I am so relieved to see that I am not the only one going through handling kids with ASD and struggling with it. Both my children have PDD-NOS, but we have very similar problems. I have 3 children in total:
Bradyn, age 8; Kyle, age 5; and Amaya, age 3. Bradyn and Kyle are the ones who were diagnosed with PDD. Our family lives in a small town setting - about 2000 people. We just moved here about a year ago. It was a very good move for us because everyone here seems to welcome us with open arms. Almost everyone knows our children and their disorder. Bradyn actually has friends now and even some best friends.
We used to live in a city where Bradyn started kindergarten. He was very lonely. No one invited him to their home for play dates or for birthday parties all the way through grade 1. I would definitely recommend moving to a smaller community if possible.
Now Bradyn is always at someone elses house or his friends are here. He has an aide in the classroom, but I am told that she hardly works with him - only to keep him on task. He is very smart, but needs help with social skills. I totally related to the movie in this way. We have worked so hard with Bradyn that a lot of people don't even notice that he has pdd. He tries very hard to control his obvious tendencies from his disorder and the teachers and peers do not seem to have as many problems with him.
Kyle, the 5 year old, on the other hand is just starting out with school. He seems to be developing very similar to the way Bradyn developed. My concern with him is that he is not as intelligent as Bradyn was. We have a lot of daily struggles with him. To add to this he is very shy. I am really afraid for him when gets older. He is just so innocent right now.
When I watched the film, I was in tears.
I was so moved to see someone actually put themself out there like that. People just don't understand how hard it is to parent children with Autism Spectrum disorders - especially the patience needed.
I, myself, have been very stressed out over the last 5 years. I have been medicated for my migraines brought on by stress and trying to stay one step ahead of my children. My mind is having to be constantly aware of my kids.
Things are beginning to get a little easier now that I am beginning to get the support I need.
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