Before her regression. #autism #toddler #autismawareness #baby

[familyoffour]

My brother was diagnosed at age 2 and was nonverbal most of his early childhood. He's now 27, living in Indonesia with his beautiful wife, teaching English at two different schools.

[blacknwhitejuly]

People are so stupid. I’ve had a family friend tell me that there’s no way my daughter is autistic and that kids don’t just lose skills they have learned and stop speaking. I got so upset I didn’t even try to argue I just got up and left. Then I sat in my car and cried because it seems like nobody wanted to accept her diagnosis and support us along this journey. ❤ much love to your family and you sweet girl!

[rickiavelli]

I have only just been diagnosed with ASD. I'm 25. When I was a little boy (around 4 or 5) I had the reading age of a teenager. I was however very socially underdeveloped. I would sit alone faced away from everyone and flapped my hands like Maddison does. When I was 16 I suffered through a long term burnout so intense I barely passed with half of my predicted grades. I am hopefully going to college soon to become an accountant. I know it's heartbreaking to see Maddison have to start all over again in so many ways but she will be grateful to you for being attentive to her and for noticing the signs as quickly as you did. She can have a full life, she will just have a different path to some of her peers. With parents like hers she will get where she needs to be

[tonabailey]

I am 55 yrs old, and I went thru the same... regression between 7-10 mo, ended up being like a newborn at 10 mo, I have ASD and I am fully capable, i have 2 boys and take care of my mom as well❤😊🙏

[thereasaford]

My son was EXACTLY the same. When his regression hit I took him to speech therapy. Thankfully, the speech pathologist knew what was happening and pretended to randomly give me a book on Autism (he was not qualified to diagnose), and once I read the book, I got him tested. By 4, he was officially diagnosed, and I got him help. Getting him help young helped him so very much.
More parents need to be aware of this!

[ldegraaf]

I was diagnosed with Autism at age 36, I don't know if I had any regression as a child, but if I had been diagnosed earlier I would have been less stressed and could have figured out ways to work with my brain rather than just assuming that I was to blame. I've known since I was 5 years old that my brain didn't work like my classmates, but I was so scared to tell anyone. So, I just learned how to mask and when I could feel myself getting overwhelmed I would find a place to cry.

I'm so glad that doctors are now realizing that autism isn't just a boy thing. You guys are amazing parents and she is so lucky to have you guys watching out for her.

[madimoe]

I'm that baby 27 years later. I hate to think what my mom went through. But she loved me through it. I started to come out of my shell around kindergarten. And fully became my own person by highschool. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I still do arm flapping when I'm excited. Stemming allows me to stay in the moment and experience it with who I'm with. Sometimes it feels like I have so much love and excitement I will just burst.

All of that to say.. if you keep her safe and continue to unconditionally lover her she will probably be a judge one day. This part of her life might be hard but she has a higher potential to bloom. Sending my love ❤

[ameliemileva]

As a person with crippling adhd and autism symptoms the thing that helped me most in life is the unconditional love of my mother. I will always have that even in 50 years. I don't have a fulltime job. Parents and fiancé finance me. I do a lot of care work in the family and for friends so I feel like I do my part .

[lilblondiebear]

I don't want to be an alarmist, but for everyone who notices a similar regression pattern, even if your child is diagnosed with autism, please have your them evaluated as soon as possible to rule out something called Sanfilippo Syndrome. It is rare degenerative neurological disorder that is akin to dementia in children, and the best rates of treatment are in those who are diagnosed very early on. Again, it's very RARE so please don't panic, but because it's so rare, many children who are eventually diagnosed with Sanfilippo are first misdiagnosed with autism and time is of the essence when receiving any treatment. Please look up Haidyn's Hope to learn more, educate yourselves and spread awareness if you can. God bless you and your precious babies ❤

[mmckenzie]

What a lovely little girl.

Try to ignore the negativity and armchair "experts". Just love her and reach out for all the support you may need.

She is a darling ❤

[rachaelt]

Only those who don't have to directly deal with autism struggles will claim that every kid gets labeled one. I noticed my daughter stimming at 6 months and she didn't regress, but rather had trouble with motor skills and speach. I left my job to take her to therapy and help her at home. She is now 9.5 and is doing great in public school! Helping her learn to cope with overstimulation was hard but we gradually got there. ♡

[pjj.]

As a pediatric occupational therapist for 25 years, watching your child develop, don't ever compare them to anyone else's child or the so-called norm. Compare what they can do today with what they couldn't do yesterday. That's when you will feel your heart leap with joy and you'll cover their faces with kisses. I've been there and I've seen it happen over and over again. All the best!!❤

[dorisjacobs]

I noticed when my son was 18 months that the world just seemed to start spinning in the opposite direction. He went from a happy baby to a tortured ball of anger and confusion. All of a sudden he would not allow pictures on the walls. Cushions on the couches. Dining room chairs would be turned upside down every morning. He would absolutely flip out if the grocery store moved products around. It was a devastating time. Once diagnosed we began therapy. He is now 27. He lives a full life. Has a girlfriend and is the IT director of the clinic that helped us get his life back.

[llittle_jasmine]

as someone who was diagnosed at the age of 2, the resources you will be able to teach her now will give her the tools for her best future. the autism definitely doesn’t go away but bc of those programs my mom took too, i understand my needs and triggers more clearly and can communicate them which in return lets me live a borderline normal life. thank you for sharing the signs, the spectrum has taught me people are never dumb just process the world in a different way.

[WalkerBait]

My little boy has asburgers, we noticed early. We where so fortunate to be able to take part in the no child left behind mandate, and get him the kind of individual help he needed. Over the years there where a few iffy days here and there, but as he got older, he seemed to become more comfortable with the world, by the time he was 17 he was a normal, well mannered, funny, happy, young man that can speak intelligently about nearly any subject. He was even able to enlist in the military, even though he had been on an iep in HS, but they didn't care. All he had to do was say he didn't have it, and they allowed him to go. He finished that after about 5 years, came back to his hometown, got married, and he just welcomed his second daughter into the world yesterday. I'm sitting here with baby no1 or Emma, because her little sis is being born and she can't be at the hospital as she is only 14 months. What a great thing to witness. I watched a little boy who was scared to death of loud noises, and wasn't able to say what he wanted to say, overcone that to become a well spoken, caring, thoughtful, joke cracking, fun loving father. I feel very blessed. I know this is not everyone's story, and I pray for the patents who are at the end of the rope trying to simply do every day stuff.

[myconavasmom]

I was put in the position of telling a younger cousin that her 2-year old son needed to be evaluated for autism. Her mom and sisters didn't want to tell her. Turns out the kiddo did have autism and got into help immediately. He's an awesome teenager now who is incredibly smart. His mom however never forgave me for saying something.

[lestat]

I was diagnosed at 31. After all of these years, my early speech, reading complex novels at 6 and being antisocial and withdrawn into a shell, high functioning and still unable to understand people’s motives after speaking to them a few times makes so much sense.
Autism is real. It is not fake and it presents differently in everyone.

[littleblueorchid]

I was cought off guard with my oldest diagnosis when she was 2.5 . I’m a preschool teacher and my boss and my co worker sat me down for a meeting and told me that my daughter might have ASD and needed help. I didn’t give my self time to think or feel bad, I was in a very fortunate situation where I can get a lot of support and information due to my occupation. My parents still don’t understand what having ASD means and keeps asking if she will get better and not have it anymore, which is really hard for me to keep telling them that is not how it works. But at 10 yo she is a very smart and bright young lady but social skills still evades her, but she is very kind and thoughtful to others.

[blueeyedbatman]

A whole bunch of people grew up undiagnosed and then had kids before realizing they themselves were neurodivergent. And with new information we're able to diagnose earlier and more accurately.

[Alyrulz]

My mom noticed these signs and decided my brother was “acting that way on purpose” and became abusive, thank you for being understanding and shame on those folks who think like that commenter