vlgimmelli Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 HEllo, My son was diagnosed at 3 years old with high functioning autism and was doing well. He was doing fabulous and all of a sudden at the age of 10 regressed and now at 11.5 yrs old he has regressed tremendously. He flaps his hands all the time, he laugh at nothing and at people all the time. He can't focus and it is hard for him to enjoy anything. He is worse than he was when he was a small child. Has anyone have any thoughts and knowledge about this. I have an appointment with the pediatrician on Jan 31st for an evaluation. He also gets angry often and if we are taking him to see a doctor to help him he says he wants to hurt them. I am in tears daily thinking how far we have gone and how well he was and now we have gone back so far....at times I don't see any light. Just wanted to share what I am going through. Thanks for listening. Lillian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I am so, so sorry.:grouphug: I have read that puberty can throw back kids on the spectrum or even cause a rise in potentially violent or violent behaviors. In my dd, who is an Aspie, it caused a huge spike in anxiety. I hope so much that when you take your son in for the evaluation you get some answers and a lot of help, whatever form that takes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesa Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Wow, this is not what I wanted to hear. My ds is 10 now. Oh my... I am just hoping beyond hope that this isnt inevitable for "us". My ds still does the hand flapping. He still is very "me me me" in his thinking. I only expected him to stay the same or get better and better as he got older not get worse. Oh dear. This does give me something to think about. I probably need to do my research. I wish you well mama. Keep us updated on what the doc says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
at the beach Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 HEllo, My son was diagnosed at 3 years old with high functioning autism and was doing well. He was doing fabulous and all of a sudden at the age of 10 regressed and now at 11.5 yrs old he has regressed tremendously. He flaps his hands all the time, he laugh at nothing and at people all the time. He can't focus and it is hard for him to enjoy anything. He is worse than he was when he was a small child. Has anyone have any thoughts and knowledge about this. I have an appointment with the pediatrician on Jan 31st for an evaluation. He also gets angry often and if we are taking him to see a doctor to help him he says he wants to hurt them. I am in tears daily thinking how far we have gone and how well he was and now we have gone back so far....at times I don't see any light. Just wanted to share what I am going through. Thanks for listening. Lillian :grouphug: I'm so sorry you are struggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Sorry to hear about this. My daughter does not have autism but has rare mito issues and some autistic traits. I know all too well about regression. Can you see a neurologist or psychiatrist that has a lot more experience in this area? It might be that he will need some medication for anxiety and/or aggression, at least for a while. Sadly, I know about the wanting to hurt the doctors thing too. We have to see a neurologist 3 1/2 hours away in 2 weeks and I am brining a friend of mine along to help me as my daughter can get VERY upset at the doctor's office and can not be in the room with me when we are discussing the nitty gritty of her diagnosis, meds, etc. If you can take another adult with you, that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heart'sjoy Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 :bigear::bigear::grouphug: I hear you Lillian. Our DS 10 really changed this year too, ( anger, fear, less emotional control, total exasperation with much of daily life) It's grief to "lose" my child and not understand what is going on. And it's not easy to define or talk about. For our family RDI was what fit. We've really not even started with the child therapy yet. The biggest change we've made is changing the style of our communication and giving DS 15+ seconds to respond. The other change is slowing our pace for everything, school, church, friends. He's already doing better and I've been able to ramp school back to almost normal over several months. The worst was realizing my DS knew his life was falling apart and felt helpless and because of autism he couldn't use me as a resource to solve problems. I realize now that a lot of his behaviors were defense mechanisms to try to protect himself from all the frustration and failure he was feeling. We're not out of the woods by a long shot.. For me I still wonder daily about treatment options as there's no research on which therapies will allow them to be independent adults. But when I read how RDI works, and how it works on the underlying deficits instead of just surface behaviors I knew it was the direction I wanted us to go in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Just in general: puberty can cause a regression in typically developing children too: parents describe the "brain falls out" syndrome (lasts a couple years) and there is often an uptick in misbehaviors as kids begin to move toward independence and have to manage hormones. For kids with other issues, such as sensory integration issues, the developing brain can need new levels of input to get to equilibrium again due to changes. Don't have specific info on the spectrum issues, but it may help to note that other kids do similar things around the same age. If you go to the general board, you'll find many threads on 11-14 year old boys, for instance and mothers suddenly concerned about behavior & academic changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 My ds regressed around age 12, and we were worried enough that wound up doing a second evaluation of him at that time. It was very worrisome, and it lasted a couple of years, but he started "coming back" when he was 14 and was flourishing by the time he was 16. If someone had told me back then how well he would be doing now as a young adult, well, I don't know if I would have been relieved or simply not believed it! I'd check back with a doctor, but start channelling the patience and tricks you had when dealing with a toddler. The two age groups are very much the same -- just think of all the growth and development that happens within both age groups. But 11-14 year olds are bigger and smarter, and we automatically expect more from them. They need boundaries, clear but basic expectations spelled out, and lots and lots and lots of love. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vlgimmelli Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 Thanks for all the great replies. With the regression that my son has had my husband believes that putting back into ps is the best thing to do. I in my heart of hearts would like to continue homeschooling, but definitely want the best for him and want to give him all he needs. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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