Story of a Child
with Autism
-Anonymous, Excerpt from a mother's journal, reproduced with
permission.
Autism is defined as a developmental disability which usually
appears within the first three years of life and affects language
and social interaction. In this journey, I have met many children
with autism. I have found that none look exactly like my son.
They all have similarities, and that it is best called the
autism spectrum because there are so many nuances of the disability.
One child with Autism might be withdrawn and quiet, while
another might be overly verbal and hyperactive. What unites
them all is their deficits in the areas of communication,
social interaction, and creative or imaginative play.
Autism and Applied
Behavior Analysis or ABA
Our son was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2 years old.
Within weeks, through the good fortune of meeting another
mother who had run a home-based Applied Behavior Analysis
or ABA program for her autistic son, we had begun an ABA program,
which continued until our child was seven. Around the time
of his diagnosis, he began a diet free of gluten, casein,
and corn, which he continues to this day. However, we recently
re-introduced corn in order to expand his diet without any
seemingly adverse behavioral consequences.
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One Child and
Recovery From Autism
Today, our once-autistic son is fully-included or "mainstreamed"
in second grade without a shadow (aide), and receives speech
therapy at school for 1 hour each week. He is a so-called
"recovered" or "best outcome" child, but
there remain residual issues which we continue to address
in the areas of social skills, comprehension, and behavior.
We are no longer "sprinting the marathon", which
we felt when he was two years old. Then, every moment was
dedicated to teaching him and helping him move forward. We
are enjoying family moments that at the beginning of our journey
we never thought would be possible when we received the diagnosis
of Autism.
Do you have an
Autism Story to Share?
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