Autism

Does this look like the face of autism?  Think again.

I know this is may be off the beaten path of what my website is about but my oldest son has autism and I would like to raise awareness of this disorder.  I am not an expert so this is just my story and opinion.  No child regardless if they can talk or not is going to come to you and say “Mom and/or Dad I have autism and am suffering can you please help me?”  We are their advocates!  Being aware that it exists, being informed and looking for the soft signs as well as the red flags is a good way to start and remember it is never too late to take action.  We missed the soft signs with Zachary, because we were not aware of them.  However, once we started seeing issues and gathering information and seeking help realized that he does have and was diagnosed with autism along with generalized anxiety disorder.  He has high functioning autism and most would tend not to see him as an autistic child, but on an illustrated graph on http://www.autismspeaks.org he fits into quite a few of the categories.  Some are severe and some are mild or don’t exist at all.  However being aware that the severity of the mild issues or issues that don’t exist at this point in time can change and taking action immediately is your best defense.  I encourage you to review http://www.autismspeaks.org website or another one that you would find useful so that you may be able to help your child or someone else in need.  Support systems can be very comforting as you maneuver your way through helping your child.  Each day is different in that it can be a good day or it can be a struggle, but we take it one day at a time and do what we can.

If you have a story and/or advice and would like to share it, please do so.  Any additional information and support is always greatly appreeciated.

FYI: Your school and teachers can be your best help or your worst enemy.  In our case the schools are/were the worst enemy, but the teachers are our best help.

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