Christen99
Wet behind the ears
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2013
- Messages
- 79
I'm a stay home, homeschooling mom of two kids on the spectrum. My oldest has aspergers, and is my stealth kiddo. Most people don't realize he's on the spectrum, he's well regulated but hates anyone to touch him or get into his space bubble, and is finally making good eye contact and tracking during conversations. He has very low pragmatics, and horrible executive functioning issues however. He's a smart cookie, and he's taking some classes online through BYU, and will finish up 8th grade this year.
My youngest was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, severe sensory seeking, severe aggression, more expressive/receptive/pragmatic issues, and is also incredibly gifted academically (he's the reason we're homeschooling). Most people look at him and think he has severe ADHD and behavioral issues. Thankfully our homeschool community looks at him and sees how hard he works, and the kids love playing with him and accept him (and us) fully. It helps that so many fellow homeschoolers are also on the spectrum!
We live in CA, and we took our youngest to Disneyland for his 7th birthday, and that was not the happiest place on earth for us. It ended up being the place where I realized he was autistic and it was full of heartbreak for me. We knew there was "something", but after 5 different assessments from the time he was 3, we just had lots of services and no diagnosis. He was diagnosed a few days after coming home from our trip.
Fast forward two years, and he's doing amazing. He's about to turn 9, and we're planning a trip to WDW for both his birthday, and my oldest's completion of 8th grade.
We found the GAC to be invaluable during our last trip, so we plan on doing that again. We now have earplugs on us at all times, and he's able to articulate when something is bothering him...appropriately. We are also staying at Riverside in one of the preferred rooms as opposed to the noisier value resorts. We've made lots of trips to local theme parks and he LOVES them, but dislikes the characters near him because he can't read their facial expressions. They're kind of "creepy", but enjoys that characters with actual faces (Mulan was a hit!).
My youngest was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, severe sensory seeking, severe aggression, more expressive/receptive/pragmatic issues, and is also incredibly gifted academically (he's the reason we're homeschooling). Most people look at him and think he has severe ADHD and behavioral issues. Thankfully our homeschool community looks at him and sees how hard he works, and the kids love playing with him and accept him (and us) fully. It helps that so many fellow homeschoolers are also on the spectrum!
We live in CA, and we took our youngest to Disneyland for his 7th birthday, and that was not the happiest place on earth for us. It ended up being the place where I realized he was autistic and it was full of heartbreak for me. We knew there was "something", but after 5 different assessments from the time he was 3, we just had lots of services and no diagnosis. He was diagnosed a few days after coming home from our trip.
Fast forward two years, and he's doing amazing. He's about to turn 9, and we're planning a trip to WDW for both his birthday, and my oldest's completion of 8th grade.
We found the GAC to be invaluable during our last trip, so we plan on doing that again. We now have earplugs on us at all times, and he's able to articulate when something is bothering him...appropriately. We are also staying at Riverside in one of the preferred rooms as opposed to the noisier value resorts. We've made lots of trips to local theme parks and he LOVES them, but dislikes the characters near him because he can't read their facial expressions. They're kind of "creepy", but enjoys that characters with actual faces (Mulan was a hit!).
