This is my first time "blogging" But a friend of mine suggested that I give it a shot. I live in Charlotte, NC. I have two daughters, ages 5 and 7. My 5 year old, Kay, has been diagnosed with autism. It’s been a rollercoaster type of relationship these pass five years living with autism. Kay is so beautiful, inside and out. But you know what…I don’t want to start with our background history (all of that will come in time)….so I’m going to begin talking like we are old friends and let me begin with toilet training is a battle I can’t seem to win. Some days she does an excellent job, other days..Its like having a puppy in the house. I told Kay she is so lucky she is extremely cute J.
I was wanting to know...to the parents who have children with autism...how is your child's language and cognitive development?
I know you posted a while
I know you posted a while ago, I'm new to this site and reading as much as I can, so I don't know if you are still having potty training issues. My son is 4 has been fully potty trained since the age of 2; however, he has regressed in a major way lately. Our OT said that sometimes autistic children tune everything out, including physical feelings. It's one reason that my little guy is so strong and has a high tolerance for pain. Her suggestion to me was to act as though I am always potty training and take him to the bathroom every 2 hours, whether he thinks he has to go or not. It has really helped. I wish you luck!
My son is a young adult who
My son is a young adult who was originally nonverbal and scored in the MR range on several assessments. However, he has come an amazing ways and only a few people who have met him casually recently have commented that they have detected the residual signs. All of his scores have improved significantly over the years and now fall in the normal ranges.
He does most things normal young adults do, although some things still require a little more than that average amount of support from us. His social activies are still somewhat stimied by his lack of friends to do things with and I think his peers should take some responsibility for this as they seem to be prone to cliquiness at the best of times.
I have lots of first-hand experience in raising a child with autism and am willing to relate what "techniques" worked and did not work with my son; however, I am NOT an expert and diversity and uniqueness seems to be part of the game with ASDs. Often the challenge is to "boldly go where no mom has gone before." I also have a few autistic tendencies of my own.
I would say my son is about
I would say my son is about the same as Wyatt. He is turning 4 next week. When he was first evaluated at age 3 yrs 8 months they placed him over all about 18-22 months. He has made huge strides since, but verbally he is still realy behind. I think also emotionally he is lagging. I had his IQ testing done I guess his cogn. scores were pretty high.
That's a pretty big giant
That's a pretty big giant question! I could just say he is "severe-profound" in language and "mild" to "moderate" in all other areas. Wyatt is 4 and a half. He can say lots and lots of words, expressively and receptively, but he doesn't often spontaneously use language. He doesn't usually put more than two words together. He is in phase 2 of PECS.
He's really good in OT and the OT says that he's made more improvement in the last year than any other kid in her entire career.
We're in the middle of potty training, too. It has been a low-key endeavor so far, but we've been slowly ramping up the strategies and figuring out what his psychological barriers are. It seems he needs to relax and he needs to feel that his modesty is being preserved.