When my son received an autism diagnosis at the age of 4, I fell into a black abyss of depression from which I thought I'd never recover. At that time, it was impossible for me to imagine I would ever smile, laugh, or feel light again. (A personal journey by McKenna Meyers)
I don’t think I’ll ever forget this one time when I took my daughter to the grocery store. It was years ago. She was probably two and half. In an attempt to have a successful shopping trip, (the kind where you pick out items and then actually are able to purchase them before having to leave because your child has a meltdown...
Tactile symptoms are among the most commonly reported sensory symptoms described by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) . Children displaying tactile defensiveness may also exhibit self-stimulating behavior (stimming). Repeated movements such as hand-flapping...
One of my son’s most frequent questions is, “What’s that sound, Mommy?” I often can’t hear what he’s hearing. He can hear the school bus when it’s still half a mile from our house. With all the windows closed inside our home, he can hear the next-door neighbours’ sump pump switch on or their garage door...
Sleeplessness affects children with autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and other conditions, which can cause difficulties in learning and produce challenging behavior in the child. Most often, poor sleep occurs due to problems in achieving an appropriate sleep-awake cycle. There can be various causes for sleep problems, such as the need to sleep more, discomfort while sleeping alone, and separation anxiety issues while sleeping in a different room than parents.
Hyperacusis is an increased sensitivity to sound that is commonly found among people with autism. This means that certain noises, such as classroom bells, the radio or the TV, may be uncomfortable for your child to hear. When a sound is distressing to a child, he or she may show discomfort by covering their ears, trying to turn off the source of the sound or leaving the noisy environment.
It’s been over a year and a half now since I first began to realize I was autistic, and what originally kicked off that process of self-discovery was that the demands of ordinary life were beginning to outstrip my personal resources, and I needed to know why.
