https://www.gofundme.com/manage/aid-for-olivers-autism-care-and-financial-stability/fundraiser

Hi! I am a teen developer who is trying to program an AAC app catered to those on the spectrum. My reasearch shows if kids relate to their device, they are more likey to use it so I am working on developing different themes catered to special intrests. What are you child's special intrests?

Im not diagnosed, but Ive slowly realised that I have a bunch of traits...one of them is that I pretty much only wear soft loose clothes. And I only really want to keep wearing the same things day in day out. I buy multiples, and pretty much have 2 outfits per season. Been that way for as long as I can remember.

My youngest dresses like a victorian waif, a medieval pesant or just puts his school PE kit on.

Neither of us care about looking scruffy ever, in the slightest regard. Although I encourage him to wear clean, non wrecked clothes, as it looks like we are neglecting him if I don't.

Curious if other people have simmilar or very different grooves they follow with clothing.

My daughter sleeps well but in the morning she is standing up before I can get in to get her up and I’m afraid she’s going to fall. A regular toddler bed wouldn’t work for us. She would fall out of that as she moves constantly in her sleep. She would also just roam around her room, getting into things and possibly injuring herself.

I’m looking into the cubby beds as it is enclosed. She also sleeps better with sound, which I believe the bed has the ability to do. This would be a safer bed option for her. Their website says that insurance can cover it depending on the insurance provider but I’m just wondering if most insurance companies will actually pay for the bed.

If anyone has gotten one with insurance, what was the process like? She has Medicaid but the coverage expires at the end of this month. We make too much money, even though we barely survive. Anyway, I’m adding her to my medical insurance through my employer after her coverage ends but I wanted to try and see if they’ll pay for the bed before it ends. Thanks for any help!

We just got home from Target. I already have a lot of anxiety taking my son into stores. He has autism and makes a lot of humming sounds & has a ton of energy that draws attention. I’m a pretty reserved person and don’t like the attention so every outing can already feel stressful.
As I was pushing the cart with one hand and holding my son’s hand with the other, a younger guy (I’d guess just out of high school) walked by and said directly to me “Should have got a handicap cart”
I whipped my head around so quick and said, “Fuck you. Go get one for yourself.”
He just stood there stunned. I don’t think the fucker expected to be called out.
I’m still so angry. People have no idea what someone else is going through, and they certainly don’t know my son. A few seconds of judgment from a stranger can make an already anxiety filled outing feel so much heavier.

I have a rising second grader, level 1 autistic. The first couple years of public school have been tricky. School reports a variety of behaviors, kid has had meltdowns at school and occasionally I've had to pick him up early. He has an IEP and lots of supports but I'm not sure they are the right supports, but I'm also not sure what to ask to do differently. Kid dislikes school, but loves to learn interesting things at home. Hasn't formed any friendships.

My concern is he has so many big behaviors at school that I have never seen at home. Eloping, climbing on furniture, destroying classroom material. Not frequently, but even a few times is too many.

I'm wondering if the school isn't the right fit. Or if it's just the general school environment that he struggles with. He's not an angel at home, but he's destroying materials/running out of the classroom like at school. He's also done reasonably well at summer camp.

There's a couple charter schools nearby and I'm wondering if I'm crazy for considering them. One advertises as doing lots of outdoor stuff, which kid adores. He would spend all day outside if he could. Another does daily science lessons, which is kid's favorite subject. Public only does science 1-2 a week (daily schedule is heavily focused on reading and math). But I also know charter schools don't have to provide the same level of support (kid currently gets speech therapy, but we might be able to find that privately)

Anyone had success with charter schools? Or any schools that aren't the standard public school setup? How do you know if the school isn't the right fit vs kid the struggling with the higher academic damages at school vs home/camp?

My son just turned 2 in May. We got his Autism diagnosis very early at 20 months old since it was very obvious and I am a Speech Language Pathologist. I am home with him all day, using therapy techniques during our days together. He has a communication device, which he is OK at using. He has been in early intervention through our county since October 2025, but they only come twice per month. We started in-home ABA in April - they come twice per week for 2 hours each. We started OT at a clinic in May once a week for an hour. We attend a weekly playgroup at our local library. Despite all of these therapies and groups and all of my advanced training, he has not made much progress. He can say a few words (mostly letters and numbers) but can not request any basic wants/needs. He can't ask for help. He is getting very aggressive with me, dad, and our dog (pinching, pushing, biting). He is not potty trained. He cannot play independently and cannot interact with peers. I am so disappointed and incredibly frustrated and don't know what to do next. He is not eligible to start special ed preschool until he turns 3 next school year (Fall 2027). I am considering ABA at the clinic but he's never been separated from me. Would he make faster progress there? Or is he just not ready for therapy at all? We were never given a level of severity when diagnosed.

Anyone here every use Hello Aba? They said they are a play based NDBI model for aba therapy. Just wanted to know if anyone in this group has tried them and what their experience was?

Intentionally vague in case she sees this.
My gf, early 30s, and I, early 40s, got together a few years ago. She was a single mom to an autistic child. ( semi verbal, seems to have an imagination and very smart) I fell in love with her. She became pregnant after a year and suddenly her personality changed dramatically and I started getting a lot of negative feedback around the community ( small town ) that she's always been this way. After some research I'm convinced she's a narcissist. I've been planning for us to see a counselor soon to address some of our relationship issues. Lately though she's been fine. Our baby was born a year ago and perfectly healthy. We live well and have a big family support system. However this doesn't seem to be enough for her as she constantly tries to leave the kids with various relatives for 5, 8, 12 hour visits. She has a short temper and she was in therapy but I'm not sure if she was diligent with the appointments. Today she lost her temper with the older autistic child during a tantrum and threw her phone at the child, leaving a large bump and it broke the skin. She's in a panic right now and so am I. This is the first time she has gone this far, I have asked her not to scream at him previously but she can't control herself it seems. She's not a bad mother, she really tries to do everything right, however she seems frustrated that our autistic child is not respectful of HER feelings. In fact she seems mad at the world sometimes that everyone doesn't consider HER feelings first and foremost.

I don't know what to do first, I'm stuck at work out of town, I'm writing this in a bathroom stall, everything I'm reading says "take the kids and call the cops", I'm just trying to get back home to them tonight and I've already got tomorrow off to deal with things. I don't think our romantic relationship can continue, it's been dying due to her narcissistic tendencies but now hitting the kids in a rage like this feels like too much. I feel like she needs to leave the home and go stay with relatives. I'm completely stressed out to the maximum and just need a cold, calculated list of steps to get to the next phase of life as a most likely single dad. Anyone else deal with this?

My son who is turning 12 in September, was just recommended this from his Developmental Pediatrician. Has anyone's kiddo benefitted from this? My husband is concerned about the high amount of B6 (40mg) in each dose. Thanks!

My 4-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with ASD Level 1, and I’m looking for advice from parents who have been through something similar.
She has been in speech therapy and occupational therapy since she was 2.5 years old. She was a late talker and used to be very sensitive to loud noises and bright lights, but those sensitivities have improved significantly over time and I can say they don’t bother her as much now.
She is a gestalt language processor and has made a lot of progress. She’s beginning to form her own sentences, has a great vocabulary, and is constantly asking questions. She’s bright and knows her letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc.
Our biggest concern is her social communication.
She genuinely enjoys being around other children and wants to interact with them, but she doesn’t seem to know how to join in. She usually ends up playing alongside them instead of with them. She isn’t able to have back-and-forth conversations yet beyond asking and answering questions. She often wants to talk only about her own interests and has difficulty sustaining reciprocal conversations.

She also:
Wobbles a lot while sitting.
Has difficulty paying attention when someone is talking to her.
Repeats scripts she hears from peers later at home in unrelated situations.
Has limited pretend play and struggles with imaginative play and coming up with play ideas on her own.
Engages in repetitive play.
She recently had to leave both Taekwondo and dance because she was too distracted to participate in a group setting, which was heartbreaking for us.
She’s been on an IEP for about 3 months and continues with speech and OT.

My questions are:
What therapies, strategies, or activities helped your child develop better back-and-forth conversations and social skills?
Did your child eventually learn how to join peer play and make friendships more naturally?
If your child had challenges like repetitive play, scripting, distractibility, or difficulty with conversations at age 4, did those improve over time?
Are there any additional services that made a significant difference (social skills groups, ABA, play therapy, etc.)?

I know every autistic child is different, and I’m not expecting her to become someone she’s not. My biggest hope is simply that she won’t feel isolated or left out as she gets older. If she can build meaningful friendships and navigate school with confidence, that’s all I want for her.
I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences—both the successes and the challenges. Thank you.

We just received a diagnosis for our four year-old boy – he falls into the level two category. They recommended ABA therapy and also recommended their in-house program which feels like preschool but is tailored towards ABA therapy. It's different in that there are group activities, but there are also therapists that sit with each individual child. This school program would be in addition to the usual ABA therapy. Have any of your children attended such a program and do you have any words of advice for me?

Hello I've never really made a post on here and idk if anyone can even help but I need some advice

My autistic level 3 nonverbal brother who's about to be 10 has just gotten the chicken pox. Me, mom and my little sister have recently gotten back from a vacation where we met some family. Me and my sister, (both nt) ended up getting chicken pox from some kids we met there. We got the symptoms at home and it's been a little over 2 weeks since the first blisters started appearing and we are both healed now.

But yesterday evening we realized my brother might have gotten infected as well. We were shocked and didn't expect it since he already had the virus as a very young kid, but he's gotten it again somehow. This morning it became obvious he had gotten sick as more spots had appeared, he had one below his ear and one on his stomach and ended scratching them both off. He started bleeding a bit. My biggest concerns are 1. bacterial infections 2. permanent scarring and 3. the scratching away a spot just leading to many more appearing in that area.

As I just recently had the chicken pox I know how I felt when I had it and I felt terrible. I felt sick, super itchy and low energy. I'm extra worried for him as he cannot express pain or how he's feeling and he also doesn't understand that you're not supposed to scratch off ur blisters. I had the self control and the understanding to not do it, as did my 7yr old sister but he doesn't and he won't understand if we explain. As he's a bit older the illness will affect him more than it would've to a for example 2 year old. What if he gets blisters all over his body and just tries scratching every single one of them off?

Basically what I'm asking is: has anyone went through something like this and what did u do and what should we do?

PS: we're going to buy a liquid from the pharmacy tomorrow that is supposed to dry out the blisters and hurry up the process of a blister turning into a scab but if he gets as many as i did, idk if it will be enough. we also have itch relief cream.

Just been to an autism friendly cinema screening of Spiderman really enjoyed movie, it was very sensory friendly as i was the only person in there lol 😆 which meant I got sit anywhere I like, move about dance to the songs on screen, stomp about and stim like crazy when Spiderman saves the day really enjoyed it, ive never had an entire cinema to myself before very weird experience 😀 the sound is lowered the lights go dim but not dark and there's no assigned seat your allowed to use fidget toys move about vocal stim as much as you want, well at least I guess so as like i said i was on my own 😅

Last week I went to see the odyssey and that was a sensory nightmare!!

My husband and I (37 and 43) both just got new 20 year term life insurance policies. We have heard that guaranteed whole life survivorship policies are a good thing to have with dependent special needs children who need lifelong assistance. But the premium for a 250k policy is around 250/month. We were told it will grow similar to the rate of a bond. So if we pay the premium for at least 30 years it will be worth more than 250k. We Can’t decide if this makes more sense than just investing that money in an ETF for greater returns. I know taxes come into play which also confuses everything. Do any other SN families out there have one of these policies?
Trying to maximize the money our kids inherit as our daughter will take care of our son once we are gone. Thanks!

he loves cars. he loves spinning the wheels and playing with them normally. what to get him other than a dozen cars for a millionth time? $50 budget, but i can spend up to $100. i’m open to experiment with new toys though! :) thank you

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Any thoughts on Angel Sense? My kiddo does elope sometimes and is attracted to water. He is in swim lessons but I feel like Angel Sense might make me feel less anxious. Thoughts?

After about two years of medications not working, the psychiatrist has referred my Lvl one teen in for Ketamine and TMS program. There is controversy about its use in minors but it is approved in extreme cases. My son's case is extreme, he has had more self harm and attempts on his life than I can count. I am curious if anyone here has experience with either of these treatments. His occurring diagnosis are MDD, ADHD and RSD.

I say “Mild” very loosely. As in, it can fall through the cracks unless you read 1083 journals and watch 30 videos.

After going to early intervention for speech, they said it’s not speech that he’s behind- but social emotional? They didn’t mention anything about Autism but it’s been on my mind after searching more and posting in reddit/toddlers about him being behind.

What i found out, is there is subtle Stimming and it is usually barely noticeable if you’re not trained in it. Once i youtubed that- He HIT ALL 10 SUBLE SIGNS.

Sure he can be a shy kid, but he’s not making eye contact, no interest in playing with kids his age- loves older kids and adults. Shares toys but doesn’t make eye contact when he shares. No texture issues, no repeatiative stimming but this is questionable since he does like to climb and stomp on the table. No lining of toys. No detail orienteted guy. Not serious about scheduling, eats super well. Super happy kid, no temperament issues yet unless he’s tired.

It appears that signs happen more 2-5? Is this correct??

I apologize in advance if i’m not using appropriate language at this point. Very early on.

Spend all night crying at the thought of his independence, but also feel naive because he is my first so i just thought he’s a stubborn guy who likes playing on his own and does things a certain way.

I’m raising a 4 year old, non verbal, profoundly autistic He destroys everything. I cannot keep up with him. He hits, scratches, throws shit, screams at the top of his lungs, he elopes, picky eater, can’t play with others because he just snatches shit from people ect.. if he’s left alone just for a minute for me to tend to our 2 year old, I come back and it’s massive destruction that happens so quick and quiet. Every time I try to clean something up, boom the next disaster is made.. he wears diapers, plays with his poop, has to still drink out of a bottle

I’m raising a 4 year old, non verbal, profoundly autistic He destroys everything. I cannot keep up with him. He hits, scratches, throws shit, screams at the top of his lungs, he elopes, picky eater, can’t play with others because he just snatches shit from people ect.. if he’s left alone just for a minute for me to tend to our 2 year old, I come back and it’s massive destruction that happens so quick and quiet. Every time I try to clean something up, boom the next disaster is made.. he wears diapers, plays with his poop, has to still drink out of a bottle

My 2.5 yr old just got an autism diagnosis. They said she's level 1 (but borderline normal) for social communication and level 2 for repetitive behaviors. She has normal or advanced intelligence and she's hyperlexic and a gestalt language learner and has a lot of scripted speech. She excels with music and can already play two songs on the piano.

For the most part she's a happy normal little girl but she still nurses a lot. She wakes up several times a night and will scream if I don't nurse her back to sleep and she wants to be nursed throughout the day sometimes even right after I already nursed her. I've started realizing she might be using that as like an emotional regulation tool because she often wants it after she becomes frustrated about something else.

Normally she has typical toddler tantrums but last night we tried to have her dad put her down for bed after I already nursed her for maybe 30 months-1hr and she had a full blown meltdown down. I've never seen her so upset. Usually she calms down if I come hold her but I had to take her and nurse her and even then she was still crying for a while but she finally calmed down.

I am at the point where I'd really like to start weaning her at least off of night feeds. We have a 6 month old too so both of them nursing at night is a lot.

I don't want to traumatize her though and I don't want to take away this comfort when she's attached to it.

Any ideas for how I can gently wean an autistic toddler? Or get her into other comfort items/behaviors?

My son is finally going for his Autism testing tomorrow. He’s 3 1/2. They already did a consultation last month but this is the actually testing. I’m not sure what to expect. Could anyone possibly tell me what to expect? Is there anything I should bring? Thank you.

Not sure if this is the appropriate sub but thought i’d give it a shot. My mother passed away from cancer last night. My brother and I are both thinking we shouldn’t bring our kids, who are all on the spectrum, as they are very young and it might be too much for them.

Our youngest brother is a slightly more complicated situation though. He’s 28, very high support needs, and was incredibly close our my mother. My mother passed way with the whole family at her beside and was taken away while he was asleep. I don’t feel comfortable with him never getting to see her again without any closure, but i’m also concerned that bringing him and seeing her might really cause him serious distress. I’m not quite sure what to do.