[Nami]

Hello I been lurking for a while now but thought it was time to come out and say hello! My son, Chris, who will be turning 3 next month was diagnosed with Autism late last year, Classic non verbal. I was not shocked by this as he's been showing signs since birth and even though everyone kept telling me I'm imagining it I knew something wasn't right. After his sister was born I knew without a doubt it was Autism so we right away got it checked out, after months of tests they finally gave him the diagnosis. It was rough at first receiving the diagnosis, mostly because we had to explain over and over to DH's family that Autism did NOT mean "retarded" just different and having to fight with them over and over as they kept saying nothing is wrong with him.

Since he started seeing his specialist team(Not sure on what ya'll call it since I am in Sweden and we call everything different) he has shown a lot of improvement in just the last few months. He's finally wanting to communicate and has gotten very good at it, even without words. He's picking up ASL very easy and uses it often(knows about 30 signs or so). He also has picked up a few words, even though he doesn't fully say them correctly it's still a huge step. We haven't had him in school yet but he starts his special preschool for kids with Autism in August, which he is excited for(He didn't want to leave when we was checking it out) and we are excited for as well. I wont lie and say it's been easy, it's been very rough, more so in the first two years of having him and now added with another child and even a third on the way, it's been very stressful for me but I am learning to deal with everything.

Sorry for this being so long! Can't wait to get to know you all!

[dotcomkari]

Welcome to our board sweetheart! I am Kari one of the mods/hosts here! We can not wait to get to know you better and of course Chris too! Feel free to jump right in , ask questions, post your thoughts.. tell us about your day.. post photos.. what ever you want! all the ladies here are pretty friendly and we are here to help you out anytime! You can even send me or Crissy (the other mod) a PM if you have a question on a concern!

And again welcome! we look forward to hearing from you

[Vicki...]

Hi and Welcome, I llok forward to getting to know you I am Vicki, mom to Caleb (will be 5 in a few days) and Ethan (16 months)
My son Caleb has autism also, he was diagnosed last year and we are still learning and trying to find him the resources and help he needs

[Nami]

Thanks for the Welcomes!

Hi! My name is Missa and my son is Dominic (we also call him Doc) and he also has Classic Autism and is non-verbal. It sounds like your son is getting the best treatment and you're on the ball. You said he's going to a school for Autism? Very awesome. Maybe we need to move to Sweden.

[Mod-quietsong]

I'm sorry I missed this earlier! Welcome to the board I'm Kel, mom of two little guys and hoping for a third here soon. My younger boy Danny just turned 3 last month, and he's got...well, lots of stuff going on. He has been diagnosed with a congenital virus that causes a multitude of disabilities, and he is deaf with cochlear implants. We are also quite certain he is on the autism spectrum, but since he is receiving ALL the services he would be getting with an autism diagnosis already, we've chosen to delay diagnosing him until closer to age 5. He is non-verbal (with a handful of vowel-only word approximations) and is not at all interested in signing, but we're figuring it out. I'm so glad your son has a great school to be in, that's exciting! I'm glad he's been making great progress lately

[picklesmama]

Hello, and welcome!
I'm Crissy, the other co-host. My 7 year old, Angus, was diagnosed with classic autism at 2½ and was non-verbal at age 3, but quickly made progress with therapy, and while we are still working on his speech, he is now completely verbal and fully communicative.
That's awesome that Chris is making such great progress with his communication! Angus started with signs too, and PECS