Question about Autism

Cherish - posted on 02/05/2010

Hi,
I have 3 kids w/ASD,one is severe, and non verbal.
My older son is VERY bright,w/ PDD-NOS,ADD and oppositional defiance disorder.
It sound a lot like what you describing.
Did you ask the doc about ODD?
My 14 yr old nephew lives here and he has a mood disorder.
ODD is VERY hard to deal with.
They need A LOT of structure,tons.
Kids w/ODD do get worse,treatment can help.
My son got much worse around 9yrs-13yrs old,then he started chilling out.

Here are some links

http://www.klis.com/chandler/pamphlet/od...

http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_f...

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/opposit...

Deb - posted on 02/05/2010

Never feel that you can't make amazing progress no matter what the age the diagnosis occurs. We have been treating my son's autism using ABA therapy 30 hours a week for the first year then 15 hours for the 2nd and 3rd years. We also have used many biomedical interventions under the guidance of Thoughtful House in Austin and Dr. Kendall Stewart from the Neurosensory Center in Austin. We also did OT and speech. Our son is doing very well. Everyone's journey is individual. Take it one step at a time and try not to stress too much (I know easier said then done). Get hooked up with your local autism society group.

Christina - posted on 01/26/2010

Sounds horrible, but they get the picture! lol

We initially had him stand in time out...that didn't work, so it went to squatting in time out. He got tired of that soon & we moved to writing sentences. Front/back and they were..."I will tell the truth instead of lying" "I will make better choices when making decisions" "I will only touch things that belong to me"

We tried to keep them positive & not have negativity in the sentences, which actually helps them :) He went an entire week & 1/2 sitting at kitchen table after school writing sentences. Other than that, he ate, took a shower, did his homework & slept, period! He got the picture :D & if he was caught cheating (connecting l's or i's or whatever) he had to start the page all over again...

Kari - posted on 01/26/2010

Yeah my son is very smart and has a problem with lying and stealing as well. He is constantly stealing from everyone whenever he gets a chance. I started by taking toys away as well until he got into so much trouble I actually had to take everything out of his room except his dresser and bed. The main reason for that was cause he has so many little hiding places in his room so we needed to get rid of things so we could see when he steals things. But then what do we do next? When everything is already out of his room? What more punishments do we have? Thats what is hard on us we keep trying to come up with more punishments but when you've already done everything what else can you do?
I'm so glad I found this group cause sometimes I feel like I don't have anything else to try... And it's really nice seeing that I'm no the only one dealing with these problems!
Thanks for replying!

Christina - posted on 01/26/2010

It will all settle down :) Just takes time. Take a deep breath & go ahead & cry it out... I find myself feeling much better after a quiet drive w/ some sobbing :D

My 8 year old stepson moved in with us in the Fall of 2008. We knew that something was not right, but my husband & I both felt it was ADHD and maybe related to the environment at moms house.

So, we have went through every resource we could (counselors/psychiatrists) & decided to meet w/ the county mental health regarding him. My soon to be 5 year old has been working w/ them for about a year now (he has Tourettes, ADHD, OCD, Anxiety, PDD, etc.). They have diagnosed him w/ inattentive ADHD & are now beginning to keep an eye out for Aspergers...

We have been having problems w/ aggression, stealing, lying, hiding, not turning homework in (on purpose), lack of organization, etc. Obviously, he probably has a mild case, but it DOES settle down :) Just takes a little adjustment period.

I also found that w/ Marcus (very smart child who knows how to get away w/ stuff) I have to take the punishment to another level...I can't "ground" him or make him sit down & write 15 sentences.... He spent *literally* a week & 1/2 at the kitchen table writing sentences. I had to sell his X-mas present last year & this year had to take 1 back before X-mas :-/ Some of these little guys are smart!!! and you have to try & outsmart them :(

Anyways, hopefully something I said will help you at least feel a little better :D

Kari - posted on 01/26/2010

Yes I meant ADHD and Autism. He has not been put on the spectrum for Autism so I don't know how bad it is... I don't really have any family support besides my Husband. What is respite? Thankyou so much for all of the ideas!!! I'm going to start trying them! Right now, Dominik can speak, He is very agressive and won't play with others unless he can be in charge of the situation. He is very demanding and won't listen when he decideds he wants to do something. He doesn't hurt himself. Yes he does damage household items all of the time.. Just when washing his hands or brushing his teeth I have to supervise all of that and right now I just don't have the time so I end up trying to clean up all of the messes he creates. He hits his sister whenever she doesn't play how he wants her to. I think he understands that I have to take care of the baby, I'm not sure on that. He doesn't seem to be acting out because of the baby. He likes to talk to the baby but we can't let him get to close because he gets sick a lot and we don't want the baby to get sick, which he already has a couple of times from him.
Anyways to answer your questions.. haha. Thankyou again for the reply! those were a lot of helpful ideas!!!
Kari

Sheila - posted on 01/22/2010

Hi Kari,

I am not sure what your son's diagnosis is....you stated he was diagnosed, but they haven't put him on the spectrum.

Do you mean that he was diagnosed with something else like ADHD or ODD, but no diagnosis within the family of autism....or did you mean they haven't said high functioning ASD, aspbergers, classic autism? Sorry, just for clarification.

An early diagnosis is always better because you can get hooked up into support services and therapy earlier. Children often need intensive therapy when they are very young (under five) because so much of what autism impacts is communication and social skills. The sooner you start to address those issues, the better for the child.

Does your child speak? Is he aggressive (being mean) or demanding? Does he ever hurt himself? Is he damaging household items? Is he specifically hurting his sister?

Emotionally, where would you put him? Does he understand that you have to look after the baby and your time is being taken away because of needing to look after the baby? Is he acting out because of the baby, or any other MAJOR/minor life changes?

Do you have any respite or family support?

Here are some things that you might consider:

A posted schedule (use pictures) of how his time is being spent
A small trampoline to use his energy up on
A yoga ball so that he can sit and bounce
A small pop tent for sensory breaks
A reward/sticker chart for every little good thing he does
A chair to sit on for time out, not isolating in his room....
When you are going to breastfeed, have a job for him to do....even if it means taking all the towels out of the closet and putting them in a clothesbasket...then ask him to help you finish the job....find something for his to do before trouble begins....and PRAISE him for the job well done!
Weighted blanket.
Visual timers so he knows how long before an activity ends and when you will be expecting him to do something more.
Does he get any support at school?
See an Occupational therapist or a behavioural therapist for help.

It will get worse if you do not develop strategies for managing your son's neurological disorder (if that is what it is).

The sooner you start, the better (I hope) it gets....

Good luck,

Sheila

Kari - posted on 01/22/2010

Really? No advice??