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Sahmof3- I know you need support, but I hope this "Special Needs" site does not get to many visits.

I know what you mean. It's sad when kids have special needs challenges!

sahmof3, I was going to ask you a couple of questions if you don't mind. I want to take a program at school called "Communicative Disorders a__sitant." I really want to work with autistic children and children on the spectrum. Does your son get any types of specialized therapy? Could you tell me about it if you don't mind too much? I really want to get a feel for it and I am going to start volunteering soon so I would like to be able to prepare. Thank you so so much!!

I have a son that has Pdd and one with Autism

My fiance has Aspergers....it requires a lot of patience, but it does have it's benefits! It is said because of his disorder, our baby may have the same one...I wish you the best!

Heaven... I would bet that if my dh were to be tested he would have Asperger's, too. There are so may similarities between how he apparently was at Nathan's age (according to my MIL) and how Nathan is. He's always been just slightly "awkward" around people, too... not in just a shy way. Momoftriplets... how old are your children? Nathan is my son with Asperger's. He's alomst 7. I have a 3 1/2yo dd and an almost 2yo son, as well (neither of them are on the spectrum). Rhiannon... Nathan is not in any special therapies and doesn't have a cla__sroom aid. The school psychologist dx'd him this year in kindergarten... but I have an appt. in mid-June to discuss it with his ped and see where we should go from here. School actually worked wonders for him and he seems to have just had a huge leap as far as handling change better... just in the last few weeks. He forgot his favorite watch twice this week and it wasn't even a big deal to him... as opposed to a few months ago when he forgot it and had a tantrum at the bus stop right in front of all the other kids and moms and refused to get on the bus (at first... I did manage to get him on the bus). And after school the whole day was ruined for him because he hadn't had his watch at school! But this week he was ok with it. Acted like it was no big deal! His cla__s is also having all kinds of special end-of-the-school-year activities that aren't normally in his schedule and he's going with the flow very well!!!!! As for other therapies... I will just have to wait and see what his ped recommends.

My step son is special needs. He just turned 15 years old. He has a mental delay- the age varies on the activity- cerebral palsy and although he was never properly diagnosed, I believe he has a touch of autism too- he bites his hand when he gets angry, things like that. He's gets alot of therapy through his school so we're thankful for that. He also throws tantrums if he wants something he doesn't have but in the last year he has improved dramatically. Very proud of the little guy - well, not so little. I'm 5'7 and he stands taller than me :-)

my boys will be 10 in october

thank you for your information sahmof3

hi. i don't have a child with special needs myself but my little brother has Asperger's Syndrome. he's 13 now. and he's very socially awkward but is very happy and doesn't realize it most of the time. but he doesn't have many good friends and kids used to pick on him a bit when he was little. he doesn't always know what is appropriate to say to people and tends to talk for ages about whatever thing he's obsessed with at the moment. luckily, it's mostly normalish kid things. it used to be Pokeman, for example. but he'll just go on and on and on until even kids that love whatever it is get sick of it too. he doesn't go to special ed, never did, but his teachers are aware that he has Asperger's so they understand that they need to be a bit more patient with him then the average kid. i'm pretty sure he inherited it from his father (my stepfather)

Shannon... your brother sounds a little like Nathan. He can be "normal", but not around other kids that he doesn't know well. My best friend even thought I was crazy when I mentioned my suspicion of autism, because Nathan had always played really well with her son, but it was because he was used to him... plus they were both young and into toddlerish things. But, she's starting to see it now that Nathan is getting older and gets obsessed with his interests (which are quite different from most kids' interests at this age) and talks about them non-stop. Right now he's obsessed with ants. I know more about ants than I ever thougth there was to know LOL!! Nathan will lay cups of yogurt out that still have a little in them to draw ants so he can watch them. He pours water on a group of ants to see how they will move away from it. He likes the patterns that ants move in. It's kind of cool to me, but, of course, other 7yos can't appreciate it as much when he goes on and on ;-)

My son has Asperger's Syndrome. He is 6 years old now and was diagnosed last year.

If you ever want to talk about Aspie Kids, I am here. I have plenty of experience with it. I also have a nephew with Asperger's and one with Autism. Just remember, God made the special for a reason! And Asperger kids grow up to lead pretty normal lives! :)

Hi Corrie! Was your son dx'd when he went to school or before... just out of curiousity? Nathan was dx'd by our school's psychologist this past April. I just had an appt w/ his ped who said that he doesn't entirely trust dx's by psychologists employed by a school district so he's also going to be seen by a developmental specialist, but, of course, we can't get int there for 6 months! I'm not too worried by the wait, though, because it will be well after Nathan starts 1st grade, but he did well in kindergarten, so I think he'll be ok this year... hopefully...

He was diagnosed right before kindergarten. I knew before then though, that something was wrong. He was obsessing over vacuum cleaners and just couldn't seem to communicate like my daughter. The school also told me as well as a private psych. I then took my son to Emory Univ. in GA and found out they were all correct. At first the "A" word made me cry and I was so upset trying to think of what I had done wrong. But, now, I see my son and think ...wow, Asperger is just a word and don't be afraid of it. And besides...look at Dan Ackroyd.. has it, and has lived a fabulous life :)

Corrie... sorry, it's taken me awhile to respond. I've only been able to pop in for a few minutes here and there b/c my brothers and sister and spouses and kids were in and it was INSANE lol. Anyway, I felt the same way when I heard the dx... which is weird because we had suspected it for a long time. But the same day I had to keep telling myself that nothing has changed... he's still the same kid he was a few hours ago... because I kept feeling sad and wondering what I had done wrong! The psychologist had spent a lot of time asking questions about his birth circ_mstances, which were a bit traumatic, and I felt like maybe if I had just had my c-section before 24 hours of labor that would have made a difference! I was beating myself up, but I have come to the conclusion that I think Nathan's is hereditary, because when the psychologist was going over his behaviors and history and was telling us what some of the warning signs are w/ Asperger's my dh said he's sure he has it. He has things that I think are stimming behaviors (tongue chewing (almost constantly), repet_tive tapping, etc.)... his mom thinks so, too, because she had 5 kids and she's always said that Phil would tantrum for no reason A LOT and that he was always "different" from other kids in general and from HER other kids.