My Cousin Has Autism :(

[MattJoseph 0]

Unfortunatly, my cousin has autism. I dont know alot about him. My family doesnt like too talk about it.Do any of your family members have autism?

[master_bacarra 0]

the reason why some people don't want to talk about stuff like autism is because it's a very sensitive subject and families with autistic children might get offended easily. and it's sad because these kids are usually the subject of scrutiny among its peers. they get laughed and and teased with mental retardation, which is so unfair since it's not their fault that they acquired such disability.i have a distant cousin who is autistic. i think he's already reaching highschool now. i haven't seen him in a while since i haven't gone to any of our clan reunions. when he was a kid he was so energetic and he and his other cousins would run around the place and play.i think they should be treated the same way as other kids and they should get all the love they need so they could grow up well despite the condition.

[Mermaid711 0]

Well theres two kinds of Autism:1. The kind that causes you to be an extreme intravert.2. The kind that makes you super bouncy off the walls.Its so sad people have to put up with this. One of my old friends is autistic. She has Aspurgurs Syndrome (I'm sorry i cant spell.)

[puck 0]

First i want to sai that i have an autistic son and i am proud of him. i am proud to be his mom and h cannot embarres me in any way or in any situation, he sees the world not like we see it. i am proud of the way he can handle himelf in spite of his autisme in this sometimes verycold world. i take him everywhere, i donnot hide him or denie him. like i heard some do. he is a better person than the people that dont accept him. i must correct you here, there is not two sorts of autisim, no autistic person is the same as another. my son is autistic, classic autistic. and he is not the introvert type or the bouncing of the walls type. he is a really nice wonderfull kid. and yes they deserve a normal life like any other person. i also want to say that autistic dont mean that you are < i am lookin for words her since i am not english or american> mentally challenged. my son is really smart. he can point out all autobrands, he can read a few words. he can solve puzzles very well. and he can count. he can dress himself and when he wants something he wont stop trying till he succeeds. he is four years, and goes to normal school with a coach. he is normal intelligent to smart. when he goes to see the doctors, he was very sick last year, he is scared like any other kid.but the communication problem makes it hard to explain that the wont puttubes in his nose this time. he likes chocolat and icecream. he likes to ride a bike, and where other kids like to see cartoons he likes to watch commercials or introducingtunes from shows like friends. with his autism he likes familiar things. new situations are scaring him at times. not always like the books say , but it can.like goin to a public toilet. he thinks it is a hospital, all white and waiting people. at a moment like that i cannot get trough to him. he is lost in his fear. that is his main problem. the thing with autism is that the inormation we take in , arrives diffrently i their heads. they say that it comes in in bits and pieces. where we see the wole thing they get fragments. there are autistic people that can function very well in society. but some cant. a part of the problem is also accepting. cuz you ussually dont see in ther faces that they are autistic, unlike down syndrome. mainly autism is a communication thing. and well it is so annoying that when i walk with my son stare, not oncebut turn their heads like three times, who looks like a normal kid, but he behaves diffrent behaviour. like he flaps his hands and screams when he is happy. he cannot speak words, understand language very well. communicates with symbols and sounds. autism is a word for loads of diffrent things. it is like an umbrella for a neurological communication ( i dont want to sai the word dissorder) diffrence. the are no less at all. some know things or understand thing we have no knowlegde off. did you know albert einstein was also autistic? and one period in history autistic kids were seen as a kid with a close connection to god. there are also loads of negative explanations, like refrigiratormums, and changelings. which were allowed to be killed. any questions? ask. i cannot speak for all autistic people i know that. but i am an expert when it comes to my son.

Edited July 1, 2007 by puck (see edit history)

[RAWRzilla 0]

As a person who has a form of Autistic Spectrum Disorder known as Aspergers Syndrome.People who have an ASD aren't necessarily extroverts or introverts, and personally I don't see my Autism as a bad thing.I feel extremely blessed to see things from the point of view I have been given, as it has made me who I am today.Also, MB, could you kindly refrain from using words which contain the word "retard" I am aware that it is a word that has recently become a part of American and English culture, but it is also a word with a highly disablist background.I don't agree that people with ASD only get fragments of information. Autism is all about attention to detail, and often we will pick up things that others don't notice.I wasn't aware that Albert Einstein was autistic, however I did know he was Dyslexic, and failed both math and science in school.Ironic, huh? For a physicist at least.

[bishoujo 0]

Actually autistism is getting more widely-known. In the past, people feel embarrassed about it because they are ignorant and think it's something rare and shameful to have. Now treatment can be sought for the child, depending on the severity of the condition. There are child psychologists, therapists and psychiatrists that can help treat autistism. I believe it is easier for autistic patients to seek help at a younger age.

[Vixen_Poetic 0]

My second son has moderate autism. It was diagnosed before he turned three and he is now ten, and I must say it has been an interesting life. He is smart and observant, clever and artistic. His favorite subject is dinosaurs and he will call them by their proper names instead of diminuatives. But one of the most important things we learned over the years is that the most important contact for most autistics is physical, hugs and kisses and so forth. Because their visual peception is like seeing all the picture all the time it is easy for them to get over-stimulated and distressed or excited and the personal contact helps to cut through all the other stimuli vying for their attention. When our boy was little and still having trouble communicating verbally (and sometimes even now) what I did was to give him my hand and say, "Show me." And he would lead me to what he wanted and some patience, deductive reasoning and a few yes/no questions later and his wants were understood and his need to communicate met. Don't get me wrong, he is still one of the most stuborn kids I have ever had to deal with, but he doesn't strike out just because he isn't getting what he wants.In our efforts to help our boy we even went to a local parent support group... once. We found we had nothing in common with the parents or their children. The parents were more or less unanimous in their complaints about their autistic child's temper tantrums, bad behavior and simple violence. My husband and I quickly realized that they were not adressing their child's frustrations but trying to get on with their own lives. Much later when we were contacted by a counselor and we explained our son's idiosyncracies she noted that we had not mentioned any problems with temper tantrums or violence. We could only explain that we had experienced no such problems with him. After further questions about our relationship with our son, mostly concerning how much we hugged him, she revealed that, in her experience, the autistic kids who lack violent behavior are the ones whose parents always take the time to express to their autistic child that they are loved by holding them and hugging them.

[strange-garden 0]

I saw a thing on mtv about autism. At a young age, they can build amazingly with lego blocks and stuff and actually come across as very smart. I think it's interesting, because I don't know much about it.

[blackhatdacx 0]

Well I was going to relate with you guys about how my nephew has Aspergers Syndrome. He is very active and loves to hang out and have fun. he is only 6years old now as well. He does though, however, have an extreme temper and is very hard on himself for the differences he encounters while playing with others at the school. I have found though that when he was in a private school, believe it or not, that he behaved a great deal better. I would like to think it was due to the extra focus he had from teachers and peers.A side from that, the last strange garden said that autistic children played with Lego a lot, and were good at it. Well as I've grown older I've found it more and more challenging to have a 'grasp' on reality, but I use to play Lego all the time and I was tested as being gifted. However my levels of verbal competency weren't as high as my mental/intellectual abilities. It's strange to think that the way you see the world isn't really the way it's seen.

[GrinningKittie 0]

Hellosies!My daughter is autistic. She will be 11 years old next month. She was diagnosed when she was three. She started out "normally" and then somewhere around 2ish or so she started going backwards in social behaviour and speech. They are still doing so much research about autism. Some feel it is a genetic oopsies. Some feel that the preservatives in shots at the time for kids caused it. Some feel it is a malprocessing issue dealing with glutamen and lactose ( wheat and milk). Some theorize that it is a Secretin ( brain chemical) issue.I can't tell you WHAT it is other than how it affects my daughter and who she is, as autism is a spectrum disorder which means no two autistic kids are alike. She is in the medium to high range. This means that all though she is fairly independant, very social, can read and write to a degree, she still has things we need to work on. For instance she does not speak. She can. The words are there, she just has a hard time using her mouth parts to make words. The doctors also feel this may because she also has seizure activity in the part of the brain that deals with speech ( seizures are not uncommon with autism). She also loves to get information from her senses. We call this stimming ( stimulation) as she loves to be squeezed, played with hard ( her brother loves to wrestle and she makes a great partner but I have to tell him to be careful) eat spicey/sugary/bitter/ tangy items ( which may not always be food items so we have to watch that too). Things we are working on are math ( she hates it), and fine motor skills ( still working on tying shoes), social behaviour ( such as body space) and spelling ( she has a hard time with vowels).Yes I said she is non-verbal however we use sign language and PECS ( picture exchange communication system) for communication. She is a bright child who is happy and loves to interract with others. The way I see it with her is that she gets ALL the information you throw at her and more, yet has a hard time filtering what isn't necesary out. It's like when you are talking with someone. You FOCUS on them. You tune out them blinking, the dog next door barking, the light flickering, the heater humming, the sound of someone walking by, the cat breathing too loudly as it naps etc. You tune all that out and FOCUS on the person's words. Imagine if that ability was ripped away. Imagine NOW trying to focus on what they are saying. Welcome to my daughter's form of autism.My Cousin's son is also autistic (and ADHD/ODD) and he interacts much differently. He goes to a regular school ( my daughter is in a specialized program), loves to add and read, speaks real well and loves to help. However he will not make direct eye contact with you, hates to be touched and is compartmentalized with some of his conceptual thinking. Two very different kids, both born under the autistic spectrum disorder ( and both lovable as all get out).Does my daughter embarrass me ( or anyone else in her family)? No. Sure she has some interesting behaviour in public ranging from giddy ( like squealing and flapping her hands) to innapropriate ( such as trying to stalk someone down who is wearing a strong scent which she finds interesting). It is who she is though. We work with her where we can. She is wonderful to have at a restaurant ( she loves going out) and my little helper when I shop. Anyways that is my two guatalajaran centavos on autism.

[saved_by_grace 0]

My son is autistic, ADHD, and mild MR. I also have a cousin with Asperber's Syndrome.

You can learn more about autism by typing autism, asperger sydrome, or PDD into your search engine.

Some other sites you may want to check out are:
https://www.autism.com/
http://nationalautismassociation.org/

[iGuest 3]

what is wrong with my sonMy Cousin Has Autism

Please could some1 help me my son is 4 and half years old,the doctors keep saying there is nothing wrong with him.But in my eyes I think there is.He is very very clever he can even turn on a laptop type in the pass word then once loaded he goes onto the internet and finds the cbeebies website just by typing it in.But his behaviour is out of control sometimes I cant stop him he hits me,kicks me and even been known 2 bite me,but then after 10 mins he is cuddling me and telling me how much he loves me.He doesn't sleep at night he goes to bed around half 7 but wont go 2 sleep until around half ten eleven,then he is awake around half 2ish untill 4 or 5 then he wakes up again around 6:30.Please if any1 has any idea of what may be wrong with my son please email me on here and let me no as my doctor just wont listen to me-question by michelle taylor

[NxTGaming 0]

First of all, Autism is not retardation
Second if you want to work with autistic children, read this Quote, I found it on Google and it proved to be quite interesting.
Most of the kids I worked with were autistic. If you've ever noticed an autistic child in public or have seen them depicted in movies, you may not realize all you can do with them. But be assured with patience and repetition, as well as a firm, loving hand, coupled with structure, you can
see results. But you have to be patient.

First, be aware there is a wide range of mental functioning in autism. A number of students I worked with had exceptionally high IQs, especially in subjects such as math and science. In fact, one 11-year-old boy I monitored, probably had the highest IQ in his fifth grade math class. His struggles were in social skills and in controlling his emotions. And then, there's my own 14-year-old grandson, Andrew. He's labeled autistic, but highly functional. Just tell him the year of your birth, and he can quickly tell you the day of the week you were born. Andrew is also on top of the weather in every state, staying glued to the Weather Channel. He's fascinated with any map you put in front of him, studying it as closely as other teens study the latest trends.

Then there are kids who fall within the low range of intelligence, some of which, aren't even able to use their words. But, again, with patience and persistence they, too, can learn. Here are a few games and mental exercises that work.

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Edited October 27, 2009 by NxTGaming (see edit history)

[webishqiptar 0]

Oh, that is not a likable condition. I know something about autism, it is a strange disease, which prevents children to develop properly, like other kids. But hopefully it is a condition not influencing the babies life. I hope your cousin makes good therapy to the child, as he may improve and get better. Consulting to the specialist should be necessary.