Autism-World

I’m a mom of six year old son who is autistic. I am just now beginning to understand and cope with the diagnosis and my sons world. We found out he was autistic when he was 3 and ever since then it’s been a rollercoaster! I read so many articles and other publications and thought maybe I should put my two cents in.
First of all, it’s not an illness! I think the word illness denotes being sick and that there is a cure. Unfortunately, there is no cure at the moment for autism. Autsim is a neurological disorder that affects several areas of the brain. Through the last three years I have dubbed autism as the “I don’t know” disorder. Whether it’s teachers, friends, family or strangers who ask me questions about my son; the answer most of the time is “I don’t know”. Why is my son refusing to eat anything that isn’t symetrical? I don’t know. Why does he like to run away? I don’t know. How is it that his vocabulary is roughly 50+/- words but he can name almost every bone in the body and recite the all the states in America? I don’t know!
There are many treatment plans available that may work in helping a child with autism cope or come out of their shell. Some families use medications for certain behaviors, some use diets that focus on food allergies which are suspected to cause toxins to leak into the bloodstream, thus affecting the brain not to function correctly. Physical, occupational, and speech therapies are non-restrictive forms of treatment that applies the ABA approach. ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis. Through my experience this is a successful approach to maintaining a happy, healthy, and able child with autism. Another avenue of therapy is called play therapy, it’s exactly what it sounds like. You are teaching a child how to deal with certain situations through playing, it requires alot of one on one time as well as floor time.
Honestly though, I would suggest that the best therapy for a child is whatever the parents feel that they get the best response from their child from whichever approach they choose. There is no right or wrong.
On a final note, something to think about, a few words to encourage you to become more aware and fight for a cure. My son is wonderful, loving, fun, smart, and the one person who has taught me more about myself and the world. In the last six years I have never heard the words “I love you mom”. Can you imagine?

This entry was posted on Monday, March 26th, 2007 at 11:51 am and is filed under Autism Stories.