to mention. Someone referred to autism as a serious illness, and that couldn't be further from the truth. If ASD wan an illness it would be something that could potentially be isolated, treated and eradicated, and that's not the case. It's a condition that afflicts millions, which has cognitive, academic, personal and social implications that can last a lifetime. No one knows why the brains of those afflicted suddenly shift (most onset is around age two, when some kids who have developed normally suddenly regress and stop talking and engaging with parents), but it's not something that can be reversed with meds. And there are many theories as to why it happens but no one knows what the trigger is. About the only remotely consistent characteristic is that many children with ASD have a parent with a very technical background, like an engineeer, mathematician, computer science expert, etc. The father of the student I continue to work with heads up an Infomatics Department.

Anyway, that's my contribution to this thread. I congratulate those of you that have posted here and have successfully handled their ASD. I'm sure that you had a great support group behind you to make that possible.

[msadrakula]

My 4 year old son has atypical autism. They say he has "atypical" autism because he doesn't have a lot of the autism trait, but he speech is very delayed (only says a few words) and show some other signs of autism but other things like "lack of eye contact"; he doesn't show those autistic symptoms.

Anyway, it has been very difficult for my wife and me; not to mention the lack of support from our insurance company.

For those of you out there, I would recommend a set of DVDs; call the Bee Smart series or Baby BumbleBee DVD's. They are very good with learning or speech problems with children. I sell them on my ebay store to help pay for my son's speech therapy and medical costs. You can buy them in other places also, but I highly suggest you take a look at them.

They have DVD's for Action Verbs, Vocababulary, Opposite Words, Alphabet, Colors, Math and some others I can't think of right now. You can check them out by clicking on my ebay link below and clicking on the "Bee Smart Baby BumbleBee" category on my ebay store homepage.

Also flashcards, or taking pictures of everyday things in your house with the words printed on the cards is a good with for autistic or PDD kids to learn.

[t0rnado]

It is very hard!

He is 5 years old and he doesn't talk...at all. We want to try and take him to disney next October. We keep telling our other kids that we would take them when our son started to talk...needless to say we haven't gone yet.

[RyougaLolakie]

I've never knew there is an autistic thread like this. To be honest, I'm autistic too (I don't know which type of autistic I'm in) and I'm too nervous to talk about it in this friendly forum. I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it.

Sigh..ok here goes. When I was very young, I was diagnosed with autism and my speach was delayed until I was 3 years old. It wasn't happen until I was in middle school (which it was renamed to Jr/Sr. High School now) where I had severely anxiety due for scratching the student's back. I know I was embarrased and I cried like I wished that the problems stopped. Right now, I'm still in the autistic stage but I felt as a normal person inside me.

>.<

EDIT: I knew a woman who has the same trait as I am, but she become a sucessful engineer. Her name is Temple Grandin and she wrote several books about her life and the true meaning of autism. I read, "Emergance: Labeled Autistic" and it was very good! I can tell that her life was similiar to mine and I'm sure that she had a good life of being herself as an engineer. However, I didn't met her. Here's the link to those on Amazon

[anger is pointless]

i have pervasive developementol disorder mom says its a form of autism im not sure if it is or not though

they say i have the mind of a 10 to 12 year old so ive been on ssi since april 2004

i had never heard of this disorder before so i was like i have what

i also have adhd its better now but i know i still have it