My son is more open to other people now. He will occasionally hug his grandmother. He finally says "I love you" to people. He didn't even say it to me until the past 6 months or so.
He is very close to his step-father now, maybe even more so than he is to me. They have similar problems - my husband suffers from synesthesia, so he can relate in a way.
As far as the tantrums go, they have gotten so much better. He may have one a month now. Before, it was several each day. He would hit, kick, bite, headbutt, scream, etc. The only thing that calmed him was holding him tightly in a dark, quiet room. His step-father has taught him ways to calm himself since we've all been living together (about 9 months now). He is able to stop his hand "flapping" by himself now. When he gets overly excited, he stops himself and twiddles his thumbs. He's learning coping mechanisms pretty quickly. He still has trouble relating to other kids his age or even older though. I imagine that will continue.
My son has been different from birth. But, he really started to change around age 2. One of his major sensory issues was with food. He ate only bread or bread products for years. Now, he eats a large variety of foods and asks for more!
I'm going to try and read more around these forums this weekend when I've got the time. I really appreciate everyone's responses.
