Autisim - biggest issues?

[EdtheBear]

Reading various threads on ASD and trying to understand it a bit better.

People who have it or are very close to people with it. What would you say it affects you?

Why do you want to know?

Sensory input - bright lights, busy environments, too much background noise

Not being given time to process

Associated health issues

My son has severe autism and learning disabilities, he's non verbal so communication is our biggest issue ,my bug bear is how it's portrayed in the media they usually only talk about high functioning autism and minimise the affects it can have on some people and their families.

HarryElephante
Part curiosity and part DS school have hinted to it. And referred to SALT. I'm not saying DS is perfect but don't see him as Autistic.

Honestly? Reactions of other people and lack of understanding.

It's what's caused DS1s MH to nosedive.

Our biggest issue is sensory processing difficulties and the resulting anxiety they cause. It severely affects every aspect of their life.

There's a saying about ASD that pretty much nails it, which is 'if you've met one person with autism...

...you've met one person with autism'

It varies so much that you'll get such a massive range of answers it might not help.

I swore down for years that my DC wasn't autistic because he has hardly any of what I thought were the standard indicators (lack of eye contact, fussy eating, bothered by textures etc) but guess what?

But yes, sorry. Anxiety is huge.

For us autism and it’s related conditions effects pretty much every minute of every day. It is always there whether a massive issue or bubbling in the background

My youngest has learning difficulties and autism. She’s still ‘perfect’.

Transitioning to new things.
Even new things as trivial as new toothpaste. Had a meltdown about that today.

For him its sensory processing and anxiety about change/unknown that impact on his life most. He is unable to go to a mainstream school or a specialist unit because of this.

For us its the lack of understanding about masking which leads to a lot of 'he was fine for us, he doesnt seem autistic' type comments and the 'flight, fright or freeze' response to some situations comes from outright fear and inability to cope and not naughtiness.

Anxiety.

My DS has High Functioning Autism.

For him it’s his social communication that’s the main issue together with concentration and focus.

He’s intellectually above average but gets very quickly bored and loses focus. He can cope at school but doesn’t achieve as you’d expect him too.

His speech is normal but he can ramble and jump subjects with no warning which makes conversation tricky at times:

Diet is hell as he’s extremely fussy.

However he’s extremely gentle, a fantastic big brother, very kind, very bright and very funny.

And we didn’t have to teach him to read. He worked it out himself watching phonics songs on YouTube.

Hi Ed. The school hinted for a while regarding our DD1. They hinted possible dyspraxia and perhaps ASD. we didn't do anything about it as she is very high functioning. she has always had problems with loud noises and took longer than her peers to swim and ride a bike.

As it didn't seem to be holding her back we decided to just wait and see.

If only we knew about the anxiety that always accompanies these traits. Last summer was horrendous, to watch your child suffer with severe anxiety is heartbreaking. Luckily our GP was able to witness our daughter and she was referred to primary CAMHS.

With this referral the school were able to refer to the ed psych. The ed psych has suggested that she is assessed and we are now waiting. The school also brought in counsellors and she has a weekly session.

we consider ourselves very lucky, as she is so high functioning she could have easily been missed.

She is 9 and it is only now that things are becoming more obvious. She struggles to play with the others, she doesn't really get role play. She takes everything very literally, if we say it is raining cats and dogs, she will be looking for the animals.

I worry about how she will cope with secondary school. She is desperate for a phone and I'm fearful that she will not be able to handle social media, that she wont understand how not to take everything so literally.

I know some parents cant understand why I would want her to have a label as such. But as parents we feel that we need to know how we can best understand her, we cant wrap her in cotton wool, we need to try and understand her so that we can properly support her.

I've two boys on the spectrum and both are totally different to each other. I don't think it's fair to you to list their characteristics as everyone is different.

I have it and I have to say it feels like everyone else doesn’t rather than I do

Issues change currently anxiety is the biggest problem but previously communication, obsessions and behaviour have been the biggest problem. It does feel as though you address one problem and up pops the next one.

The worry about him hurting other children. He'll be fine and then suddenly 'overthink' a superhero's game.

Anxiety and panic attacks? Not being able to do anything spontaneously. Everything needs to be planned in advance. For eg our usual fuel station was closed and we had to go elsewhere it caused mass panic even though it was less than a mile. Only eating certain foods. People thinking they are naughty when they are suffering sensory overload

My autistic DS is generally a happy boy but can become very anxious when he doesn't feel in control of situations. He is ok with new places but we have to prepare him a bit, by promising him certain treats when he gets there. His understanding and speech are delayed but he can definitely understand things when we break down our language and talk plainly to him.

He is cuddly, and has a really daft sense of humour. I adore every bone in his body.

The anger, the frustration, the anxiety. The resulting violence and challenging behaviour.

And the absolute lack of help available.

Ever autistic person is different and many have other conditions as well. I predict that in the future there will be no such thing, instead there will be 10,20,even 30 different conditions.

Asd as traits have 3 areas, social skills, communication and behaviour. Some have significant impairment in one area and minor in others, some have equal impairment. It can be combined with learning disability but not many don't.

I know non verbal autistic young people with severe learning disabilities, so I look at my dd and think, how can she have the same diagnosis! In my dd the main issue is crippling anxiety and the need for us to still manage her affairs despite her being an adult, noise is very much a trigger

My daughter is severely autistic, and has a severe learning disability.
For me the main issues are -
Violence. I'm often physically abused, and it's soul destroying.
Stupid annoying things, like throwing food in the recycling bin, so that I can't even have a simple meal plan for myself.
Every little facet of my life has to be arranged around her.
Never being able to relax or just think of myself. I've been a parent for 31 years now, and it's really getting old and boring.