Regression

[purpleducky]

So I thought I would write a little thing about my little man, Haidn. The past month has been a rough one. His autism has been showing.

The past month has been full of breakdowns with Haidn. He has days where nothing is right and just breakdowns because of that. We have other days were music has to be on, a movie in the DVD player while playing with the remotes for the Xbox 360. And still other days, I don't know why he meltdowns but he just does. Nevertheless, we do have good days where he is just the happiest little guy ever and nothing bothers him. We also have days of no talking, absolutely no words out of him except mama, dada and baba. Then after one of those days he vocabulary explodes and knows so many new words, like medicine. We also have in-between days. On the days he is mad at the TV, he moves it. And we have a big bulky TV, not one of those thin ones that can be wall mounted. That is a true sign of autism (truly autistic children can summon almost super-human strength when mad or upset).

So why am I writing this. I don't know exactly. I just hear so many people say that after their kid's 18 month appointment and shots that they regress. I guess I just want to show that it isn't the shots. Granted, my son is up to date on all his vaccines except for varicella and influenza (we don't do those) but the only shot he got at that appointment was his Hep A vaccine. And many people claim that it is the shots at the 18 month appointment that cause autism and those people generally get more vaccines injected into their child at the 18 month check-up. So why is it then that my son is regressing? Because that is the nature of autism. It is hard to detect before the 18-24 month mark and that is when key vaccines are generally given. Thusly the parents blame the vaccines.

Autism is like a roller coaster; there are ups and downs, good days and bad days. It has a cycle and it happens to be that there is a dip around 18 months of age.

I am not trying to offend anyone for I know some truly believe that vaccines cause autism, especially in light of the article recently written about a girl's family going to the vaccine court and getting compensation. However, it doesn't really point to the girl having autism, but that is another debate. And I am just curious as to what this compensation is because most severely autistic children receive SSI anyways, so what more compensation does the girl need?

[maddockt]

Feb. 27, 2008 at 10:30 AM

My mom is an Autism Specialist, and I work with two teenagers with Autism, so my heart truly goes out to you. Also, (I don't know if you know this yet or not) but scientists and doctors have finally proven that the shots do NOT cause Autism, but that it is a strange combination of genetics. Currently only people in the "Autism Field" have this report, so my mom has it and I've read it, but it should be released to the general public soon. It's prettey interesting, some of the theories they have about it's "causes".

 

Best of luck to you!

[Alynn74]

Feb. 27, 2008 at 1:12 PM Hey! I have those days with my kids too. I don't think he's regressing just having a bad day. I don't know your son though. I do know the frustration that you feel. One day everything will be great and we have no meltdowns, good eye contact and focus, and they will have awesome days at school. The next, it's like they are totally different children and I can't figure out what is setting them off. I get frustrated because when I think I have it figured out what not to do  to set them off-it changes and I'm back at square one. Okay, maybe not as extreme as all that. It just feels that way in the moment. You know I'm with you on the whole vaccination issue.  If you need to talk or vent- I'm here!