Autism and other

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Autism and other

Autism and other mental disabilities. My brother has autism, which means that he has trouble communicating in full sentences, obsesses about things, etc. Does any body have a brother or sister with a mental disability, or know someone who does?

submitted by CC, age 11, Imbler, OR
(February 26, 2009 - 1:31 pm)

back to the Down to Earth

YAY!!! Finally, someone's made a post about autism! I was going to, but I guess I forgot or something like that. Anyway, my older sister has autism. She obsesses about a LOT, too, and doesn't realize when she gets tired of things. But she loves me a lot, and we are really good friends.

Thanks for starting this thread, because I'm glad that I'm not alone!

submitted by Lena G, age 11
(February 26, 2009 - 6:16 pm)

I do NOT want to see this thread disappear into oblivion. Budge along here, thread!

submitted by Lena G, age 11
(February 26, 2009 - 6:27 pm)

And again...

submitted by Lena G, age 11
(February 26, 2009 - 6:28 pm)

and this!!!

submitted by Lena G, age 11
(February 26, 2009 - 7:58 pm)

Lena commented here 33 seconds ago!! :D

submitted by Paige
(February 26, 2009 - 7:59 pm)

And, umm, no, I don't know anybuggy who has it...  Sorry!

submitted by Paige
(February 26, 2009 - 8:00 pm)

My brother has motor tics.  It's like he can't control his arm sometimes, and for some reason hits his chest repetitively.  Or rolls his eyes back into his head for no reason.  Poor Maxi.  I suggest you do a search.  Do "Motor tics" or "Tics". 

submitted by BellaTrix ✌ ♡
(February 26, 2009 - 8:37 pm)

It's good to know that I'm not the only one.

submitted by CC, age 11, Imbler, OR
(February 26, 2009 - 9:56 pm)

*pats on back*  Yeah, I know what you mean. :(  Did you do a search?

submitted by BellaTrix ✌ ♡
(February 27, 2009 - 8:35 am)

Yeah, I did a search, but the results weren't that helpful. Can you give me some more info, please?

submitted by Cara C./CC, age 11, Imbler, OR.
(February 27, 2009 - 12:33 pm)

Well, most people think it's a brain disorder, and the kids who have it are usually on strong psychotic medication.  But my Mom did a bit of research and she thinks it's diet-related.  She doesn't think it's good for small children with minor conditions to be taking very strong and possibly harmful drugs, and I agree.  My mom's theory is sort of long and complicated (well, no, not really, I just don't quite remember at the moment), but if you really want to know, just ask.

Max doesn't suffer from the really severe form of tic.  He has small motor tics most of the time, and one vocal tic, I think.  A tic is a movement of a part of your body that you can't control.  Max has one where he repeatedly hits his chest with his fist, one where he rolls his eyes back into his head, one where he snaps his jaw, one where he jumps in the air, one where he clears his throat, and one where he sucks in his tummy.  He gets only about 1-4 of these tics each day though: it depends what he ate, if he did any physical activity, if our crazy uncle is around, etc.  It used to be really bad in the beginning, but it's much better now. I'm just happy Max doesn't have a bad case.  For example: I read about one girl who had to do a complicated series if hand jerks each time she tried to lift a fork or spoon to her mouth.  It ended up taking hours for her to eat a meal.
Okay.  Is that enough?  If not (or even if it is), you can try doing a search for "Tourette syndrome".  Tics are part of Tourette syndrome, and you should get more helpful info.  Sorry about that.        
submitted by BellaTrix
(February 28, 2009 - 7:52 am)

My cousin has Tourettes.  :(:(:(  He's had it since he was 11ish.  I think he's 21 now. 

submitted by Paige
(February 28, 2009 - 4:42 pm)

:(:(:(:(:(

submitted by BellaTrix
(February 28, 2009 - 11:22 pm)

I don't have anyone related to me with autism, but I do know someone with it. Well, two people, actually. There were two twin girls in my elementary school who had autism. (I just want to note here that my elementary school is extremely autism friendly. It's the school most autistic kids in the area attend, because we had a whole program just for autistic kids and have staff that know a lot about it.) Although some kids at school couldn't really interact with everyday classes, a lot of kids went to normal classes with a helper - a grownup who was sort of like their parent/teacher at school. Anyway....in a lot of homerooms, the autistic kids were assigned a "buddy" that rotated every week. The buddy would sit with them at lunch, walk with them in line, sit next to them, and help them out if they needed something. In second grade, I became the buddy of one of the autistic twins, whom I'll call Stacey. I liked it so much that I became Stacey's permanent buddy throughout the whole year. Although communicating with her was different than communicating with my other peers, she became one of my best friends. She came to my birthday party, I visited her house, and I sat next to her in class every year. I remained friendly with her and her helpers throughout the years, and did an article on autism for the school newspaper in fifth grade. Stacey and her twin don't go to my middle school, but thanks to her, I understand a lot more about autism that I wouldn't know if I hadn't been her buddy that one year. 

submitted by Allison P., age 12, Orlando, FL
(February 27, 2009 - 3:14 pm)

That sounds really cool, Allison.  That was a really great thing to do for that girl. :) Are you still friends?

submitted by BellaTrix
(February 28, 2009 - 7:09 am)
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