My son is eleven years old and has been learning to live with Autism since we started our journey when he was two. I myself may have some Autistic similarities, so it was my prayer during pregnancy that my children would not struggle in school. It was the prayer that I would express because I had such a rough time in school. When he was born there were no indication that he would have Autism or any special needs. His early years were pretty normal for a little guy. It was after his 18 month vaccination that I started noticing that he was no longer babbling or using the words that he learned. His gross motor skills were progressing, but his verbal progression was slowing down. His sleep patterns had never been on schedule. Also, his eating had started to be more picky. In this time my family added a new member in the family with my daughter Abby. I was so lucky that she slept during the night progressed in all the areas of gross and verbal skills. It helped me to concentrate on my son's needs.
We started first steps and he began to talk. He was always a good brother and played well with his sister. He also played well with the children of the Mom's Time Out group that we attended through church. There were other concerns such as his inability to transition to other activities and his temper. These two thing were because he could not properly communicate with me. When he was starting to verbalize more then the temper go better. It's only been recently that something seems to have clicked. Things are better at home and school. I can tell you what did help and what I believe does not help.
I am not a Jenny McCarthy fan, gluten free, organic buying or vaccination free mom. I WILL NOT MEDICATE MY SON!!!! The first avenue that I don't think that has helped with moms who have children of special needs especially Autism is Jenny McCarthy. She is a actor and I can't remember what she has done professionally and that shows how much I care about her. Now what I do care about is when she learned of a doctor in England who abdicated for non vaccinations of children because the mercury in the vaccinations were what he thought the link to Autism. Let me say that those in position of influence need to be careful of what causes they take on without research. I say this because I have taken my kids home because of meeting a mom who listened to Jenny McCarthy and did not vaccinate her children. I got the gross factor. Sorry if that's judgmental my children will not get anything that has be basically eradicated. Well let's get this straight I asked my doctor, who I had known since I was 13, and my son's pediatrician about this and they both called "Bullshit". This wasn't the word that they used but William's pediatrician was really annoyed because of the threat that this on a whole threatened the community as a whole. For example, think about the epidemics that we have eradicated with vaccinations. There is less of a chance to get small pox, polio or measles. It was discussed between myself and the pediatrician that if parents stopped having kids get vaccinated that there will be more cases of diseases that this country had eradicated.
A fellow mom told me to go gluten free or organic. Well let me tackle each subject with my experience with my child. Are you kidding me? Really? If I give my son a chicken nugget that is supposedly organic or gluten free and it doesn't look like what he thinks it should look like then you can just forget it. He will not eat it. These two food choices are extremely expensive. I rather he eat what I have given him which I have tweaked in order to give his meal nutritional value. My son is healthy and that all that counts.
What has helped my son? I have said before that we started with First Steps that consisted of speech and developmental therapy. This was an amazing start. William also went to developmental pre school. I believe that the real work began with behavior with parents and teachers. This was consistency. When the kids and I moved to Greenwood last year we found a good IEP team that truly wanted to help and be consistent. This year our work has really shown with a change in behavior. There has to be consistency in school and at home. I believe that one of my parental abilities that I had to overcome was discipline. I could not be afraid to discipline William. The speech therapist from First Steps had given me a great piece of advice. As a mom I am to discipline as if he didn't have any special needs. Another thing that I would write is that schedule however lightly followed helps a great deal. Its the consistency of life that these kinds like. William knows what's coming. When I know that we are going to deviate then I will let William know. I also let him know what I expect of him because there are no excuses. Yes, he does get more of a pass if he is feeling stressed. If I know that he knows better then it's time for me to step in and give correction. It is my belief that any child can be taught and can be expected to act in a way that is befitting to a good young man.
In conclusion, our progress is because of consistency in schedule and discipline at home and school. It hasn't been perfect and I am in no way a perfect mom. I know what works well for my child. There are moms that will do things differently and that's ok. All kids are different even if a child is on the spectrum. All moms will do things differently. We are rearing members of this country that will carry on long after we are gone. Let's do the best we can now.
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