"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

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Regression Explained...Finally!




I have searched and searched over the last many months to find a good article on regression in children that are now diagnosed with Autism. Regression is probably the least understood aspect of Autism to people that have never worked with a child who has regressed. So many people don't quite understand how a child can develop language and other skills...and then all of a sudden "lose" it. Well, we didn't understand that either until we heard about it...and realized that Brycen fit perfectly into the puzzle of regression. I think that is why many people first questioned Brycen's inital diagnosis also as the last time they really spent time with him, he was a jabbering, making eye contact, mostly typical child. His regression happened over about 5-6 months time and was so slow that we didn't even notice the language loss at first. We really didn't notice it until he went from a few dozen words to only a handful as we also had a newborn that we were taking care of that of course took up a lot of time. The pictures above were taken when Brycen was about 1 1/2 before he regressed. Notice he had attention span to sit and color, great eye contact with camera, and he was actually tolerating his first haircut with no screaming or tantrums. When I look at these pictures, it makes me a little sad thinking about how much has changed...but then again, he is still my baby then and now and his regression doesn't change that!
Anyway, here is a blog article I just found from Autism Speaks that addresses regression. I think this may give people a little more understanding about what it is and how it happens...though of course we still don't know the why or the way to fix it...but at least explaining it is a great start!
http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2010/03/25/understanding-regression-in-autism-through-direct-assessment-from-infancy/
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2 comments:

  1. NeeleyApril 16, 2010 at 7:13 PM

    Hey. I tried the link to the article but it doesn't work. Can you re-link it?

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  2. Timmer familyApril 16, 2010 at 7:28 PM

    I just tried to look it up as it was a blog post from a specialist and the post must have been removed from the Autism Speaks blog. I have yet to find another article that explains it as well, but will definitely keep trying!

    ReplyDelete

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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.