Anyone out there with a child with autism of any type or level?

Question

Does your child have this and if so, do you have any resource materials that you have looked to to learn about the topic and how to handle things for your child?

Answer 1

www.njcosac.org/

there is a sectio under punlications that has great resources such as an Intoduction to ABA-don't know if they charge for non NJ residents

www.autism-society.org

www.autismspeaks.org

also look for books by Catherine Maurice (Behavioral Interventions) about the ABA method

and Dr Stanley GreenSpan (DIR/floortime method)

there are also less popular methods such as Miller and SONRISE-

some children with autism do okay in a more typical/traditional program

Answer 2

I don't have a child with autism, but I'm interested in becoming a special ed teacher, and focus on autism.  

You might want to google Daniel Tammet.  He has asperger's syndrome (on the high functioning side) and is also an autistic savant.  He has a book called "Born on a Blue Day" which talks about his dealings with autism.

Answer 3

My son is a lot like yours. He's OK in many ways, but has problems interacting with kids his age. He prefers older and bigger kids or girls as they're gentler and more predictible and he runs away from toddlers or crawling babies.

As we're living in a foreign country (China), you can imagine the resources are next to nothing. There's no support group, and the society still consider such disorder as tabboo. And with the language barrier, it's not easy to find any friends, let alone playdates.

Fortunately, my son's situation is mild, and we've been moving places since he's a baby, so I think he's adopted the "adaptation tactic". He adapts to new homes and environments pretty quickly.

And my husband can support us so I stay home and become his therapist. Our consultant comes from Hong Kong and since we're foreigners (hence not insured), we need to pay an arm and a leg for their time. But it's worth every cent. We're doing ABA therapy and in just a short 9 months, I've seen my son transforming from puzzling to a cheerful, humorous, bright kid who loves cuddles and kisses. I sign him up for gymboree, once a week. Because it's not everyday, my son is not feeling the stress of meeting children, in fact, he's looking forward to go there now.

Bless the internet and online shopping, I researched a lot about Autism from anywhere possible, through links I found www.evenbetternow.com, model me kids dvd, baby bumblebee action words dvd. They really help. Still, the ABA helps the most! Especially in socialization. He now tolerates all children, can play happily (and sometimes, together) with other kids at jumping gym and gymboree, when there are less than 5 children.

Answer 4

I've got two severe autistic sons and have been dealing with it for almost 17 years. Best thing you can do is go to the many autism seminars out there as well as join a support group. Many universities have an autism center now and hold seminars regularly. The seminars are usually repetitive so you can start at a beginning stage and progress.

There are many ways to get the funds to attend: your child's school system, your states governor's disability action council (or something similar), local agency on disability. Your school district might also have an autism team that you can consult. If there is something you need, ask for it.

Help is out there but I've found most often that it is not offered, you have to go after it yourself. There are websites galore out there. Put 'autism' in any search engine and you'll hit paydirt.

One thing I would have to stress is that nothing is a one-size-fits-all when dealing with autism. Take what you find works for your child and don't worry about what doesn't. Be creative, adaptive and use common sense.

Answer 5

I am a parent with of a adult child with Autism and Mental Retardation.

Go and Google "Autism". There are many, many, many websites about Autism.

Also, go and Google "Temple Grandin" and "Donna Williams". Both of these people are Autistic and have written books about what it is like in having Autism.