Hello again Pat,

A few months ago had written a message not knowing you would personally respond to.Just wanted to give you a little update. In my last email I sent to you; I said I had seen you on a TV show and wrote your web site address because I related to the situations that you had been dealing with your children.And I submitted some examples about the Christmas lights and the decorations on our tree;and him spinning in a circle while his eyes looked in the opposite direction and how he couldn't eat warm foods.

At the momment I had written to you I had no insurance and was holding back to get my son tested.( I didnt know there were some free services but are very limited)He now has insurance and was imediately seen by his physician he was waiting patiently since he knew of my situation. As soon as he was seen he was ordered STAT to a pediatric neorologist, on June 3 he was seen and diagnosed with sensory integration disorder.I relayed the diagnoses to my pediatrician and he was upset said NO that is not it.So he is sending me for a second opinion. Since we live in Arizona the neorologist made a referal to AZEIP (Arizona Early Intervention Program) we had a nurse come to our home for an interview.She was there with us well over an hour and he didn't try to look at her or interact with her. She would call to him and try to get him to play with her and he didnt respond.She said to me he had many signs of Autisim and his speech is delayed by more than 50%.She told me their program only offers one type of therapy at a time but due to the fact that she had some major concerns she was going to talk to her supervisor and get my son into Ocupational therapy and Speech therapy.She to said it was a good idea to get the second opinon and to get him seen by a Developmental Pediatrician and a Pediatric Audiologist for a diagnoses.

The one concern I'm now starting to have is that I see him getting more aggressive and he is beginning to hit us with whatever object he has in his hand and he even went as far as biting my sons shoulder yesterday and wouldnt let go. I'm speaking about this to his doctor tomorrow so I will wait and see when he gets to see the pediatric neorologist or developmental pediatrician.Your website is very helpful and easy to navigate.

Thank You Pat

Patience is a gift that we share with our children.

I am the mother of an autistic son. He is 23 yrs old. Your story Welcome To My World really hit home in my heart, I too have days of crying and asking God why me and why Kevin? As Kevin grows so does my faith in God grow for I have a son who does not speak much but a word or two at a time, not potty trained yet, that has been fun, doesn't dress or undress or say when he is in pain. I have to find it.

Some examples in my life are not knowing Kevin had a cyst that was draining and in process of healing, since it was really close to rectum I did'nt see it until one day he bent over to pick up a toy off the bathroom floor and I saw what looked like a second rectum, I start crying calling emergency took him in to find polyanidal cyst which is fine clean and healing oh my gosh how could my own child have an owie and me not know it? Feelings of guilt set in. Why didn't I look before now. I never thought to bend him over and look. These wake up calls are pay more attention to child and world pay more atttention to God. He is there for Kevin regularly. 

Kevin had to have 2 spinal surgeries at age 16 for scoleosis. Kevin walked all the way down the hall the very next morning with a smile on his face. He needed only a little pain meds for God was holding him and his pain. Kevin has the ability to make your heart melt with his smile and he has the most beautiful blue eyes you have ever seen. My story may seem like rambling. I am constantly in hurricane mode with my thoughts. Even now I wonder what he is doing. While I'm typing, thoughts of him are with me every minute of the day and night. However, I feel blessed to be able to be reminded daily of how unimportant our own desires really are. I have a son that talks to Jesus and God without being able to talk to us humans. Kevin tells me granny and grandpa are with Jesus also and dancing and saying wheeeeeeeee,

I loved the short part of your story and will love to read the book. Please hurry. Thank you for reminding me I share thoughts and feelings with other women who also want to be the very best they can be with what God has chosen for them. Thank you.

I am Jessica and I have 2 boys. Caleb and Nathan. Nathan is 3 years old and he does not have Autism. Nathan is a handful and a half but a smart,fun and loving little boy. Nathan has been evaluated and mostly just lacks social emotional skills. So for now we just have to keep a eye on him. Caleb is almost 5 years old and he has Autism. Caleb developed perfectly until he reached 15 months old. He went in for his routine 15 month check up, got his vaccines and a few days later had Salmonella (?). He was also hospitalized for breathing trouble.

During the next couple months I watched my son slip away from the little boy he once was. He was a talker and he loved playing with his cousin who is 2 months younger then him, When is was 18 months all he did was scream, head bang off everything he could, bite, hit, kick etc. He lost all his communication skills. At his 18 month check up I was told to wait it out because since there was a new baby around he was having issues. We lived with my brother and his wife and they just had a new little baby boy. I knew better but I did not want to think anything was wrong with him. I kept taking him back in and I was always told give it time. By his 2 year check up he was so far behind it was crazy.

We did start using a Birth to Three 5 months prior to him turning 2.By the time Birth to 3 came in his speaking ability was at the age of a 9 month old baby and he was 19 months old.
Finally I was given some information on where to go and I started the process. I could not believe it took almost another 4 months to get him in to see the team of doctors and the fee they wanted that state insurance did not cover. After 3 days of driving 170 miles round trip each day we got the Autism diagnoses with regression. It was so hard to grasp. I had never heard of it before and from what I read I was scared to death. The developmental pediatrician was a nasty rude careless woman. She blamed me for his behavior and said I was unwilling to try to help my son. I did everything I could. I drove so many times to get him help but these people always were playing the blame game. Well if you would only do this he would do better or your not trying hard enough, that is what I would hear. So I found a new Doctor who is a Neurologist and she has been wonderful. She has told me Caleb is High Functioning Autistic with ADHD and Bi Polar disorder. With meds he has done pretty well. Alot of his meltdowns are from lack of communication.

Caleb started school right after he turned 3 and this year he goes to kindergarten. He still is very delayed in his speech and other areas. He will have a teacher who has her own child with Autism which makes me feel better. He is doing a in home therapy program and he has come along way. It is hard to see him and then see his 3 year old brother just whizzing past him in everything. I cry because I can not make it better. I cry because there are some many things I want to try but we have no money to do so. All these stories about DAN doctors and GFCF diets make me have hope but we can not afford that treatment. We barely make it now. So for now we just have to keep doing the Speech, OT and in home program or he loses skills.

Even though Caleb has Autism he has always remained very loving and affectionate towards others. He shows empathy some of the time and he is the first to give a hug and a kiss. I would tell other parents just love your children the way they are because they are perfect. My son might not talk like others, play like others or act like others but he is perfect because he is mine and he is wonderful.

My name is Cassandra Rasmussen. I am from Concord, New Hampshire and I'm the mother of two children with autism. My daughter Larissa, age 5, is my oldest and the first of my children to be diagnosed with autism. When she was about a two years old my husband, Doug, and I had noticed that she wasnt really talking and seemed to have alot of tantrums. I was a little concerned after watching a t.v. program about autism because it seemed like all the red flags they mentioned were there. I contacted her pediatrician who agreed that she is delayed and recommended Larissa see a developmental professional within their office. At the appointment with her I went in thinking "Im not ready to hear this" Larissa failed her ages and stages assesment and I explained the tantrums and lack of eye contact and emotion. The lady asked me what my concerns were and I blurted out "autism". She nodded her head and refered me to a neirologist. He insisted the delay was temperary and she only needed a little speech therapy. I wasn't satisfied! I then took her to a team of specialist in my state and 4 hours later we heard the diagnosis, "Larissa has what we refer to as Classic Autism Spectrum Disorder." I felt my heart drop, as prepared as I was I couldnt believe it. She was a month away from turning three at this point and was recommended to the Concord NH Public school system. She started there in April 07 and is doing well. Although I do feel she needs more than she recieves I am in the process of pushing for more services. Throughout the process of getting Larissa diagnosed we found out that we were expecting another baby. I was really excited and had a great pregnancy even though I was under a lot of stress. We had our son Kaysten in October of 2006 and he was perfect. He seemed to be on schedule development wise and was doing well. Until around age two when I noticed again he really wasnt talking much and the words he did say werent making any sense. Already having Larissa I knew early intervention is key. My only concern was his speech he really seemed to be fine other than that. He was evaluated by a team of professionals and I was able to get him services for a greater than 33% delay in speech. He started working with an OT therapist who noticed he had a shake in his hands and some spaceyness and also he was a little over emotional. Based on history with Larissa I increasingly became concerned. I contacted his pediatrician and he recommended an eveluation with the developmental professional within there office. At his appointment he failed his ages and stages assesment and from there we got in contact with the same team of professionals that diagnosed Larissa. Kaysten went in in March 08 and after 4 hours we heard "Kaysten is strong in a lot of areas unfortunantly he does have sugnificant delay and we are diagnosing him with PDD-NOS, a form of autism." My heart broke. I didnt show much emotion and to this day I go with the flow but it by far was the hardest thing Ive ever had to deal with. It has been two months since Kaystens diagnosis and we are learning how to deal with it. Because he is under three still he gets early intervention services and is showing a lot of progress. Although this is a new experience with two young autistic children I think we are getting the hang of it. Larissa will be in kindergarden in September 09 and Kaysten starts preschool in October 09. I used to ask myself "Why us? Why our family? I did everything right I had prenatal care, I read the books, Why my children?" I dont ask that anymore, I now know that we were given these two beautiful and amazing children who may lack in some areas but they excel so much in others and although we face a lot of challanges now and in the future we are ready and willing to do all that we can to make our childrens lifes full and thriving. We now know that AUTISM IS OK!!!