My 11 year old is level 1 asd and adhd and barely moved inside my belly. I put him in therapy early on and helped him so much he started talking at 4.

I’m 24 weeks and this baby moves and kicks soo much it hurts it feels like he doesn’t really sleep. I’m concerned he will be a higher level on the spectrum.

My daughter (turns 2 in September) is still babbling and doesn't have any intentional language (doesn't call me mama, doesn't make animal noises, etc).

She's getting her official evaluation in two weeks. Her speech therapist has told me they haven't noticed any red flags for autism (but as a parent to an autistic son, I'm more observant of certain things, plus it's genetic). My daughter presents much differently than my son did at this age, and the only BIG red flag is her speech delay and maybe a slight sensory sensitivity to certain textures.

I'm just curious - for those of you with level 1 children, did they have a speech delay or any noticeable autistic traits at age 2?

TIA 😁

My son is 5yo, diagnosed level 1 (though he's teetering more towards level 2). He is going to kindergarten this year. The last 2 years he's been doing SPED Pre-K at one school. For a couple different reasons, he will not be going back to that school. One of the reasons being that we moved, so our original plan was to send him to the school that we're now zoned for. Our school system as a whole isn't good, but the school has a pretty good reputation in general. I just don't know much about their SPED department and don't want some of the same problems we had last year.

He got a last minute offer to go to a new local summer camp specifically for children with autism. It's been a great experience and my son hasn't had any behavioral issues or problems adjusting. The location of the summer camp houses a private school during the school year (all through the same organization). The school is relatively new, about 5 years old or so, but is geared towards children with autism. It's a good environment with low teacher to student ratios and they approach children in a way that I appreciate. We were really leaning towards sending him there but there are 3 issues:

1) This private school is across town whereas the other school is about 2 min around the corner. This isn't really a dealbreaking issue, just more of an annoyance with gas prices and my schedule.

2) The school's tuition is expensive as expected. The cost would be covered by Kate Beckett but it would take all of the funds. I wouldn't mind but that leads to issue 3

3) The private school does not provide OT or ST. They will allow therapists to come into the school. But for us, we are not established anywhere since he has been getting services within the school for 2 years. So that would mean trying to find a place where therapists go to the school, hoping they don't have a waitlist, then having to pay until insurance will cover. Since Katie Beckett would go straight to tuition, that would be fully out of pocket on our end. The last time we paid for therapy out of pocket it was costly. I can at least know he will get his therapies at the public school for free. I don't want to delay the things he needs. They do provide ABA during the school day.

Now I am tasked with deciding on where to send him. Both schools start in a couple weeks so I have to decide soon. Just curious on what other autism parents would do or if anyone has been in a similar situation.

This is mostly me screaming into the void, but if anyone has gone through this and has advice other than to keep trying, I would be grateful.

My little one is clearly neurodivergent, but not fully diagnosed yet. Ive been working with their support person and occupational therapist about bowel accidents in their pants. It comes and goes, so we'll have one or two good weeks, then two weeks of pooping in their pants every day, sometimes up to three times a day. I'm trying, usually successfully, to stay neutral about accidents. I'm getting them seen by their GP to rule out constipation, so it feels like we're taking a step forward.

I'm burnt out from being the primary caregiver, and very recently confirming my own neurodivergence, coupled with our entire routine collapsing at the end of school.

I'm just not sure how to keep going. I don't have anything left to keep encouraging bathroom breaks and negotiating with a smart, stubborn child. I suspect they have pathological demand avoidance, along with sensory processing disorder, so there are layers to this. The worst part is when they have their accidents, they deny everything and stick their hands in it and wipe it on whatever is closest. The last time this happened, they wiped it all over the car door and themselves. Ive bought more baby wipes and disinfectant wipes, and I've started throwing out poopy clothes. We've been cleaning everything until now, but I just can't do it anymore. I'm starting my next year of school in September and I'm so limited in my capabilities now.

I know I'll make things work, but I don't know what it will cost me. I'm tired of everything feeling so bleak and hopeless. I'm also in the process of starting medication for depression and ADHD, so I'm confident that things will change, but this is really fucking hard.

My toddler thinks that care bears are the cutest things ever. She takes one everywhere she goes, and if we see them at a thrift shop she asks if she can put them with the rest of her care bear family.

I just wish it was easier to find specific bears lol. But I love how much comfort and joy they bring my special little princess.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PandasDisease/comments/1v3tthn/negative_for_panspandas_encephalitis_help/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1

Reddit won’t let me copy and paste

I really need advice from parents who have been through something similar because I feel so alone.
My daughter is 13, and over the last year everything has changed. She’s become increasingly aggressive, but only toward me. I’m a single mom, and it’s gotten to the point where she hits me, and for the last year I haven’t even been able to speak to her without her reacting like my voice physically hurts her. Every conversation feels like she’s screaming in pain just because I’m talking.
I don’t know how to explain how heartbreaking that is. Can you imagine not being able to speak in your own home because your child can’t tolerate hearing your voice? It’s devastating.
Things have escalated so much that last night she attacked me while I was asleep. My parents have been keeping her with them more and more because everyone feels she’s calmer there, and we’re now seriously considering having her live with them. They’re willing to do it because they love her and want to help, but as her mom, this is breaking me.
Her therapists believe she has PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) autism. She’s on medication, and it has helped a lot compared to where we were, but she is still incredibly hostile toward me specifically.
This has affected every part of our lives. We even had to move because the meltdowns and aggression became so severe that neighbors were complaining. Thankfully, with my family’s help, we were able to move into a house, and I truly love our home, but I never imagined our lives would look like this.
I’m struggling because I genuinely feel like I’ve done everything I knew to do. She’s always had therapies, activities, opportunities to make friends, support, love, and I’ve advocated for her every step of the way. I know autism isn’t caused by parenting, but it’s hard not to question yourself when you’re the only person your child seems to reject.
Has anyone else’s child become aggressive only toward one parent? Has anyone experienced this around puberty, especially with PDA? Did it get better? What helped? And if your child temporarily lived with another family member, did it help your relationship in the long run?
Please be kind. I’m exhausted, heartbroken, and just trying to do what’s best for my daughter while also keeping everyone safe.

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.

I’m drowning. No one knows what to do to help me. There is a glimpse of a village but I guess I’m the mayor and have to run it?!

I know I am lucky to have people who want to help. They say “tell me what to do.” But that makes me crazy, I don’t know… look around!

Help me, help myself. How does your village help you?

Besides childcare, how do you have others help? Laundry, groceries, dinners, yard work, what mental load items can I hand off?!

The incidents of my 22 year old son acting out with aggression have been reduced significantly over the last two years, but boy, when he melts down he really goes for it. Im alone with him till Saturday, we have no respite care and any friends that could help are working or on vacation. My best friend who has always been my rock died in May. My folks are near by, but my mom thinks he has autism because I had him vaccinated so I dont ask them for help.

Ill be fine, I just needed to share this with people who will understand and not judge.

Mine tolerates hugs and kisses and tickles.. very seldom reciprocates. But last night as we were laying in bed he unpromptedly got up, and very gently kissed me on my left cheek and then on my left forehead. Getting teary eyed as I type this. Can you share your experiences? He might be showing me affection on other ways but I may have just overlooked because I've been accustomed to the typical signs of love.

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 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.

Our son is 3 and a half and has an NHS autism diagnosis. He is non-verbal (0 words), has substantial sensory-seeking needs, struggles a lot with social interaction, and has very limited personal care skills.

We live in London, where he attends a local nursery. We are completely lost on when we should actually apply for an EHCP and have no idea whose advice to trust at this point.

Initially, the nursery staff told us not to apply for an EHCP yet. They said it would be really difficult to get and that "mainstream schools are very good these days." They seemed to know their stuff, so we were okay with that at first. Later, we spoke to someone we know who actually works with our local authority on EHCPs, and they backed up the same story. Apparently, in our council, there is only one special school that accepts children in Reception, so it's strictly reserved for the 6 to 8 most severe cases across all disabilities in that school year. Because it's so unlikely he'd get a spot there, they advised waiting, letting him go to mainstream Reception, and then reassessing during that year with the school—possibly writing the EHCP with them to transfer him to an autism-specialist school for Year 1, as there are a few more of those available.

We were fine following that plan until two things happened. First, during his NHS assessment, the SLT verbally told us something similar to the nursery, but then wrote something totally different in the report—basically asking us to visit both mainstream and special settings to make an informed choice. She also recommended a local charity that gives tips to parents. When we spoke to the charity, they immediately told us "it's already late, start that EHCP application ASAP." They warned that putting him into mainstream Reception without support could be potentially traumatic, likening it to throwing someone in the ocean to see if they can swim.

The second thing is that we started private SLT recently, and this therapist also told us to apply straight away without waiting a single second. We informed the nursery, and they agreed to kick off the process and asked us to send a few lines from the private SLT. But as soon as we asked, the private SLT immediately started talking about fees and charges for providing those few lines. That suddenly gave me huge pause... is she giving us this urgent advice just so she can charge us a ton of money for reports and potential tribunal support?

We genuinely have zero idea what is best right now. It feels like everyone has a reason for saying what they say. The nursery and local authority might be delaying to avoid paperwork or save money because LA budgets are stretched. On the flip side, the private SLT could be financially biased, and while the charity is great, they've never actually met my child. I'm also worried I might just be overinterpreting the NHS report.

Has anyone in London been through something similar? Is it really better to apply for the EHCP now before Reception, or wait and do it through a mainstream school? Would really appreciate any insights from parents who've been there.

My brother has two sons, one 7 year old (neurotypical) and one 4 year old who I just found out has level 3 autism or at least that's the diagnosis so far. Apparently he and his wife have known for a couple of years now but were in denial. I emigrated almost 10 years ago and can't travel back often so I haven't seen them in two years. Anyway...

Now that I have this information I want to educate myself, particularly on how to interact with him, how to be helpful to my brother, how to help the other little one understand, how to help my dad who is having a really hard time trying to be the best grandpa he can be but doesn't understand well how to interact with neurodivergent children.

What books, youtube channels, content creators, whatever, would you recommend to this auntie? And any advice, really.

Thank you <3

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!

Hi parents! I wanted to ask for those of you who don't have your kiddos on any sleep medication, how is that going for you. For awhile my daughter who's now 7 has been on a clonidine compound. Before that it was another medication also including melatonin. Recently the pharmacy who made it stop, because a new med came out and her insurance Medicaid doesn't cover it. I ask the doctor office but they didn't offer any other solutions, other than try another pharmacy that takes the insurance.

So my daughter has been going to bed just fine for a few weeks now, maybe here & there it takes awhile but outside of that no real issue. School is going to start back soon, that usually helps regulate her even more. So I'm considering just opting out all together in not continuing any meds. I don't care for medicine unless absolutely necessary.

Just curious for those who don't give your kids anything, how is it going? Where they always medication free or did you just wean them off? Also what routine or tips that you have for getting kids to sleep? Sorry for the long post thanks to anyone who chooses to comment.

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

Recently I noticed when my daughter becomes disregulated or unfocused and we try to refocus her, the default response is to automatically apologize. I will give two recent examples and I am not sure how to teach her the tools. I feel like she suffering already from low confidence ( I also did the same thing as a child and I suffer from low self esteem).

1. The other day we had swimming class, due to a mix up the teacher was not there and she couldn’t swim. I explained to her that we could not swim that day and she was upset (understandably). She continued to apologize hoping that it would allow her to get access to swim; I apologized to my daughter multiple times and let her know she has nothing to apologize about and she did nothing wrong.

2. We are still potty training and it has been a massive uphill battle. She will say she has to go to the bathroom get distracted by something random, I will say let’s go to the bathroom to refocus her. She will get upset and start apologizing to me instead of refocusing to go to the bathroom.

I am bringing this up for various reasons but her over eagerness to apologize makes me worried that she will be seen as easily taken advantage of (it happened to me). I want her to guide her to understand that things that do not always go our way are not our fault. This scares me because we are starting kindergarten next month and she will be in a class with both neurotypical and neurodivergent kids.

What has worked with your kids?

Does any of your children suffer from acid reflux or gerd? Mine have recently started complaining of chest pain he cant explain whether its pain or burning. He burps alot. Avoids dinner, when i give him only fruit at night he is okay. Dont know if he chews too fast or doesnt chew much. But does autistic kids suffer from acid reflux issues?

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

My son (4yo level 2 verbal, recently diagnosed) spends hours every day happily playing with legos. Basically any downtime we have at home he's building little Lego creations. At what point does it become too much??

I’m son is 3, and has level two autism. I was originally doing data entry for my mils business. However, I kept having to leave work because daycare was constantly calling me to pick him up. (For context, this was when he was one year old, and before we got his diagnosis) so she moved me to working from home part time. I definitely don’t make enough doing what I do and I’d love a career change. I have 2 children so paying for daycare is crazy expensive, then with picking up and dropping him off at ABA, Speech and OT. It just seems so impossible to have a job, but in this economy it’s almost impossible to live off of my husbands paycheck. I’ve always been independent, and have no family of my own, so the thought of my husband and me getting divorced for whatever reason and me falling flat on my face keeps me up at night 😅. Anyways, what do you guys do for work? That actually allows you to be flexible due to your child’s tight schedules. I wouldn’t mind going back to school for it, as long as the degree wouldn’t take tooooo long.

My boys, ADHD and ASD (1) severe ADHD cannot walk in any sort of vaguely organized pattern if it kills them. If I walk along side them I literally have to put my arm out so they don’t run into me, walk in front of me, step on my shoes, or trip me. Have chipped my teeth several times after losing my balance being near them.

We took them to the city and walking around was a minefield for me- who has horrible coordination to begin with. Both kids are in OT and have been for years.

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?