My Journey Through Autism

 

As the mother of a young boy  with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), other parents often ask me about my experience.  They want to know how I got through it and more importantly, how my son is doing now. We’ve been at it for  9 years and I’m glad to say he’s doing ok not the best as I expected. We’re proud of him, and ourselves, for the progress we’ve made in this journey together.

Our son is a elementary student a brother, uncle , cousin, and grandson. I’m happy to say he has our support. He’s a busy boy, everyone is his friend, sometimes sports fan. Love 💕 to dance 🕺 

Toward the end of Pre K elementary school, we got his diagnosis of ASD. Throughout, there were therapies and programs, and curricula, and evaluations and Individual Education Plans (IEPs) galore. We knew all the special educators back in Ohio, many of the doctors, and even some of the nurses, and we have a box  full of records documenting all of it.

Without our little families like ours – because no one talked about autism then – we did everything we could to help our son learn and grow and participate in activities, like other kids. First flag football did not work out. Even In with our high-fictional son the endless measuring of relative progress – his and ours – felt painful as we came up every year after year with autism ADHD anxiety medication struggles. Mostly we felt alone in our struggle, and scared about the future. There is no resources or research to help us know what to anticipate next, or even what to realistically hope for.

Our son’s timeline and milestones have been different from others’, but make no mistake, am going to do what ever it takes to help  moving forward in his life. We’re proud of him – especially proud of who he is.  Like many other. 

5 steps event for Christmas

 

Christmas can be such a wonderful time of the year, but for some of us it can be full of anxiety, stress and uncertainty. The lack of routine and the uncertainty of it can really unsettle a child with ASD.Brad love Christmas. He is so excited for Christmas. Christmas happen  to be one of his favor Holiday. he cannot wait for the morning of Christmas to open his presents. It was all too overwhelming for him. Over the years I have learnt how to reduce this stress for Brad and for our family. Below I have put my  top tips to surviving an Autistic Christmas. 

1. Simplify 
Christmas is a time full of over stimulation. Lights, tinsel, music, more people coming and going and a lack of routine. 
Try to keep the Christmas decoration simple, choose low warm white lights on your tree instead of the colourful ones or ones that flash. 

2 Guests 
Only invite people that you know are going to help around the house and who are not going to get offended easily . You want people who are going to help you get dinner ready and who will help tidy up. Perhaps pre warn your guests that your child might not give the reaction they are hoping for when giving them a gift. Brad like to tell people exactly what he thinks of the present he receives . Sometimes he will just say “yes ok” and other times he will say “I don't like that” and storm off. 
3 Presents
Try and avoid surprises of any kind. Most children with ASD hate surprises and this is no different when it comes to presents. If your child is going to spend the build up to Christmas worrying about what they will get, then you are better off telling them what they are going to be getting. Mummy always has a direct line to Santa.
4 Time Out
Create a safe space where you are spending Christmas. If you are home make sure that your Child’s room is out of bounds for anyone other than them. This is their safe space where they can retreat too. If your going to family or friends make sure you ask ahead if there is a room or a quiet spot where you can set your child up his /her safe space. Keep their ear defenders and some toys or iPads in there so that they can check out for a little bit. Even better If you have a pop up tent take it with you as it will be a space that your child is comfortable with. 
5 Go With The Flow
Don’t make any plans to go out with friends or family. If your child is having a bad day, you don’t need the added pressure of feeling like you are letting anyone down. See how everyone is feeling on the day and if they are feeling good, you can then make some plans to go out. If family want to see you then tell them to come to you, its going to be a lot better if your child is in an environment they feel most comfortable in. Get them to bring food and snacks and help out.

Dancing with brad

 

Dancing with brad

Brad love to dance that how he keep his main active support brad by clicking on the link below 

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having kids with autism

 

Having a child with Autism can impact on various aspects of family lives are affected including housekeeping, finances, emotional and mental health for parents, marital relationships, physical health of family members, limiting the response to the needs for your kids within the family, 

sometime poor sibling relationships, relationships with extended family, friends and neighbors. Children with autism face a variety of challenge that can significantly negatively impact on parent and family functioning Also, it can create significant stress throughout all family members. social and communication deficits effect on total family members. 

Emotionally and financially the families of autistic children become exhausted. ASD can evidently have a potential impact on the child and the functioning of whole family. 

Children with autism are identified as problems on mothers’ anxiety and depression.The relationship between stress and behavior problems of children with Autism are appears to be reciprocally related such that elevated child behavioral problems lead to increases in parental stress. 

Parenting stress is not only an increase in behavior problems it also has an adverse effect on the outcomes of behavioral. There are some important factors which are associated with parental stress in children with autism, including feelings of loss of personal control, absence of spousal support, informal and professional support. Adjustments to the reality of the child’s condition, housing and finance are some of the other factors that influence parental stress.

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Autism and Friendship With other Children

 

 

Autism and friendships why it’s important 

Making and keeping friends can be difficult for a child on the autism spectrum, but autism and friendship don’t have to be an impossible pairing.

Meaning friendship of all kinds are important for children with autism, as are learning tools that can help these relationships grow and develop. The benefits of socialization include helping children relate to their peers and self-confidence. Making friends is also a way to practice social skills and put them to use.

why friendships are key for children on the autism spectrum, here are some tips that other parents and caregivers can use to help.

For children with autism, establishing friendship skills is a therapeutic lesson as much as a life lesson. 

all children want to feel accepted by their peers. By making friendship-

what can make it so hard for children on the spectrum to make friends in the first place. They might not know how to start or continue conversations, and they often have difficulty picking up on social cues. Likewise, they may not feel comfortable taking part in activities or adjusting to social situations.

HOW TO HELP A FRIEND WITH AUTISM

After all, how do autism people make friends? The same way we all do! They just need some extra support and guidance.

Children with autism aren’t all that different from other children,

Kids in general usually require adults to do some of the heavy lifting with friendships, including setting up playdates With others 

Autism and Friendship.

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Autism in Girls and How It’s Different From Boys

So I just finish another class on reading the different between boys and girls with autism 

Signs of Autism Were Made for Boys

The signs of autism that we are told to watch for at early ages were primarily made for boys.

That’s not to say that autism  girls can’t or don’t act similarly to autism boys, but that sometimes they show their autism in different ways. there is  social struggles for autism children, but that particular side to autism may be more severe in boys than girls.

See, girls typically are much more social than boys, so a boy may be seen easily as autistic while a girl is labeled “shy” because her social struggles are less severe.

Autism  girls tend to have obsessions just like boys, but they’re seen as more socially appropriate, so they can be difficult to diagnose.

Their behavior isn’t any less autistic than boys, it’s simply not the stereotypical autistic traits because those traits were written for boys.

With Severe Autism, Girls Tend to Struggle More than Boys

So on the opposite side of the spectrum, when girls are more severely autism, they tend to be more severe than boys.

They are more likely to be nonverbal and act out compared to boys, which is interesting because most of the time society sees girls as quicker to develop and more mild-mannered.

It seems as though autism girls fall harder to one end of the spectrum while boys tend to be all over the map.

Again, this makes me wonder how much of this is because the spectrum was designed around autistic boys.

Life with my Autism boy

Here’s the thing, family… I don’t have an autistic daughter, at least, but I have autism ADHD boy

So I can give facts and thoughts and opinions, but I can really share what it’s like living life with an autism boy.

I decided to share a few that you may want to check out if you have an autistic child  and want more real-life experience from mama’s!

Is Girls on the spectrum really that much different from boys? In my personal experience, yes. My son  is one of the severe end/classic autism boy .he’s very-verbal and will likely be dependent on me and his dad and sister for a lots of help o let me fix that (some help). It hasn’t always been easy in our house hold, but I remind myself that i can do it with the help of my husband 

“When it was first brought up to us with Brad diagnosis. that there is going to be some challenging and  possibility behavior  that my son  will have, I refused to listen. Every single day I pray that there will be healing he is very social. Even after his  evaluation came back as autism Spectrum ADHD anxiety I am still struggling to believe it. How social he is not only he have bad anxiety really bad the crying is a lot. Every single day I am hoping for a change  

Share your story with me I will post on my website don’t forget to share and catch us on Instagram livebeyondautism dancing with Brad 

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Autism mom

 

As I go through my journey as and autism mom I here a lot of things over the years about autism. Some hopeful. But there were also a lot of things me and my husband  weren't told. Things that no one would be able to predict. Like... our son be able to read? Are stop taking medication ? 

My advice would be this is not easy it’s hard to relax knowing that you need the best for your child. Brad  needs time. I need time more  patience. We are the one teaching him  at home . And he needs someone to help him since there’s no help.

I have no idea what the future holds. But i do know that brad  need help in many area reading, and writing. 

Www.Livebeyondautism.com. 

#Livebeyondautism 

What is autism tics

 

The most common tics that you see in kids with autism include facial movements, throat clearing, and eye blinking. However, these tics are often contrasted with other movements related to autism, such as stimming or behaviors.

What Are the Different Types of Tic Disorders?

Tourette Syndrome

Affecting approximately 1 percent of the population, Tourette syndrome causes both verbal and motor tics. These tics must be present for at least one year and can occur frequently throughout a day, or more sporadically. These tics develop before the age of 18, resulting in two or more motor tics (i.e. blinking, shrugging, etc.), as well as at least one vocal tic 

Chronic motor tic disorder

Affecting as many as 1 in 50 people, this disorder is defined by verbal or motor tics that occur for at least one year. This means that an individual will display one or more motor or vocal tics, 

Transient motor tic disorder

Verbal or motor tics come and go, lasting for less than one year. Although this disorder affects up to 10 % of children during their early school years,

What Kind of Tics Are Most Common in Children with Autism?

it was believed that tics in autism spectrum disorders was a result of neuroleptic medication. However, an increasing number of clinical reports and studies have now established that tics, such as those associated with TS, are common in individuals with autism spectrum disorders.

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Please let me know if you have someone with tic and how do you deal with it 

What is your Successful Stories!

 

Hello families on the spectrum. We are all in this journey together, and you probably agree with me, that it is about the journey, not the destination! So, let us try to learn how to enjoy the rid . 

My name is Stacey ann  and I am a proud mama  wonderful young boy with autism. His name is Brad. I am also happened to be in the health care. Me in the health care has taught  me a lot. So what should you do 

What should you do if you suspect autism?

For a children, the first sign that you notice something wrong, you should first speak with your child’s pediatrician about your concerns. The pediatrician will recommend a qualified professional who specializes in diagnosing autism.

• Developmental Pediatrician
• Pediatric Neurologist
• Child Psychologist
• Child Psychiatrist

What Are the Symptoms of Autism?

Symptoms of autism are:

• social communication challenges and

• restricted, repetitive behaviors.

Symptoms of autism may:

• begin in early childhood (though they may go unrecognized)
• persist and
• interfere with daily living.

in the two categories above. They also a part of the autism symptom severity. Autism’s.  how much support a person needs for daily function.

Social communication challenges

Children and adults with autism have difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication. For example, they may not understand or appropriately use:

• Spoken language (around a third of people with autism are nonverbal)
• Gestures
• Eye contact
• Facial expressions
• Tone of voice
• Expressions not meant to be taken literally

Additional social challenges can include difficulty with:

• Recognizing emotions and intentions in others
• Recognizing one’s own emotions
• Expressing emotions
• Seeking emotional comfort from others
• Feeling overwhelmed in social situations
• Taking turns in conversation
• Gauging personal space (appropriate distance between people)

Restricted and repetitive behaviors

Restricted and repetitive behaviors vary greatly across the autism spectrum. They can include:

• Repetitive body movements (e.g. rocking, flapping, spinning, running back and forth) 
• Repetitive motions with objects (e.g. spinning wheels, shaking sticks, flipping levers)
• Staring at lights or spinning objects
• Ritualistic behaviors (e.g. lining up objects, repeatedly touching objects in a set order)
• Narrow or extreme interests in specific topics
• Need for unvarying routine/resistance to change (e.g. same daily schedule, meal menu, clothes, route to school) 

Learn the signs of autism

 

One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to learn the early signs of autism and become familiar with the typical developmental milestones that your child should be reaching.

What are the signs of autism?

The autism diagnosis age and intensity of autism’s early signs vary widely. Some infants show hints in their first months. In others, behaviors become obvious as late as age 2 or 3.

Not all children with autism show all the signs. Many children who don’t have autism show a few.

The following may indicate your child is at risk for an autism spectrum disorder. If your child exhibits any of the following, ask your pediatrician or family doctor for an evaluation right away:

By 6 months

• Few or no big smiles or other warm, joyful and engaging expressions
• Limited or no eye contact

By 9 months

• Little or no back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles or other facial expressions

By 12 months

• Little or no babbling
• Little or no back-and-forth gestures such as pointing, showing, reaching or waving
• Little or no response to name

By 16 months

• Very few or no words

By 24 months

• Very few or no meaningful, two-word phrases (not including imitating or repeating)

At any age

• Loss of previously acquired speech, babbling or social skills
• Avoidance of eye contact
• Persistent preference for solitude
• Difficulty understanding other people’s feelings
• Delayed language development
• Persistent repetition of words or phrases (echolalia)
• Resistance to minor changes in routine or surroundings
• Restricted interests
• Repetitive behaviors (flapping, rocking, spinning, etc.)
• Unusual and intense reactions to sounds, smells, tastes, textures, lights and/or colors

If you have concerns, get your child screened and contact your healthcare provider

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My Mission with autism

Www.Livebeyondautism.com

Since my son has dignoses with autism. I have a wide eyes open to this dignoses. It's so much to learn and understand. So what i have learn i  dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. I try to  support; increasing understanding and acceptance of people with autism. my son is has autism; and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions. 

What Causes Autism

 What really cause Autism

The information below is not meant to diagnose or treat.

A common question after an autism diagnosis is what is the cause of autism. 

We know that there’s no one cause of autism.  autism develops from a combination of genetic and nongenetic, 

A child will develop autism. However, it’s important to keep in mind that increased risk is not the same as cause. For example, some gene changes associated with autism can also be found in people who don’t have the disorder. Similarly, not everyone exposed to an environmental risk factor for autism will develop the disorder.

Autism’s genetic risk factors

 Autism tends to run in families. Changes in certain genes increase the risk that a child will develop autism. If a parent carries one or more of these gene changes, they may get passed to a child (even if the parent does not have autism). Other times, these genetic changes arise spontaneously in an early embryo or the sperm and/or egg that combine to create the embryo. Again, the majority of these gene changes do not cause autism by themselves. increase risk for the disorder

Autism’s risk factors

increase – or reduce – autism risk in people who are genetically predisposed to the disorder. Importantly, the increase or decrease in risk appears to be small for any one of these risk factors.

Increased risk

• (either parent) advanced maternal age over 35 year of age 
• Pregnancy and birth complications (e.g. extreme prematurity [before 26 weeks], low birth weight, multiple pregnancies [twin, triplet, etc.])
• Pregnancies spaced  apart (less than a year apart)

Decreased risk

• Prenatal vitamin containing folic acid, before and at conception and through pregnancy 

How do these genetic and nongenetic to autism? Most appear to affect crucial aspects of early brain development. Some appear to affect how brain nerve cells, or neurons, communicate with each other. Others appear to affect how entire regions of the brain communicate with each other. differences with an eye to developing treatments and supports that can improve quality of life.

A recovery plan for pandemic learning losses

 

The return to school will look a little different this year after a year filled with uncertainty and new routines. While you may be returning to a more typical school year, the transition away from established pandemic guidelines may present challenges, and we may have to remain flexible about changes in guidelines throughout the school year. 

COVID-19 relief package passed in March of this year, includes $3 billion in dedicated funding for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs. The $3 billion allocated to IDEA will go a long way in easing the financial burdens felt by schools and helping them meet their service to students with autism and other disabilities.

Talk to your school leadership about the funding your district received as part of this plan and how they will be using it to help your child make up for disrupted learning or lost skills over the last school year.

Don’t forget as a parents you have the right to call a meeting with your child’s IEP team to discuss how your child’s goals will change in order to make up for lost time, or a regression in skills, knowledge or behavior. Prepare for the meeting by writing out how you feel the pandemic impacted your child’s education, as well as things the team may be able to do to help get back on track. As your child’s go back to school meet with IEP team, you can be your child’s advocate to help focus on recovering any lost skills or learning that your child experienced with the pandemic.

It is important to be realistic and remember that despite all your best efforts, change may not happen immediately. It will take time for your child to readjust to school and regain some of their lost. But patience and collaboration with the IEP team, in time your child can continue making progress toward reaching their full potential.  I am working on this for Brad because the school get funding 

If you need additional information and resources help you prepare, check out my website at www.livebeyondautism.com am here to help in anyway 

Back to School and COVID-19

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My Back to School and  COVID-19

What was once a place to sleep, eat, home is now also a place to call school due to a worldwide pandemic. Are students, teachers, and parents ready to incorporate school as their virtual reality at home? I have never experienced something like this in my life. This is going down in history as the best test of strength all over the world.

I think the new school setting is the change we need in order to keep everyone safe. Online classes may create new challenges for students but is a safer route to continue education instead of potentially contracting this deadly virus. My thoughts are that kids will have a deeper understanding of technology and how important socialization is. This is the time that families have to be stronger than ever. Parents will have to become teachers, students will have to learn self-discipline, and teachers will be put to the test on their technological abilities while instructing classes.

The world is experiencing this pandemic in many stressful ways. With an unstable household, I can’t imagine the difficulties and struggles that particular students will be presented with while school is mandatory to attend at home.What can students who have a crowded and distracting household do to concentrate on their online classes? I hope obstacles at home can access and to maintain academic stability.

We have to stay strong  Livebeyondautism 

Being a working mom is difficult

 

Being a working mom is difficult. full time working mom is hard. You have to figure out a way to balance all of your household duties, children, husband and anything else that’s tossed at you, all the while making a living for your family. 

Working too much are not too much has become quite popular for moms who have autism kids but still need to make money. I would love to work as home moms so that i can truly learn quicker ways to manage it all and have time to help my son with reading doing math and have me some me time. just that moments. I could do better making sche

MAKE A SCHEDULE

The key to having more time in the day as a work from home mom is to make a schedule and stick to it! Using a block schedule where you assign specific times of the day to various tasks, including your work tasks, will help you stay on track with work and other duties so as long as you hold yourself accountable to not stray from this schedule and if you must stray slightly, make it a good reason. this is why I would love to work from home 

work from home are going in the office are doing both what are the best choice www.livebeyondautism.com

best support moms of autism son

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 When my son got his autism diagnosis, one of the first things I needed was support. And one of the first things I did? I started looking for resources in my area however there was no support. The only support was me and my husband on how to create and nurture a strong support system. As a parent of an autism  child, this was one of the most important things I could have done. So now, I want to share this to the world and  with everyone our journey.

As a mom we often see what we want to see, but the true is we have to fight for our kids to get support help and to understand our child needs but not always, we are one who holds the family together.

Mom and dad  is the strong foundation for our kids, we are the glue. We are the keeper of the family. We are the caregiver. We are also the provider or the breadwinner. 

And guess what… Am still struggling. And may not always recognize it this is for real. I may not always say it aloud. I  may not always ask for help.

But am still struggling.to fine help for my son

The sleepless nights.

 tears eyes .

 constant worries.

Still outward but I have to maintain strong.

I  insist  myself that I can handle autism.

When you ask me I may tell you that nothing is wrong. 

Some days, it may be difficult for us to get to put it out there that we need help for son especially the meltdown his anxiety not to mention ADHD but we have to keep pushing for our boy.

He is a good kids but Florida especially the county that am in doesn’t help much I have learned Encouragement strengthen labor.

Some nights, we may not sleep.

Some moments, I may wonder if it’s all going to work out.

We still struggling. But we have to stay strong. And we will get through this.

How do I know?

Because I am that mom.

Because I know.

Because I struggled. 

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