13/12/2023
❤️Please read to the very end,
I’ve been struggling to get my son Jack diagnosed with ASD since he was 3years old, this is the age I noticed something was different with him. He’s now 11yrs old and he is going through the biggest struggle of his life so far, high school!
For the past 8 yrs I’ve been struggling alongside him, to the point now where I wish I could just take him away from everyone else to stop the pain and hurt he goes through every day, the same pain and hurt I go through every day with him.
I do recognise quite a few of these ASD traits in myself and understand that my childhood could have been very different if maybe ASD had been understood at the time. I was just known and an unsociable person, ignorant or miserable, even now I’m the same but I’ve learnt not to care what people think ( to a degree), being around people, even family, gives me huge anxiety and feelings of being disconnected and different, I am different, but I’m ok with being the way I am, and I hope Jack will learn to feel the same way as he gets older, it’s ok to be different from other people, it’s ok not to want lots of friends or to go to parties or social gatherings especially if it makes you feel bad anxious or unhappy inside.
I’m not going to teach my child he’s not normal because of these types of things, I know how that feels and I’m not going to let him experience that too.
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. People with ASD may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention
Autistic people may act in a different way to other people
Autistic people may:
• find it hard to communicate and interact with other people
• find it hard to understand how other people think or feel
• find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable
• get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events
• take longer to understand information
• do or think the same things over and over
Autistic people often have other conditions, such as:
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• dyslexia
• anxiety
• depression
• epilepsy
anger and aggression are common across all levels of the autism spectrum. Children who struggle with more substantial social and communication issues, as well as those who engage in more repetitive behaviors, are more likely to have problems with emotional regulation and aggressive actions.
Yelling at children with autism can cause depression and negatively impact the emotional wellbeing of the child. Depression is associated with several negative outcomes, including functional impairments beyond those associated with autism itself and significant burden on the family system
Autistic people have shorter life expectancy than non-autistic people, partially due to higher risk for genetic and medical issues and partially due to the stress of existing in a world not built for you. Access to appropriate supports can help mitigate this effect.
Foods That Can Make Autism Symptoms Worse
• Highly refined or processed foods.
• Artificial ingredients (colors, sweeteners, and preservatives).
• Gluten (the protein in wheat, barley, and rye).
• Casein (the protein in milk).
• Corn or soy.
• Pesticides (choose organic produce instead).
Children with autism spectrum disorder have good vocabularies but unusual ways of expressing themselves. They may talk in a monotone voice and do not recognize the need to control the volume of their voice, speaking loudly in libraries or movie theaters, for example
More than 15 percent of patients with autism or autism-related disorders exhibited strabismus, a type of eye movement disorder in which the eyes do not align properly; exotropia, or an outward turning of one or both eyes, was the most common form of strabismus seen.
My son Jack has a lazy eye that turns in and needs very strong perception glasses
Other Characteristics
• Delayed language skills.
• Delayed movement skills.
• Delayed cognitive or learning skills.
• Hyperactive, impulsive, and/or inattentive behavior.
• Epilepsy or seizure disorder.
• Unusual eating and sleeping habits.
• Gastrointestinal issues (for example, constipation)
• Unusual mood or emotional reactions.
Not every child with ASD is the same or has the same issues but every day they struggle to conform to society’s expectations and standards, and every day the parent/parents have their own battle to fight, learning to understand just how to communicate with their own child, learning how to understand their view of the world around them and watching them struggle with the challenges of simply making friends or being around other people.
I see so many peers and adults that my son meets look down on him, quick to label him a ‘naughty child’ or just shout at him because of their own frustrations with his actions, not even stopping once to wonder how he feels about his own actions and how frustrated he is that he acts the way he does or responds to situations the way he does!
Do you know how heartbreaking it is to hear your child repeatedly tell you and those around you that he hates his life and wants to end it! He has no way of expressing himself differently to this, what he actually wants is to end the constant stress he feels, the constant fear and pain he experiences when he’s in school or in public, mainly caused by others around him who lack understanding, empathy or even sympathy for the world he is trapped in, the world we all function daily in, the world he is forced to conform with when he doesn’t even understand it.
I know this is a lot of text to read but if you can just take the time to read and understand it and maybe educate yourself a little, then educate the children within your family, kids like my son Jack may just start to be happier in your world and not want to end theirs so much!
