Autism resources

[Lillypond]

My DS has just been diagnosed and although I can't cope with doing too much at the moment I'd like to get involved in something constructive.

Can anyone recommend a good book explaining what autism actually is? Nothing too heavy or about about problems in teanage years, just something to help me understand what is going on in his mind and why he does these strange things.

The other thing I'd quite like to do is make a visual timetable. I've got the board and velcro etc but need to print off some symbols. Can anyone recommend a website with free symbols to print off? I've been looking at the software for PECS and would consider buying that if it was better than what I could get for free. Or does anyone have a clipart package they would recommend that has appropriate pictures. I like craft so this seems like a good way to ease myself in to 'planet autism'.

Thanks in advance

He will sometimes look, but not always where we are pointing. I don't know, a typical day he is ok in the morning but awful in the afternoon. He knows the word car and will use that, but we have taught him the word 'digger' and 'tractor', he said them a couple of times but then seemed to forget, so everything is now 'car' even if you say 'No, it's a tractor - t r a c t o r', he still says 'car', it's almost as though he has backtracked in his development. He gets very frustrated because he will want a drink, we've said the word to him lots of times, but he still cannot tell us when he wants a drink, so he points in that direction and moans, then cries, then screams and we have to guess every time what he wants. He gets so frustrated that he bangs his head on things, he bites people, etc. And he gets so worked up, that we simply cannot calm him!

Lily, yes, thats a real hard one.

Rhubarb do you have other children to compare your son to? that helps. my son is my only child and i just thought he was a bit slow on the uptake. No point in getting your head melted with talk of autism though, until or if your son is worrying you. You will of course know, as a mom if something is not quite right. Could be a number of things though, not autism.

Autism shows itself in the "triad of impairment", namely in imaginative play, communication and socialisation. What is your sons speech like? Does he like playing with others?

Rhubarb, my son at that age just cried. He didnt point in the direction of anything. He just moaned. I just dont know what to say to you. I can remember when i first came to web sites like these and asked people about my son and what they said scared the living daylights out of me. Some people were real insistent my son was just like theirs who had autism. Others were more cautious.

Its so hard to compare on a web forum. Maybe you could write some of his traits down from here on and keep track of what he is/isnt doing. Maybe you are doing this already.

I know people who were convinced their kids had autism and it turned out they were absolutely wrong. I was the opposite, i was convinced my son wasnt autistic for the longest time and then i realised he was, but only after the diagnosis, in fact up to the minute of the diagnosis, I was SURE it was something else.

Can only compare him with dd, who walked at 14 months and could say about 10 words at that age too. She is very calm and placid, slept well no real terrible twos, no tantrums, bit like us, very placid. He is so different it's like they are from different families!

Dh is begging me to go to bed, just got ds quiet and have a busy day tomorrow. Thank you for your time, I'll come back tomorrow. You're great for listening, I do appreciate it!

Oh sorry, didn't answer last post, speech is behind, says about 5 words but not very clearly. He's started crying again now! Prefers playing by himself, likes his sister but also fights her a lot which is normal I guess. It's his fury I am most worried about. Also he has this aversion to women, I don't know why, but he will go to men easier than to women, he really doesn't like women!

nighty night rhubarb. I never thought i would be answering/giving advice on this topic and I hope you wont need our help for much longer and that all your worries will just fade away. God bless.

Yes he does Socci, I think you are right, I don't think he is autistic. Perhaps it's just that I don't know how to deal with this little boy who is so different from his sister, and from us! He seems so full of rage at times that it's worrying, and I never know if this is normal, if other people's kids are like this too. But thank you for putting my mind at rest! I wish you all the very best with your own special children.

Didnt i tell you Rhurbarb!

Sorry you and dh are having all this worry about your ds, Rhubarb.

As the others have said, the pointing is a really positive thing. Both of my boys had to be taught how to do it. It may be that the screaming, headbanging etc is from frustration at not being able to make you understand what he wants. My ds2 (2.7yrs) still has a lot of tantrums and meltdowns but they decreased dramatically as his language skills improved. I find that it's when he is already getting worked up about something that he seems to forget how to ask for a drink, biscuit etc.

Do the women around him tend to wear perfume or a lot of perfumed products? IME sometimes it's the smells/scents that can be offputting to a child with a sensitive sense of smell. Men tend to wear less so perhaps it could be why your ds prefers to be around men? Of course that may also be a load of rubbish so feel free to ignore!

I've posted more on the thread titled "Help, I think my baby's possessed!" because I don't want to hijack this important thread. I'd be grateful for any advice!