Parents of Autistic Children Kith

**joyofsix** · 06-19-2011, 07:27 AM

An update, hmmm. Last year this time I was terrified of how ASD son would cope with high school. We only have one huge high school for our county and it has all the attendant problems large high schools do. He has managed. He made it through with great grades and wasn't physically bullied so for him that is a win. I can't seem to get the counselor to quit trying to put him in higher honors English though. The kid speaks in a list of facts and writes the same way. No way will he want tone in a class where you act out The Canturbry Tales with puppets (older dd had that class). I offered to enroll him in a cyber school opportunity this year but he HATES change and wants to stay where he is so we said fine. Frankly, his issues have been overshadowed by some of his brother's so as long as he's ok I'm not rocking the boat.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 12-13-2011, 10:33 AM

We have lots of updates here.

First, DS is having a great year at school so far. He's been a bit rocky in some areas, but in others, he's excelled. He's learning more and more life skills and focusing on his school work, which is very, very good.

Second, his anxiety and aggression has quite a few people concerned. He was getting to where he was punching the stairs and the floor in the basement. So, against my wishes, we went ahead and increased his Risperidol. He's at 1mg twice a day now, along with the 10mg of Celexa he was taking before. In the week since, we've had one episode of a tantrum and that is a lot better. Sadly, the tantrum was on the school bus because he didn't want to get ready like I needed him to.

I'm currently reading a few books about how to get him onto a routine to reduce the anxiety. I finished one book a few days ago and went on to reading another one, but this book I'm reading now is tailored to real-life independence skills for ASDs (in particular, Asperger's Syndrome -- but its application for DS' level of autism is practical in of itself).

Other than that, things have been okay. We have him set up with a social worker, who is referring him to a behavioral aide. Once I get my permanent residence card for him, we can both apply for a Social Insurance Number and when that's done, I can get him set up for a disability tax credit. With that money, I'll be purchasing an iPad for him and some software to help create a good routine schedule. It also has a voice program that speaks for him, so it's a good thing for his communication skills.

**NewLeaf** · 02-03-2012, 07:10 PM

I've been away for quite awhile. But to update you on my ds 9 yrs. old: he is doing absolutely wonderul! We had a rough start to the 4th grade (he has a very hard time with change). But the teachers were up to the challenge and he is excelling in both social skills and academics. I have seen a leap in maturity this year and he has become more independent. He takes a shower on his own, dresses himself, ties his shoes and brushes his teeth. All of this since Aug. 2011!!! Wow! Ds is finally gaining weight due to decreasing his focalin and adding risperdol. He has gained about 8 pounds this year and is growing in height as well.

I hope to get back on here and talk to you all more. Our life has been in crisis for the past year with our 16 year old son. He has severe anxiety and even tried to commit suicide in Oct. 2011. Since then life has been a roller coaster. But things are improving.

**fernykins** · 02-04-2012, 10:27 AM

I wonder if anyone has gone thru what we are going thru. Since last year Izac has been throwing up his food so he can eat it all day. He steal other kid's food, the teachers. The Dr put him on a gluten free. Because of his eating habits. He is down to 60lbs. We turn his food into liquid and so the the school. Still not gaining any weigh. Dr took him off all his meds thinking it was the meds. No hasn't gained. He's my grandson. His mother decided that it was his birthday and took him out to eat. Now he's ten times worse with his behavior. We are at a lose. If he continues this way we are going to lose him. He has lost all his muscle tone. We can't get it thru to him he's hurting himself. We don't get any help. Anyone have any suggestions?
Fern

**nessarowdy** · 02-04-2012, 10:38 AM

Fernykins, I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this. We haven't experienced this extreme, but I do have one of the pickiest children alive. And it's easy for people to point fingers and call you a bad parent for "catering" to your child. Not the case. Trust me. I understand!

How high functioning is your grandchild? Does he understand what he's doing? If he doesn't understand, I'm surprised they haven't talked about feeding tubes and hospitalizations. What a tough thing to go through, feeling so helpless.

I'm praying that your family finds answers!

-Vanessa

**Rhiamon** · 02-04-2012, 11:35 AM

DD is not autistic but I have the opposite problem since they put her on olanzipne for her hallucinations and violent behavior. It makes her starve. Especially in the evenings seeing as she gets it at five. At one point she was sneaking food, and if you don't watch her she will gorge herself until she throws up. I have had to lock food up switch to different foods that don't cause a lot of weight gain. Before that she never ate and was falling off the charts. We ate a lot of homemade soup because I could hide other stuff in it.

What do his drs say? Are they considering a feeding tube for now? If he will drink the only thing I can think of is try shakes. You can add extra protein, fruits etc in shakes. I did that for a while with DD when she was falling off the charts. I made lots of fruit smoothies with peanut butter, yogurt and added all kinds of fruit. That probley does not help but it was all I can think of. I hope you find something that works.

**Telephus44** · 02-04-2012, 12:02 PM

DS has made a lot of progress as far as social skills, but he's still lacking in basic attention, hyperactivity, and impulse control to the point where he's being sent home from school for unsafe behaviors. We have an appointment on Monday with an ABA therapist for the first of 3 evaluations to see what they would recommend for treatment. We're also setting up an appointment with department at the local hospital that specializes in psychiatry in children on the spectrum. Their goal is to figure out what medications he might benefit from. I've always been really hesitant to go this way, but at this point I kind of feel like it's one of my few options left so that he'll be mainstreamed into kindergarten next year. I'm also starting to come around to the idea that if it helps him, great, I just want him to get the help he needs - even if it's not what I "want."

**NewLeaf** · 02-04-2012, 06:48 PM

My ds 9 yrs old went through a "liquid phase" when he was 7 yrs old. He didn't like texture and was having an obsession about bugs. He thought any kind of lump in his food was a bug....Poor thing. He went down to only drinking instant breakfast and pudding and other smooth things. His doctor started him on zoloft and I started adding in foods with a little texture little at a time. Applesauce, yogurt with fruit, etc. He was so scared of bees and bugs that he couldn't even sleep at night. He would itch all over and think bugs were on him. But he was able to overcome this severe anxiety with the help of zoloft and exposure therapy. The psychologist talked to him about bugs and my son agreed to look (not touch) some plastic ones. Little by little he got used to the plastic bugs, butterflies and bees and started to touch them. Finally he was playing with them. He is still afraid of bees, but the severe reaction has never come back. We have used this kind of therapy with our son for other anxieties as well. LOL one big problem for him was babies of all things. They grossed him out. He had watched too many "funny videos" of babies doing gross things. It took a long time for that to be worked out.
We are currently cutting down his focalin xr and introducing a non stimulant medicine called tenex. He takes zoloft and risperdone too. This year he has gained 8 lbs and grown several inches.
We had a very hard time starting ds on meds. It was in kindergarten. He just could not "behave". He was hyper and did socially unacceptable things. We fought hard for an IEP and were denied. That's when we decided his self esteem at school was important and we wanted him to have a chance to experience school without always being in trouble. It was a good choice for our child at the time because the focalin also brought him "out" of some of his more severe autism spectrum behaviors. I told myself that we could always stop the medicine if we wanted to. Now that he is 9 yrs old that's what we are working towards. He may never be totally medicine free, but we want to try to do away with the stimulant. He has had a tremendous growth in maturity this year too, so maybe it will work out.

**fernykins** · 02-05-2012, 01:37 AM

Izac would have to be strapped down if they did a feeding tube. He picks at everything until they scare. We have made him wear gloves. Drs don't know what to do with him. They can't even talk to the Dr without him causing problems. As far a functioning, he doesn't because as he puts it he doesn't want to. The other problem is his grandfather(mother's dad) when he was touching girls wrong his gf said boys will be boys. The gf believes because he has problems the boy should get what ever he wants. The man is a problem. We are at a loss of what to do.
Fern

**MomToTwoBoys** · 02-06-2012, 07:11 AM

We haven't had an issue with gorging but we have had issues where DS13 would go through phases of eating like crazy. But he has always been that way, ever since he was a little one. His increase in appetite has primarily been due to the Risperidol, but we do adjust and give him more filling items.

Perhaps it's a side effect?

I know that my mom had problems with one of her ex-bf's kids where she would just eat and eat until it made her sick. Impulse behavior, maybe?

I'm not sure how to teach an autistic child that it is hurting themselves because their thought processes aren't the same as any other child not on the spectrum.