Hello All,

Well it's taken awhile but we have finally come to terms with the fact that our 3 year old son Logan is autistic.

We always knew he was different, he was very strong physically from an early age, he was doing everything before most of his peers physically. He's also very big and tall for his age, looks more like a 5 year old than a 3 year old.

So it comes to a shock to most people when they try and talk to him and he says nothing..! If you ask him a question he will just repeat the question to you, he has started to say sentences like the other night he was sat on the sofa and I said ok baby bed time, and he replied with Logan no like bed.. I could have died with hapiness with just that one little sentence.....

He also doesn't play with other children, but has started now to go up to them I think to try and play, but because he has no idea of personal space he goes to within an inch of their face, which of course scares the other children.

I've started to notice his autism more now that he is older, he seems to get bullied by older children who think that it is funny that he copies them, and obviously Logan doesn't realise when they are picking on him, he thinks they are playing.... I had a situation the other day where some kids were shooting at him with a water gun in his face and laughing, I of course told them off, which is when the mother decided to come over and told her boys to stop it, but didnt' make them say sorry... and we wonder why the kids of today seem to more yobbish...!

Sorry for the long drone, but I feel much better, would be great to meet some other parents, so that we can swap stories and share what works with our children so maybe it could help others.

My daughter, Makena, has autism. I never call her 'autistic' though. She has PPD-NOS and was diagnosed at age 2. It took about a year. She never spoke either, but now does. She used to be at a 9 month old level, but now she is probably at about a 5 year old level and she is 6 1/2 years old. She also used to have echolalia where she would just repeat, but that wasn't right away... She literally couldn't say a word for awhile. She is going into grade 1 and is right on for her level, but we work on her education with a tutor and a therapist at least once a week anyways. Mostly she works on her social skills and her communication. Her persoanl skills (toileting etc) are behind and she also has apraxia (low muscle tone) which is common is children who suffer from autism. Overall, she is a complete delight and I love her to bits. There is def tough days though, and we have lots to work on. Makena knows she has autism and we have left it up to her to let people know if she wishes (she does not wish to tell people) so I do not say, although we are lucky that the people in her life have been there for most of her life, including all her friends, and so there is no need to explain anyways...it's usually ignorant strangers.

Why don't you call Makena Autisic..?? I dont' have a problem telling people, when we take Logan places and he starts acting up, if we get a look I let them know that he is autistic, doesn't bother me in the slightest and they seem to then look at him different, instead of him just being a little spoilt monster, which is probably how they see him before they know his condition.

I have told people that my daughter has autism. But, I don't anymore. It is HER information to share. She is at that age, you know...she knows she has it, and I am not going to give out her private information anymore (except when it obviously requires it). For example, I do not feel the need to tell someone she meets at the park that the reason why she isn't playing the game properly is because she has autism...I might just say that sometimes she needs help (if I say anything at all) and that is good enough. I think most parents see it anyways. It's just a personal decision, and I am not saying that if you do share that info it is bad...like I said, I used to. But, now that she is older, she can choose who and when she shares that, if she even wants to. She even asked to take off her medic alert bracelet that she used to wear that said "autism" on it. We had it donated to us, but she didn't want to wear it. I like that she has an opinion, and I wish to respect it.

Yeah I agree, if she feels like she doesn't want to tell people then like you say that's her choice. I must have read your message the wrong way sorry.

I guess I'll have that to deal with that sort of thing when Logan's older at the moment with him being 3, I find it easier to tell people, we live in a little village where he has grown up with the kids, goes to preschool now with the kids that he used to see in playgroup, so i'm hoping that they know Logan is just Logan you know..??

Yeah, well, that is like Makena. We moved into this neighbourhood when she was 2 years old. She wasn't diagnosed yet, but we were in the process. She went to preschool and kindergarten with the neighbourhood kids. The parents here know, as I used to tell them. I am not sure how much the kids know, but she has lots of friends. I think if you stay in the neighbourhood and try to include your son in as much as you can...sometimes we go overboard and do many playdates and we invited BOTH whole kindergarten classes to her birthday, just to make sure that she is very involved.

My son is 6. He has diagnosed autism. He does not know he has autism, he wouldnt understand that.

I have a wonderful, aboslutley wonderful support network locally of groups of parents with ASD and they have been my lifeline.

My son also has echolalia. It is more noticeable as they get older. I did a skydive to raise money so most people in my village know about him now so people dont ask but I dont have a problem telling them x

Hi Midlnight Fairy,

Wow, I thought the echolalia is something that he would grow out of.. to be honest it hadn't even crossed my mind that he wouldn't..... I guess that's something I'll have to deal with as we go along.

Don't count too much on growing out of it. My son is 13 and autistic and still uses echolalia a lot. I'm 31 and Aspie, and I use it too, but I use it because I memorize audibly, so repeating it out loud twice and I have whatever it was memorized for life. /shrug

My daughter does do echolalia, but not nearly as much. I think that everyone is different and there is different levels of autism. I know many whose children have autism and some are so severe that, well, one in particular, doesn't even attend normal school. Then there is my other friend, and I can't even tell her son has it...even though I know he does, and he comes over alot to our house to play with my son. Makena has what has been described by the school as "classic autism" and she needs an aid, but she is very socialable (something that kids with autism aren't 'supposed' to be) although she struggles with games...such as tag ect...but, what I am *trying* to say...is that you can't compare. There is nothing wrong either with hoping your child grows out of or learns not to do something, such as echolalia. Makena hardly does it anymore...but when she does...it is rather funny....like out of the blue, she will repeat a commercial, word for word. LOL. But, she has great communication skills now, as we worked full-time (literally) on speech and communication before she entered school. She just doesn't rely on it as much. KWIM? Hope that makes sense.