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Michaela

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I'm obviously not a parent, but this seemed like the best place to ask questions about an autistic child. There is a 2 and a half year old boy in our church (Josiah) that displays almost all of the signs of autism...but his parents either don't see it or don't want to see it. So, my question is, have any of you ever dealt with an autistic child or one with a similar disorder, and what symptoms were shown and how did you handle it?
 

Entertaining_Angels

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Yes, my son is six and is believed to have Asperger Syndrome (high functioning autism). He was in a special preschool for children with autism and went through intense therapy at a very young age which has made all the difference. I work with young children and occasionally see 'warning' signs but be careful attributing 'quirks' to autism. I've even brought up Early Intervention and its free services with some parents. Some are thankful and some do not want to believe anything is wrong. Your best bet is to find about services through the county that way you can speak with some authority and with compassion when you mention that EI will evaluate a child for free and will provide services for FREE. The earlier a child becomes involved in therapy services the better his outlook and the more likely he'll be able to mainstream in school. If I can help in any way, let me know.l

If you are interested in my son's story: http://www.epinions.com/content_3849691268

Hope this helps.
 
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Lena75

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I have an 8 year old moderate autistic son. Symptoms are usually:
delayed speech
repetitive behaviour
echolalia (repeats everything all the time)
spinning in circles
not responding to pain
delayed social skills (doesn't do what other kids his age does)
no direct eye contact
does not respond to his name (they do eventually, but not before intensive therapy)

Since he's only 2 1/2, the parents may not be concerned yet. Our son was not diagnosed until just after 5. That's when it is most obvious, that yes, there's something not quite right. Some parents also live in denial. We did for the first while, before the diagnosis. But now we live with it everyday and wouldn't change our son for anything!
As for handling him, we tried our best to handle him like any normal child. That, obviously, did not work. We we finally realized that God made this one so totally different than any other, he needs to be treated differently. The main key.....PATIENCE!!! Lots of it. Also try to make direct eye contact when trying to speak to him. If you can get the eye contact and talk simple one or two word sentences, that's a good start. For a 2 1/2 year old, they usually understand short sentences anyway.

They way we got the ball rolling was through a speech therapist. She made the referral to the psychiatrist. We waited 8 months before he got to see our son. After that, we got so much more info and attended workshops saw several therapists and became more aware of autism and how it affects the brain and so on......

Good luck!
 
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