New member

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Hi,

New member here. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was a kid 25 years

ago. Now, my first son was diagnosed with PDD about a year and a half

ago. As I'm learning more about ASDs, I'm seeing that there's some

things in me that may not have been diagnosed when I was younger

(banging head against wall, etc). I've learned to manage quite a bit of

it, so most things aren't outwardly problems anymore. In a strange way

I'm glad I had those problems, because I feel it makes me well equipped

to guide and teach my son while he goes through the tough years (as if

they'll ever end!).

He's always been very mellow and extremely affectionate, which I think

goes a long way towards people accepting him and his diagnosis. He's

currently 3 years old and mostly non-verbal, apparently more so at early

intervention (school) than he is at home. At home he has to " compete "

with this little brother and sister for attention, so it's almost an

implied " speak now or forever hold your peace " . We've tried the book

they sent home for him, but his little brother loves to get into it,

tear out all the pictures and lose them, so out of necessity, it mostly

sits on a shelf in the kitchen for when he gets really frustrated. You

can tell by watching him figure things out that he's very smart, and he

uses words for things that he uses every day such as blankey, banana,

juice, etc, and mostly signs the rest.

I was researching and on the lookout for any signs of autism before he

was even born because of my ADHD, so we were able to catch it early. The

men in my family have a history of speaking around age 3, but there were

other warning signs we noticed, such as the " dancing " he does, flapping

hands, etc. We're lucky to live not only in a state (MA), but a county

with great early intervention and autism services. Early intervention

was coming to the house for a little over a year, and now he's been in

school for a few months. We just had our second IEP session, and

increased his day to a full day instead of a half, so he could go to an

ASD classroom they have there and still do his regular OT, PT, speech,

etc.

As for my other son, besides being a little off the wall, he doesn't

seem to have any symptoms of an ASD, and the little girl doesn't even

have a hint. She's been smiling and interacting with people on an

amazing level I've never seen in a child, and she's been that way since

literally the day after she was born. They're all great in their own

way, and while I can't wait to see what they'll be like in 10 years, I

also don't want them to grow a day older than they are now.