I have seen another mother on here and her guide to what she has gone through with her aspergers child. I myself have two children on the autism spectrum. I wanted to take the time to educate some people about what you can not expect!

Now most people when they think of a autistic child they think of a child unable to speak who is twirling around lost in a world of their own! This is called classical autism. There are 5 different kinds of autism spectrum disorders, they are also commonly called pervasive developmental disorders. Now just because you hear a parent or educator say the child is autistic do not jump straight to classic and a nonverbal child. You are way off base. More parents need to learn to say a-typical autism rather than high functioning autism. Because a child with aspergers, pdd, cdd, or rhett is not a high functioning autistic, they are on the spectrum or a a-typical autistic.

1.Classic Autism.Shows normal development and then child regresses Anywhere from 18 months to 3years of age, and begins or completely loses speech, social skills. Child shows clumsiness and prefers to stick to a strict routine.Often appears to be “off in their own world” Does not make eye contact.

2. Aspergers.Often can show its head in as early as babys 6 months old! Signs and diagnosis are normal made apparent at about 3-4 years of age. Sometimes earlier or later depending on the child previous developmental milestones. Aspergers, shows lack of social awareness.Inability to feel empathy or sympathy for other children. Child may have speech delays. I.E Parroting. When the child will repeat what adult says so he may give him self more time to process the response. Head bangin,. Hand flapping, finger wiggling.Clumsiness.Does not make eye contact. High i.q is normal when child has no other interfering mental retardation. Child prefers to stick to a routine. I.E Same route to school and grocery school. Meal times never vary. Because this is a disorder it can manifests itself in a different way in every child. The child often will line up his toys or park his cars. So diagnosis of ocd, odd and anxiety disorder are common. We call these a charm bracelet when i come from. As a child will end up with so many RX’S He will require a bracelet with a charm for each rx.Aspergers is more common in boys.

3 .Rhett. This is nearly all girls and shows arge amounts of hand wringing an anxiety besides some of the more typical autistic signs, of social skills and such.

4. Childhood disintegrative disorder.This is where a child progresses normally untill approximately age 4-6 an then begins to deteriorate into a aspergers or autistic like child. I have heard it called late onset autism. or a-typical autism. This is not correct. A child who develops these symptoms ate seems to still be able to pick up on emotions of the people surrounding him. A child of aspergers or Autism can not .All other symptoms seems to mirror Aspergers, or a higher functioning autism. May make eye contact

5.PDD, NOS PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDER NOT OTHER WIDE SPECIFIED.This one is a ringer! This is what they call a catch all diagnosis. When the doctor knows they have one of the autism spectrum disorders but they are unable to classify which one they often go with pdd,nos. So they can give the parents and other professionals a starting point to do further diagnosis. Pdd, Nos always presents itself as all of the other spectrum disorders. Child may make too much eye contact or be too social though for the doctors feel comfortable going with the aspergers or classic diagnosis. A child with pdd, can be even harder to treat as you are not sure what exactly you are treating, you only know its something on the autism spectrum. May or may not make eye contact.

I realy hope that this guide can help parents of autism spectrum children feel more comfortable in the community with their kids. To those of you who are seeking information on what all the fuss is about. I hope this guide helps open your eyes about the struggles and fights theese familys and mine make every day! Are theese kids capable of being out of control brats? Yes yes yes! But they are also capable of doing something great. Albert Einstein and Sir Issac Newton show that. Give them your support and watch them flourish!

Since writting this guid we have learned some heart breaking news. My younger son who we had thought might have pdd,nos is being diagnosed with Childhood disintigrative disorder. He has lost control of his bowels and bladder in a short one weeks time and he is off in his own world more than he is in our’s now. We are doing our best to get all the care that he needs set up but we have made the decision now that we must put him back in diapers. This is oneof the hardest decisions we have had to make as of yet. I want to ad that if any parent is going through things ike this it is good tofind a support group to help you through. Everyone needs someone to talk to. Take advantage of the help you are offered. It wont always be there.