I'm happy to be here. I have a 3 year old that we are beginning to have tested for AS. I also have a step-son who may have AS but we are not allowed much contact with him -- what got our attention in two ways:
I have a friend with a son with autism who, at 5, is doing all the same things my 3 yo is doing. One of the stories she told me about her son escaping her home blew me away, not because of the escape but it started with "I was upstairs while my son was downstairs..." I have never, ever been more than one room away from my youngest when we are at home together. He functions at daycare, but he's giving them fits.
The other thing that got our attention was the comment in one article regarding the fact that teens with AS are frequently misdiagnosed as ADD and/or depressed. My poor stepson couldn't function in school and still does not do very well but his mother is a non-cooperative mother from... somewhere other than planet earth. I could easily home school him and give him a break from the social nightmare he endures while, hopefully, teaching him social skills along the way. (Long before I knew anything about this, I took a class in body language. Imagine)
We are a combined family -- his, hers and ours. We have four children, two teenagers, one ten and one three. The teenagers are both having a rough go of it b/c their mother is such a pain.
Above and beyond this, I would love to have anyone help/suggestions/comment on potty training the 3 yo. I found "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes you Knew" helpful and am taking it to the daycare, but ANY help would be great. His behavior is tremendously inconsistent and I can't locate a trigger yet except if he is annoyed with us or his caregivers. I do notice that staff changes at the daycare trigger backsliding and I am suspicious that on the days when the kids do not go outside to play, he backslides, but sometimes the kids simply cannot go outside.
this is probably a very long introduction. Thank you all and this looks like a wonderful community.
Jo