New to the world of Austism and needing help!

[Reef]

Hi, my 3 year old son, Cyrus T., was diagnosed with mild autism in February this year. He was 2 and 3/4s at the time, and not talking. Also, he had what seemed to me at the time as quirky behaviours, which I thought he would grow out of, such as standing/walking on tiptoes, never settling on one activity, not making good eye contact, staring into space at times,...

I have found it somewhat harder to come to terms with this than my husband. He bought all the books, read alot, and put alot in place to help progress our son. We currently live overseas because of my job and so, it is very difficult to find the resources. However, he has made such good progress - he is now talking, and making very good eye contact. This is all very much thanks to my husband. He is also a firm believer in the GF/CF diet, which Cyrus has been on for the last 3 months.

I thought we had overcome the autism, but, as he gets older, more challenging behaviours appear, and I know now that there is more to this than just not talking. Tantrums, violent behaviour at times, more quirky behaviours, etc... I know it seems a long time (4 months) for me to accept my son has autism, but I've never been exposed to it before. Saying that though, I wonder if autism exists in my family, and we just didn't know it. I have an uncle who we have always thought suffers from dyslexia and and another from quite obviously obsessive compulsive disorder, and we have always put their odd behaviours down to those symptoms. I also had issues when I was younger of being what was perceived as quite shy (I hated interaction with my peers, and would avoid it at all costs), not good with physical contact, and being a bit of an obsessive compulsive, but I've learnt to control/overcome and hide these traits in my adult life.

I've joined this forum to help me understand autism better, particularly from those who have autism. And in turn, hope it helps me to learn more about my son and how to give him the best support. I love him to bits, and there are times when its very hard to cope, but there are other times when I think he's the most intelligent person on the planet.

Apologies for the long introduction, but this is the first time I have shared my thoughts on this subject due to being in denial for so long.

Reef

[cyberpedz]

First of all welcome to the site reef.

I dont think 4 months is a long time to get used to it after all it is life changing, there will no doubt be hard times but there will definitely be happy times!

It may seem like it is the end of the world at times but trust me its not if you know where to look and who to contact there is a mass of info and support out there.

We have just opened up our service directory to all members feel free to have a look and see if there is anything in there that can be of use.

If you know of places or services please feel free to post them in the service directory.