I have a 3 year old son who has been diagnosed with Autism. He shows more characteristics of PDD but Autism is the diagnosis. I also have a 2month old son. My boys are the light of my life. I adore them so much. When I was pregnant with my second, I was pretty sure that I could manage the load in a way to where my toddler would not experience jealousy. I took the advice of some friends with two kids and continually try to include my oldest in most of the tasks dealing with the baby. However, things have not gone exactly as planned. What does go as planned when you have kids. My oldest really seems to love the baby. He is very affectionate and always wants to hug, kiss, and hold the baby. The problem is, he doesn't understand how to be gentle. He is not aggressive with the baby. He just gives very firm hugs and kisses which are a bit too rough for the baby. In turn, after telling him to be gentle several times, I find myself gently pulling my toddler to the other side of me which may appear as if I don't want him touching the baby. That's not the case. It is just so hard to get my autistic toddler to understand that he is being too rough.

I have noticed lately that my 3yr old is starting to act out. Not against the baby, but against mommy and daddy. Oh, and his teachers at school. He is doing anything and everything he knows he is not supposed to do to get attention. He doesn't even care that it is negative attention. So being that he is continually being told not to touch or do certain things, and being given time outs, it appears that the baby is being favored. I am not trying to play favorites. I am just having a hard time getting him to understand that the baby can't talk and that is why he gets what he needs when he cries or fusses.  read more »

my lil brother AGE 16 about to be 17 in OCT has been getting really bad melt downs lately and has also been howling and moaning and groaning and my dad says loosing coherency... i was wondering what might cause this? idk whats been going on, but everytime and i mean EVERYTIME he hears the word "NO" he starts melting till he gets what he wants.... we dont give it to him because we kno not to give in to his bad behavior... he's on several meds and he's been diagnosed with many disorders, i will say he's been diagnosed with ~ MR, Schitzophrenia, ADD~ and a lil bit more tht idk at this time... some of the meds he's on is ~Serequel, Ativan, Fluvoxomine, Intuniv, Invega, Vyvance~ and a lil more tht i dont know.... if you have any info for me that would be really greatfull

THANKS,    Mike

I just finished dropping off Noah (my son with autism) at his camp at school. When we entered into the building, Noah raced to the classroom filled with kids playing on the computer. His brother (who happens to be non-autistic) walked him to his room (of course, Noah racing ahead of him) to make sure he was alright. I looked at my older son who quietly stood behind Noah, waited until he entered then quietly walked back towards the front door. Believe it or not, this was a peaceful moment - although not profound - however one of the few times that the two brothers were copacetic and actually getting along. You may ask, "Why am I writing about this?" Well, all too often, the forgotten ones, the ones that we do not focus on or give as much attention to, happens to be the siblings. Besides the parents, their lives are also impacted by the disorder.  read more »

Folks - I would really appreciate some blogger support on a project that needs PR. I too am a proud mama of a young man living with autism and I'm an equally proud mom of a young woman who veers more toward NT level of functioning. She is the "Sib Champion" in my world. Her needs must come to equal standing as those of her brother - she is his champion afterall. I started a nonprofit years ago to help care for the global needs of economically challenged families living with Autism (which includes an entire program dedicated to the academic, emotional, and recreational needs of Sibs) and I'm always looking for ways to keep the services going there (http://ihcenter.org/groups/bigskyfarm) - so here is one way I have decided to do it - write a fiction series for  folks who enjoy a good adventure. I have the sales going to our programs at "Big Sky" to hopefully beef up our ability to pay our valued intern therapists who stay on with us despite the non-payment due to horrific slashes in nonprofit funding this last year. I do NOT get paid - I am 100% volunteer at this point - and happy to be so. Would you encourage folks to hop over to this link to read a free chapter and then hopefully purchase full access to the entire first book of Wilder Nights at ( http://www.myebook.com/ksainz/ ) - there is a parental advisory sticker on the material due to a few mild words such as !@SS said in jest, but the book is very mild in nature - intended for the young adult to adults in their forties - readers who enjoy adventure, love stories, comedy, and family. Many thanks in advance to you for voicing your world as you know it.Our collective voices matter - most of all - to each other!  read more »

My son with autism has 3 sisters.  D is 21, T is 18, and MH is 11.  They all live at home with us, and sometimes (well, who am I kidding?  Most of the time) the dynamics can be downright crazy.  The 2 eldest bicker and in-fight alot, and the youngest is usually embarrassed by her older brother and his disability.  The most I ever had hoped for was that somehow, magically, they would all love each other and show kindness toward one another, but I wasn't sure how to bring that about.  I grew up the eldest of 3, with 2 younger brothers, and we all fought and bickered, but we were never given any guidance about our relationships by my parents.  It was either "Get along, or else!!" or my mother would be sad that we were fighting.  We grew apart as we got older, and only now as middle-aged adults with families of our own are we getting to know each other, and yes, I'm happy to report, really love each other.  Wow, I want this for my kids!  But I don't want them to have to wait until they are grown to be close to each other.

I want to say that what followed was my idea.  That it was part of a brilliant plan I came up with, and that it solved the entire sibling issue.  Well, I can't claim any of these things.  But what did happen was practical, and subtle, and beautiful.  Here's how it went:  read more »

Just wondering how helpful it is to send your autistic child to school with your typical kids?  Anybody have experience with that or keeping their kids in separate schools.

My son is 6 years old is moderately mentally retarded and has autism.  He is verbal, toilet trained, goes to ABA school that we are happy with.  We have 2 typical children one of which will be ready for kindergarten in 2011.  We'd like all our kids to go to the same school.  There is a school district that might do a good job with him and would be good for our girls.  However, the school does not have as many ABA trained folks and merely contracts from time to time to help out with certain issues.  We would have to move into that school district because our current district had limited options for him. 

A Marietta College student and Warren High School graduate is attempting to cover new ground in autism research, exploring an area of the disorder mostly ignored until now.

Heather Haught, 20, of Tunnel, a junior at the college, is entering the second phase of a research project aimed to form a better picture of what foods those with autism spectrum disorders prefer and how a diet can be made to cater to their needs and address eating problems associated with autism.

Often, children with autism are underweight, while many adults with autism are overweight or obese.

"I want to try to determine how we can get these people into a healthy weight range and have it be based in science," Haught said.

Haught had little background on autism when she learned a bit about it in a developmental psychology course at the college. She took that interest to assistant psychology professor Alicia Doerflinger, who had a background in the research of development of feeding behaviors, and the study was born.

The two found they would be virtual pioneers in their experiment, titled "The Effect of Food Preferences, Food Intake and Taster Status on Body Weight in Children with Autism."

"When we started to look at the literature, there was obviously not a lot of work done in that area," said Doerflinger. "Even though it's pretty well known that parents of children with autism have feeding issues on a daily basis, there didn't seem to be investigation into that in any depth. It was a little niche we could move into."

The lack of previous studies may be due to the difficulty of working with young children who are autistic or simply because with all the functionality issues related to the disorder, it may not have been a high priority, she said.  read more »

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Research on a new device - a version of which is now available to consumers -  that measures young children's language-learning environment and holds promise for use in the screening, assessment and treatment of  young children with autism, will be the topic of the first 2009-2010 UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute Distinguished Lecturer address on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The address will be presented by Steven Warren, a senior scientist, professor of applied behavioral science and vice provost for research and graduate studies at the University of Kansas, at 4:30 p.m. in the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute auditorium, 2850 50th St., Sacramento.

Warren is internationally recognized for his contributions to understanding language development in children and his leadership in the field of developmental disabilities. He has conducted extensive research on early communication and language-intervention approaches and has published more than 120 papers, chapters, and books on these and related topics.

Warren’s major research interests are early communication and language development and intervention and the prevention of mental retardation. His Distinguished Lecturer address focuses on his research using a new device that is an extension of the LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) system, which Warren calls a “breakthrough technology.”  read more »

(NaturalNews) According to a U.S. government survey just published, rates of autism in children have doubled since 2003. Today, an estimated 1 in 91 children are being diagnosed with autism, making this the highest rate in any population in the history of human civilization. Meanwhile, the vaccination push in America continues, specifically targeting children with not just seasonal flu vaccines (which may contain thimerosal), but also the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

It all begs the question: Is there a link between vaccines and autism?

In defending vaccines, many doctors have blamed autism on a genetic cause. But if it's genetic, why are rates skyrocketing so quickly? The gene pool obviously isn't changing that dramatically. There's no such thing as a "genetic epidemic." If genes caused autism, the rate of autism diagnosis should be holding steady year after year. Clearly, something else is at work, causing the sharp increase in autism.  read more »