As some of you know, researchers have yet to find causes for ASD. Most recently, they have pinpointed specific genes that may contribute, but it is so complex that the numbers I have been seeing are up to 20 genes that may be involved. In addition to that, there has been little funding given to researchers in this area despite the overwhelming number of children that are now being diagnosed with an ASD. Personally, I feel that the reason statistics are rising is due to the educating of parents and caregivers to recognize the signs of an ASD. I believe that there are many elderly and middle-aged adults that also exhibit symptoms of an ASD, but due to little knowledge and probably some denial from older generations, they were labeled as "slow" or "shy" as children or may have been diagnosed with Mental Retardation, as that seems to have been the catch-all diagnosis in the past. These are just my opinions based off of my own work experience, education, and personal research and in no way do I consider myself an expert!
I am not going to say where I feel Brycen falls on the spectrum, because that is for the Autism team in IA City to determine. I do not feel it is a parent's job to "diagnose" a child themselves...a parent's job is to educate themselves and others as well as do anything possible to support and provide treatment for their child. Some people have wondered why a family physician or a pediatrician do not diagnose Autism Spectrum Disorders...good question as we frequently see family physicians/pediatrician's are able to diagnose many other disorders such as ADD. The reason for this is that ASD's are very complex and every child exhibits different symptoms...no two children are alike in this disorder, so it takes a team of specialists to gather information and make observations to give an accurate diagnosis that fits that child's specific symptoms and therefore, every child's treatment plan is also different.
There is no cure for Autism Disorders, nor are there any treatments that can reverse the symptoms a child exhibits. There are also no medications a child can be given to treat the Autism. Many children that are diagnosed with an ASD may also be diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, or OCD as it seems there is a very high correlation between these and Autism, and the child may be put on medication to assist with alleviating the symptoms of ADD/ADHD/OCD, but this medication is not meant to treat the Autism. This is the reason Autism professionals and advocates are working hard to educate parents and caregivers. The earlier a child is diagnosed with the disorder, the earlier various behavioral, speech, occupational therapy, etc can be started and it is stressed that early intervention may help a child to recover from some of the symptoms, such as they may learn to read/write/speak on the same level as other children their age.
I have attached two links to the Autism Speaks website to pages that I feel contain very important background information about ASD.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/whatisit/index.php
http://www.autismspeaks.org/whatisit/faq.php
"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller
Monday, June 29, 2009
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Autism and Our Family
"Autism"----It's one word that can change the life of a child and family in so many ways. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children currently. If you do not already know someone that has been diagnosed, the statistics say it won't be long before you do.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!
Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.
Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.
thanks for putting up these links. I copied off some of it to take to Grandma Z. to read.
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