Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Silence Will Be Broken Shortly...
I have not updated in a short while - a longer absence than I would have liked - but that is about to change shortly. The summer semester is over and work has calmed down a bit but the main reason that I have not been active in the blogosphere is that I have occupied with my 5 year old son, Ethan. It has finally been confirmed that he has autism. I have been getting educated about what to expect and ensuring that everything is in place when he starts school next week. Everything seems to be falling into place so I will be posting again on a regular basis.
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Very sorry to hear about your boy. Thoughts and prayers sent your way.
ReplyDeleteThat's very much appreciated, Eric. It seems he is most affected when it comes to social interaction and expression. I can see the gears turning in his head and I know that he knows what he wants to say or explain. It's like the information is there and it's good but it takes a detour coming from his head to his mouth. Basically, instead of going from point A to B it might decide to stop at point C to look around for a bit then go to point D to see what's going on there and then goes on to point B. Other times he is completely focused and gets the point right across. I know he gets frustrated but the steps we have taken seem to be helping him. I am confident that if we stay on top of things we can get him the assistance he needs to truly shine.
DeleteIt seems to me you have two worries. First, is that he has difficulty communicating and dealing with social interactions. The second, is the concern you have for your child due to his frustration and being unable to communicate his thoughts.
ReplyDeleteEvery autism is different and its cause is neurological. The solution, I believe, would be to look at alternative pathway development in the brain. At this point I will skip some lengthy post and instead get to the conclusion.
Have you thought about teaching your child sign language? It is something you might bring up with the people you are working with. Sign language is a second language (not just hand signals and I believe grammatically related to French). It is possible he might take well to sign language and be able to communicate better and this would reduce his frustration. Further, since it is a second language, the brain will develop a second language area. To me, building up new parts of the brain can only be good.
Just something I thought of when you said that his difficulty seemed focused on communication.
Sign language has actually been discussed at an earlier point; it's still an option and may get further attention at some time. Like you, I believe it is definitely a worthwhile pursuit and should definitely help him communicate. I had no idea about the connection between sign language and French - that's actually kind of fascinating.
DeleteI have heard a lot of horror stories about wasting time with medication but we decided to give it a try. We have actually had some very good results with his medication. It took a few changes over the months but now it seems that everything is going smooth on that front.
We are also getting a Boxer puppy in a few days. It is my understanding that dogs have had a tremendous impact on Autism in many children. Another way to help bring him out of his shell. This should prove fun and interesting.