Living With Autism: Day 36

Carson had his 4 year checkup today. He was diagnosed with ADHD which didn't come as a shock. Children with Autism usually have some form of adhd. It is manageable for now and it's not interfering with his focus at school.

The doctor told us that he hasn't found a medication yet that works well for kids on the spectrum because stimulant medications are what is prescribed for ADHD. Stimulants and autism don't go together. Most of the time these medications will have the opposite effect.

I think we have him on the right track and medication free! As you can see in the pictures below, Carson has been very calm lately. He is doing just fine!

Living With Autism: Day 35

One of Carson's goals this quarter is to touch his toes with NVI — non verbal imitation. He is doing well with it but still needs prompting.

Carson has a difficult time comprehending what is said to him. He understands a few key words but not full sentences.
He now understands come here, take off shoes, pull up pants and a few others.

With NVI we say to Carson "do this" and then we do what we want him to imitate. We usually will have to prompt him a few times until he gets it on his own.

The picture below is of Carson clapping when I said "do this"

Living With Autism: Day 34

Carson has had his ipad time limited at school. When he gets home he likes to make up for lost time...

Living With Autism: Day 33

Carson is back to his usual self now that we discontinued the medicine. He is back to his playful happy self :)

Living With Autism: Day 32

Carson used his ipad to request to go potty 3 times today!!!

Living With Autism: Day 31

We took the kids to get fall pictures done today. Carson is very difficult to photograph because he doesn't sit still and he doesn't look at the camera. The girl that did the pictures is a friend of mine from high school and she did an amazing job! She was so patient and she got some great shots of Carson. I was very happy!!!

Living With Autism: Day 30

Carson went on his first pony ride today. He loved it! We are going to look into getting him into horseback lessons.