Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 Let me give my answers to your questions... 1. do your kids put stuff in their mouth constantly? My son chews on his finger so much that it has calluses and almost looks deformed. 2.will they suddenly " flip out " and you have no idea why, and trying to find out why makes it worse? used to flip out suddenly. It's really hard to stop and try to figure out what caused it. It could be a sound that hurt his ears, frustration over not being able to communicate a feeling (and even though a child can talk, doesn't mean that he can tell someone how he feels). has gotten much better as his communication skills improved. He still asks me to stop the microwave on 1 second so it does do the long beep. 3. aggression and angry acting out, how common is this? was very aggressive at first. He's just been diagnosed for about a year and a half. I was pregnant when were going through the diagnosis and he would get mad and hit me in the stomach. Luckily he was very small and didn't have much power. He would also do the limp noodle and it's really hard to carry a 40 pound child when you're 8 months pregnant. What helped , was that the psychiatrist put him on Risperdal (an anti-psychotic). 4. speech....where are you kids on the speech area? my initial denial of this dx was due to the fact they said many times speech is lacking or non existent....and fortunately for my son he has made many strides in this areas and does continue to show improvement. he does some of that echolalia?? what about your kids? When we first started this, would speak in 1-3 word utterances with a lot of echolalia. He wouldn't answer a question unless it was a yes-no question. If it wasn't, he just repeated the key words back to you. " How are you today? " " You today. " If you gave him a choice, he would repeat the last one he heard, whether it was his preference or not, it was the one he remembered spoken. But, I was always told that speech problems go with DS, so I didn't worry. I met a lady in church who had an autistic son and as I got to know him, I saw in him, as he was about 3 years younger than . But there are varying degrees of being affected. never had what I call imaginative play. He had an All-in-One kitchen and I had to show him how to play with it. When he was much younger, he had a fisher price doll house, and same thing, I had to show him how to play with it. He has a ton of matchbox cars, and he would line them up along the edge of the coffee table, bumper to bumper. He never drove them through pretend villages. For his favorite shows, he has to have the real look-alike toy, he can't pretend something is different. Well, now he can. I remember the first time he did that. Mc's or Burger King had a toy that was the Nickelodeon blimp. called to me, said, " Look! " turned it upside down and said, " Submarine! " I thought I was going to cry. He has come a long way. We get language therapy (vs speech therapy). The difference is that they concentrate on sentence structure not the individual sounds. Well, gotta go get to the dentist, joy of my day. At least it's check-up. Loriann Wife to Dewight Mom to , 10 years, DS-ASD, ADHD, ODD and 14.5 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 When first started on Risperadal, he was on 1mg morning, and 1mg at night. Around 3pm, he would be a holy terror. Dad only saw this side of him, as he got home around 4:30. The doctor added .5mg at 3pm and it evened him out a lot. Loriann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 In a message dated 9/7/00 11:24:29 AM Central Daylight Time, chickiemom1@... writes: << 1. do your kids put stuff in their mouth constantly? used to, but this has decreased in recent years and is no longer a problem for her. 2.will they suddenly " flip out " and you have no idea why, and trying to find out why makes it worse? Yes, will sometimes suddenly " flip out " for no reason that is immediately apparent to us. I find these moments particularly heart-rending because I know that something is wrong - that she is hurting and upset - and I want to help her, but she can't tell me what the problem is. These are the times when I look into her eyes and wish for all that I'm worth that we could break through the autism barrier and she could tell me what is troubling her so that I could do something about it or at least comfort her appropriately. I just hold her and try to be her words, and figure out what might have happened or what she might be feeling. Sometimes I think I figure it out. Other times, I have no clue and it just passes after awhile. 3. agression and angry acting out, how common is this? Common for , especially when not on any kind of meds. 4. speech....where are you kids on the speech area? >> is severely delayed in her speech but does make progress slowly. I know that being in an inclusion classroom has helped as has lots of speech therapy. Welcome, Marie! We're glad you're here! Maureen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 Hi Marie, My name is S, I am the mom of 5 kids, the youngest of whom has DS-ASD. Matt is 10, and I can certainly relate to being overwhelmed. THe older he gets the worse it gets Hate to warn you like that, Gail, but when I read your post, I could remember thinking that about Matt at a younger age. He wasnt' that " bad " although more classically autistic than now. But he is more difficult to deal with now. I dont' know if it is because I am older, more tired of dealing with it, or because he is worse, but i do know that finding someone to watch him gets harder and harder the older he gets. I have been having a rough time for the past few days. I talked to someone that I know whose kid is also on Risperdal, and she suggested playing with the time of administering Matt's dose. He only gets .5 mg once a day, so I know that is a low dose. But he is downright MEAN in the afternoon and evening. I thought it was a reaction to the stress at school, changing to a new teacher, new aide, (gonna change that aide, too-they haven't hired a permanent one yet, either!) etc.... but it could be a medication issue too. Anyway, welcome to this list. It is truely a lifesaver. I wanted to let every one know that I dont' respond to most messages, but I do pray for everyone involved and think about all of you on a daily basis, wondering how everyone is doing. Some of you are so eloquent, write so beautifully, it just cant' be said any better! S ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 In a message dated 9/7/00 12:49:53 PM Eastern Daylight Time, stolzfamily@... writes: << I have been having a rough time for the past few days. I talked to someone that I know whose kid is also on Risperdal, and she suggested playing with the time of administering Matt's dose. He only gets .5 mg once a day, so I know that is a low dose. But he is downright MEAN in the afternoon and evening. >> I'm sorry !!!! I hope changing the dosage helps you some. Or better yet....helps you tons!!!! {{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}} Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 7, 2000 Report Share Posted September 7, 2000 We went up in mountains this last weekend.... couldn't resist a 'taste' of that good earth. I don't have the photos developed yet, but we will have the evidence. And he will give you a kiss, or a lick, or sometimes just raspberries right on your cheek! He also gives big hugs...around your neck..from behind...we need to stop that one before he kills somebody! He gets frustrated because of the nonverbal 'thing' and will pull sister's hair if he wants her to stop doing something. You have a nice weekend! I envy you. Ann with , and Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 8, 2000 Report Share Posted September 8, 2000 > ><< 1. do your kids put stuff in their mouth constantly? > use to lots, but has lessened with age, now its occasionally mostly >with coins. > > > 2.will they suddenly " flip out " and you have no idea why, and trying > to find out why makes it worse? nathan does this too, and no matter what we do we have to just ride it out at least until he develops enough to tell us whats wrong, or telepathy becomes apart of our lives.> > > 3. agression and angry acting out, how common is this? >this is also common for nathan, especially when he doesnt get his way or >isnt felling well which is most of the time for him(low immunoglobins) >> 4. speech....where are you kids on the speech area? >> nathan has mainly been noverbal is life, using pic symbols around the house and signing, but since i started using Dr jim macdonald's techniques last winter, he is really becoming talkative at home, but still mainly for needs/wants or something neat to him he has just seen or done, nothing about feelings or day etc as of yet. and mainly in 2-4 word phrases as of yet too. This doc is very good and helps many families, specializes in ds and autism speech one can email him etc through egroups at communicationegroups i think is the site, he also has his own site, very informational, at www.jamesdmacdonald.com shawna > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2000 Report Share Posted September 9, 2000 In a message dated 09/07/2000 11:49:52 AM Central Daylight Time, stolzfamily@... writes: << have been having a rough time for the past few days. I talked to someone that I know whose kid is also on Risperdal, and she suggested playing with the time of administering Matt's dose. He only gets .5 mg once a day, so I know that is a low dose. But he is downright MEAN in the afternoon and evening. I thought it was a reaction to the stress at school, changing to a new teacher, new aide, (gonna change that aide, too-they haven't hired a permanent one yet, either!) etc.... but it could be a medication issue too. >> , this happened to the daughter of a friend of mine. Her behavior actually became worse on a low dose of Risperdal, but then improved when they increased the dosage. I also heard a child psychiatrist speak about this at a seminar I attended last March - the one where I met Joan! He advised someone in the room to increase her daughter's dosage because of the same problem. Perhaps it's worth a try for Matt. Maureen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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