Autism? How many have children on the spectrum?

[CletusBodeen]

A couple of months ago my little boy was diagnosed as a non verbal autistic. It has not changed anything because he’s still your average rough and tumble boy that loves to be outside.
He is sensory seeking which is not the normal for autistics.

For a 3 year old that can not talk, he sure knows how to make us feel loved by him.


How many have dealings with autistics/autism?

[Chief Big Toe]

have a niece that has 2 Boys, the oldest is more severe, but lordy so very smart and caring, her second one was and is more introverted but heck goes to UH and is a hec\k of the Golfer on there team super intelligent, when he was younger, he like the Rain man movie type.... but heck we walked the streets of Vegas all night and he was such a cool kid... Love them for who they are, as they will love you so much more...

[Randy]

My son has aspergers.

A literal card carrying genius that's wired a little different.

Reads a novel a day, loves music but hates noise.

Wouldn't trade him for the world.

[Man]

I don't know if its just me but it seems the number of people I know that have autistic kids has grown rapidly the past 10-15 years. This has really been eye opening for me in many ways especially the past 5 years or so with regards to foods and chemicals.

[JTRichardson]

I don't know if its just me but it seems the number of people I know that have autistic kids has grown rapidly the past 10-15 years. This has really been eye opening for me in many ways especially the past 5 years or so with regards to foods and chemicals.

I don't want to say that processed foods and chemicals are the cause or contribute to the syndrome, but I'm not a scientist so I can't confirm or deny that.

I do however, think, that it has more to do with the medical community making advancements in diagnosing this type of thing.

Like ADHD - when we were younger, kids with severe ADHD were just, "bad kids" - now we know that there is a chemical imbalance causing that behavior. Maybe not the best example because we affectively use meth to treat the cause, but I think it gets my point across.

[CletusBodeen]

I don't want to say that processed foods and chemicals are the cause or contribute to the syndrome, but I'm not a scientist so I can't confirm or deny that.

I do however, think, that it has more to do with the medical community making advancements in diagnosing this type of thing.

Like ADHD - when we were younger, kids with severe ADHD were just, "bad kids" - now we know that there is a chemical imbalance causing that behavior. Maybe not the best example because we affectively use meth to treat the cause, but I think it gets my point across.

It’s getting more attention vs years ago. Now with my son, it’s obvious but some are high functioning and it makes for a hard diagnosis.

[Jtrage]

I don't want to say that processed foods and chemicals are the cause or contribute to the syndrome, but I'm not a scientist so I can't confirm or deny that.

I do however, think, that it has more to do with the medical community making advancements in diagnosing this type of thing.

Like ADHD - when we were younger, kids with severe ADHD were just, "bad kids" - now we know that there is a chemical imbalance causing that behavior. Maybe not the best example because we affectively use meth to treat the cause, but I think it gets my point across.

Can't speak to processed food and such but I do agree with advancements in diagnosing.

We have 2 nephews. One on my wife's side and one on mine. One would be a "bad kid" when I was growing up. The other is more severe but smarter than me and he is 7. He taught himself the alphabet in more languages than I knew existed.

[Chief Big Toe]

i am amazed at the intelligence, like with the oldest, he the most sever as he does not sleak @ 27 yrs old, but man PSP and XBox are kind of match for him, the Comp. gaming is like so easy for him,,, the one in Collage is so smart, i am proud to say i am a great of two of the smartest boys.......in the world God Bless Them!!!

[Man]

I don't want to say that processed foods and chemicals are the cause or contribute to the syndrome, but I'm not a scientist so I can't confirm or deny that.

I do however, think, that it has more to do with the medical community making advancements in diagnosing this type of thing.

I agree. I am not sure that it has anything to do with it, but the reason I am not ruling it out and not to change the topic..but along with the growing amount of people we now know with autistic kids we also know a growing amount of kids with nut allergies and such. Medical advancements or not kids were not killing over 50 years ago from the mere trace of a peanut particle. Hoping i am not derailing the thread, I just think this is a very interesting topic.

[Hogmauler]

Our sons brain was damaged when he was two. Afterwards he manifested some autistic tendencies but was never diagnosed with it. He was injured in a stove fire that collapsed a lung. During that time he had a 2.5 hour grand mal seizure that they couldn’t get stopped due to a sorry doctor. In some folks when they seize their brain remembers how to do that and continues to default to that. He endured sixteen years of epilepsy and finally had successful brain surgery. Two inches of his temporal lobe were removed. All was well, no seizures. Until about two years later.
He developed some sort of psychosis. Fortunately it’s not genetic schizophrenia but was caused by the surgery. His neurologist said that he’ll never recover. But God! I’ll never stop praying for him. He a wonderful son and I couldn’t imagine life without.
FYI, don’t dwell on what you believe you lost because that broken record will play over and over in your mind if you allow it to. Thank God that he can express his love for his family. And I’m turn you devote yourself to him by taking care of yourself. Remember, it can always be worse.

[RobinBradbery]

As an adult with HFA (High Functioning Autism) I can say that diagnosis has gotten much better. As a child HFA wasn't even on the radar. I was just called odd, shy, weird, strange and other not nice things. School was so very hard. Not on the academic side but on the social interaction side.

I am glad HFA and other aspects of "the spectrum" are now commonly recognized. There is hope.

[elgato]

In 1975 one in 5000 children had autism. In 2016 one in 36 were diagnosed with autism. Any parent that ever had an autistic child knows it suggesting diagnosis isn't the cause of the increase . It is interesting that the increase in autism in children has followed the trajectory of increased use of glyphosate [ round up ] in agriculture .

Just sayin...

[CletusBodeen]

Our sons brain was damaged when he was two. Afterwards he manifested some autistic tendencies but was never diagnosed with it. He was injured in a stove fire that collapsed a lung. During that time he had a 2.5 hour grand mal seizure that they couldn’t get stopped due to a sorry doctor. In some folks when they seize their brain remembers how to do that and continues to default to that. He endured sixteen years of epilepsy and finally had successful brain surgery. Two inches of his temporal lobe were removed. All was well, no seizures. Until about two years later.
He developed some sort of psychosis. Fortunately it’s not genetic schizophrenia but was caused by the surgery. His neurologist said that he’ll never recover. But God! I’ll never stop praying for him. He a wonderful son and I couldn’t imagine life without.
FYI, don’t dwell on what you believe you lost because that broken record will play over and over in your mind if you allow it to. Thank God that he can express his love for his family. And I’m turn you devote yourself to him by taking care of yourself. Remember, it can always be worse.

I can say I was heart broken when he was diagnosed because all the dreams I had for him were thrown out but with prayer and faith I am learning to see his abilities and not a disability. He’s wired differently but not broken.

[FamousAmos]

I have a grandson with autism who is one of the best kids I know. I am biased, for sure, but we hear that description from so many who are in his life. He is gifted in so many ways. He struggles socially, but otherwise does just fine.

[c3products20]

Since everyone is all up in arms about vaccines I'll throw this out there..... I have 4 sons. When we had our oldest we knew we didnt want him vaccinated with all the shots they push on you when your baby is first born and a few months old. We did vaccinate him when he was 4 yrs old and then again at 6 for the 2nd round. But we didnt give him all the shots they said we had to do. Our 2nd son was born and we listened to the doctor who gave us grief about not vaccinating our 1st. So we followed protocol and I know for 100% certainty that those shots jacked him up.... He was a very coherent baby. Responsive, laughing and playing when I played with him. The day after he came home from his 1st round of shots I knew there was something going on. It was like he wasn't there. Wasnt responding wasn't laughing or smiling and playing. He spiked a high fever for a few days and was never the same. To this day he is way more clumsy than our other boys and he has some minor autistic signs. We haven't completely vaccinated our other boys and we did not give them anything when they were first born or very young.. I know for a fact that my sons mind was altered from that vaccine or the fever as a result of the vaccine. I did a little research after our 2nd son had the reaction. Imo the ties of vaccines to autism shows to be more than a slight coincidence.... I'm not saying this is the case for everyone but this is what happened in our house.