Autism Awareness

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autism autism How we found out our son Walter has autism - It didn't come as a big surprise to us like some kids with autism. Like when they are doing just fine developmentally and then they just stop talking or start acting strange. Walter has had some developmental delays since he was a baby. At first it didn't seem all that bad. But then as he got older and started school it became worse. The most signifigant thing was his behavior and acting out all the time. He started throwing fits when he was about 2 years old. Then by the time he was 3 or 4 his behavior became even worse and more dificult to deal with. But he was still only somewhat behind. He didn't have meltdowns, scencory issues, or self stim behaviors. He started saying his first words when he was about 2 or 3 years old and started talking around age 3 or 4. He learned to crawl and sit up at about 9 months and took his first steps at 15 months. But other then that he was just like any other kid who just had trouble settling down. When he was 4 years old I had him evaluated for autism. But they told me that he just had developmental delays and that it probably wasn't autism. Around that time he started acting out more and hiting people alot at daysare, church and everywhere else. I thought that he was just being a kid and that he would eventualy grow out of it. But when he started kindergarten his behavior continued to get worse and we had to come get him from school almost every day. He wouldn't play with the other kids that much and never wanted to do any work. He would scream and hit everybody. He would also pull down his pants AND underwhare in front of the WHOLE class. And sometimes just use the bathroom in his pants. That's when I knew that something just wasn't right. So I took him for an another evaluation. They told then me that there was a chance he may have autism but thare was a long waiting list and it would be about a year and a half before he could be tested. So he continued having the same proublems. He wouldn't do any work and acted out in school all the time. He wouldn't play with the other kids his age that much or carry on a normal conversation. Then he started repeating things alot by talking about the same thing over and over again. Or asking for/about the same thing all the time untill he got what he wanted. He would keep bugging everyone al the time and wouldn't stop. So when I finaly had him tested later on, he was diagnosed with mild autism. Now he's probably about on a 3 or 4 year old level socialy and developmentaly. He usaly does ok now in bigger group settings that are more organised. But at home or in his smaller special ed classroom he continues to have the same proublems. He is improving alot in some areas but continues to struggle in other areas. I don't know how far he will go as he get's older or how much he will be able to accomplish. He can learn alot and remember ceartin things when he tries hard enough. But alot of times he just won't do it. He also has ADHD. He is still on a kindergartin level and still isn't able to do ceartin things that well on his own. In a way he's like a very hyperactive 3 or 4 year old traped in a 8 year old body. The only type of help there is besides therapy and meds is CAP or community support - which hasn't done that much for him. As hard as it is sometimes, I still try to remain as hopeful as I can be that one day he will over come alot of these issues and be able to do something with his life - including full independance. But only time will tell.Me and Walter Evangacube Evangacube