Support.

The sound of a mangled ABC song in your child's voice is, I have come to believe, one of the sweetest sounds ever.

My nephew is autistic and reading your blog reminds me of so many things that my sister went through and is still going through with Tate. It has been quite the journey and learning experience for her, but she wouldn't change it for the world. I so enjoy reading your blog.
Thanks for being so authentic and inspirational.
Meredith

Ali,
I have been following your blog for a couple of weeks. My son, Caleb who is 3 has some autistic tendencies. As a matter of fact we are off to the school this morning to get some further testing.
Isn't it amazing how you feel when they do something new? It's an awesome feeling! It makes me realize how much I took for granted with my two older children.
Kim

Way to go Little Dude! Keep singing!
I like those cards - but never wanted to hand them out - EXCEPT at Disney World at the nasty people who made comments when we would go to the head of the line with our GAC pass... (we slightly changed to wording on the ones we handed out there)
Go for it on the cloth pull ups they really worked for us (one of the positive side effects of SI issues - Ethan hated to be wet and VERY QUICKLY figured out the whole potty thing- again he was about 3.5)

The card works great Ali. I have used it. Potty training is very hard for autistic children. Took us about 9 months for full potty training to be completed. Only worked when he started the vitalsounds listening therapy. That and lot's of bribery.
Also starting the diet this week. Tough doing all of the changes, keeping track of whats working and what's not, then trying to have some sort of normalcy. Hang in there.

Good luck with the upcoming transitions...and, boy! Could I relate to being addicted to chaos. Story of my life! Maybe I should check that book out?
Best of luck with potty training. We are staring that down ourselves in the near future and although I've been down the road before, my 2nd appears she will be a tougher sell. :)
Glad your experience at the group was helpful and hopeful.

It sounds like you are on the right path with attending the group. Life is just chaotic sometimes, but you adjust and shift your priorities as needed. You sound like you are handling things well. Good for you, and good for Simon on singing that ABC song! Great job dude.

We love our cloth diapers. Good luck with PT!

Yeah for the ABC song! Yeah for Simon!
Good luck with potty training too. I didn't have cloth diapers, but had read somewhere about just putting your child in underwear and doing away with diapers completely, so that's what we did. It took a few weeks, but it ended up working. It really has been nice too, other than his wanting to *explore* every bathroom we encounter (Costco's and Home Depot's are favorites, as he says he has to *go* as soon as we get to either of those two stores). :)

Ali...i think you should give those cards out when you feel you need to. That is so affirming, and supportive. You're amazing and strong....
and Simon is amazing and strong.
love
c

What a super moment hearing those ABC"S!!!!! Way to go Simon!
I congratulate you Ali for being a strong and caring parent. There are so many parents that deny helping their children with autism or any other condition, because they don't want to accept what the facts are.
You are going above and beyond to help Simon grow. I commend you and your husband.. Parenting is hard work.. I sometimes feel overwhelmed at what is accomplished in the span of a day with my three young ones... You are truly an inspiration for not only parents of an autistic child, but to ANY parent.....
-Chrissy

I love the card. Congratulations on Simon singing his ABC's! ROCK ON, SIMON!!! :D
Glad you found a group that you can relate to.

I just started reading your blog a couple of days ago. After reading this post (and seeing you trying the GF/CF diet), I went back and reread some of the other Simon posts.
Your son sounds a lot like my 9-year old daughter, Laini. She is not autistic, but has autistic behaviors - like "tickling" the side of her face with her fingers. But she, like Simon, interacts too much with others to be a classic "autistic" child.
When she was 3, she had no language (or tiny amounts). She grunted, whined and pulled our hands to get to what she wanted. A pediatric neurologist said she had PDD, which I think is a BS diagnosis that doctors use when they don't really know what's wrong.
We considered the GF/CF diet, and almost went to see a specialist in Florida in order to see if it would help her. We tried a quack who claimed he could tell what was wrong by passing a metallic rod over her body. We got her vision therapy (later discontinued) and prismatic glasses.
Long story short, she's been mainstreamed since her second year of preschool. Yes, she was in Birth-to-Three for a while, and a special ed preschool for a year. But then we fought - all because her preschool teacher recommended "The Out-of-Sync Child". The child described in the book was much closer to Laini than what PDD said she should be like. So, we went with the basic description of Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), based on her problems dealing with the unplanned and unexpected, and some sensory defensiveness.
She has kids she's friendly with, but doesn't invite kids for playdates like her younger sister. She does well in school (A's in spelling and science and social studies, Bs in math), but needs focusing by her teachers at times. She has trouble giving eye contact and gets easily distracted.
Now, I don't know Simon. But the little I've read does send up red flags. Tread carefully. Don't just clutch at silver bullets. One suggestion, if you don't mind: try to mainstream Simon. Kids tend to live up to the level of those around them. Simon seems bright and social - would you rather he model special ed kids, or "normal" ones? It was a no-brainer for us, and well worth the bloody fight with the school district.
Good luck - I hope I haven't offended you. Feel free to write me or my wife (judi@momathome.com). She remembers all the little details better than I.

Ali, you such an amazing person. What a blessing that Simon has you for a mom.

YAY Simon on your ABC song!!! All the best with the transitions...(((hugs)))

Hey Ali- Going cloth just may be the key. Here's a local source for the Nikky pants: http://www.babyworks.com
They offer a little price break for 3 or more and are in Portland so s&h may be less. Great customer service--gotta love that. Cheers.

Yahoo on him singing the ABCs...I know a huge proud momma moment!

Ali- My son was seriously speech delayed and I cried buckets the first time he sang his ABCs. Enjoy Simon's little victories!!!

Cloth diapers are the choice and yes, they are cool. (smile). With my first two children I was a stay at home mom, so it was always just plain old cloth, pins, and rubber pants. When baby #3 came along I went from being a stay at home mom, to a stay at home single mom.
For a time I had two in diapers full-time, and one in diapers part-time (night-time), so that was challenging. I remember how I would set up all the kids side by side before bedtime, then with a stack of diapers off to one side, I would start the changing process.
Each child would get their rubber pants pulled off, diapers unpinned and changed, a double diaper fastened, and rubber pants put back on again. I could whip through all three kids in about 5 minutes flat. Ah ha, those were the days.