thanks all of you, this is very helpful information
cdfox i am not very familiar with neurofeedback but will look into it. i tend not to follow the more common approach to autism treatment, though my son is now in "social therapy" for 10hrs/wk...
and re my son ASD dx? aside from the dr testing him and observing him etc, and giving him the dx, i knew before that something was wrong...i think a parent "knows" just as you knew your child didn't have it. (good for you for follwoing up on that as well!)
so YES he does have autism. he now no longer shows outward signs of it... but it is there nonetheless...
ha! that said---- when he was less than 12mos, he hit his head 2times hard, he seemed fine both times and dr poo-poo'd it when i suggested it was possibly much more serious than we had thought, and perhaps he had suffered a type of brain injury (of course the ped didn't think there ever was a thing wrong with him, evenwhen he lost his ability to communicate!). and later as i did my research i learned of actual babies having strokes. everyone probably thought i was nutZ but even now- sometimes i wonder!
his voice before autism happened, was just a normal little voice, but i somehow barely recall it anymore, instead- i can and will never forget the last words he said at 12mos,
letting me know his baby einstein video was done playing..."all done" and said just like how an adult who is recovering from a stroke might speak, sorta low sound, garbled and gurgly and then silence. he looked like he was in shock and he tried to say it again and just this gurgly sound came out... he didn't speak again till nearly 3+ except for when he would read a word aloud around 2 1/2 ie "sun"... his speech therapist even once likened the therapy approach to the same as teaching an adult who is recovering from stroke!
we even briefly discussed selective mutism. but why would he have that? and their were the other signs ie lining up stuff etc
well. anyhow, speech therapy- it worked. he is an amazing talker now, but just needs help with pragmatics, he is still needing to learn how to and feel comfortable, with asserting himself. unless he is off rescuing some kid who is about to break a rule and get hurt, or 2kids being mean to each other-- he is not assertive at all. it's funny how that works huh?
well thanks again. and yes, i agree, knowing his strengths and weaknesses would be a very valuable tool to have. i am going to look into getting him tested as soon as i can.
one other thing, i meant that i attribute the strength of his mind to being what has helped him to overcome his autism. an example is when he was younger and he had an outward sign, well i told him to stop, it made him stand out, and made him look odd, and made ppl especially other kids- to avoid him. (i said this in a gentle way w/o hurting his self esteem etc), he was able to acknowledge this and stated understanding and you could see him work at NOT doing the motion or whatever, and a gentle reminder here and there and then nothing...
when i think of my son, i don't see autism. i never did yet yes i did, but i sorta saw thru it or past it or whatever- i just saw this amazing sweet child. yes i wondered the what if's but i can't imagine my son being any different than how he is. i'm glad he has autism. i think it brings something amazing to him, for him.... the profound statements he has made that seem too wise for his age, the way his mind works? i would never change it. it is who he is.
i know some parents aren't happy with the term recovery from autism, but i would have to say that indeed for my son, that is what we have experienced. he is indeed recvering if infact not nearly completely recovered. i hesitate to say complete recovered myself just because i think the autism is always lurking? if that makes sense.
i've read everything could get my "eyes" on re autism.
and now i am reading as time allows, everything re being gifted and 2E
thanks again
