Next Stop, MELTDOWN!

Dane cupping his ears

Parenting a child on the autism spectrum you have to spot the signs and know your child.  My son at an early age would scream every time the toilet flushed.  He would also cup his palms over his ears when certain noises hit him.  To me these noises are not loud, but to him it hurts.  Still to this day he is paranoid to flush and prepares to plug his ears.  After the flush in a public bathroom, he gets terrified or he will say, "Not too bad." if the flush is like a normal household toilet.

When we go to Wal-Mart, the florescent lights bother his vision.  We haven't done this yet but I guess wearing lightly tinted sun glasses would help him focus better.  It has to be hard for the little guy with all the loud noise from people shopping, the smell, the lights for sure and to get what we need and get out.  To a point things will seem okay, but after a while he gets these little tremors.  He will also bang his head on me meaning he is going into over-load.

To be prepared and prevent meltdown it has helped with us to give him deep pressure massages.  Also, give him a firm hug to send signals to his brain to settle his senses.  When I am at home watching TV or reading a book, he comes to me and bangs his head on me as mentioned before.  This is usually when I put him on my lap and push down on his joints to settle him down.  I gently squeeze his ankles, bend his legs and push in on his knees.  I will also put pressure on his shoulders by pushing down and then squeeze.  Not a tight squeeze, just a tight hug and that usually helps.

These are just a couple techniques that have help with us.  No parent wants a full blown meltdown, especially in public.

"RED FLAG ALERT - AUTISM"

My son, who is now 5 seemed to be like any normal baby.  By the time he turned 2 the little words that he started to speak just stopped.  We as parents didn't think much of it at the time.  What does a parent know when they are new to parenthood with their first child?

We took Dane in for his well being check-up.  The Dr. asked, "Any questions?"  "Yes, why did he stop talking?"  This is when she referred us to Birth to 3 program.

Other quirky, routine things were going on.  He always had to flip light switches.  He was always fixated on ceiling fans or pinwheels.  He was always spinning things like saucers, spoons, matchbox car wheels. When ever I used the microwave, he always had to push start or he would throw a fit.  Still he couldn't speak and would just go into a "sensory meltdown."  We had no idea what was going on.

For the time being, I was in total denial there was anything wrong.  I just figured he would grow out of these routines.  I was wrong, they got worse.  Everything set him off.  I was at a total loss and we were expecting our 2nd child.

When you hear "Red Flag" listen to what professionals tell you.  Don't just assume everything will be fine.  Take your child in and have them tested for autism if you suspect anything!  The sooner you can have them treated and get the final diagnosis, the better your child's life, and yours will be be.

It seems to me that attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) run side by side and hard to separate the two.  The best thing you can do for yourself is again, Get Them Tested! 

Dane

"The worst thing a parent can do, is do nothing."  The words of Temple Grandin.  She is a very brilliant woman who has grown up with Severe Autism and has a PH.D in animal science and a professor at Colorado State University.  She has also written books on her autism and I recommend reading her book entitled "The Way I See It" to get a better view on how a person living with autism sees their world.