Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who have written and made comments...keep them coming! I would like to give you a little history of my special little guy, but be forewarned, you may need a tissue or two...My son, McKay was born on October 28th, 2005. I was married to my now ex husband at the time. When McKay was three months old, he was abused by my ex. McKay was crying and he picked him up out of the bouncy chair, backhanded him across the face, hit both of his ears so hard they turned black, shook him and squeezed him and then threw him onto the hardwood floor. I took McKay to the hospital, and they did CT scans and full body x rays. He was going into schock and if I would have let him go to sleep, he would have gone into a coma. He could have died from his injuries. He was bruised for almost a month! I left my ex, and now am remarried to my wonderful husband whom I have known since I was 12. He treats McKay how he should have been treated in the first place...like gold! He has been in his life since it happened. I have noticed signs of autism in McKay since he was a baby, I just didn't know what it was at the time. It seems a lot to handle for being only 26, but all this stuff that has been going on with McKay only makes me stronger. Sometimes it's frustrating when all you want is for him to listen. When he started lining up the cars, and then freaking out if you moved them even a tiny bit, and being obsessed by lights and clenching his whole body up and shaking, my mom was the one who suggested I look into checking him for autism...so I did, and the doctors agreed...now my mom is the one telling me that he is just in the terrible two's stage, he'll grow out of it, you need to discipline him, potty train him, etc...if I knew where to start in any of those directions, I think I would have had it done by now. Mine and my husband's family think that once we solve these problems, that he will be "cured"...which I have told them that isn't going to happen. I have heard people tell me all the time that he just needs a good swap on the behind and that will set him straight, but I can not lay a hand on him after what happened to him when he was a baby. Everytime I try and tell my family something new about autism, or anything that relates to it, all they say is that he's just going to grow out of it in a little while. How does one make them see what you go through everyday? McKay is going to be 3 and says "cookie" for anything he wants to eat, and "juice" for a drink (now grante, it has to only be Tampico juice, or there is nothing at all) He will only eat a handful of things, which include: french toast, fries, cookies, some cereals, pop tarts, he's addicted to suckers, tampico juice, chicken nuggets, bananas, spaghetti, etc. He did eat some cantaloupe and honeydew the other day, something I never thought I would see. I have been distracting him more when he throws a tantrum, and trying to make him laugh. I don't want to scream and yell at him anymore. I have cut down a lot, even today. It does seem to make it worse. I really liked the comment about how they can sense your mood and things like that. What makes it even harder sometimes is my ex still gets to have visits with him (supervised) and when he comes back from them, he just lays on the floor in a ball and stares. He is very routine oriented, and taking him out of it every other weekend really does a number on him. Then it takes a couple days for him to get back in to the swing of things. I would like to hear more about the dietary changes people have tried, how do you get them to try something new? We went out to Lowe's today and bought new outlet covers, and  I am thinking of giving him his own little "junk drawer" to play with in the kitchen...his room is decorated in the movie "Cars" everything...even down to the bed. When I am down at my mom's house I will upload some pics so everyone can see. Autistc kids are such a blessing to have, and I thank god everyday that he is in my life. It may be challenging, but well worth every minute of it. Thank you all!