Special Someone with autism

Autism Journey

2014-06-08T21:32:00.001+05:30

The time is moving fast. Day by day years, are going by as I hope against hope. Hope remains but the time has flown by. As a mother of an autistic child I remain in hope that today is the day, I could find a break through to reach my child, to reach his thoughts, to find a way to communicate with him; that will make it easier to teach him daily life activities which were so easy for us to learn.

It is heart breaking to see that my child is soon going to reach his adolescent years as a baby. Although, unhappy, with the progress of our journey I cherish every moment of our autism journey together. I’m very proud of my son and thankful to god for choosing me as mother of a very special boy, his beautiful smile removes my tiredness gives me strength to go on. His bravery in tolerating the difficulties and pain he has to go through being different and not being able to express himself makes me brave enough to take care of him, my home and also to face the disturbing words of people who don’t let go of a chance to press where it hurts.

When autism strikes you need to brace yourself to the outcome of it. As here there are not much opportunities for my son to go to a school or get treatment we have always been planning to move to another country but some suggest that it is not good to uproot your life and move to another place with an autistic child but as I see it from the moment that my child was diagnosed our life got uprooted now we don’t really belong anywhere accept autism community. There might be some parents lucky enough to get help and support from family, friends and neighbors but in Asia I doubt that there would be many such lucky parents.

Back, in home sweet home

2012-10-20T01:37:00.000+05:30

Back, in home sweet home where we can smell the ocean. My son loves to be near the ocean. We take him for walks on the beach and to bath in the sea. Since we live near the beach when ever my husband can find time he takes him to bath in the sea. My son loves to play in the water.

Again, we have come back to our home country after living for six months abroad in search of better options for my son. Another six months of valuable time gone. Still there is no hope for autistic children here either .In fact, every parent in this country is worried about their children’s future, as different colors of politics have separated a small population in different directions. So in a nation with no bearing where would the alienated autistic children’s future lie?

Again, my son is back in home. Back to his sofa where he sits when I do house hold chores. But I’m hoping to fight our own battle. I’m intending to work with my son more intensely, may god give me strength to tackle all the things that I want to do in so little a time of only 24 hours called a day. If anyone can give me any tips on home therapy please..let me know.

Caged

2012-10-13T18:55:00.000+05:30

Guest post by Jeff Stimpson

Down our bedroom hall, out of the darkness, looms his white T shirt. From the dining room comes a pad-pad-pad from where there should be only silence. "And here he comes," says my wife Jill. Alex appears in the night, clears the foot of our bed, brushes the laundry hamper, and bounds onto my abdomen at 1:04 a.m.

"Mommy. Daddy. Go sleep," says Alex, squirming between us and elbowing me in the stomach.

Ever since my typically developing two year-old Ned recently evicted him from his crib, Alex has been sleeping in a fold-out porta-crib. We know this isn't normal for a 4-year-old. We tried to get him to sleep in a bed last winter. I sat with him for hours on the mattress on school nights, rubbing his back and telling him to sleep on his bed, while he sucked his binkie and wormed his way over the railing to scoot for the toy shelf. On weekend nights, after we'd spent the day running him into the turf on playgrounds, Alex would actually fall asleep on his bed. Once, I think, he stayed there through the night. Most bed nights, however, we heard the pad-pad-pad and saw the gleam of the T in the small hours. Jill and I tried returning him to his bed a few times.

Then we hatched the idea of setting up the porta-crib before bed to have it ready in the middle of the night. We'd deposit him in the cage - three-foot-high walls of soft white mesh - give him a sip of a water and binkie, hand him one of my T shirts and a stuffed Elmo, and watch him burrow into the blankets. We meant to keep trying Alex and the bed. But somewhere in there, doctors and teachers started harping on his terrible attention span, and then we had to get through an endless Christmas vacation. Alex and the bed just fell from being a priority. "I would hate to see your energies go in that direction," said one of his preschool therapists, who had given us a long list of other things to pay attention to with Alex.

So, night after night I'd pull the porta-crib out from over near the oxygen tank, undo the big rubber bands we used to keep the crib collapsed during the day, and whip the thing together. I hated it for a time: the savage clicks of the locking rails, the way they wouldn't lock unless you had the floor mat positioned perfectly. I hated it and blamed it for Alex, almost four, still not sleeping in a bed. Then gradually the clicks of the locking rails came to signify the end of another day. The final moments before a glass of Pinot Grigio, "Seinfeld," our own dinner, slumber almost never disturbed by the boys for 12 hours unless one was sick. By the time we'd cleared the dessert dishes, night after night, we'd step into the boys' room and find them both out. Alex would be sprawled in the bottom of the porta-crib; I'd reach down and pull him straight if his head seemed cocked at an uncomfortable angle. He's getting tall, I'd think. Wonder when he's going to climb out of there?

He climbs out of there one sudden night, and our energies cascade toward putting Alex first in the porta-crib, then in the bed, then back in the porta-crib. Finally, Jill pulls the door of their bedroom closed. "That sends a message," she says.

I hear the knob rattling, followed soon by the cries of the prisoner. I open the door. "Alex," I say, "back to bed!" Back he goes, bouncing up on the mattress, burying his face in the blanket, clamping his eyes shut in an elaborate pantomime of drifting off that will evaporate as soon as I close the door again behind me. (Ned, incidentally, can't believe he's scored front-row seats to this. Sensing something new was unfolding in his household and that soon it might involve him, he bounces on his rump, rattles the crib springs, and drinks himself into a stupor on water and Rice Dream.)

Out I go. Rattle rattle rattle. In I go, and place Alex in the porta-crib. He hoists one leg over the side. "Alex, put your leg down," I say, careful to not touch him. "I know. You've got this new freedom and it's exciting. You're growing up, Alex. You're getting bigger. But it's time for sleep." I set the ottoman beside the porta-crib, as if I were handing a shovel to a POW. (Jill and I have both seen him get out, by the way, and he always lands straight and on both feet.)

Times have changed, I tell Jill. There's another, real bedtime to consider in this house now, announced by the rattle of the knob. "He's out of his cage," I say.

"It's not a cage," Jill says.

"It is a cage," I say, and we were the ones in it.

Jeff Stimpson is a native of Bangor, Maine, and lives in New York with his wife Jill and two sons. He is the author of Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie and Alex the Boy: Episodes From a Family’s Life With Autism(both available on Amazon). He maintains a blog about his family at jeffslife.tripod.com/alextheboy, and is a frequent contributor to various sites and publications on special-needs parenting, such as Autism-Asperger’s Digest, Autism Spectrum News, the Lostandtired blog, The Autism Society news blog, and An Anthology of Disability Literature (available on Amazon). He is on LinkedIn under “Jeff Stimpson” and Twitter under “Jeffslife.”

In where we are

2012-07-23T09:07:00.002+05:30

It has been almost five months now that my son, and I have been living in this country that we have moved to. Here there are some schools and resource centers, which provide schooling and therapies for autistic children. We have been to almost all these places and still we have not found a school where I am confident enough to leave behind my non-verbal autistic child for even few hours. As I find most of these places are overcrowded and the teachers have more kids than they can handle. Therefore, I have been taking my son to therapy sessions in hospitals and resource centers. Here what I find is that each therapist in the hospitals belongs to a circle. Each one is in connection with a resource center, which they run or which they work for and the doctors (pediatricians, psychiatrists, neurologists) connected with that resource center are the ones they want to send their patient’s to. For foreigners these resource centers charge a registration fee heavier than the locals do which is alright for me as long as they provide the services they assure. But after the registration is over the regular therapy sessions start to lessen they are unable to give appointments as they promise.

As for my son he likes to go to therapy sessions but part of his enthusiasm is not there as he misses his father. But there’s something that makes all his anxiety and sadness disappear. That is when he gets to ride in a three wheeler. Three wheeler autos are something he loves to ride, which is not present in our country. So that is the highlight for my son as we live here. Soon his father is going to visit us but I am not telling this to my son yet because he will get too anxious in anticipation.

In the Swim

2012-06-07T13:43:00.000+05:30

by Jeff Stimpson

Alex is taking swimming lessons. Alex's classes are in a three-pool, indoor center about a three-block walk from the bus stop, and all the way he rode on my shoulders as I warned him he was going swimming in a big bathtub. "Alex, you're going swimming," I kept repeating well into the locker room. He must have wondered why T shirt, denim shorts, diaper, and sandals were swept away right here in the middle of the day, and replaced with a pool diaper and flowered shorts with a string in front.

If Alex was puzzled, he got over it in time to scoot off to the toilets. He loves toilets, though he's only just started to notice a full diaper. He does love to flush. I heard the rush of water, over and over, while I squirmed into my trunks. This class, for special needs kids, takes place in a pool of some 200 square feet, which has an adjustable bottom that can range from a foot deep to about the depth of my stomach. I was to be in the water with Alex. We thought he would take to swimming, based on how he likes to splash and kick in the tub. His therapists have also told us that swimming would slow him down and increase his attention span.

The first lesson starts at 4 o'clock. He wails until 4:30. "Alex, it's just water," I kepp telling him. "You know water."

"Noo! Noo!" he replies, his mouth a rectangle of misery and his cries ricocheting off the tile walls. His tears could fill their own pool. The instructors include a patient, cheerful, burly, young man who had the face of Crazy Horse tattooed on his arm. "Give me five, Alex," he says, and Alex does, limply, while I sneak his feet into the water.

"Stop it," Alex says to me. "Stop it." I want to drown.

"Alex, c'mon." But I have no clue how something as alien as a gigantic swimming pool center – the echoing tiles, the lapping water, the splashes and screeching – settle in Alex's brain. Maybe he just doesn’t understand.

I swish Alex from side to side; show him how to blow bubbles; hold him while he floats on his back; have him hug me as I reach under him and make his legs kick; catch him when he jumps from the side of the pool; hold him high and then bring him down with a splash; and show him how to kick off. First, however, I must get his feet wet, then his legs, then carry him to the center of the pool. He refuses to blow bubbles, but he does giggle when I bring him down for a splash. Then he seizes the side of the pool, no doubt thinking he can finally get the hell out of the water and back to the locker room toilets where he belongs.

"Attention's his big thing, isn't it?" the instructor says. "But he's got a bicycle kind of kick, and he's moving all the time. That's good."

When it comes time to practice arm motions, the instructor makes a fine tactical move by breaking into "The Wheels on the Bus." Alex laughs. "He's got an infectious laugh!" the instructor says. He does, and by the end of the first lesson that sound too ricochets off the tiles. A little. "Alex, you're swimming!" He looks tired, as if he'll faint in my arms the moment class is over.

"Stop it," he says. "Bye! Bye bye!"

I maneuver Alex to the side of the pool. "Everybody, Alex is leaving!" the instructor says. "Bye, Alex!" they call. "Bye BYE!" he calls back, then bolts for the locker room. There, as soon as I have him in yet another diaper and my own hands are occupied prying off my trunks, he heads for the toilets. Across the tiles, over and over, I hear the rush of the kind of water I guess he still prefers.

Jeff Stimpson lives in New York with his wife and two sons. He is the author of Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie andAlex the Boy: Episodes From a Family’s Life With Autism (both available on Amazon) and has a blog about his family at jeffslife.tripod.com/alextheboy. He contributes to various sites and publications on special-needs parenting, such asAutism-Asperger’s Digest, Autism Spectrum News, the Autism Society news blog, and An Anthology of Disability Literature (available on Amazon). He is on LinkedIn under “Jeff Stimpson” and Twitter under “Jeffslife.”

Another Birthday gone another year of hope begins

2012-05-21T15:19:00.001+05:30

Another birthday passed but the time has been running in slow motion ever since autism took over my son. Though in slow motion I’m glad it’s moving forward. As I hope every year this year too I'm hoping that this would be the year when I can reach out to my son and find a break through which would speed the pace of time slowly to make it move a little faster and then maybe to a steady pace.

As hope is the only string we can hold on to when nothing is to be seen ahead. I remind myself everyday that things are eventually going to get better. For now I’m happy that my son enjoyed his Birthday in his own way with his colorful many balloons that he loves so much.

Earlier I was looking for answers from others but now I realize I should find answers on my own. I relocated in search of more opportunities for my son to receive therapies but I find here also there is not much available but now I intend to stay in one place and try to bring a change in my son’s life on my own. I’m planning to try a home program. I would be glad to know about home programs for autism children. Thanks to a friend, one autism mom, for suggesting and giving information about the son-rise program.

Hoping for the best

2012-04-02T12:28:00.000+05:30

As autism prediction rises to 1 in 88 children still there’s no hope and not much awareness in where I come from.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written in this blog dedicated to my son. There’s been a political crisis in our country but it has nothing to with my not writing in the blog but it surely diminishes the slight hope of light seen for children with autism too. There never was much help, treatment or intervention available but the ousted government was bringing development in all areas fairly fast.

As for my absence from the blog, is simply because of my frustration and despair that there was nothing happening and there was no change in our situation my son has sat at home for two years but now again we have moved to neighboring country me and my son. At least now I can take him for therapies. So once again my spirits are up and hoping for a good outcome.

Feeding

2012-03-07T10:06:00.002+05:30

Today we see the GI. Last night I told my wife Jill that we're just to get his opinion and realize that we're not going to change it. We think Alex (born three months premature 19 months ago) still weighs about 20 pounds. Nineteen, maybe. We see Dr. L., whose instructions we've ignored for so long that to go back and follow the instructions now would be an impossible backtrack. We're not using the feeding tube. We're sure Dr. L. will order us to. We will then refuse and have to find another doctor.

Jill and I have one goal at this meeting, and only one question which was recommended by one of Alex's therapists: What does he have to do to get rid of the feeding tube?

Gain weight, obviously. We feed him all he'll take – sweet potatoes, bananas, prunes, applesauce spiked with heavy cream, cereal and maple syrup, Pediasure and fortified babies' yogurt. It totals about 30 ounces a day. I've stopped counting. I have no clue how many ounces of Spam I had for lunch yesterday, how many milligrams of spaghetti pie I downed for dinner last night. Counting the ounces made me feel like Alex still belonged to the hospital.

In Dr. L.'s office, we unhitch Alex from the carriage. He takes off, crawling to the receptionist's desk. Slap slap slap go his palms on the tile floor. I trail after him with the small oxygen tank. He crawls up to strangers and tries to crawl into the back hall of examination rooms. I go to remove his cannula.

"Don't do that!" Jill says. "I don't want him to burn calories. Ever."

He's still burning them, though, when Dr. L. appears. He has glasses, a gray goatee, a soft voice and light-blue eyes. A year ago, when other doctors wanted to do an even severer surgery on Alex, he was the only one who said we did the right thing by just getting the feeding tube.

We go to his office; all the grown-ups take a seat. Dr. L. asks me if I have a cold. I say I caught it from Alex. He asks if Alex has been retching, coughing, or choking? No, no, none. What is he eating? We tell him.

"All by mouth?" he asks. Jill answers most of the questions as Alex twists and scrambles in my arms. He needs a change; it takes three of us, a binkie, and a plastic toy. Then he's weighed. Remember that number, Dr. L. says, wrapping a tape measure around Alex's skull and tries to get Alex flat for a length measurement. Alex won't even lay flat to get a diaper change anymore. The measurements show that, since his last appointment eight weeks ago, Alex is shorter by about 10 percent. That would be like me waking up tomorrow and being 5'4". That's the kind of measurement you get when you try to measure a boy who moves the furniture.

Dr. L. puts pencil to graph, however, to draw a dot marking the spot of Alex's new weight. Strung together, the dots make a curve that flattens and is drawing farther and farther from the big blue shaded area marked "normal." Once dots on a graph start looking like that, doctors can do one of two things. Most will hold up the chart, hold up the pencil, and use the two props to let you have it. Or they can do something else.

Dr. L. lets a short silence linger before saying, "Well, you know as well as I what has to be done. What is preventing him from

taking 35 or 36 ounces a day?"

I don't know. Alex just always turns away after an inscrutable and insufficient number of spoonloads and bubbles up the bottle.

"I don't mind him being a little thin, as long as his brain continues to grow," Dr. L. says. He used that phrase two appointments ago, to Jill's terror. He goes on to say that as Alex's metabolism increases, he will burn more energy and need more food. Won't Alex get hungrier as a consequence? I ask. "Not necessarily," Dr. L. says. "Boy, look at him. He reminds me of a perpetual motion mobile."

I listen to Dr. L. Get to the point, I think. We are to go home, feed him as much as possible, and check in with Dr. L. again in two weeks. Boy, we think, it pays to dread the worst!

That night, after Alex’s bath, before I can get the diaper on him, he urinates on the floor. Our disgusting little animal, our dear little son. I get a diaper on him and it seems loose. Then we feed him yogurt, applesauce with cream, bananas, and formula. He takes 29 ounces.

Dr Manny worries revision to (DSM-IV) in 2013 could make autism diagnosis more difficult

2012-01-25T19:06:00.001+05:30

According to an article written by Dr Manny Alvarez, he is worried about the proposed revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) in 2013.

Dr Manny reveals that a recent study highlights that there are challenges of diagnosing autism as the disorder tends to go hand-in-hand with a variety of other mental and behavioral conditions, other disorders like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities can make it difficult to diagnose a child or can delay improvement in kids that are diagnosed early.

Dr Manny is in agreement with the experts who claim when a revised definition of the disorder comes into effect, getting a diagnosis could become even more difficult than it already is. Since doctors agree that early intervention programs significantly improves outcomes and is invaluable to these children, Dr. Manny fear the revision will reduce the number of children being diagnosed which will bring down the number of children qualifying for early intervention services.

As a doctor and father of a child on the autism spectrum Dr. Manny claims that early intervention has helped his son to mature and develop social skills over the years.

Except for Breathing

2012-01-19T12:27:00.004+05:30

From Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie

I get up at 4:30 this morning, and now it's almost 8 p.m. My eyes are raw, my head is light, my legs ache, and I think, "I've been a lot more tired than this lately."

It has been five months, and Alex -- my son who was born premature at 21 ounces, my son who won't meet his mother's eyes when she holds him -- is okay except for breathing. He spends his time on a vent of one kind or another, the oxygen pumped into him slowly scarring his lungs, making it tougher for oxygen to be taken into his blood. But he's getting there, I guess. He's been getting there ever since Jill and I stood outside the hospital and said things like, "At least it isn't turning into a hot summer." Now we're still standing outside the hospital, hugging our coats closed while the leaves swirl around our ankles and Alex climbs out of October. He's eating from a bottle again, looking at the ceiling, gaining weight. And yet "you have to be the best person you can be for when he comes home," they're telling us again. They love to tell us things, as our lives are still laid bare under hospital neon. I've lost whole nights of sleep since June.

Other nights have just evaporated. And he isn't even home yet. Parents of healthy full-termers say, "You'll be happy to get six hours when he comes home!" Okay. Just remember there's a world of difference between getting up at 2 a.m. to rock a baby to sleep, and getting up at 2 a.m. to speed him to the ER before his lungs give out. These days, the morning coffee slides uselessly over my tongue. By 9:30 my bones feel like balsa wood. By noon I need aspirin. By afternoon, my head grows heavy and my sight grows weak.

Most nights I leave work at 5 p.m., and catch the subway uptown. Sometimes at the hospital door the security guard still asks to see the plastic ID band that was fastened onto my wrist when Alex was born and rotted off weeks ago. Alex still has a tube up his nose, but the weight is returning to his face and he's taken to bopping his arms to cassettes of Pete Seeger and Chet Baker. He chomps on his pacifier, bouncing his eyes across the ceiling and across Jill's face as she reads him a baby book: "How cute is baby? Socute! How smart is baby? So smart! How sleepy is baby?...

When I rest him on my chest, I close my eyes. I feel his five pounds seven ounces and think, "There is a future here." Who's daddy's little guy? Alex is. To watch him sleep is torture as my head lolls forward. Then I open my eyes and he opens his and seems to ask, "How much longer?" What a cute, smart question! For about 130 nights we've called for Alex's condition before we went to bed. We've asked for the nurse. She – they’re all women – has said "Hi." We've said how are you? She's said fine. There the conversation has often settled until we asked how in hell Alex was doing. I would like to care how the nurse is feeling. But I don't.

....

Jeff Stimpson is a native of Bangor, Maine, and lives in New York with his wife Jill and two sons. He is the author of Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie and Alex the Boy: Episodes From a Family’s Life With Autism (both available on Amazon). He maintains a blog about his family at jeffslife.tripod.com/alextheboy, and is a frequent contributor to various sites and publications on special-needs parenting, such as Autism-Asperger’s Digest, Autism Spectrum News, the Lostandtired blog, The Autism Society news blog, and An Anthology of Disability Literature (available on Amazon). He is on LinkedIn under “Jeff Stimpson” and Twitter under “Jeffslife.”

Another year

2012-01-18T15:03:00.000+05:30

Another year begins and again I’ve been contacting all possible institutions which could provide autism therapies but with no positive result. There are no speech therapists or occupational therapists. The local schools say they are trying to start a class for autism children but they are finding it difficult to find teachers who are willing to join for the salary they are offering. Last year also I got the same answer that they are looking for teachers.

Again another year would add to my son’s age without therapy and schooling. I’m looking for schools in neighboring countries too. Praying that we’ll be able to shift to another country this year where my son can attend therapies. The initial expenditure to shift to another country has enabled us to make the move so far.

In my search to find a foundation that funds autism children I found only few foundations that provide individual funding and those that does pay the funds directly to the medical institute or schools but since we need to go to another country to find a school or hospital and after they do the evaluation only we would know what therapies my son has to attend and the cost so I’ve not been able to apply for funding too. In my country medical insurance does not include therapies for autism.

Just hoping the new year would bring a new change,

Premature or under weight baby's link to Autism

2011-10-18T21:22:00.004+05:30

Pre-mature or under weight babies are five times more at risk of developing autism, a study has revealed a link between low birth weight and children diagnosed with autism.

All along premature babies were known to be at risk of health problems and cognitive delays but the study of Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing is the first to establish a link between low birth weight and autism.

The study followed children over time to confirm the link between low birth weight and diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a large group of infants followed for 21 years.

Researchers tracked 862 children who were born between 1984 and 1987 in three counties in New Jersey. The children weighed between 500 and 2,000 grams at birth.

Screening of these children at age 16 as part of a larger psychiatric follow up revealed that 117 of 623 patients showed positive results for autism spectrum disorders that is roughly 18%.

Diagnostic testing was also done on a proportion of the patients who screened positives (about 60%) and those that screen negatives (24%) at age 21. Of 70 who screened positive as adolescents, 11 (14.3%) were confirmed as having autism spectrum disorders.

In light of these results the Researchers estimated a 5% occurrence of autism in premature babies compared to 1% found in the general population.

Information from

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com

http://www.tgdaily.com

http://www.webmd.com

We never know if he is really in pain or not?

2011-08-23T10:49:00.003+05:30

Today again my son woke up with a limp. This is something that happens once in a while he’ll wake up with a limp and when I apply ointment it goes away in two or three days. What confuses me is that I still don’t have an idea about what makes it happen because, I can’t find any place in his leg where it hurts Earlier when it happens I used to take him to the doctor but now I don’t as it has become something that comes and goes.

Sometimes my son gets this crying fit. He would cry very loudly since he rarely cries about anything this gets me very upset. When he is sick also he would only whimper but doesn’t cry much, so when he cries like this we take him to the doctor. On the ride to the doctor he would be quiet when we reach there he would start again. The doctor doesn’t find anything wrong with him so we return. On the ride back also he is fine. Then we realized that he wants to go on a ride. This also happens once in a while but every time we do take him to the doctor. We never know if he is really in pain or not? It’s so hard to find out what’s wrong and where it is hurting when my son is down with something. At times like that I feel very desperate and helpless.

Summer births or low oxygen during delivery may have a risk for autism

2011-07-13T15:12:00.000+05:30

Low oxygen during delivery may put baby at risk for developing autism. Oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain combined with genetic predisposition might have an effect on development. This is a finding from a recent study conducted by Researchers analyzing data from 64 previous studies relating to perinatal (birth) and neonatal (post-birth) risk factors relating to the disorder. The data from the previous studies included low birth weight, induced or early labor, cesarean, breech births, forceps delivery, jaundice and discolored amniotic fluid were also examined. The risk factors involved decreased blood flow to the brain which can lead to increased dopamine levels. Elevated levels are typically found in those who have been diagnosed with autism.

From these factors several events were found that may be related to autism. These events are having the umbilical cord around baby’s neck, meconium entering the lungs, abnormal fetal presentation or breech delivery, fetal respiratory distress, birth injury or trauma, low 5-minute APGAR score, newborn seizures, low birth weight, multiple births, low blood iron and being born in the summer. Babies born in summer have an elevated occurrence of autism in 6 out of 12 studies. The reason for the relationship of time of the year are unclear but the researchers think this could be from variation in viral or other infections, nutritional factors or vitamin deficiencies.

The study doesn’t conclude whether a child will develop autism if deprived of oxygen during birth but it does provide insight to the factors involved.

My son's autism anxiety

2011-06-13T15:18:00.001+05:30

My son gets very anxious when he stays awake for a long period of time or when he can’t go out for walk at his usual time and mostly he gets very agitated when we travel by plane. Now we have started giving him medication whenever we have to travel by plane. Though the medicine is supposed to make him sleepy he would not sleep a wink in an aero plane.

For any reason when he gets his anxiety increases it has its toll on his every autistic behavior he wouldn’t sleep, he would flap his hands more speedily; he would get scared easily over anything and everything. He gets afraid of things he usually has no problem with but if he’s anxious even a small sound would make him jump. He even gets afraid of me or his father too. Whenever he gets scared of me I feel terrible that he doesn’t realize I’m his mother.

Also my son rarely cries even if he’s in pain he would only whimper but when he gets very anxious sometimes he cries so loudly, crying and screaming would go together. I know there are moms going through much more when their children gets anxiety fits. If anyone is interested here is a link to an online program to overcome Child Anxiety.

Blog Gems

2011-05-23T05:44:00.002+05:30

This week Blog gem is hosted by Jillsmo at yeah good times. The 16^th blog Gem is about appreciation , so far I haven’t written a post on that topic but here’s a relative post from my archives online is my only source

Bedtime doesn't mean sleeping.

2011-05-21T14:42:00.003+05:30

Everyone who reads my posts would know by now that me and my son don’t sleep at night. My son’s sleeping time has again shifted. Earlier he used to sleep when the sunrises but now he stays awake till 8 or 9 in the morning and then goes to sleep. I wish the timing would rotate and adjust to night time but it’s only a wish that’s been remaining a wish all these years. There have been intervals in between when he did sleep at night naturally. This happened whenever we took him out of the country so this makes me wonder whether it has something to do with the environment.

Normally people know when it’s time for bed we need to go to bed and sleep. My son is non-verbal but I don’t think he misinterprets the routine of going to bed because when it’s time for bed he wants to go to bed the same time as every night but only thing is he doesn’t sleep after going to bed. Sometimes when he gets sleepy I notice that he doesn’t like getting sleepy, he gets annoyed when sleep sits on his eye lids and makes it heavy. He rubs his eyes and gets angry and tries to hurt himself.

We have tried different routines to help my child go to sleep but nothing seems to work. By lighting up or dimming the lights, by changing the temperature, by putting soothing music or no sound at all nothing has helped. If anyone has any other suggestions for me to try that might solve this sleeping problem please let me know if I could find some way that helps it would be great help. I don’t post much personal stuff like this is because I would be dragging on something dreary in my sleepy state like now I hope I didn’t make you sleepy by reading this.

Genetic Mutation link to Autism

2011-05-19T14:29:00.001+05:30

A new research shows many irregular genetic mutations in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.(ASD)

Genetic mutation is a permanent change in the DNA chain that builds up a gene. It range from a single building block of DNA to a large measurement of chromosome.

The researchers found 11 out of 21 newly occurring mutations altered proteins. This may lead to clues of biological trail in development of Autism. In light of this knowledge about the way this abnormality in protein affect could result in possibility to design a prevention method or a treatment drug.

After the examinations of the children and their families chosen for the study they learned that four children found with disrupting new genetic mutations which could have been the cause of autism were among the severely autistic group.

Earlier these types of mutations have been linked with other neurological brain disorders like epilepsy and schizophrenia too.

However the researchers are still unaware of the cause for these genetic mutations, whether it is inherited from the parents or is due to contributing environmental factors either of which they are not in a position to conclude anything yet.

But since Researchers have been able to identify these genetic mutations it’s considered as a positive step ahead in understanding autism and the role of genetic and environmental factors.

Autism and Savant syndrome

2011-05-14T21:24:00.002+05:30

Savant syndrome is an extraordinary ability possessed by some people. Almost 50 percent of these geniuses emerge from autistic population. All savant people are not autistic and all autistic people are not savants. Autistic children or adults with above or below average IQ levels can be found with this exceptionally rare phenomena.

Savant syndromes signify remarkable memory in individuals. Ability to recognize, count and memorize in many different ways and forms like Rhythms in music, calculating calendar, calculating in lightening speed, exceptional artistic work, and record minute details or repeat an operation endlessly efficiently.

These brilliant skills can appear and disappear suddenly. Sometimes In autistic children when they start to interact socially or gain good verbal communication these abilities start to disappear.

Autistic children dislike altering their normal routines. Their ability to focus on one particular task intensely could be the reason for perfection which results in savant syndrome.

The fascination of Savant Syndrome became more speculative and popular after the Academy winning movie of Dustin Hoffman ‘Rain man’.

When the mystery of savant syndrome is solved there’s expectation that it may lead a light to the mystery of autism as well.

Moms who fail in autism

2011-05-10T15:28:00.004+05:30

A mother killed her 11 year old autistic son and tried to kill herself assuming the easy way to get rest. The mother was found in a hotel room with multiple knife wounds. Though she survived her son is resting in peace now. She told police she strangled her son with a belt, she says her son was laughing when she was trying to strangle him. The child who had to face the end by his own mother could walk, run, ride a bike but could not talk. He was excited by police cars and fire engines.The 49 year old mother was a woman having trouble with her ending marriage. She even left suicides notes. Her regret is that she failed to end her life too.

Autism is a challenge to both the child and the parents. The difficulties, frustrations, heartache, pain and anger that autism brings with it can only be understood by a mother struggling with an autistic child. It's so sad that this mother gave in and lost her precious child.

Happy Mother’s day.

2011-05-07T22:15:00.001+05:30

A very happy mother's day to everyone.

In rainy nights the loud thunder is heard in intervals the lightning keeps penetrating inside through the windows. The whole neighborhood takes advantage of the cold dark night and sleeps in silence. But oblivious to all this a child remains wide awake involved in something of his own and the mother accompanies him. That’s me if I have to I would stay awake my whole life if it’s to accompany my child. It’s one of the autistic problems that my child have he doesn’t sleep at night. Well the life of a mother with an autistic child is different.

All the mothers out there who loves, takes care and bring up their children are doing the most perfect and invaluable job of all time. Anyone who takes care of a child as a mother could only understand what it means to be a mother the difficulties and hurdles are nothing compared to the happiness of fulfillment that comes with caring for your child.

A new born baby waiving arms and legs in air is a novice in a new world, helpless without the care of a mother. A mother who so lovingly takes care of every need of her baby, adding up the new responsibility so enthusiastically into her daily routine and performing according to the best of the best means for her baby. A mother doesn’t think about her gain or loss when it comes to her children’s wishes. But how many grownups are there who doesn’t think twice when their mother makes a request?

What if it’s not Autism?-Dr. Goldberg’s theory

2011-05-03T23:31:00.005+05:30

Dr. Goldberg’s prediction of Autism that it’s not a disorder but a disease which is curable does raise hope. Dr. Goldberg claim that Autism, ADHD and like disorders are an epidemic which needs medical attention. The President of the Neuro-Immune Deficiency Medical Advisory Board Dr. Michael J. Goldberg's opinion of the reason behind Autism is Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome (NIDS)

As most of the children with Autism are physically healthy but have unstable immune system; in Dr. Goldberg’s opinion unless there’s another medical problem the immune system is what that's creating the mis balance / dysfunction in the brain so the first thing to check is the functions of all the systems in the body.

Dr. Goldberg explains that improvement in overall general health would bring positive changes in cognitive sharpness and overall alertness. Children who feel better would think better and children and adults who are not fully bright and alert are not going to develop normally and function at their best.

Dr Goldberg has been developing the evidence to support this theory for over thirty years, his book ‘The Myth of Autism: How a misunderstood epidemic is destroying our children’ describe autism as a neurological disease which affects the brain’s Immune System.

As a parent of an autistic child I would love to know about other parent’s view of Dr. Goldberg’s theory and his book.

Firm bonding between child and mother

2011-05-01T12:32:00.001+05:30

Since a special day is approaching, a day special for all mothers. I would also like to share some of my feelings and experiences as a mother of an Autistic child.

Metaphorically a child never grows up for a mother but according to mothers a baby grows too quickly and gets engaged in their own obligations. The older they get the busier their schedules turn out and the mothers are left remembering the beautiful memories of their children’s childhood. But for me literally my baby is still a baby. So, on a positive note I convince myself to be glad that my child is always with me and the firm bonding I share with my child is something very special. The reward I get in return overwhelms me. The reward for me is my child’s unconditional and unlimited love .Of course it would have been great if he could learn everything like a typical child of same age and got busy on his own but for the time being I accept my child as he is and I cherish all the quality time I get to spend with my child.

As the emotional link between a mother and a child starts much earlier than the child’s entrance into this world. It has been found that a hormone in pregnant women can tell the level of bondage the mother would have with the baby. Some mothers seem more attached to their children it's now a known detail that a mother and child’s bondage can be predicted by the level of oxytocin in pregnant women Oxytocin or cuddle hormone is considered as a great love hormone which leads to trust, sexual arousal, attachment and bonding. The level of attachment between a mother and child is defined by four aspects of interaction that is gaze, affect. touch and vocalization.

The Versatile Blogger Award

2011-04-26T04:30:00.002+05:30

Today Miriam from http://www.productjunkiemama.blogspot.com has awarded the Versatile Blogger Award to my blog. I am very thankful to Miriam for including my blog in her list of versatile blogger Award winners. Take a visit to Miriam’s blog where she shares her thoughts, musings and obsessions.

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are as follows:

· Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

· Tell us seven things about yourself

· Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers

Seven Things About Myself:

· I was a book worm but now don’t get much time to read

· I am a big fan of Michael Jackson

· I love the sport football

· I like to watch reality shows

· LOST is a series I never lost interest of watching

· Singapore is my favorite destination

· I like to keep knowledge of daily news across the world.

So here are the fifteen blogs I have awarded the versatile blogger Award

1. http://www.madeofsnails.com/

2. http://www.touttoday.com

3. http://www.loveyoualwaysgiveaways.com/

4. http://www.pregnancybaby411.com/

5. http://stylendecordeals.blogspot.com/

6. http://wedemeyerfamily.blogspot.com/

7. http://www.formulamom.com/

8. http://www.susansdisneyfamily.blogspot.com/

9. http://www.sunflowerdoula.blogspot.com/

10. http://www.reneeschirpings.blogspot.com/

11. http://www.wittyones.blogspot.com/

12. http://www.scrappy2010ramblings.blogspot.com/

13. http://www.classifiedmom.com/

14. http://twochildrenandamigraine.blogspot.com/

15. http://www.markgillianaksel.blogspot.com/

Congrats to all of you! Please visit these blogs and share the blog love around.

*http://www.specialsome1.blogspot.com*

When Autism strikes it pays no heed to ethnicity, creed or realm

2011-04-25T14:39:00.003+05:30

Autism Spectrum Disorders happens to different children in different ways with diverse conditions. As we are all aware that this doesn’t happen in any particular race, belief or nation and its not a situation which descends from anyone’s accountability. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) comprise many disorders they are:-

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) comprises many disorders they are:-

Autism - a neurodevelopmental disorder that usually occurs within the first three years. The condition display delay in social interaction, delay in using language for social communication and delay in development of imaginative play.

Asperger's Syndrome- a form of autism which affects how a person makes sense of the world, process information and relate to people.

Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)- a condition on the spectrum that shows some, but not all, of the symptoms associated with classic autism. That can include difficulty socializing with others, repetitive behaviors, and heightened sensitivities to certain stimuli.

Rett Syndrome (which affects only girls) - a disorder of the nervous system that leads to developmental reversals, in the areas of language expressions and use of hands.

Also there are other conditions found in children related to Autism and requires special help. They are:-

ADHD- a condition often confused to autism in both conditions children display hyperactivity and inattention as children but as they grow older Autism children may become more detached and with right environment their hyperactivity reduces where as ADHD children have to be treated with medicine to reduce their hyperactivity. Down's syndrome is a lifelong condition that causes delays in learning and development. It cannot be cured, but people with the condition can be supported to live a happy and independent life.

Down's syndrome- a lifelong condition causes delay in learning and development. It cannot be cured, but they do learn to walk, talk and be toilet trained but in general will meet these developmental milestones later than children who do not have Down's syndrome.

Dyslexia -a learning difficulty which affects the expansion of literacy and language related skills. It is likely to be present at birth and effects for life.

Dyspraxia is immaturity in the way the brain processes information, it affects the planning of actions what and how to do it, and creates difficulty in associating language and thoughts.

Hyperlexia, Children with this condition have an extraordinary ability to read at a very young age. They also have an extreme fascination with symbols, letters, and numbers. These children also have a below normal ability to understand language. They may also have language delays and social problems.

All these conditions are unfortunate circumstances that happen to beloved children of some parents. The severity of these conditions differs from one child to other. The parents of children with mild conditions are more fortunate but all these parents go through the same heartache and stress in concern for their beloved children. So as parents of children with special needs there should be an understanding and bondage between themselves that should not be restricted by any boundaries.

It is true and often complained fact by parent's of children with Autism, that SOME (I have capitalized SOME because I’m talking about a very small percentage, not everyone have a frame of mind like this) parents of typical children tend to think less of parents of a child with Autism they discriminate and criticize in situations. So as parents of children with Autism I think if we expect others to understand our situation then its important that we have an understanding between ourselves too.