Topic : Raising a Special Needs Child

  My young niece has a form of selected Mutism, and stopped talking when she was a toddler. She is 6 now, and will whisper in her sister and Mother's ear only.  Because she is able to speak, we never made a big deal about it in front of her or tried to get her to talk.  We thought without pressure she would talk (out loud) when she was ready.

  We want to encourage her to talk, but don't want her feel self conscious about it.  I'm afraid the older she gets the harder it will be for her to start.

  If anyone has a child with the same condition, any advice would be welcome.  Kelley

I have five children and my eldest was diagnosed with Autism at four years of age but since then the Autism has faded alot compared to what he used to be like and he has now also been diagnosed with ODD (oppositional defiance disorder). Alot of people may be skeptical and say no such thing and all kids hate authority because I used to be one of those people until it happened in our family. My son reacts to authority that bad that he turns the classroom and bedroom upside down (plus hes pulled a knife on his sisters) if he doesnt like what hes been told, he will just get up and walk out his classroom and out of the school grounds just because he wants to or hes bored etc and it doesnt matter how you approach any situation he throws at us it always turns out ugly. My son is only 10years old and I have explained the dangers of him leaving the school and walking on the main road etc and he did tell me he understood now so I thought I was getting somewhere with him but its getting worse again and Im not sure how to discipline my children appropriately. I dont believe in smacking or medication but its come down to my partner and I constantly yelling which isnt achieving anything either. My autistic child is also stealing money from me and he steals toy cars at the shop which now I just dont take him to the shops and I know if my child/ren yell at me to ignore them until they speak nicely and Im just learning to ignore my autistic sons behaviour when he kicks and disrespects property (as the school told me to ignore what he does and dont speak to him whle hes acting up cos he wants the attention) but at the same time Im walking home and hes kicking other peoples fences etc and Im ignoring him then he eventually stopped but only when we were around the corner from home and when hes disrespecting other peoples stuff and Im not saying anything people are gonna wanna knock me out cos it looks like i dont care when I do and even if I explain the situation they may not care. My younger children are well behaved at school and there not a problem for me but Im really not sure what is the right way for a parent to act towards their children. I usually take something away from them but for my autistic son that doesnt work at all and explaining things doesnt work either. Somebody please help me.

MISSISSIPPI IS ABUSING MY ASPERGER SON. HE HAS BEEN LEFT BEHIND!  ALL THE DOCTORS AND YEARS AND STILL NO SERVICES FOR MY SON. NICK DOCTOR WANTED TO GO INTO THE SCHOOL TO WATCH HIM. SHE WAS NOT ALLOWED INTO THE SCHOOL. THE SCHOOL HAND BOOK TELLS THAT NO ONE IS ALLOWED INTO THE SCHOOL. AT 6'0 AND 190 LBS. THE SCHOOL SENDS HOME A NOTE THAT NICK IS UNDER DESK AND LAYING OUT IN THE FLOOR. THE COACH MADE NICK CRAW ON THE GROUND UNTIL HIS HANDS BLEED. I MADE A POLICE REPORT ON THIS ONE. THE PRINCPAL TOLD THE POLICE IT WAS AN IN HOUSE PUNSHMENT. NO ONE IN THIS STATE WILL HELP GET MY NICK SERVICES. NO ONE WILL STEP ON THE STATES TOES.THE STATE LEAVES THE CHILD BEHIND! I AM HAVING A HARD TIME DEALING WITH ALL OF IT. NEED A STORY ON HOW MOMS DEAL WITH ASPERGER AND PROBLEMS! ROBIN H.

First off I would get my son a child advocate, meet with them and find out what his rights are in your state and what the school is to provide for him, and then call a meeting with the school. with your son advocate by your sided, and watch them do back flips to provide the services that the state insures your son by law.

 

You need to do the work in finding the number for education of children with disabilitys in your state and asking how you can get a advocate for your son and finding out what rights he has  as a child with a disability.

 

Don't stop at one phone call, some times it takes many and asking for new numbers to call, but it is well worth it. Sometimes schools don't do what is right, they have to be made to do what is right by law for your child.

 

How do I deal with my son who is on the spectrum, like a 10 year old boy. I don't put him in a box that is marked  Autistic!!!  My son is going into 4th grade doing 4th grade work and is on the honor roll at school.

he plays as any 10 year old boy does, he rides his bike down the road my himself or with friends, rides horse and dirt bikes and his 4- wheeler. I never stop him when he is ready to do things on his own, I hold my breath as I have done with my daughter and let him grow.

After he was dianosed when he was about 3, I read and read and most of it was never good, we stopped reading and doing what they said to do, and started to take one day at a time, and stopped living under what he was called and started to live with it, and understanding what he was able to do, not  by what the books

 say that he can do but what he said he was able to do.

 

J.   Ohio.

Have you ever read any of the books by Tory Haeden sorry if it is spelt wrong i dont have any on hand to check.  Although most of the children she deals with have been abused or neglected in many ways she views all children that dont talk the same.  She seems to be amazing in the field of mutism and seems to be a pioneer in Britian her techniques are amaingly simple and almost sound ridiculous.  She expects the children to speak and sets out on the onset that they do and she gets amazing results.  You cant do this if you have already encountered the child before though you need a new relationship to do it.

 

Anyway her books are worth a read as she has never failed with a child yet !!  She is able to get them all to speak and almost immediatly

 

Mette