Coping with Autism

Mmmm... this is always a challenge. Nathan is getting easier to buy for. We have seen such an improvement in him it is astonishing. He still over-focuses, hand-flaps and has speech problems but he's interacting with others, playing, starting conversations, etc. It's fantastic! Nathan is getting cars, a "light saber" that lights up and Play-Doh. Peter as always is so much more difficult to buy for--he wanted books this year since he is reading but I'm not sure he will enjoy them as much as I would hope he would. I did find a choral spinning top at a Tuesday Morning store. It's big, about eight inches across and as you spin it (ah, spinning--what a wonderful thing for an autistic child!) it "hums" in chords. It's great and I think he will love it. They received other things as well but we'll see what happens tomorrow. I'll let you all know what the hits were.

Doctors at Duke University have found a connection between autism and the body's ability to recognize and utilize the hormone Oxytocin. Check out the story at Science Daily .

I've been meaning to write this for quite some time. We did well in Disney World and it was due to a few things: 1. For every child with autism, you need at least one parent, grandparent, aunt, etc. to help corral or monitor where each child is and what they are doing. 2. Get a letter from your child's doctor stipulating that he or she has autism. As soon as you enter the park, go to guest services and let them know that you need a Guest Pass for your child. This pass allows your child to go into the express/fast pass line or the disability line for nearly all of the rides. The pass allows for five other guests to ride the ride with the person who has the disability. We had two letters and two passes which allowed us to have as many as twelve people enter the express/fast pass line. The child with the disability has to be with the group entering the fast pass lane. Disney cast members will check for the Guest pass. At first we didn't think we would need the Guest pass beca

I have strongly felt that there was a genetic link for autism but the focus on immunizations seemed to take the focus off of this kind of research. Today, U.S. News and World Report is reporting that scientists have found that an error on a gene may be related to autism. Scientists studied the DNA of families of those with autism, those with autism and then a control group of people without autism. They found a significant difference. In our family alone we have two with autism and one with ADHD. My husband is suspected of having had PDD-NOS as a child. We have a niece on the autism spectrum as well. I have no doubt that there is a genetic link--the question we face now is what are we going to do about it?

Education World® : School Issues and Education News: Sports Offer Autistic Kids Physical, Social Benefits Shared via AddThis

I received an e-mail from the father of a child with autism and he has written a book about dealing with autism the first year after diagnosis. The website is Same Child, Different Day (I love the title--it fits so well.) Excellent idea, I thought of doing something similar and had not heard of his book until now. Now that I have, I am going to put it out there for anyone needing to know what it's like to deal with all the surprises following an autism diagnosis. Jon's e-mail reminded me that I have neglected this blog dreadfully and plan on updating it very soon. We went to Disney World for vacation for the first time with the boys this summer and I have tips and suggestions for making the every day run smoothly (always a plus!).