MSNBC – When Does Autism Start?

That’s a good question. For our family, it wasn’t early on with our first child. He started off fine, then regressed over the past couple of years. It’s not autism like many of you think. While I am certainly not an expert, autism covers a really big spectrum. Our son is on the upper end (high functioning) of the spectrum, and is mild at that. If he’s mild, I would hate to think how difficult every day is for someone who is not mild on the upper range of the spectrum. Our son has what is commonly known as Aspergers. Aspergers presents itself very differently from most other forms of autism, but similar in other aspects. He is a very intelligent, bright boy. He does have the ability to focus for long periods of time on a single task or thought. His passion keeps him from interacting like others, and it keeps him from remembering to do the simple things in life that others take for granted without being reminded constantly. Taking showers, brusing his teeth, coming down with the time meets his schedule is a constant daily battle. Interruption of a daily routine (once established) can make us reset to ground zero and start the long process again of setting up that routine.

Fortunately, the family has been working with a very good psychologist to help us fix these issues. They problems have been going on for years, but we’ve only engaged with doctors over the past two. He’s ultimately smart — too much for his own good. Now we are trying to work through these issues to get the last years he is here turned into bearible ones. Also, he needs this support if he’s ever to make it on his own in college or afterwards. God help us all…