Challenging Behaviors are a reality for some families of children with autism.  Here are a Few Behavior Supports you can try at home...

• eliminate extra language when giving directions
• eliminate sarcasm and figures of speech
• use visual cues and visual prompts for your child to help them understand and remember
• provide your child with a predictable schedule of evening and weekend events
• be consistent with expectations
• "show" your child what you want them to do
• provide your child with a sensory diet of appropriate sensory input on a regular basis
• create a place in your home with blank space where your child can go to when overstimulated
• talk with an Occupational Therapist about addressing possible sensory needs of your child which may be affecting his/her behavior
• clearly indicate to your child when an activity is about to end and when a new activity will begin (try giving him/her a 2-minute warning " ___is almost done.")
• use a visual or picture schedule or a hand written schedule (if the child is reading) to show your child what will occur that evening and in what order--USE IT WITH HIM/HER!
• provide reinforcement for positive behaviors only, try not to verbally address inappropriate behaviors as verbally addressing them may result in the behavior occuring more and more
• help your child organize him/herself with a variety of bins, boxes and storage organizers which are labeled with pictures or words
• inform your child about changes in his/her environment or schedule before the changes occur
• learn all you can about functional behavior assessment, planned ignoring, reinforcement, blocking and implementing an effective behavior plan

Well the last few days have been quite eventful.   I am not sure about the whole puberty experience thing that is happening in my house hold.   My daughter is maturing and going through those emotional phases. She is in the psychotic angry bitter i want to kill the world phase at the moment.    My son however seems to spend his days plotting my demise.  We wake up to the worst whinning noises every morning.  Then we start the day with the bathroom.  That is always fun around here, because for some reason after eleven years of practice my son no longer can hit the toilet, or clean it up no matter what function he is performing in there.    And wiping of the buttocks is well just unheard of it seems.    It seems that with the onset of puberty my son has lost all self respect and personal hygeine.  Wiping his hands in his bottom is the worst for me.   He refuses to wash his hands at all.  I have to hold him at the sink, or he will turn the water on let it hit his hands and turn it off.   Nothing like your child walking into a room sitting on the couch, and if u have experience you know they like to be in the buff,  smelling like they rolled around in some dead animal and human waste!!!!!   read more »

I am the mother of two with Autism, Aspergers, ADHD, & CP. I am well aware of how it feels to be at home 24/7 with my children, as well as home schooling them, trying to obtain a degree online myself, the tantrums, meltdowns, etc. that all mothers go through. I waited to have these two younger children until I had one that was grown, one that passed away 25 years ago, and I am here for anyone who needs any help.

My two speacil need children are both boys ages 8, and the younger one will be 5 next month. I understand the feelings of feeling as though you are alone, frustration, and all that comes from having special need children. But we must remember, these children are special gifts to us from The Creator:)

Okay so let me start by thanking the sight for allowing me to become part of a wonderful world surrounded by my peers.   My name is Corienne Meid,  known as Cori for those closest to me. I am the mother of an eleven year old, high functioning child who was diagnosed with Persuasive Developmental Disorder  or PDD-NOS  and a tic disorder that has yet to be classified.   My husband and I are both in our very early thirties. Dustin , my husband,  was diagnosed with a rare kidney disorder and they failed a few years ago.  He is currently waiting on a transplant and does peritoneal dialysis for nine hours every night.  My daughter, Reine (pronounced Rain), is ten years old and probably the most educated medically in her class.   She can change the dialysis machine, and do insulin with out batting her eyes.   Definately a special gift from god sent to help me on this bumpy journey of life.   She however deals with scoliosis and lots of back pain.  Amazing she hardly ever complains.    I, myself have been battling blood pressure and heart issues for a few years.   Last year was diagnosed with diabetes.  

     Anyway, back to the task at hand.  My eleven year old hasnt responded to well to medications.  After trying over ten different types and combinations we have settled on Respiradol and Clonidine.   The clonidine scared me at first because my husband takes that and has a hard time staying awake.  It made me very nervous to give such a strong pill to my son.  However after ten years of getting less than three hours a sleep at night, clonidine has become my new best friend.   Night terrors are rare now, he sleeps all night and doesn't seem like a zombie during the day.   I love it!   read more »

God help us, Aspie is experiencing some 'plumbing' problems; ie. - he feels like he has to pee all the time.  While we are trying hard to work this out with the urologist, it is causing him a GREAT deal of mental anguish in the meantime.  Today, I took him to the Va Science museum (a favored activity) to try to take his mind off his troubles.  We worked our way thru the museum with sort of a pattern - he would say: "I'm trying my best, but I just can't take it anymore!  read more »

As I am typing this, my daughter sits behind me in my computer chair. She's "hmmmm'ing" and saying "yummy yummy yummy yum prezzel", and then proceeds to climb over my shoulder to grab a pretzel from her bowl, which she sucks the salt off of and throws away. She'll be four at the end of the month, and while she is still developmentally behind her neurotypical peers, she has made huge strides in the last year.

November of 2009 she was officially diagnosed with Autism, which wasn't a surprise to me at all. I first suspected she was different around the time she turned a year old, when she started lining her toys up and stacking her books just so. She also didn't make eye contact. At the time, instead of saying something to anyone, I told myself I would keep an eye on her for 6 months and see what happened. We considered her quirky and maybe a little OCD. 

After 6 months, she had gone from saying 10 words to only saying 5 words. The hand flapping also started, and her lack of eye contact was more noticeable. She seemed to prefer playing by herself and would seem extremely uncomfortable around large groups of people. Feeding her was tough because she seemed to dislike everything. Her pediatrician noticed the lack of eye contact and questioned the loss of language, deciding to see her back in 6 months to see if there were any changes.   read more »

Zare bit a girl at Sunday School. We disciplined him on Sunday after church, but there was no chance for apology at church (tantrum). So I need to call the church to get the number for the family as I have lost their number. I warned Zare that an apology would need to be coming soon. He looks at me terrified,

"But I have already been punished!"

That's what we call it.

We say he has "issues" because frankly... I don't know what the hell to call it anymore.

Tantrums, crying fits, inappropriate social behavior, screaming (no, really, blood curdling screams.) jumping, hand flipping. I could go on and on.

A condition called PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delay, Not Otherwise Specified) has always seemed like the most likely culprit. It's an autism spectrum disorder. It's a blanket diagnosis for children that don't fit the traditional autistic diagnosis.

Of course there are those that think I'm crazy... this doesn't fit. When you see him a time or two, of course I seem like a cuckoo, but there isn't a day that goes by when I pray to wake up just to find out I really am crazy.

To help you understand, I'm going to copy the description from the Autism Speaks website... cause they will explain it much better than I do, (though the above description does seem pretty acurate):

PDD-NOS
What it Is

Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, or PDD-NOS, for short, is a condition on the spectrum that has those with it exhibiting some, but not all, of the symptoms associated with classic autism. That can include difficulty socializing with others, repetitive behaviors, and heightened sensitivities to certain stimuli.

How it's similar to classic autism  read more »

subtitle:  The All-New (Yet disturbingly familiar) Adventures of Aspie and Autie.

This blog will follow the ups and downs of life with my two sons on the spectrum.  Aspie is 10 and has high functioning Aspergers Syndrome (think of a little Jimmy Neutron).  Autie is 7 and has profound autism.  Living with the combination of the two of them has lead to both the absolute toughest and also the most unbelievably hilarious moments in my life.  It really needs to be documented somewhere for future generations.  So here we go, this is a start, many more blogs to follow.  

Sign me,  IPGL (I Plan, God Laughs). 

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