When we think about Autism we often exclude the adults that have it. Many of whom are just now being diagnosed as adults because Autism wasn’t widely diagnosed or understood when they were younger. 30 plus years ago we knew little about Autism, with the diagnostic rate sitting at 1 in 10,000 in the 1980s. In the nineties, prevalence was 1 in 2500 and later in the 1990s it sat at 1 in 1000. Now the rate sits at 1 in 59. So tonight, I decided to go back to my roots. You see, I started writing for emaxhealth by doing interviews with parents of Autistic children. So, I took some time tonight and sat down to interview an adult with Autism that I know. One that was diagnosed as an adult and has children with Autism. A person that is very near and dear to me.

If your kids are anything like my kids, they love video games. So much so that they will even watch other people playing video games on Youtube. (A practice I implore you as parents to monitor, a lot of youtubers are inappropriate. Even the Minecraft Videos are largely filled with adult banter) I often question whether playing video games is good for my children given the fact that they have Autism.

The “cause” debates are some of the hottest topics in the world of Autism. It seems that parents of Autistic children, scientists and Autistic adults are all at odds as to the cause of Autism and whether finding the causes is responsible or necessary. Almost everybody eventually joins a side in these debates, it is hard to stay out of them. Once a person’s mind is made up often they hold these beliefs close to their heart and it is impossible to sway them to any other way of thinking, I.e. vaccines causing or not causing Autism. Debates over causes have been known to get heated quickly.

Today was one for the books. I had an Autism specialist appointment for both of my children today. My youngest son was re-diagnosed with Autism and treatment started at this appointment. He is 11 years old, and I am feeling immense guilt over the amount of time it took to get him diagnosed correctly; it occurred to me that there may be many parents out there going through the same guilt that I am right now. It seems we are always being own harshest critics and our own worst enemies.

As the mother of an Autistic teenager with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) I have tried just about every therapy and treatment known to man to help my son. Many of these options were started when my son was very small, as early intervention is key to everything with Autism. One of said treatment options that we started is Occupational Therapy (OT).

Many people with Autism have major problems with both speech and nonverbal communication. It simply eludes them. My son had obvious issues with speech and nonverbal communication right from the beginning. Being nonverbal until the age of almost 7 years I had to find ways to connect with him outside of speaking, as well as do whatever I could to harness speech within him. It was the most tiring and rewarding task I had with him growing up, I just wanted to hear him speak; wanted him to be social. Furthermore, Autistic individuals may also find it very hard to interact socially. Zain still has social deficits. For these reasons, speech therapy is a central part of treatment for Autism. It was central, and still is central, to my son’s development as he receives speech therapy twice a week.

As tomorrow is Mother’s Day in the United States I thought it would be a good time to stop and celebrate special needs mothers, all that we do and some special ways we can spend Mother’s Day! As the mother of 2 children with Autism some days are more bittersweet than others.

What if an easy and inexpensive test could predict the likelihood of your child developing Autism when performed at well-child appointments starting at the age of 3 months? What if this test performed with 100 percent accuracy? What if I tell you this may be a reality?

When you think of Autism you often think of the obvious issues that families deal with; the meltdowns, the lack of eye contact and the lack of speech. Very rarely does the general public or the newly diagnosed parents think of the “small” issues that we deal with that often go unspoken of. One such issue is parental depression. Sometimes living the life that we must live leaves us depressed and stressed out. Whether it be from a lack of social communication with other adults or just the feeling of being overwhelmed. It certainly is not easy to be the parent of a child on the Autism spectrum. There are joyous moments, but there is no denying the challenges parents face, and the toll these take. Parents also have to worry about themselves getting sick, fighting for services, sacrificing careers, sinking into debt, and some simply rage at the injustice of it all. Parents grieve. We are allowed to do so. I find myself there right now. The monotony of each day, the meltdowns, the constant doctors’ appointments, the lack of sleep, the lack of understanding by both my family, friends and my son… it all gets to me from time to time and right now is one of those times.

Potty training is never easy, whether it be an Autistic child or a neurotypical child. A lot of parents find themselves at a complete loss. When it comes to Autistic children it is a whole new ballgame.

When our children are diagnosed we tend to go along with what the doctors and therapists say to do, as we should. We typically start a medication if they say to start it or end a medication if they say to end it. We do the same with various types of therapies. Over the years I have tried an enormous amount of medications and therapies for Autism with my son to try to better his quality of life. Much of them with great success rate, some of them with horrible outcomes. The biggest regret I have in all these years is not researching the medications that I was using extensively before starting them.

By this time of year most households have or are about to start preparations for state standardized testing. I get a lot of questions about the tests that states administer and if Autistic students have to take them. The answer isn’t a clear cut yes or no. It really depends on your child’s deficits and their IEP guidelines. What I can do is tell you about the tests and what you can do to help prepare your child for them.

When it comes to Autism and the divorce rate, many studies say the rate is up near 80%, while others rate the divorce rate somewhere near 20%. Either way, it is way higher than the rate for parents of non-special needs children. One of the reasons for this is stress and not sharing the responsibilities of raising the Autistic child. This isn’t an easy job to do and if you are doing it without help it is obviously even more daunting. Or maybe there are the moments when they do “help” and it makes things worse because your partner just hasn’t taken the time to get to know Autism like you have. No matter what the reason, a relationship coming apart at the seams is a devastating notion for any family, let alone one that has a child that is abhorrent to change.

As of late I have heard a lot of questions about the difference between Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders (or ASD’s) in the DSM-IV versus the DSM-V. We all know that the terms Autism and ASD are often used interchangeably. ASD is an umbrella diagnosis, with many separate disorders encompassing it. Since the DSM-V came out there have been some changes. So, what is the difference in the two? Here's a real quick break-down of the changes.

Discipling an Autistic child is a tricky thing; each child is different and each parent’s opinion on how to do it is different. When it comes to disciplining a meltdown the whole concept is altered though. When you discipline a child for having a temper tantrum it is different than disciplining for a meltdown.