A Regular Guy: Growing Up With Autism

My Alex has taken to calling himself "Mr Underwear Boy", I have decided that he is a superhero for sensory sensitive kids who refuse to wear clothes when they are at home! Thankfully he does not fight clothing when we are out of the house and at least he keeps the underwear on! Choose your battles wisely . . . .

crocs socks and sweats - sounds like he should move to a hippie town. same for the plaid on plaid. mismatched is cool in ithaca :)

you will LOVE it.

It is a great book. Laura has the ability to bring you into the moment as she tells her story with her unique way of describing her feelings and sharing her inner thoughts. I have come to love this family and I feel part of it already.

Using "retarded" as an insult is offensive, for sure. But I don't feel that using it to explain my son's dx is a problem. The shame is on those who use it pejoratively. Still, I have gone up to strangers who use it the way you mention, and I've said, "You seem like a nice person. You shouldn't use that word."

I always approach those whose ignorance keep them from realizing how painful it has been to accept other labels that will hunt us forever, and also warn them to be careful with their words. As I tell my son at least 10 times a day, I tell them "use your nice words with others, you have choices, use them wisely", or, as Susan said "you sure seem ... Read Morelike someone that cares for others, I am sure you have other options in your vocabulary".

Also, I take every opportunity to create awareness. Don't take it personal, most of us could not tell the difference either at one point in our lives. Be strong, keep your focus!

I am almost done with the book Julie, it's a great read so far!

OMG - i needed these when i was a kid!! it took me 15 minutes to get the seems just right so that i could get dressed and could get nothing else accomplished if the seem budged at all. i still don't like it but i can do other things while it bothers me. do they make pairs for grown-up sensory folks?

look at softclothing.net - it has clothing for kids, but socks go up to adult sizes.

thank you thank you! i'm excited to order some.

I have the opposite thing going on. We moved to FL in 2005, and I have a very difficult time with too much light. What is that!!! Reverse S.A.D. ?

Can you spend the winter in Hawaii? The light shines daily on Maui. You are all welcome to share the aloha...I have heard that those lights work well for SAD.

I use time out and social stories for EVERYTHING. Spanking in our case only exacerbates things. Always remember to stay consistent to the time-out and do not address them while they are in time-out. Discipline is so tricky with my son but I took a class on challeging behavior and enforcing positive and negative consequence works. My son knows that ... Read Morethere is a time-out spot everywhere we go. I have dragged him out of Kroger-left my basket full and everything to go and put him in time-out in the car. If you stick to it, they will respond and you will see a difference.

owow that like my litt girl i have 41/2 she has ADHD AND A.S.D . and the time out dont work for her i put her in it about 5 time a day and i have to stay were i put her in time out i dont talke to her but she lololololo at me they say walke out of the room but i do and out she come evertime so what i do is i take her toys and everthing ... Read Moreaway from her and i dont let her have t.v time all day sometimes if her behavior is bad and has for charts that dont work for her i have done that to . you just have show that you are BOSS. i know what you are going say to me put her in time out go out of the room and i do all the time but her behavior sometime is so bad i have to stay in the room so she dont do anything to herself sometime . she was diagnos with ADHD/ASD AT 2 1/2 SHE GOT LAD FROM A HOME I WAS RENTING SO I WAS PG WITH HER LIVEING IN A LED HOME AND I DID'T KNOW THE LED WAS IN THE HOME I HAD HER TESTED AT WICK . SHE WAS ABOUT 1 WHEN THEY DID THE TESTING . so i have say you have take it one day at a time . all thing that they are say may work for you . good luck

was this it?
http://www.need2know.co.uk/images/downloads/richmedia/bullying_video.html

I have read enough to decide I am not going to give one to my autistic son .. I will take care of him the best I can and deal with the illness if I have to but do not want to do the vaccine at this point

I have read a lot of research that says the opposite of what the previous commenters have said. I do not believe that there is a connection between vaccinations and autism. I would rather have my child be safe and healthy than to make a misinformed decision. Plus if the child is already diagnosed with autism what would it hurt. It's not going to make them more autistic.