Thanks to Tammy, I have been invited to contribute to a blog that will prove educational to someone who is viewing autism from the outside. I've not known anyone with autism personally, nor someone who had an autistic child (at least not to my knowledge). I believe it is a benefit to try to understand others so that I can relate to my fellow human beings in a better way. Two, I have a natural curiosity to learn. Three, what if I someday have a grandchild who is autistic? After all, life has no guarantees. Four, God may have led me in this direction because he is trying to prepare me for something.
I began my journey by researching autism on the web. It seems it will not be so easy to jump in and comprehend as I had hoped. That's ok, I'm here to learn. All autistic children are not alike. That makes sense, we are all created differently in some way (even twins). Ok, you Moms who have experience can laugh at my naivete'. But this is also a blog to help others know what you go through, correct? It is entirely possible that other Moms of autistic children are thinking they are alone in their journey or that no one else could possibly understand. Plus, there may be people who have no idea what is going on with their child and have no idea what to do about it. Even today with the advancement of technology and education on all sorts of disorders, there is still a lack of awareness.
So, on my first day in this education of autism, I found some of the symptoms. Common symptoms are: seizures, gastrointestinal problems, mental retardation, and mental illness. Notice I stated "common". Others can be: little verbal interaction, repetitive behavior, few interests, hyper or hypo sensitivity to light-sounds-crowds-and other external stimulation, delayed or unusual speech patterns, high pitched or flat intonation, lack of slang, difficulty understanding tone of voice or body language, lack of eye contact, and the inability to take another perspective.
If anyone has something to add to the list, please leave your comments.
That's all for today. After all, it's a blog, not a book.
4 comments:
This was a great post. Welcome! I love having your perspective on here and look forward to reading more articles about autism and some about homeschooling and your family. You hit the nail on the head with each autistic child being different.
I CAN DO IT, you might find it helpful to read some blogs by (a) parents of children with autism and (b) people with autism.
In category A, I can recommend The Adventures of Leelo. You might start with To Any Parent Who Thinks Their Child May Have Autism. I also recommend Kristina Chew, the team at Left-Brain/Rightbrain, and Autism News Beat
In category B, here are just two to start: Asperger's Square 8, and Amanda Baggs,
In general, you may find the Autism Hub quite useful as well.
This was a great post and I give you a ton of credit for wanting to learn about it. You are right no autistic child is the same. I blog about my daily experiences with Dakota. I shouldn't say daily but as things come up I blog about them. Here and there I share information I come across too.
Lets see what I can share with you. When my son was flagged for autism he had regressed in speech, he also rocked, banged his head, could sit through a whole show of Barney. Now we still have speech delay. My son can communicate with me. My son doesn't really understand emotion. He can't you he is mad he lashes out instead. His social interaction is getting better. It varies depending on his mood.
So that's my son in a little nutshell. Any questions feel free to ask :)
Your "common symptoms" are not symptoms of autism. They are symptoms of comorbid disorders that many autistics have. The "other symptoms" are common symptoms. Search DSM IV Autism or DSM IV Pervasive developmental disorder for what actually constitutes autism in the US. Actually the sensory sensitivity or under-sensitivity also is not technically a symptom of autism either. It's a comorbid condition that is not accepted as a condition by all professionals: sensory integration dysfunction. Thanks for trying to learn!
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