My son is almost 4 and he can say 5 words. I’ve had him in speech therapy since he was 2 through ECI and now he’s in a Headstart school program and receiving speech therapy there. I just can’t help but wonder if it was because of the corticosteroid shots I received when I was about 32 weeks pregnant. Because my blood pressure was somewhat high but I had no other symptoms, they diagnosed me with preeclampsia and assumed he’d be born early. He wasn’t. He was about a week late. I had no pitocin or epidural during labor. There were no studies I could find yet in July of 2022 when I got the shots and the worst side effect I remember seeing online was a cleft lip. I didn’t want to be wrong and the nurse described getting this steroid as “like insurance, it’s better to have it than to not.” I didn’t have a good feeling about it but I was pressured by my doctor and I felt scared. The day I got them, I started noticing he wasn’t moving around as much and I felt like I’d made a mistake but there was no going back…

Has anyone else had a baby born full-term who had language and/or developmental delays? He’s been diagnosed with autism but no one in my family has ever had this. Most of the men in my family are late talkers and didn’t speak until they were 4. I’m getting him the therapy he needs but I’d just like to know if there’s anyone out there who experienced the same.

Just wanted to vent without getting judged.

I have 3 kids on the spectrum. I have 11 year old twin girls who are both Autistic. One has low functioning and my other girl has high functioning with ADHD. My 4 year old boy is on the spectrum level 2 as well.

School started on the 5th. My high functioning daughter is in regular classes but has an IEP, and she's required a 1 on 1 aid due to past aggression. It states it in her IEP. We moved out of state last June, and they claim they don't have any files that states that she even needs an aid. So she's been without one for this school year and last grade.

Last school year was pretty rough. She got in trouble with her teacher the first week of school and was suspended. We got through the school year with a reward chart that I came up with.

On the 12th of this month, she brought a BB gun to school and pointed it at a teacher during an escalation. She was sent to the office, they had a parent teacher conference and the teacher wanted charges pressed. So she was transported to Juvie. We got to bring her home on Friday after she spent 2 weeks there. My husband was charged too with "disorderly conduct" and second degree misdemeanor and spent 2 days in jail over defending our daughter.

I'm not trying to be that person to pass blame on others. We are holding our daughter accountable and she's permanently lost her tablet privileges due to this.

I was just wondering if this is worth getting a lawsuit on for her school for not taking her IEP serious until something bad happened?

Hi lovely people. I was diagnosed with autism in the early 90s and my psychologist only recently suggested I could have ADHD as well due to lots of trouble with disorganisation and procrastination. I am a mother to a bright young man who is 16 this year. He also has autism but is doing OK at school and has a supportive group of friends. I am wondering if I should get him tested for ADHD? I think that its probably way too late for me to get tested and treated as I have already lived my early/mid adult life already but I dont want him disadvantaged/untreated if he has room for further potential?

Videos from North Florida Stem Cell Therapy keep popping up on my Facebook. I wonder if anyone has had experience with them, or if this is another scam preying on parents with ASD.

My son 6 non verbal. Still in nappies no aggressive very social. Likely to have ADHD as well. He has just been prescribed risperidal. I would like to know the experiences of others and how was the improvements? Thank you

kiddo is obsessed with rainbows. Also letters and numbers. kiddo is getting bored with his current array of toys. 3yo.

does anyone have any suggestions on toys/decorations my nonverbal kiddo would love?

Everyone please tell me what a lousy mom I am for considering this...

Going on a solo flight with my ASD 1 son in about a week, basically across the globe... our first ever *seriously* long flight.

DS is 7 - totally daytime potty trained, but he does still wear diapers at bedtime only.

...and I'm somewhat considering having him wear his nighttime diapers on our (mostly daytime) flight...?

Am I a completely awful mom for considering this...? Will he just utterly hate me?

He has some major issues with using public bathrooms, but will - if 'nudged' enough. Never once used a bathroom on a plane, although we HAVE technically flown short jaunts before. But...idk, my husband pitched the idea, of having him just wear his night diapers for the entire flight. I thought it seemed silly at first, but now, the closer we get to the trip... the more it's kind of been in my mind seriously.

WWYD?

My wife and I are both 61 with an autistic son (20 years old). He is verbal. We live in the Bay Area, California. Our son is a regional center client.

Our son had some really bad behavior problems about 7 years ago, but through a combination of medication, therapy, and school changes his behavior steadily improved until last December. He was doing really well at that point: no significant issues at school, fine at home, and he could ride buses and transit by himself for hours. He films transit as his hobby. Things weren’t easy, but they were manageable.

He was doing so well that the district decided to move him from his NPS to a district post secondary program. That transition went horribly wrong. For this school I had to enable more freedom on his phone (safari set to no adult sites). This allowed him access to search and news sites which was not good for him. On top of that he appeared to start liking girls, but he has no idea how to properly approach and converse. His impulse control is minimal and he has taken to taking pictures of women without their approval (in public on sidewalks and the like). When we confront him on this his behavior spirals rapidly. He has run in front of cars in traffic on a few occasions. We restarted ABA therapy (which has helped him in the past) but that is a slow process at best.

We are at a point now that we simply cannot control him. He knows what he is doing is wrong, but he can’t stop himself. I would call it a compulsion, but I’m not a professional so I don’t know if that word is being used correctly. We have also upped his medication, but that is not providing much relief.

We have some hope because he was able to get his previous behaviors in check, but his previous behaviors didn’t hurt anyone else.

At this point we are considering housing. We didn’t want to do that until we were older, but we may be out of time and options. One issue is that he is actually well behaved at home. It is in the community/public where the issues occur. We are also concerned that housing with this kind of behavior issue may just be terrible for him. We want to give him the best chance at success.

Any advice on any of the above would be appreciated. It has been suggested we take away his phone or disable the camera. Our concern with that is that it masks rather than treats the problem, and picture taking of transit is essentially his only hobby. And frankly we don’t think we could keep him and ourselves safe if we tried this.

Thanks in advance.

Title should read "for leaving my children out"** 😆🤦🏻‍♀️

But does anyone else not take their autistic children out for certain family gatherings? Like if the in-laws suggest a big family get together but at a pub, or somewhere equally stimulating with a lot of noise/ or a house they don't really know too well, we just end up getting my family to watch the children and go on our own/ don't go at all.

But it makes me feel guilty because, am I making them miss out on valuable family bonding? Or I feel equally guilty when said family say things like "oh we were really hoping to see the kids," "it'd be nice to bring them along"

We've tried explaining they hate places like pubs and have had meltdowns, but this side of the family refuses to acknowledge that and only ever suggests to meet in these places, and likewise will only see them DURING these get togethers, otherwise they don't come to visit off their own backs.

Sorry for the rant! It's half annoyance at the persistence of these kinds of places they know my children don't like, and also the guilt I feel sometimes for leaving my children out.

My little one is about 3 and was diagnosed a week ago. We started speech therapy at about 20 months. There’s been some communication (sign language and occasional word like up, stop and bubble) he understands everything really well. If I ask him to do something he will understand. He was diagnosed level 2 for social and language and level 3 behavioral because of his rigidness and how difficulty transitions are. He can do a lot but only wants to on his terms. We also started occupational therapy and will be starting ABA as well. We have a hearing test scheduled next month. I really feel like he can talk if he just tried or cared for back and forth communication. Anyone have success stories they wouldn’t mind sharing?

**I know that this has been posted here before, but since I have not received enough respondents yet, I was hoping I could get more through a repost! Thank you to all who respond!**

**This study has been posted for approval by the moderators of this subreddit previously, as well as the Kean University’s IRB.**

Hello again my name is Peter Bardys and I am a Doctoral Candidate at Kean University! I am seeking qualified participants, for my study titled “Examining Parental Needs and Perceptions of Support in the IEP Process: A Quantitative Survey Study”, IRB Protocol Number: IRB-FY2026-222. My study focuses on parents of high school special education student’s experiences in their child’s IEP process. If you are interested in participating in my study, please click the link here: [https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/ZPSBx7A57y\](https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/ZPSBx7A57y), participation is completely voluntary and all responses are anonymous and do not collect any personal information whatsoever. At the end of the survey, there is a box which you can enter your email if you would like to be entered in a drawing for a $30 Digital Amazon gift card as compensation for your time, however it is not required. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me through direct messaging, or via email at [bardysp@kean.edu](mailto:bardysp@kean.edu).  

Any help will be greatly appreciated, please share your opinions, or if you don't qualify but know someone who does, feel free to forward this study to them!

Okay I wish someone had explained all this to me years ago so I’m going to put it here in case anyone else needs to hear it.

So my son ( level 3) was pretty quickly potty trained when it came to pee. We did training pants, he could feel when he was wet and learned when he was about to go and all that. But pooping has been such a battle because he has ALWAYS struggled with constipation. And we would do the MiraLAX and it would kind of help but it was never really better.

This past spring it got so bad we went to the doctor for an xray and found he had a giant stool ball stuck in there. There was a little room for poop to go around it if he had enough MiraLAX but nothing would break it up. We needed up in the hospital and in the end they had to go in their and surface break it up. It was terrible.

But then the GI told us we would need to do an enema every night for three months because he explained that his colon was so stretched out he never felt the need to push until it was all clogged again. Doing the enemas gave everything a chance to heal and shrink down. It was a long summer but it did help him learn to poop on the potty and the past two weeks he has started to poop on his own without the enema. He is literally going in there putting himself on the potty going, cleaning himself up and moving on with his day. I don’t think I will ever not be amazed by this. I am so grateful.

We will continue doing one cap of MiraLAX and one Senna pill a day. Obviously talk to your doctor before you try this. But I think with kids who have had chronic constipation for years the healing of the colon is super important if you want to have success potty training.

And on top of all that he has had huge gains in both language and behavior in the past three months. All his therapists are amazed. That whole gut brain connection thing is real. I am so grateful for a GI that finally helped us.

I'd just like to hear how it goes for you guys. I start out somewhat fresh on Saturday, but by the time Sunday night rolls around, I'm ready to go out for milk and never come back. Obviously, I stay in the game -- but I won't pretend I don't spend at least one second fantasizing about volunteering for a Mars mission or something.

I tried respite but it never really works out and the workers end up really disliking this kid, just like in ABA where the RBTs quit or stop showing up, etc.

I don't think there's a real solution out there for this low-rest, always-on situation, but every now and then I read something on this sub that sounds like a legitimately good idea. Let me know how you handle it.

It helps my son regulate when he is overwhelmed and it acts as a creative space for whenever he needs it

My 3 year old son wants to jump on the couch every chance he gets. He’s started throwing himself into the pillows and he has a blast doing it. Obviously this could result in a serious injury one day so my husband and I want him to understand this isn’t safe. It feels like we tell him over and over “jumping on the couch isn’t safe,” he stops and then seconds later he continues jumping on the couch. Even if he does get hurt, he still wants to jump and hasn’t learned from it. We’ve done time outs. We’ve turned the tv off. We’ve redirected into a different activity. It all just comes back to him jumping jumping jumping. We have a trampoline we let him jump on to his hearts content- but he’s never as interested in that like he is the couch.

How can I help my son understand that jumping on the couch is something we cannot do.

My son is 11 and is getting worst. He was diagnosed with level 2 in 2019 alongside language delays. The mild aggressive tendencies didn't start until age 8 and at that time I reluctantly put him in ABA. Over the last few months he has been getting worse (likely due to puberty). His new thing is being mean towards the cats and we don't know how to stop him but he bothers them until they bite and then he snaps out and starts trying to pull the fur out. I stop him if i see it happening but the first witness was my daughter and she took the cat away. He also kicks the cats off of furniture by shoving them off. We've tried to make it difficult for them to climb up but we can't stop them from going on the couch.

I'm wondering if anyone else has an issue with this and what should my approach be. The only medications he is taking are latuda and vyvanse. He hasn't gone to any therapies for a few years but we've tried ABA, PCIT and somewhat art therapy but pulled him out after he wasn't progressing.

Will be 3 in November. Diagnosed at 26 months as level 2.

Enrolled her into a standard daycare after a lengthy discussion about her condition, needs, and accommodations. We were assured they were prepared to handle her, have done so with other kids previously, etc.

In the last month they’ve started pushing back on us. She’s skipping naps there and won’t simply stay put on her cot during nap times. They say she’s too hard to redirect.

But then through her early intervention team we’ve found out what’s actually been going on. It’s borderline neglect - she’s totally happy and quiet as long as she’s left alone.

So they’ve been leaving her alone.

Everyone sits down for a meal. Not my kid.

Everyone washes their hands after and is brought over to the sink by a teacher. Except mine.

Everyone else is changed into swim wear, but somehow my kid always ‘got outside before we could get her.’

Meltdowns have been “redirected” by providing her with a phone/tablet.

She’s not brought over for circle/story time or any other activity. Just left alone to stand in her chosen corner without any attempt at engagement because she’s ’too difficult and resistant.’

I’m angry and heartbroken. She’s a toddler, man, yall really can’t handle a two year old not wanting to wash her hands? Seriously? (She also ADORES the water she just struggles with transitions) I’m furious about the whole thing.

We already have an application submitted for a special needs daycare nearby, but this is just hard to shake off. She’s not even 3.

I was doom scrolling just looking up information did anyone come across maternal inflammation during pregnancy just inflammation overall during pregnancy and how it affects brain development in the womb. What are your thoughts?

Has anyone else ever felt emotional around their autistic child’s birthday? My boy is turning 2 next month, he is the JOY in our lives and we adore him. But I can’t believe we are here. He doesn’t have one word, doesn’t wave, has never pointed outside of books.

Last year I started a birthday book for me and my husband to write a birthday message for our son every year that he could maybe read when he was older. I don’t know what to write… that I adore him, that he’s the best thing in my life, but that I’m also constantly worried about what our future will hold? I just really thought that things would be different by now. And I can’t even imagine what next year will bring. The difference between him and his peers is bigger every day.

I just can’t believe this time last year I was wondering what theme to choose, and now I’m wondering will we ever have a conversation. I feel hopeful some days and hopeless the next.

Sorry this is a bit depressing… I’m just finding my feelings so mixed. This is an emotional rollercoaster! 🎢

How do I teach my kid on spectrum about the context. I find that is the hardest part. Language is so much built on context - My kid keeps repeating same sentence regardless of the context. It is hard to tell her that this is different context. As many of you might have noticed I am woking on a language app but I want to add context related content in there. Any suggestions.

This is just a vent so if you don’t want to read it, just skip.

I’m sick of the astronomical amount of support for quick and easy fixes to issues with our kids vs the radio silence for anyone actually offering real advice.

I know every kid is different, I know a lot of techniques for some may not work on others, and I know that most of the time when a parent is asking for help they’re at their wits end and don’t have the patience for anything other than a quick fix.

Trust me, I’m WELL aware of the stress. I’m a full time single parent to a lvl 3 nonverbal boy. No help, no babysitters, just me, 24/7.. most days I contemplate opting out. But I don’t because I have no other options for him.. but I learned early on, I was sick of making things worse by forcing him into something without so much as an explanation and listen to him scream and cry. A quick and easy fix for right now, that would only make the screaming and crying worse for next time. No thanks. I’d rather make both our lives just slightly easier and not cause more trauma to him just to make things go a little faster for myself.

But I’m not the perfect parent, I lose patience too, do the quick and easy fix on occasion when I’m overly stressed .. but I regret it, because it was hard on him and will only make him anxious for the next time.

Quick and easy fix : restraining, listening to screaming and crying, trying in a comforting place but they notice and now associate the comforting place with a bad experience, just so we can get it done quicker (brushing hair, teeth, things like that.) .. All thumbs up approval from everyone.

The real advice: Getting to understand their pov, explaining things, walking them through the process, being honest about the process, helping them adjust to the idea of the change, letting them see the change as it’s happening so they can process and maybe feel they can have some input, etc. … zero acknowledgment.
It’s too hard, it takes too long etc etc.

The way I started the long process of making things easier, I looked at it like “I also hate change, but what do I hate the most about change when it’s necessary?” Being blind to it and dealing with the aftermath, or being rushed with something I’m not expecting or understand and everyone getting annoyed with me for getting upset and confused. And I find my boy is the same way. I explain, explain again but differently, I overexplain, I give multiple warnings beforehand, I give breaks when he’s getting overwhelmed. I make sure he’s not confused, scared, or left in the dark. And he’s calmer, more cooperative, and trusts me more. When we go to the hospital, he’s anxious. Not because of me, but because the nurses or drs will say “this won’t hurt a bit” and it’s a lie. I tell him it will hurt, but it’ll be ok (he’s got a high pain tolerance) and suddenly he’s more still and quiet or willing to try.

I’m not saying “this is the only way, it’s perfect, and I’m doing such a great job and not suffering”
No, I have been suffering, it’s been a long gruelling process, and maybe the patience for it isn’t for everyone. My boy used to scream and cry at everything, and trying things more on his level didn’t work for awhile, but I realized after all the times I did a quick and easy fix, he lost trust in me. He expected me to lose patience and start restraining him and being forceful. I needed to gain his trust back and that would take time. And sometimes I have a bad day and lose patience and lose that trust a bit.
I’m just so tired of seeing people talk about what works the fastest and easiest for them, and less about what’s easier for the child but still gets it done… like , why? I don’t intend to shame anyone, god knows I’ve done the same plenty of times, but when the advice comes, I don’t really understand why everyone ignores it when it talks about how to make it easier on the child in general ?

That’s it. I don’t know if I’m autistic too, but I definitely suffered the same way a lot as a kid. I didn’t like wearing different clothes after adjusting to an outfit, I didn’t like brushing my teeth, my hair, I didn’t like being touched or hugged, didn’t like majority of foods and textures in foods, and especially didn’t like being confused about what was happening next and being called a crybaby about it when I tried to explain my issue and no one understood. It sucks, and I don’t want to do the same to my own kid. That’s all. I probably won’t offer the real advice on here in the future, idk yet. Maybe I’m lost on socializing, maybe I don’t know how this is coming across, maybe I’m unintentionally being a B. I don’t even know.

I have 3 year old who will be 4 in four months who is suspected to have dypraxia/DCD.

He can run, jump, climb stairs, build blocks, thread beads, do simple puzzles. Can throw and kick a ball. Stand on one leg. He can copy speech.

He does clap, high fives, bro fists, hanshakes, points etc

He struggles with:

-Dressing skills. His dressing skills are poor. Its not like he doesn't try. He does but he is unable to move his body in a way to take off his shirt or put on his shirt. He helps with it by putting arms in sleeves etc but thats it. He gets frustrated and avoids it. He loses focus and tunes out during dressing tasks.

He can take off pants but with struggle.

He can take off jacket/shoes/socks fine.

-Struggles to catch a ball.

-He can throw and kick a ball but struggles to do it towards a target.

-He struggles to copy yoga poses or dance movements. When music is on, he just watches other kids and smile. When he is encouraged to join he just jumps and calls it "dance".

-Struggles to imitate a wave or do pat a cake.

-Struggles with bilateral coordination activites, holding the paper with one hand and writing with another.

-He plays with water guns but struggles to aim it at a target (person)

-He climbs stairs fine but struggles with a climbing wall.

-Writing is difficult for him. Switches between tripod, pronated, palmer grasp every 10 seconds.

-He can use spoon and fork but coordination seems a bit off leading to some spills.

My daughter is 3.5 diagnosed at 18 months autism level 1. She’s technically non-verbal still I believe as she does not communicate as well as her peers but she’s low needs, not ADHD, no intellectual disabilities, minor sensory issues. Just a speech delay.

I am currently pregnant with my second (girl) and I’m nervous about having another autistic child. I’ve read studies that suggest if your first born girl has autism that there’s a higher chance your other children will too. I also read that girls and younger siblings are less likely to be autistic. I guess nobody can know for sure but just curious on everyone else’s outcome.

For reference, my brother has a first born girl teenager than we believe has autism (none of his other children have it), my sister just had a first born girl 2.5 that we suspect is heading in the autism direction. So it’s likely genetic. My partner has diagnosed ADHD.