Need Help from Moms W/child with Autism

My son is 16 and is highly functional autistic. He has never enjoyed reading, except for a little bit recently, and even when he did read would not pick up on anything in the story that was implied instead of stated. I would read the book also, if it was a school assignment, and explain it to him.

Please join the yahoo group reversingautism. Andrea has helped my son with simple, inexpensive suggestions more than all the expensive treatments we have tried.

Take care.

The alphabet is difficult because the English language is difficult to learn for them - so many rules and different ways to pronounce. My son is 18 and high functioning autism, reading level is 5th grade. When he gets frustrated with reading, I remind him that everyone has different stregnths and weaknesses, but he does need to try. My son will be graduating from high school this year and we are looking at certiciate programs at the college level that are hands on programming to eliminate the heavy reading.

Although this is frustrating to the family, it is also very frustrating to the child. Be there as a word coach for him as they need a place they can feel accomplished. Bringing out his other talents balances his ability to read - god has a great way of compensating - society sometimes has a great way to cutting that off....

I do suggest books on tape! ALL of my sons text books for school are on CD's that he can listen to. I also get him any book that he shows interest in - generally they are the very large coffee table books that have great pictures...he will sit for long periods of time looking at the pictures and reading the small captions that go with them. My son also loves his music - which a great out for him.

I do agree that reading is imperative in their lives. Be patient and give him alternative avenues to compensate for this one weakness.

Good luck and god bless.

B.

I don't personally have experience with autism, but I have 3 friends who do. They always recommend the MOMA WARRIORS group. I assume that they have a site that you can go to. I think they offer a huge idea exchange from all moms of kids with autism. Good luck to you and your family.

Since, 1st responding to your post I've been web searching and there is not a specific site for Moma Warriors... hmmm. Anyway, I checked back with two of my friends and they are adamant about diet. Try nourishinghope.com and affordabletherapysolutions.com. There is so much info out there and I'm sure that it can be overwhelming. One of my friends said that she had tried all kinds of things starting with one idea at a time and letting it run its course before moving on. She says the diet has made the largest difference.. gluten-free/cassiene(sp?)free.
I am a mom of a 13 month old and another on the way. I'm glad for your posting because it has reignited my interest in doing what I can to learn about autism just in case it happens in our family. Thanks!

I do not have a child with autism but have couple of friends who's kids have it. They all seem to have different strengths and weaknesses - just like the rest of us! My oldest son is mildly dislexic and had a horrible time learning to read. He finally learned to compensate and went on to college - but he never reads for pleasure now and is in a job where there is little or no reading required (he's a chef!) I hope that your son is getting some kind of special help either through school or independent therapy. The thing to remember is that he DOES have talents and strengths and the most important thing is for him to learn LIFE skills so that no matter what he will be able to take care of himself one day. One of my friends with an autistic daughter plans on having her daughter live with them her whole life. What will happen when the parents die, I have no idea. Just get all the help you can and try not to stress (easier said than done, I know) Pray, and trust God to take care of you son. He will!

I have an 8 year old child with autism. My son is high functioning(more aspergers syndrome). His issue is perfectionism. He can not handle getting things wrong which causes him to shut down academically for fear of making a mistake. He has been reading since he was 4 years old and can spell on a 6,7,8 grade level. I hope you don't give up and let it get you down. It is a constant everyday struggle. Just remember you are not alone. We were blessed with these children for a reason.

Hi S.. My daughter also has mild autism. She struggles with comprehension and social skills.

I taught her to read by repetition. She may not fully understand what she reads but by repetition she learned her letters and sounds.

If your son can learn numbers, he can learn letters. But, it will take a whole lot of repetition because the comprehension may not be there.

I began teaching my daughter her letters and sounds through a music video from leapfrog. I believe it was called The Letter Factory. It is so good that while I was teaching her my 2 year old learned all his letters and sounds within a few months. He was learning to read right after.

Find out what triggers your son's learning buttons. Is it music, video games, or just plain repeating yourself?

Throughout the day find a letter and point it out and say it's sound. Start with A and after he has it memorized then on to B. Don't rush him.

My daughter learned her numbers quick so math came easier for her. She memorized them so much that if a person gave her their phone number she would memorize it. Unfortunately time was never an issue for her so these people got phone calls in the middle of the night. Hahaha.

Take care and enjoy being creative with teaching him. God Bless~

Is he in special classes? I would think so. Is he under a dan doctor? Can he receive special services? Your doctor should be able to answer your questions. Children with autism don't have control over the inner workings of the brain, there is researc being done, but so far, no breakthrough. Some are helped by diet. Start at the school level and see what services you can get. Good luck. My grandson is autistic.

I know in some states there are huge grants that parents can get in order to pay for services that their autistic children need (in Oregon people got up to $30,000), and I have a cousin in AZ that has a helper (paid for) for like 20 hours a week. You might try to track down such funding in order to get services that could work with him to try to up his life skills.

I'm so excited to see the other posts about the GFCF diet. My son is 3, diagnosed PDD-NOS (ASD). We haven't ventured into the reading area yet, although he does know his letters well. I don't know if you have tried the diet yet, but I highly recommend it. Our problem early on was my son's hyperactivity, non-verbal, inability to focus, etc. We found out he had lots of food insensitivities. We also found out he had some yeast and bacterial issues which we are still trying to straighten out. He always seems to be having some sort of poop issues, indicating that something is going on.
Anyway, I say this to tell you to definitely try the diet. It has helped out so many kids. Visit the website for TACA www.talkaboutcuringautism.com. They have great info about starting the diet. There is also www.gfcfdiet.com. The lab that does the testing for the GI issues and food problems is www.greatplainslaboratory.com. They host monthly webconferences with Dr. Kurt Woeller who goes over the many biomedical treatments of autism. There are two sites for companies that sell the super supplements (vitamins, minerals, natural yeast/fungal/bacterial treatments, probiotics, etc): www.nbnus.com and www.kirkmanlabs.com. Please check into it. We found out through some of the testing that my son was seriously reactive to casein. His labwork showed that casein reacts in his system and affects his brain as if he were on opium. We have had two infractions with Goldfish crackers since starting the diet a year ago. The first day, he shows not big reaction. The next day, he goes bonkers, bouncing off the walls hyper, unable to focus or mind, etc. The next day he spaces out like a druggie. It takes 3 weeks for his poop and his behavior to straighten up.
Our path down biomedical treatment started when I read Jenny McCarthy's book 'Louder Than Words'. That was when my son was about 27mos old, before we got the ASD diagnosis. I figured if it helped her son, it couln't hurt to try on mine who was just delayed. We saw so much improvement before we ever got the diagnosis that by the time the school and doctors gave us the diagnosis, it wasn't so heart-breaking. The diet can help people of any age, although if the physical problems are treated earlier on, the improvement is more drastic. ALot of the dairy alternative items out there have soy. But most DAN! doctors will tell you to avoid soy as well since the soy protein structure is so similar to that of casein and gluten that it can have the same affect. Also, I've heard that soy has a form of estrogen which can adversly affect boys' development.
Sorry I couldn't give more info about the reading topic itself as we are not there yet.
But I urge you or anyone else who reads this to try the diet! Your kids are worth the hard work and money it costs to go down this path, especially if it helps them improve!
Good luck!

A good friend of mine has an 11-year-old son whose autistic. She was so unsatisfied with the program he was in at school that she started homeschooling him. He had no reading or math skills when she started homeschooling him a few years ago. This year he returned to public school, to the grade he's supposed to be in, and is working at a skill level equal to those of his peers. She used the Think-It-Through books from Discovery Toys a lot, but she also used other books that I'm not familiar with. If you'd like to talk to her personally I can probably arrange that for you. If so, just send me an e-mail at ____@____.com luck!

I have some articles you might be interested in, if you email me @ ____@____.com
Are you familiar with the research done by Lisa Lewis & Karen S(something) all about the Gluten and Casien free diets, bringing autistic kids "out of their fog"? You probably are, just thought I'd ask.

There's a school called Summit Academy that caters to children with learning disabilities. Part of their curriculum involves different types of reading programs that cater to the child's style of learning...some kids learn better hearing, some better seeing, some better doing (like jumping on words that have been thrown on the floor). My son goes there, I know that they would be happy to offer suggestions on a reading program that might work. I know they use Saxon, but other than that, I'm not sure which others they use. Their phone number is ###-###-####.

S.,my son has seveare autism and in the third grade all of his classes are special ed and he has to have a aid one on one just to go to school hes 9 years old, he is non verbal not because he cant talk but that he choses not to and with prompting he verbalizes at school but not at home,still in pull ups,dosent read but shows a interest in books,can count with prompting to 15,my son also shows interest in music likes keyboard and stringed insterments.but hes not dumb by any means.a autistic child has trouble expressing there self.you are blessed with a special child insted of looking at his weaknesses praise him for his acomplishments everything he does comes so much harder for him than most children.and he might never read but look at all he can do.my son also has to take medication becouse he is agresive without it but the kids love him and they know he wouldnt hurt them.all the teachers in the elementry know him and love him we have a very good school system hes doctor said that he should have aba theropy but its very expensive and not covered by insurance,they are a chalenge but I wouldnt want him any other way.good luck

I feel your pain,I am going through the same with a nine year old{my son}.All I hear is be patient.I think I ran out of that a long time ago.Hope you get some good advice from here.I thought about Sylvan,they can't do no worse.Problem is if you do, ask about their grant program,because it can get expensive.Good luck.Gigi M.

S.,
Many children with autism learn to read. Autism is a broad label and doesn't give a picture of your sons strengths and weaknesses. Reading difficulties are primarily caused by auditory processing, memory and attention issues and most often a combination of processing difficulties. Your son should be tested to learn about his pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. We see children with autism all the time who learn to read.

V. Parker Ph.D.
Director Learning Rx
www.learningrx.com/charlotte
###-###-####

I just heard a story on the radio about a boy that was autistic, and his mom worked with him 10 hours a day for nearly 3 years. She even wrote a book about their journey. The name of the book is Raindrops on Roman. It was quite an interesting story.

My kids do not have autism but do have other developmental disabilites. A teacher turned us on to www.starfall.com and my kids love it! My son started reading when he was 4 and he is speech delayed.

My niece has a nearly 11 year old son with autism. When I email her, we had agreed to make it a point to write his name and direct part to him. We do this with the IM and profile places, too, when I remember. He sent me a Christmas card he signed and told me he loved me. For along time he would not talk. Basically staying patient and encouraging helps most. My great nephew sings, which helps his talking. Since your son has music talents, music may be a way to get his attention. Sing to him the abcs, be patient, it takes these kids awhile, but once they learn it, they usually keep it.

i do not have a child with autism, but my child had celiacs disease. i have done a lot of research on celiac disease and some researchers say it is linked to autism. Tests have been done, and parents have noticed an increased in learning and better behavior if the child goes gluten free and sometimes casin free. going gluten free is expensive, but look on the internet. it may help your sone.

I can understand where you are coming from I have a 5 year old with moderate autism. He is only in kindergarten but I know some day soon I will be standing in your shoes. My son too loves music, he loves puzzels, numbers, shapes, colors and letters. He is reading but I know most of it is memorized, I don't think he understand what he is reading. He socal skills are so low it scares me, how will he get through life without comunication? I don't know what to tell you I still have so much to learn about autism. If you ever need to talk I will listen. Best of luck!