Topic : Are you a parent of a child with High -Functioning Autism,

i also have a 11yr old son with high functioning autism and we go through daily struggles that i'm sure you do to. my son is in the 5th grade but he is not in the classroom cause he is not at that level although he is 11 he is more at 5-6yrs old.  i also have a 9yr old girl with selective mutism and then a 4 yr old girl so my life is stressful and i'm sure we can be a great support for each other. please email me at llprice@collinscom.net  and my yahoo id is llheilman please add me and when can chat.

lori

I am happy for the early diagnosis. There have been alot of strides made in regular and special education that allow children with autism to develop into very successful members of society. My situation-not so good. By the time my son, now 20, was in junior high school -always self-contained up to that point-never mainstreamed-I was told by his teacher that if I did not make sure that he was heavily medicated at all times-I would have alot of legal trouble out of him. Although he was called "high-functioning" also, that teacher was right. The last 3 years have been a nightmare. But I am happy for those who can live through this and come out with positive results.

Wow,

     You have your hands full. My heart really goes out to You and your whole family.  I have an idea that just may help you. You can email me  healthstar_forevergreen@mchsi.com   I do not know what is allowed on this site  and what isn't. So if you email me I will send you to a site that will really open your eyes to a solution in my opinion. You can read about a woman that has a son with autism and what mircles  has happened in their life.                              Good Luck  

Hi There :)

I am an Australian single mom of a 7 year old who has high functioning Autistic Spectrum Disorder and he too is much like your child. Gabrial had issues with behaviour and speech around 2 and a half which led to the diagnosis but now is doing fantastic. He is in a regular classroom at school and moves to the grade above him for English classes Science Classes and Computer Studies. He is currently reading at a 5th grade level and yes it has been some hard work but honestly I am just so blessed by him. He is beautiful child with such a way with others and is incredibly compassionate. He is very articulate as well. :D He seems to have a 6th sense in his compassion and wanting to make everyone feel better and happy :D

Thanks for a great post :D

   I am  34 years old and live in Scranton, PA, and my daughter was just diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. She just turned 5 in Dec. We are working on getting her involved in an agency in the area called Friendship House to get her the extra help she needs in order to go to Kindergarten in the Fall. It's not been much fun wading through all the red tape! My daughter is extremely brilliant, but has never acted appropriately in social situations. We had to withdraw her from 2 different pre-schools last year and have finally found one willing to stick with her this year. We have been to all kinds of drs. and through all kinds of tests. No one seemed to be able to give us any answers. I was just told over and over again that she was just spoiled and immature. All I knew is that my precious baby girl was struggling!!!!

   I pray that this agency will be able to help her AND me.  I love my little girl, but I get so frustrated! It hurts me so badly when she lashes out at me and kickes and bites. Some days are wonderful and then there are the days that  I swear I can almost SEE a wall between her and I that I cannot break through. I know my baby is JUST behind that wall, but I can't reach her, can't touch her. It's days like this that I feel like a complete failure as a mother and as a person.

  Is there anyone else out there who understands???

 To everyone whom has posted on this board, Thank you. I have felt like knowone in the world understood my families strugles. I have an 11yr old son in fith grade who was not diffinitivly diiagnosed with ASPERGER the best I get is that he has aspergers or PDD. It has been so frustrating. We notice a big difference in my son when he entered School. he would have very odd and e centric behavoirs that just put people off. we pulled himout of kindergarten because he was already on the his way to being expelled fromschool after being suspended 5 times at the age of 5. I asked our doctors over and over again to have some kind of exam to helpme figure out what was going on with my little boy. the olny thing they ALL told me was it was a "maturity issue" and he would grow out of it. we never go any help fromthe schools either. We restarted him into Kindergarten the following year with the highest of hope at anew school in a new district. his teacher was fantastic and very patient but she to new somethingwasoff, howeverstill couldnotgetthe help we needed from the school as a whole. one day they are moving him to a 1st grade class for part  ofhisday and then he is getting suspendendonce again. We movedhis school again to oneofthebest districs in our area and still got very minimal help but what we got helped a bit.then we had to move. A new school But this was the best thing that could have happened. He finally was placein a self contained class and is getting the support fromtheschool and district that we have needed. Just in the past year finally a doctor who listened to me. Realized that the way my 11 yr behaves is not typical of an 11yr old and has told us she thinks he falls in to the aspergers range however it may be coupled with other underling issues. 

Your stories have made me fell less isolated.my family doesnt even help understand or deal appropriately withthis and it has been a very loney battle.i truely hope to make more connections here, noone realizes the heartache we all go threw to  help or children and the strain it puts on a family. Now with a 2yr and a 1yrI have been struggling even more to maintain all my children.      

I am a grandmother with  Perm managing Custody  of my 10 year old boy diagnosed with higher Functioning Autism.   I SO  want Dr Phil to have a show about our struggles withthe School Districts and their reluctance to  give services  in order to  glorify their bottom line $.    I am listed inthe  YELLOW  PAGES  as a volunteer advocate for parents who need  support and  information  / attendance with them  in an ARD - where they  agree or develop an IEP .    I  am in the Weatherford,TX  school district.  They have labled me as a problem parent ...  and are going so far as to testify against me in court  to weaken a current  child custody case I am involved in  with the child's  bio -mom - who  has put this child  in physical dangers more than once.   The bio-mom has had  multiple  personal  & legal issues  with  alcohol and substance abuses up to  2006 that I am aware of.       I have not been around her since mid 2006.

She is my daughter - so I know her issues.    I know another parent who was  illegally held  / blocked from leaving in a school room  when her 2nd grader  had a melt down .  This is called kidnapping - but she can't get an attorney to help her - even though the school has admitted the offense.   Another 2  mothers are taking   anti-depressants for what they have endured with thie  school districts  in advocating for thier children.    The Federal Government needs to  put someone besides the  local State Board over these  abusive  Districts.