Autistic children

@inertia4 That is the scary thing. You really never know what is going into your body whether it is food, medicine, shots, or drink. I wouldn't trust the government not to give us stuff we shouldn't have or use as a guinea pig.

My child is extremely low functioning. I am just now coming to terms with reality. It doesn't mean I'm going to give up on him. It just means I have to face the realization that he will always need help. I know he learns some through the computers and ipads. For whatever reason the lights and movement of the screens catch their attention. Actually, I have two on the spectrum. My other has aspergers and is extremely intelligent. The low functioning child I don't see any unusually fabulous capabilities. With the oldest, she is extremely intelligent.

@mommaj I think these conditions come from the vaccines they get. But who really knows. Also I believe that the food we ate and eat and the food they eat can cause many things. Who really knows what they are injecting in our food.

I saw that one...yes, that child was rather special in that movie. But not sure every autistic child is like that.

@vandana7 I have never seen that movie. I have to agree with you. Not all autistic children are gifted. I think mine are very special, but in reality they aren't above average at anything, except maybe my oldest who is at the high end of the spectrum.

@mommaj ..when "normal" children grow up, they do many things that the parents may hurt about. But when an autistic child grows up, there is only the feeling of pride I suppose. I wanted to adopt a mentally challenged girl, but didn't qualify.

Hugs and kisses to your little one. My son loves all the music. On our way to school we sing "The wheels on the bus" because we do the version with the windshield wipers and he likes the swish sound and word. I also did it with a baby on the bus and he likes the baby crying noise. If you've seen Jack's big music show where they bang on the piano with their feet you can imagine what my son is doing now. Thank goodness it's a little toy piano.

It is good to treat him as normal as possible. In my experience with Aspergers the person is highly intelligent. He should be able to function on his own or maybe with some help. My son is classic autistic. He's now ten and barely puts two words together. Yes he will be with me forever. He does show interest in taking care of himself, like cooking. Someone has to help him though.

@DanieGirl80587 Sounds like he could get a simple job. Your mom is probably right too though. He may never change from how he is now. It is hard being the sister of a special needs kid. I feel bad for my daughter because she doesn't get to do a lot of things she wants since I can't take her if my son is home. He can't do a lot of the things she wants to do.

@mommaj I'm glad he's at least showing an interest. I don't live with my brother anymore and I guess being the older sister I felt my mom treated him differently. Like she was harder on me at times. I grew up and lived the "normal" life I guess you could call it. My mom feels he will never be able to potentially grow up. He will always have the mindset of a child and she may be right. She feels he will never get a driver's license because he sees it like 1 of his video games. He has no initiative to cook or clean. Most of his friends were always younger than him. But I feel he could still get a job because he does listen and knows what people ask of him.

The kids that realize they are different are the ones I feel the worst for. As you said, all they want is to be accepted.

They call it the autism spectrum because each child is completely different and at different levels. There is a highly functioning, usually highly intelligent level, with IQ's higher than ours with aspergers. Then there are children with just social awkwardness. My child is at the bottom of the spectrum with classic autism. He will probably never talk, never be able to communicate. No one has any idea what he knows because he will not show you. Autism is an interesting diagnosis. I think people need to be made more aware of the different types. I've seen autistic children hurt themselves by pounding their heads into walls or floors. Some of them even rock. It is a very strange diagnosis.

Well that's something new for me today. I never read that they can actually learn how to socialize. That's a good thing for me to learn then. I've met autistic children in an outreach program - and I know that they do like affection. They like being touched. And amazingly, those kids actually liked hugging people although they'd try to make sure that no body else is hugging their "lucky partner" (we weren't assigned to them and there were far to many of them for us to spend a one-on-one with them, so we were really supposed to take care of more than one child although each of them kind of tried to get 100% of our attention - which only meant we had to give 200% :D and not give them half of what they wanted). Come to think of it... if they didn't learn about socialization, then why did they try to get someone's attention... Thank you for that lesson :)

My son is diagnosed with autism as is my cousin and most of the kids in my child's class at school. Right now he goes to a school that is "special needs" because he is not yet in kindergarten. Anyway I know the children aren't born knowing happy and sad but they are taught. Even though children see our expressions, most of the time they don't ask if your happy or sad. Somehow they just recognize it. With an autistic child they LEARN socializing. I saw a little boy on the low functioning end of the spectrum that has just started to talk. He is learning socializing skills as well as learning feelings. We take so much for granted until we actually watch someone learn what we automatically know. My son has only "hugged" me once and he won't kiss but he wants affection. He loves to be held, and hugged and he also likes to be tickled. Autistic kids are more than just slow in development but I have seen the social responses that are being taught to and learned by autistic children so I use the generalization of "slow development". You are right I shouldn't because there is a lot more to it than just "slow development". Thanks for helping to clarify for others.