Yikes! My child has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder!

You are not alone, it is estimated that Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) occur in as many as 2 to 6 in 1,000 individuals, and it is 4 times more prevalent in males than females (from The Autism Society of America: http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer ). The most important thing to remember is that your child is a child first. He is NOT autistic, he has autism or an autism spectrum disorder. Don't let the disorder define who your child is. He is a son, a brother, a nephew, a grandson, he is funny, playful, curious, excited, athletic, creative and by the way he has autism. The second most important thing to remember is that since autism is a disorder and not a disease it has no cure but it is definitely something you can live and thrive with. I have met parents who were told by doctors or therapists that there will be a cure for autism shortly and their child will be cured within a year or two, so those parents put hope and energy into waiting for the cure instead of putting energy into managing the situation and learning to work with autism. There are a variety of disorders on the autism spectrum, click on the links for more information about each specific disorder.

Different disorders  

• Kanner's Autism

• Hyperlexia

• Asperger's Syndrome

• Childhood Disintegrated syndrome

• Heller's Syndrome

• Disintegrative Psychosis

• Rett Syndrome

• PDD.NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified on the autism spectrum)