I am a parent of a wonderful autistic 4 year old boy that is my first child. Myself and his father separated. I (33 F) remarried and my new husband and I have been talking about having a child together. I am curious to know how many others had another child with a different partner and whether or not that child was autistic or not. I love my little boy but it is a lot of work. I have always wanted 2 children but I am also a little scared to have another just in general.

Edit for more information: Myself, child, and father all got genetic testing done but it was tailored to his epilepsy. I showed no markers that contributed to any of his gene malformations. Not sure if that can be applied towards and autism markers.

His father finally got his genetics testing done after 2+ years of me asking him to do it. I havent heard of his results to date as we arent together and he hasnt mentioned that he got them back. I think it took him so long becuase he was scared that he might have contributed to his epilepsy diagnosis and other. I reassured him though that what ever the result it wasnt anyone's fault and we just needed the testing to be done to better help understand our sons epilepsy and how to treat it. I can understand his reluctance though, it isnt easy but no one is to blame.

Hi everyone,

My son is 27 months old. He has definitely made progress over the past few months, but I'm still wondering whether this sounds more like a speech/language delay, autism, or simply a child who is developing a little more slowly. I am trying to navigate what services/support he may need. (He is currently in virtual speech therapy once a week). I'm hoping to hear from parents who have been in a similar situation because I've been worrying a lot and would love to hear real-life experiences.

Some things he does:

• Has had a leap in new words
• Sometimes two-word combinations like "open door" and "eat food" (sometimes on his own, sometimes repeating if he hears us saying it).
• Says short phrases like "here you go," "let's go," and "thank you." (He uses "here you go" both for taking and giving)
• Knows his ABCs, can count, and can identify and label simple objects when asked. Recently has been learning shapes.
• Pretends to talk on a phone using baby/babble talk.
• Will say "look" and point at things he notices like "Look, fish", although he doesn't always seem to be trying to share the moment with me.
• Sometimes brings me toys because he wants me to look at them or play with him.
• Understands many simple directions like "sit down," "go eat," "stop," and "no." but not all directions.
• He repeats words he hears - If I say a phrase like "let's put on our shoes" he may repeat the word "Shoes".
• He is fine with changes, does not need a full routine, and does not line up toys/items.

Things that still make me wonder:

• He doesn't always respond to his name.
• Eye contact is inconsistent—sometimes it's great, other times he seems very focused on what he's doing.
• He doesn't always seek us out for comfort if he gets hurt. He'll often stand and cry until we go to him, but he happily lets us comfort and hold him.
• He isn't really speaking in sentences yet.
• Not using words to hold conversations.
• Not always using functional words.
• Cannot sit still, and will run back and forth/climb on things, etc. Very energetic, may hold attention on something for 10 minutes and then continue his adventures.

He has never lost any skills that I've noticed, and he continues to gain new words and abilities. From what I can recall, he walked and crawled at the milestone age, and babbled mama and dada at milestone age.

Pediatrician brought up concerns on language at 18 months. Recently at his 24 month check up, language/communication was still the big concern.

For parents whose children had similar behaviors around 2 years old:

• What ended up being the outcome?
• Was it autism, a speech delay, ADHD, or just a later talker?
• What helped your child the most?
• Did things improve significantly between ages 2 and 3?

I know no one here can diagnose my son, and we're pursuing professional guidance as well, Sorry for the info dump, I'm just hoping to hear from parents who have been through something similar while we wait. I'm hoping this may bring some clarity.

Thank you so much for reading!

Hi!

For context I have a 3 year old, non/pre verbal child who is on pathway for ASD assessment and is very obviously autistic. He never learnt how to use a fork, didn’t start pointing until 2 (even now he doesn’t do it correctly), hand leads, doesn’t engage etc etc etc

My second child is 12 months - could hold a pen to draw at 8 months, point at 9 months, said mum and dad at 10 months, clapped at 10 months but has slowly stopped doing things… He will clap our hands for us but not his own really. He is much less vocal than my first was (which worries me as my first doesn’t talk at 3 lol), rarely says mum or dad now and a lot of the time has blank expressions. He is hard to make laugh. He hates being hugged and always has. He doesn’t babble very much which does concern me.

On the contrary, he seems to have more joint attention than my first did, seems to recognise people more, is interested in books and will let me read a whole book to him and make me do it again, will pretend to feed me, will give me a toy if i say ‘give mummy the toy’ etc which i’m not sure if my first child ever did. My first still won’t pass toys.

I’m confused because I guess with my first there were more obvious signs but having compared the two (which i know you shouldn’t do) he seems more advanced in some areas but then the question of is he going to be autistic too pops up when i notice regression in behaviours or simply not even smiling at you. Even our first child’s SLT made a comment on ‘look how baby’s joint attention is good’ when trying to describe something to me, using the younger child as a good example of what they should be doing.

Any advice / experiences welcome!

After a recent violent reaction in my house- all out screaming I am back on the food is poisoning our kids

My child has awful reactions to food dye but this week it got the worst

Is there any one who studies the kids and reactions to food?
Anyone that can help us!

Im finding he reacts to all colors, milk and wheat.

I removed wll dyes and wheat and milk and we had a lovely day.

Hi all- I will start by saying I know this is very long & understand if many cannot read this post.

My spouse (35M) and I (37F) currently have two daughters, Laylah (4) and Lilly (3). We live in Louisiana. I have been a SAHM since Laylah was born, and their dad works a demanding but somewhat flexible job in fleet management.

Laylah finally received an official Austim Spectrum Disorder disangosis July 15th 2026.

I am also currently 10 weeks pregnant (relevant later).

To give background on Laylah- at a year and a few months, I started to notice Laylah was regressing. Not saying mama or Dada anymore, not trying to interact or do things independently (feed herself, play patty cake, etc) - just a lot of little changes one would notice. Her Pediatrician said she would assess at her 18mo checkup, but all she handed me was a referral to speech therapy & said she didn't see anything wrong.

Of course, it only became more clear: zero talking- no attempts, mostly silent, didn't care to interact. Stopped trying to use spoons/forks & wanted to be fed, still wanted to drink from only sippy cups, no potty training. Very sensative to overstimulating situations/becomes overstimulated easily, and has done things like make a yelling sound & clap her hands once really loud, to now she just covers her ears a lot & keeps them covered, and may cry/give a yell. In the car, she tends to melt down and slams her head repeatedly into the carseat while screaming/crying/covering ears and kicking wildly. She cannot handle her hair or teeth being brushed, nor her nails clipped, although now she doesnt fight it as bad, but still whines while trying to pull away. She does not have that self awareness- like she will walk up to a stranger and start touching their shopping cart, or looks into a stroller to see a baby, will start looking into people's stuff/bags at Dr appointments.

She still has this habit of, for example: taking fruit cups and arranging them in a line, or putting her blocks together by matching colors. Currently, in the last few months, she started her meltdowns of being told no, and her yelling then trying to kick into the air, hit me or litttle sister, drop to the ground screaming, etc. Unfortunately, it took 3 different peds. that went no where, until a nurse at a WIC office listened to me and observed her, and she gave me the name & number of her (10y/o) autisic son's pediatrician.

In one visit, we were heard, put in for multiple referrals- speech therapy, OT, austism assessment, and a few others. They do everything within their hospital which makes things so much easier.

Also, I do want to say, since her sister turned 2, Laylah has started talking here and there, can say her ABCs, count to 10, knows her basic colors when she sees them, is interacting more, attempting to feed herself on her own, and sings along to little songs, and Bluey/Mickey. For some reason, hearing Twinkle, Twinkle off my phone makes her emotional & cry.

If she sees me getting cereal, she goes to the fridge and grabs the milk. Or making food, she goes & grabs her cutlery or brings me a hand mitten (She has always been very smart, and only has to watch something be done once and learn how to do it herself, which can be good or bad depending-except potty training) .

She does tend to randonly count over & over or say ABCS, etc. Loves to ride 4 wheeler with her dad and loves to swim and play with her 6 & 8 y/o female cousins. She has been picky with eating last 4 months, especially meats/chicken, prob has iron deficiency which she is on vitamins until bloodwork comes back.

We FINALLY at 4 years old, had her assessment July 15th, received the official diagnosis from a team of nurses, doctors, and a psychologist who spent time interacting and observing her.

OK so I think that's more than enough background to get an understanding of Laylah. Now my questions/advice:

We have been told that certain referrals, like occupational therapy for instance, are being put in and we will receive a call. I did get a call the Fri of the same week to start speech therapy this Thurs the 23rd, weekly. I was highly recommend to place her in ABA therapy, and after looking into what it is, I realized that is exactly what she needs. I have called some places in my area and am awaiting a few call backs.

Being 10 weeks pregnant (was not planned but that's OK), I am overwhelmed at just the thought of it all. Their dad has just been told that from mid/end August- mid October they need him(&others) to travel to different states to work on a ton of vehicles (close to 1K).I also will have one OB appt every 4 weeks to start- but am also going to start seeing Maternal Fetal Medicine at 16 weeks due to high risk pregnancies, and they usually see you more often.

Anyway,

I have seen a few posts on here of parents with children in ABA, speech, and at least one more therapy weekly.

How do the parents here who have multiple therapies for their child juggle this? I know ABA and how many days/hours they go per week depends on their needs. Im not sure if ABA has to have her for a day or two then determine how often she should be going. I assume this something that I drop her off on days she would be going?

Speech therapy is at the same hospital as her Pediatrician, so thats simple & not too far, and about 30-45 min sessions. The other therapies I am on a wait list, and I have to take her for a genetic testing and ENT appointment once they call me to schedule, but that's a one time thing.

I am trying to picture handling this, especially with it being so many different things per week, on top of her little sister, who cannot go into headstart this year (supposedly because "they were full by the time her application was processed" for our area) and eventually a newborn. I want Laylah to have all that she needs, especially since it took 3 years of running around and not being taken seriously to finally get a official diagnosis that IMO should have happened around age 2.

Also, I know this is something that I will have to ask her psychologist, but I see many patents say what level their child is, such as a 1, 2, or 3. I dont remember being told this, nor am I sure they can determine yet. I do known at the assessment, I asked the psych. that even though she sleeps through the night without issue, what does she think of a Cubby Bed (for those that may be familiar) and she responded with, "those are more for children with higher needs." So im not sure what that meant for her exactly- if she will be able to be independent in the future, or may be living with us long term/life.

Again. Sorry this post is so long. My parents speak mostly Arabic, and do not live in the same state, so they do not understand this fully, and are not here to help. Spouse's family- siblings are addicts and dont have their own kids, his step sister(18) was the only one who was willing to babysit Laylah, and she's leaving for college in a month, an hour away (they live across street from us), his niece that also lives with his mom (she has custody from his younger sister), is 13 & going through her own behavior problems, and finally his Mom works and barely keeps Laylah on weekends, maybe once every month for one day/night because she is "getting older" and Laylah is very "active/difficult to keep up with." She does have his brothers kids (2 cousins mentioned earlier) over all the time, on any days/weeks off school, and most weekends since birth, but they are "easier to watch." I also dont get along with his mom but keep it civil. So basically will be juggling this on my/our own.

Please- any and every advice/tips/knowledge you can share with me from personal experience I would appreciate so much. I tend to be over detailed and apologize. But waiting on a diagnoses vs finally getting one and having all these different plans of actions is very overwhelming, esp withvno one to talk to, and I just feel like some personal stories, advice, how you handle things, no sugar coating, would help me feel more grounded compared to just knowing what's in front of me without anything but Dr's references.

Thank you so so much if you read this and are willing to give any tips, routines, handling multiple therapies and what that really looks like, and how those things have helped. Any questions that may help, please feel free to ask.

🙏 Thank you and God Bless

My little one met all age appropriate milestones till about 20 months, also till the time her sibling was born. Great eye contact. Loved engaging in all sorts of activities. We did baby lead weaning. She had great motor skills. She was a happy child would overall. At 16 months she would clap when I’d say if you’re happy and you know clap your hands. At 17 she would so Open and Shut gesture when I would sing that bit from Wheels on the Bus. She could point to my eyes nose ears mouth and hair. At 20 months she was singing the alphabet. She started to roll on time but crawled and walked late. She walked at about 15 months. She did get vaxxed at 18 months and it was a 4 jab vaccination that they don’t do anymore.
I am not anti vaccination, but what happened to my child? Why did she lose all these skills? She stopped making eye contact for her entire 2s but at 3 she’s back at it. She has a great vocabulary and good understanding but we’re still very behind on making sentences, there’s no verbal communication, no socializing and playing with peers.
I don’t know what I’m looking for here. I just know I that want my child back.

About a year ago, I posted here saying I hated my life. My wife and I had spent seven years caring for our nonverbal, level 3 autistic son around the clock. We had no marriage left, no freedom, and almost no support from family/friends.

Eventually, I told my wife I believed residential care was the only sustainable option. She refused. I realized we were never going to agree on what our future should look like, so I filed for divorce the following week.

We are now divorced, and I can honestly say I am happier than I have been in years. My direct obligations have been reduced to child support, while my ex remains committed to caring for our son at home.

Outside of work, I have rebuilt an entire life. I can travel, meet friends for food, go hiking, sleep through the night, and make plans without every decision becoming a logistical crisis. These may sound like small things, but after years of feeling trapped, they feel extraordinary like newfound freedom. Everyday I wake up in euphoria.

I am also now in a relationship with a wonderful woman who knows the complete history of my situation. We are expecting a child together, and I feel hopeful about the future for the first time in a very long time.

I know some people will judge me. But staying in a marriage where both people want completely different lives does not automatically make someone noble. Sometimes it only creates three miserable people instead of two.

I am not saying divorce is the answer for everyone, and I am not saying parents should ignore their legal or financial responsibilities. But you do not have to erase yourself completely to prove that you love your child. You are allowed to admit that a situation is destroying you. You are allowed to choose a different life.

If you and your spouse cannot agree on something this fundamental, divorce may be the most honest option in my opinion. Happiness is out there if you seek it

Question in title

First off, I'm well aware the 'category' Aspergers no longer exists. Oh well...

I'll give you a few hints regarding her behavior:

1. Strong preference for and dependence on routine, although she has gotten better in this respect. For instance: she can only have ONE breakfast. For a long time up until recently, she asked her mother a sequence of 3 questions regarding her breakfast (is it hot? did you add honey?... 😄 ) every single freaking day.
   1. During breakfast especially, she shows an absurd anxiety regarding her food being served exactly as it should. The first part of the breakfast, the 2nd part (it has to be 3 pieces of bread exactly), etc. She will cry because she thinks a little ingredient is different.
   2. Still, it doesn't go much further than this. If in a different set up, she'll become more flexible.
   3. She doesn't display this behavior with other meals, which will vary every day.
2. From early on (perhaps 2), above average speech. At 4, she has very competent pronunciation, no speech defects, a rich vocabulary, a capacity to express her thoughts, etc.
   1. I do notice (don't know if it is paranoia) perhaps a lack, not of skill, but of willingness to just talk without aim as some kids do.
   2. She likes word games and will come up with them. She notices and enjoys words with multiple meanings (polysemy), and I would not say she's not capable of understanding metaphor (given her age...). In general she can be quite creative with language.
3. She has ONE topic which she loves (princesses), about which she's always delighted to talk. She has excellent memory and remembers all kinds of facts about them. She will talk about them with a big smile on her face.
   1. Other topics... Well, she can talk about, but not so keenly. She is less generalistic than other kids.
4. The most worrisome part: she is really struggling in preschool 👀 . She started going to this place 5 months ago (before that she'd only been with us and she's an only child...), and at some point it's as if she had hit a wall. She refuses to play with kids as a group, she withdraws, sits and observes. Initially she had started building a relationship with a girl, but recently she just gave up. Kids sometimes approach her, but she will turn her back on them and frown.
   1. My theory is, she can't cope with the chaos and unpredictability of other children. She prefers adults.
   2. The preschool prepared a summary of her behavior for us so damning that it was almost THE recipe of autism.
   3. She will however talk normally with teachers, tell them about princesses and her topics, and also about her life, what she's gonna do or she did in the weekend, etc.
   4. At preschool she will also often (not always) refuse to participate in certain activities. Here I do blame them, because they just let her do whatever she likes. It must be said however that she's the outlier in her little class of 6 children.
   5. On the bright side, they've reported to us that sometimes she's had fun, jumped, danced with the girl she likes, etc.
5. She feels her emotions very strongly.
   1. She will avoid TV shows that trigger intense emotions, she will simply run away.
   2. She used to (not any more) refuse to say "I'm sorry" because of the emotions she'd experience around those words.
   3. Her main strategy for dealing with those strong emotions is... avoidance.
6. She has excellent small motor skills, is kinda clumsy with big motor skills, though nothing alarming. She's on the lazy side physically, though. Sluggish.
7. She shows NO signs of repeated movements (such as hand flapping), echolalia...

Help! What do you think? Has anyone seen a similar case?

PD: She is currently being evaluated.

i have read in many posts that they did not notice anything or any symptoms in early toddlerhood but after an ear infection everything changed with their child

the child regressed and later was diagnosed. have anyone of you experienced or know about this ? please share

My husband and I have a soon to be 3 year old newly diagnosed level 2 non verbal autistic child. I am currently 32 years old and we are stuck between having another child or leaving it at 1 and done. We both work full time, our child will be going into pre-K starting this August and I do have pretty good family support as far as helping me with getting my son to different appointments and in general care. The other part I’m struggling with is my husband has a very specific family gene that is passed down that causes early Alzheimer’s (everyone in his family who has had this gene and gotten Alzheimer’s have died before the age of 60). We’re currently dealing with my father in law who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2020 and is now in an assisted living facility because he is declining. I am struggling with looking at the future and possibly being alone and or having to take care of a child with autism and a disabled husband who will inevitably die. I am afraid of having a second child if that child is also diagnosed with autism and has higher needs than our current son. In the end, I long for another baby and to give my son a sibling. I’m just afraid right now and don’t know who to talk too about this (I have spoken to my husband but I am not sure he’s honest with me about how he feels because he just wants to make me feel better and me to be happy no matter the cost to him).

Okay, so this week I have been determined to potty train my daughter after many failed attempts over the years. Since Monday I have been putting her on the toilet every 30 mins to 1 hour and she has been using it. At home she is bottomless right now just to get get used to that no nappy safety net feeling. This morning she sprinted from her room to the toilet BY HERSELF to poo, so I think we are (almost) there now!

Here is what I don't know what to do next though. Every day she has therapy to go to. It is 30 minutes by taxi each way. Obviously, I don't want her to have any accidents in the taxi. It isn't like it is just my own car I can clean. But if I put a nappy on her, surely this is just going to set her potty training back? Especially since she doesn't communicate.

Has anyone faced a similar situation? Any tips welcome 🙏

My son is 19 months and I’m just feeling so mixed on what his behaviors could mean.

This is how everything has gone down:

I’m a first time mom and my husband works all day, and we have minimal family or friends that have been present in his life. So he has gotten minimal interaction from others aside from me during the day and his father in the evenings.

When he was 9-15 months and becoming more mobile I had him in a playpen so I could get chores done. He was amazing at independent play but would make noises to get my attention and I’d come and hug him and acknowledge him etc. but he still would be able to play independently for lots of time no problem. Around 9 months he started to throw his toys out of his play pen instead of playing with them. I’ve honestly never noticed him play with toys properly but that could be because I’ve never taken time to show him? I always just assumed he wasn’t interested or that he was too young and didn’t wanna force him.

Around 15 months I realized he was delayed. He had regressed on the three words he knew: dog dada baba, BUT during this time we had a few stressful family emergencies and I was definitely not reading as much or practicing those words. I took his playpen down & and let him explore around the house to help teach him new words and interact more and this is when I realized his attention span was so low.

From 15 months up until now I’ve worked with him very motivated to catch him up. Within that time this is what he’s developed :
-he has learned to play with a few toys properly (BUT he still prefers to throw them for fun bc he likes the sound they make or spin).. unsure if this is because of habit
-he has learned wave clap and tap and can sign for more
-started saying banana, started saying dada and dog again
-has started babbling way more
-does a lot more back and forth sounds with us
-has started to make sounds for different words
-has started engaging with himself mirrors
-continues to make great eye contact
-brings us certain things (DVDs we have in living room, certain toys he knows we like)
-feeds us his food
-responds to his name 100% of time when he’s is in crib, highchair, car seat , or stroller
-looks where we’re pointing
-I will say he is most focused on us when he’s in his highchair, crib, or stroller, BUT when he’s exploring the house he has zero focus and doesn’t respond to us (but he does respond to his dad more)
-overall his social intent / eye contact seems so neurotypical when he’s confined to highchair car seat crib etc.
-comes to us for comfort
-does not throw any severe tantrums and anytime he’s upset he calms down and self soothes within seconds.
-has great fine motor skills
-he is starting to point SOMETIMES if we direct him while reading books
-if we ask him “where’s (dog/outside/dada etc)” he will look at it across room but he does not point. He learns words quickly because when we ask he will look wherever it’s at.
-he does certain things that he will know will make me laugh
-he has learned his ears toes and nose (doesn’t point but will use his whole hand) and even will touch his toes and look at me because he knows I’ll say “toes”

But he still is:
-toe walking (when he wears shoes he doesn’t toe walk)
-low attention span (moves on quickly from one toy to next)
-unless he’s in high chair, stroller, or car seat / confined, he doesn’t respond to us because he’s too distracted
-throws his toys not because he’s mad but because he likes how they sound
-I have seen him flap one hand for like two seconds sometimes when he throws a toy because he knows it’s gonna make a sound and he likes it
-dysfunctionally plays with toys even tho he knows how to play right
-is not pointing
-still behind on speech even tho he’s improving so much
-When he’s exploring he gets so distracted but anytime we are able to get his attention he does make eye contact smiles and interacts

He’s currently receiving ABA, OT, and speech and I’ll continue those for as long as he needs and I’ll support him and love him no matter what but I’m so worried about his future. Could this be level 1 autism? Or a higher level? Or could this just be ADHD + sensory seeking + improving speech delay? I’m seeing so much improvement with speech and feel that he’ll start talking soon but my biggest worries are his attention span and dysfunctional toy play

Hi all,

I’ve suspected autism since my baby was very young. He would never coo, didn’t seem particularly attached to his caregivers, or mimicked anything we did. I remember reading about how if you stuck your tongue out, your baby would do the same, or try to imitate sounds that you made. That was never the case for us. He’s turning 12 months in 2 weeks and while a lot of those earlier concerns have resolved, this is where we’re at:

- He’s been in private speech therapy since 9 months when I pushed for him to get services as he had yet to make a singular consonant sound/anything close to babbling.

- He started babbling at around 10.5 months and will now occasionally imitate sounds and words, especially if I put a mirror up and let him watch how I say it first. He does not have any words that he says independently and in context and I suspect we’re still quite far from that.

- He has no real gestures: he has been completely uninterested in baby sign language, does not clap, wave, or point. He can high five sometimes and if I ask him for a kiss, if he feels like it, he’ll lean in and let me kiss him. He will follow my point and point at things in a book, but not to show me, only for his own interest lol.

- He is a HARD baby. I know it’s not supposed to be this hard when I look at the experience’s of everyone around me. He cried/screamed pretty much every single second he was awake until 6-7 months. I cut out dairy and soy, took him to multiple GI specialists, had him on reflux medication, tried hypoallergenic formula, etc. Nothing made a difference. Only time. Things turned a corner significantly around 8 months. Now, he is a happier baby but he melts down very easily, does not like to be held, and I’m never able to just have him play independently.

At 6 months I had him evaluated by early intervention because he was making no sounds other than crying and he was way below average on his expressive communication, but they advised to give it time and re-evaluate. Is it worth contacting EI again or should I give it a few more months since there is a broader timeline on some of these milestones like the first word or pointing?

It’s worth noting that he has pretty great receptive language in my opinion but he gets bored when he learns something new, so he’ll only do it for a few days or whenever he feels like it. He knows how to identify a handful of animals across several different mediums, (picking up the corresponding figurine when prompted, turning to the correct page and pointing out the animal in a book, picking up the correct puzzle piece, etc.) He understands basic commands like “go get your troll book” (will crawl over to the correct book), “give that to mama”, “gentle hands” when he pets the dog, “turn the page”, “press the button”, etc. He’s funny, social, and so beautiful and wonderful.

I know he understands so much more than he lets on, but he has difficulty translating that into expressive communication, so I just want to support him in the best way possible. Any suggestions or insights on how to translate the receptive language strengths into expressive ones? Or have a child who had a similar profile at this age?

Thank you in advance!

My parents have agreed to watch my son for 2 hours so my husband and I can have an anniversary dinner this weekend but I feel very guilty. We never leave him with my parents or a sitter. He’s really great with all his therapists but that’s not the same thing. He’s such a sweet kid.

My mother said it better go well 😬

Should I skip? I feel so guilty taking any time for myself, ever. Seems unnecessary. It’s just an anniversary dinner and truth be told I’ll prob just cry the entire time. It’s been such a miserable few years. Autism has taken every shred of normalcy and happiness from our lives.

I have about a dozen doctors appointments I’ve canceled and never rescheduled, because I feel too guilty leaving him. My husband and I just alternate between watching him.

My daughter is a little over 1.5. Since she’s getting older and the weather is nice we’ve been getting out a lot more than before. I’m starting to notice certain things that make me think she’s not really like the other kids. While I don’t want to put labels on her too soon, I’d also like to intervene asap if needed. What were some things you noticed about your babies/toddlers before knowing it was Autism?

Our 2.5 year old daughter O recently received her level 2 diagnosis three days before her baby sister E was born (36w,1d). Unfortunately three days after we came home from the hospital, E went back to the hospital for nearly 4.5 days. E and I came home and my mother-in-law was staying with us from Germany. O has been absolutely crazy since my mom-in-law got here. She's touching everything, throwing huge tantrums, not eating anything but her favorite foods, trying to climb on everything, even nearly climbing over the bannister above our staircase. O is above the 99% for height so she's roughly 3.5 ft tall. I love my daughter so much and it genuinely scares me how feral she's turned. I understand this transition was always going to be hard but it's pretty clear that even having both girls in the same room is guaranteed to be safe. She hasn't hurt the baby yet but some of her attempts to interact with the baby have already been a bit on the forceful side like practically smothering her by touching foreheads. Mom-in-law leaves in two days. I'm hoping to go back to O's more original routine once we don't have another person staying with us. This has put a huge strain on all of us adults. We're already tired from nighttime feeds and a toddler who won't take naps or go to bed isn't helping. I'm truly at a loss for what to do. This has been a nightmare. Any advice is deeply appreciated.

I have become aware of other potential diagnoses that can sometimes co-occur with autism and my question is: how to know when it’s more than just autism and where to even start with testing and ruling out other potential things whether generic and/or neurological?

My 4.5 YO experiences extremely severe meltdowns multiple times a day, which always result in banging his head and sometimes hitting himself in the head. He used to also bite himself and try to harm others (well, mostly just me — mom) but that has stopped. To my knowledge, these things only happen at home as he has had zero behavioral issues at school, daycare, or other environments where he is left in the care of others. It does seem mostly behavioral as it most often is due to lack of patience, being told no, etc, although it also happens daily in the car as well for unknown reasons. We’ve done everything from ST, OT, leucovorin, on a gluten/dairy/sugar free diet with no processed foods since birth.. I am also in school now to become a BCBA myself and am considering in-home ABA whenever we become insured again.

Based on experiences I hear and read from others, I feel his case is more extreme as it happens multiple times a day and I also start to worry that he is going to further damage himself by all the head banging but I don’t know what else to do for him. Are there any solutions for this?

Edit to add: My son did have a brain MRI done when he was a baby as he developed seizures immediately after having certain routine shots and that MRI was normal at that time. The seizures eventually stopped and no further testing was recommended due to the traumatic nature and sedation required to run such tests.

​

My son is 9.5 years old and has mild autism. About 1.5 years ago, he started having episodes of laughing for no obvious reason.

Most of the time it seems voluntary, but at other times it feels almost involuntary or as if he just can't stop. It can happen multiple times a day. He's fully conscious during these episodes, responds when spoken to, and there are no jerking movements, blank stares, or loss of awareness.

We've consulted a pediatric neurologist, who doesn't think it's seizures based on his symptoms, but we're still trying to understand what's causing it. A child psychiatrist has also been suggested.

I'm wondering if anyone else's child has experienced something similar.

- Did you ever find out what was causing it?

- Was it sensory seeking, anxiety, emotional regulation, ADHD, autism-related, or something else?

- Did it improve over time or with therapy/medication?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you.

Alot of games have really helped my daughter [5, nonverbal] with life skills, cooking, dressing, spelling. she loves the make up and dress up dolls ones for fun and the ABC lucas/ lingokinds for learning. im looking for a mix of fun and educational. thank you in advance

Hi everyone, seeking opinions on my child’s final preschool year before primary school in Sept 2027. Just turned 4, has an autism diagnosis, is minimally verbal, just a few words inconsistently. Has good understanding, gentle, affectionate, not toilet trained, and does parallel play. No sensory issues and well regulated.
We have an offer of a place at an early intervention preschool but I’m torn on whether to leave mainstream crèche/preschool.

My child has been there for the last three years and they are so kind and take super care of him. He has a 1:1 care in a class of approx 20.
It’s local to us.
He is very happy going each morning. While his 1:1 is so loving and caring I have some reservations on whether or not he’s being pushed enough to reach his full potential. He loves playing outdoors and they facilitate that as much as he wants but his interaction with peers is limited and his participation in the preschool day activities is also not as much as we would hope for to prepare him for primary school.

The early intervention preschool where he has been offered a place is for children with an autism diagnosis. It has a good reputation. There are six kids in the class and 4 adults. Teachers there are trained to work with autistic kids. This preschool is further from where we live approx 11km and it would mean a significant commute each day due to traffic. We do have a kind offer from family members to help with this as we both work.

The easier option logistically and emotionally would be to stay where he is. But I’m worry if we don’t take it he would miss out on an opportunity to develop further in the next year before he starts primary school. I know he has so much potential.

I would welcome any thoughts or personal experience!

Thanks!

My 18mo has been doing some behavioral things that make me wonder if he could be autistic. He’s my first, my brother (no blood relation) is severely autistic & I grew up around others that are neurodivergent. I STRONGLY believe my father & possibly myself could be neurodivergent & I was wondering if these behaviors point to yes as well. Just got a referral for a screening today at his 18mo check up. The ear infections mentioned, he was doing well speaking until he turned 1, he had a double ear infection that lasted 2 months & we’re actually getting a hearing test scheduled to see if that could be the cause of the lack of speech.

My 6 year old son is autistic and has ADHD. He gets frustrated easily and when he gets worked up, he has a hard time calming down. His meds also wear off right around dinner time, so he’s emotional to begin with.

Today before dinner, he was making a project out of paper and it wasn’t working the way he wanted to. He was getting upset, and got even more upset when I told him it was time for dinner and he had to stop working. Then, he didn’t want to eat what I’d made him (he has a really hard time with food), and got even more upset. Then he tried bringing a blanket to the table to hide under because he gets embarrassed when he has meltdowns and said he didn’t want his dad or grandma to see him. We have a no-blankets-at-the-table rule so I told him we could go to his room to calm down before going to the table, and he just got even more upset.

I finally got him calmed down enough that we could sit at the table, and I’d just taken a bite of my food when something my other son said set my AuDHD son off again. I hugged him and rubbed his back, trying to get him calm while still being able to eat my dinner.

At which point my husband said to me, “why can’t
you just take him in his room til he knocks this off? I’m trying to enjoy my dinner.” So I took my son to his room, sat on the floor with him while he ate his dinner, and didn’t eat mine.

My husband treats all of my son’s behaviors as intentional bad behavior instead of trying to understand what’s happening and why. Yes there’s times he needs tough love but there’s other times he just needs a hug and someone there with him. But my husband just wants to shove him in a room and make him cry by himself, because that’s what his family did to him growing up (my husband is late diagnosed ADHD and probably undiagnosed autism). My other kids (both younger) have a tendency to pick on my son because he’s easy to set off, and they like to mess with him to get a reaction. We’re working on that but it’s hard because my AuDHD son is disabled enough to be different (and sometimes annoying because he’s repetitive and bossy in play), but not disabled enough to put the other two in a caregiver role.

So I’m pissed that I didn’t get to eat dinner because I had to hide my son away because he was too much of an inconvenience to be allowed to eat dinner with our family. I’m also pissed that my husband’s handling of our son’s behavior furthers the ostracizing and otherness of him that I’m already having a hard time with.

Am I overreacting?

My kid has been seeing the same speech therapist over 3 years and still nonverbal. She suspects he has apraxia but is not specially trained in it. I have been doing some research and have come across therapists that specialize in GLP, NLA, and apraxia. My son tries to imitate certain sounds/words but is simply unable to form his lips/tongue/mouth to do some of them. Which kind of speech therapist would be most helpful here?

My 5 yo son is doing summer school. He rides the bus with other mix aged special ed students. Today a boy who looks like he’s in middle school loudly screamed before we came on the bus. I didn’t think anything of it as I walked on the bus with my son. All of a sudden this kid lunges out of his seat & hits my son. I loudly tell him not to do that again. The bus driver immediately comes to the back to deal with the situation. She tells the boy to sit in his seat & not hit. The kid is completely disregulated & starts yelling and hitting himself and the seat behind him super hard. The bus driver tries to calm him down & semi succeeds. She is flustered by the situation and immediately drives away, not even waiting for the other kid who waits at the bus stop with us.

Tomorrow is the last day of summer school. My husband is on a work trip, & so it’s just me at home with 4 kids. I’m scared to put my son on the bus tomorrow but it’s also difficult to get everyone awake & ready to drive him to school