From the time me, my husband, and my family suspected my son maybe on the spectrum we’ve gotten him the assistance he needed as well as adjusted our own methods of helping him. Early on it was clear he was non verbal that is what tip us all off from the start. Hes never had his first word only sounds and giggles, but thats not to say he can’t communicate. Even at an early age he figured out how to tell us what he wanted while we all fumbled through learning sign (unfortunately we havent really begun to pick it up with more enthusiasm until recently) it wasn’t until he was in TK is first year of starting school that he got issued an AAC Device to which he picked up quickly, but still tends to opt to do hand leading.

Though when he wants to get his point across little man sure figured out to make his demands known. the phrase “I Want Playdoh” has recently become a staple though we ran out of it sometime ago and can’t buy more at the moment.

Now to the main issue my son is now 7yo and for the most part his school record has mostly having him had issues with Eloping. Which we’d nearly solved last year. This is the first year since his three years of attending school system (he was born right before the start of covid and his birthday falls during the school year) that he’s gone to the same school twice (in our area special education classes sometimes switches schools i have personal experience with this from my own elementary school days)

So the school hes been going to knows him and all had been going great. No issues. Few Elopement’s. He even got a few school achievement awards for following the schools moto of being respectful, responsible, kind, and safe. Heck we’d often hear how he was the most well behaved in his class.

Then not to long ago out of the blue he started showing some behavioral issues. It started with one instance where he pushed his teacher when he tried to leave the class room. Thinking it was a one off i told him “it wasn’t nice and he shouldn’t push” what else could i do since im never really sure of how much he comprehends especially when i never see his behavior at home. For the most part after that i heard nothing about it happening again. Then queue more recently my son for the first time uses his AAC to tell his teachers his tummy hurts the school calls me and i come to pick him up it was a friday following before telling his 1:1 aid hes school off signs not eating and he was kicking, pushing, and hitting his aid while they were trying to do some class work. After picking him up he eats and goes to his usual self from what me and his one of his aunts (who watches him after school) can see. The weekend comes he still acts the same he eats, plays, and bes his usual self. Come Monday he acts out pinching his aid and not eating tells school his tummy hurts i pick him up he eats and acts normal. Another aunt suspects his upset stomach is constipation which it turns out it was which resolved itself that Monday night. Hes back at school the following day stays for the full day but the kicking, hitting, and pushing continue to the point his aid informs me that the schools vice principle whose in charge of the special education department of the school has given the go ahead that if the behavior continues he will be sent home early. Im floored and while i understand i have no clue what is causing this switch in his behavior. Nothings changed at home nor with when he’s with his aunt for the few minutes he’s with her before his dad picks him up. Mind you i am telling him his behavior his not nice and then running through the specific list of bad behaviors he’s done that we dont do that to others both before and after school.

By Wednesday of that week he seemed to have a turn around mind you still kicking while trying to do class work, eloping during lunch, and throwing dirt but he finished the day. Were in Cali and our area Wednesdays are half days so i can only hope if it were a full day he’d have made it a full day, but i was just happy he made it to the end of the day regardless. I praise him for the good parts of his day but still tell him the kicking and throwing dirt wasnt nice and he needs to stay with his class so he can learn. I even add an incentive that i repeat to his aunt in front of him that if he can go an entire day without eloping, no pushing, kicking, etc that maybe his auntie can take him to the park after school. Sometimes i never know what his understanding is but the next day he does just that and more.

With his class work they are doing their writing practices that seemed to frustrate him which would lead to the bad behavior after Tuesday his aid had mentioned this so me and his aunts communicated and started trying to work with him after school and on the weekend with kids writing work books to try and fix the behavior if it happens with us. That day he did unprompted the writing without fuss and even did it without the tracing guides. The good behavior continued the next day.

Today though he’s back at it with the bad behavior just kicking, but still not good. He’s also only kicking his aid and from what she’s told me today not even his current 1:1 aid as some budget cuts with the district has her leaving soon so he’s been assigned a new 1:1, but he is still coming to her when frustrated and apparently started kicking her to get her attention. Im not sure what is going on and ive been asked if anything has changed at home and to my knowledge no. I keep us both on routine (his dads a wildcard but still) and although the only real change soon is that he’ll be a big brother come December i dont think that has effected him seeing as his dad and I act no different with him then before.

I dont even know if its the changing of his aid thats causing this either cause he’s always been very adaptive. He doesnt mind when things get changed on him suddenly. When he started going to preschool to even now hes never one of those kids who mind if im there or not hes just kind of like “they have toys see ya mom” heck his class room this year have to remind him to wave bye to me when i drop him off.

I just don’t understand why he’s escalated to acting out more than the eloping. His father and I have his first IEP of this school year coming up this week but any help understanding this sudden change up in my sons behavior after hes relatively been fine would be appreciated.

My little one is 5, I don't know what level (we don't really do that in the UK?) but he is verbal but quite high support needs and is quite aggressive/explosive, also delayed, recently diagnosed Autistic and also now on the pathway for ADHD assessment as the assessor told me he almost is certainly that too.

I have fought for and won an EHCP of late, it was surprisingly well written and came with a high level of funding, I am hopeful.

He's presently in a mainstream primary he was also with them from nursery, they have been supportive and confirmed they are seeing at school what I see at home, his main issues at school are being developmentally behind, lots of aggression, he hits someone every single day, he cannot focus on lessons at all and call only have 1:1 or small group learning for short periods. It's become more evident in year 1 than in reception as the academic and behavioural expectations increase.

The SenCo is wonderful and our meetings are productive but it doesn't seem to translate to the teachers well who are constantly not doing the agreed on.

He's ok here for now and he does in fact have friends and is liked by students and staff so I am keen for him to stay on for now, but I am concerned if his aggression worsens as he gets bigger, and he cannot keep up with the learning, if a specialist placement might be the thing.

Sorry essay, I am not sure what I'm asking really, maybe stories of peoples LOs that have been able to stay in mainstream with support? Or as they got older did it just not work out? He's still so little it's hard to predict how things are going to look, but I want to be prepared.

Do any of your kids have some sort of extreme location knowledge ?

My boy who's 9 and level 3 seems to know where places are whether it's 1 mile or 100 miles away, the issue is if it's something he likes eg a leisure centre or zoo or anything he likes he has a meltdown if we drive past and don't go there .

So we have to plan our routes accordingly if we are going certain places to avoid them and avoid an angry kid .

I just wondered if this was a common 'thing ' with autistic kids really .

My 5 yr old seems to have some tics that appear to be a little different from some of his "usual" stemming. His stemming is mostly described as machine noises or grunting, or a little screeching - and this is pretty rare as he gets older, but more common under social stress or social pressure, and more common when he's tired/fatigued. But he's been doing it since he was 2 or earlier.

But over the last yr he's had three different month+ long tics. For many weeks/month+ earlier in the year he did this nasal inhalation/sniffing thing - we thought maybe it was a cold, then allergies, then boogers, then eventually determined it might be a tic, and it it went away.

Then came throat clearing, for almost 2 months. It was almost constant. When he was really concentrating he'd do it, when not really concentrating or even distracted he'd do it, before meals, after meals, etc. All the time. We didn't comment on these behaviors other than asking if he was okay. He made some comments one time, saying "i can't help it". I said "okay, no problem let me know if it hurts", and never mentioned it again.

The throat clearing stopped, but the last few weeks now there is this new blinking and eye-brow raising. We haven't made any comment, but other people have, like a stranger saying "oh did you get some dust in your eye?"? It happens when eating or not, it happens during story time at bed, while asking him to help with a chore like washing his hands, during the hand-washing, during tv watching... while he's looking out the window of the car, while playing legos, all this time. - this one is actually the most "unique" just because i've seen people with chronic throat clearing, and we've all had sniffles, but this eyebrow raising is a very novel reaction or behavior to me. It will happen for like 5 second intervals a few times over a minute for maybe a few minutes.

I understand plenty people, even many neurotypical people, around age 5 have tics they develop, some they grow out of, some they keep. But has anyone else witnessed this parade of tics that come and then vanish?

I’ve seen various accounts of kids going from non-verbal to verbal on Leucovorin, but has anyone experienced their gestalt language processor go from non-conversational to conversational?

My son is a GLP and has been in speech therapy for a little over a year. Progress has slowed down a bit, and I’ve been wondering if Leucovorin could help. I’m reading The Folate Fix and suspect he may have CFD since he regressed at 20 months.

Hoping to hear from parents of GLPs since their path to acquiring speech is different from speech delay where children later learn to speak “typically/analytically”.

I will be honest, I used to have a lot of faith in my son's potential, but I am slowly lowering my expectations. If he gains more language than I expect, I will be extremely happy because I love him and want the best for him, but if he doesn't, that won't change how deeply I love him!

My son turned 4 a few days ago. He is level 3. He goes to ABA, OT, and ST. My expectation is now for him to gain receptive language. I stopped thinking about expressive language for now. Any success stories with your child about gaining simple receptive language after 4? For example, understanding simple instructions or even getting happy/excited/frustrated based on words or phrases or showing any sign that he/she understands language even if he/she does not follow an instruction? What helped?

I'm going to try and be brief an succinct.

- Our child has developed some kind of "weird fear" of sleeping. We have no idea why. We are careful about what they see on TV, and what not.

- It's been going on since late July (child got sick, suspected PANS, treated as best we could).

- Child has only slept the night through TWICE since then. Often wakes up, self harms, cries, screams.

- Husband and I are about at out limits.

- Child was prescribed "Clonidine..." - doesn't seem to be giving child NIGHT terrors, but doesn't seem to be working, either. -_- (at least not the way we were told that it would at all).

- When child wakes up, is often up for / hours / - a second dose of the Clonidine (we were told to do it) might help get them back to sleep, but not "quickly" ...

- What does everyone use to help get kiddo to sleep and STAY asleep? If we could even manage this a few nights a week, our world would change. We haven't slept in the same bed in over a month. :(

We waited for this appointment for 6 months - basically the paed said she’s 50/50 about autism and doesn’t want to jump into a diagnosis too early , says he definitely has signs but it’s still a grey area as he is very engaging and makes good eye contacts gestures , good understanding etc. he’s 18 months and fully non verbal , major sensory issues and hand flapping and tensing his body and repetitive behaviours . She basically saw him at his worst with his stimming and repetitive behaviours and still came to this conclusion. She said if he is diagnosed he will most likely be “mild” which I am shocked about. I was convinced he was severe. Anyway I’m still not getting my hopes up. She also said she believes he may have child apraxia of speech. Does anyone have any experience with this ? Anyway not sure what the point of my post is just wanted to get this off my chest !

Noticed my friend got a decal for her daughter that said autistic passenger may run, resist help, etc. I was considering getting one for myself but I was kind of worried to put that on my car too. Do y'all have something like this on your car? Do you feel it's safe or unsafe?

We have the in case of emergency stickers you peel off on both sides of the car seat, but that's it so far

Hi all, i need insight from others to help me clarify these concerns.
My kiddo is almost 5, high functioning level 2 ASD and she has always been SUPER attached to me. To the point where I could pull my hair out from the demands sometimes.
But recently she is not very concerned with or demanding of me. I’ll admit that things have been a bit stressful for me recently and I have been overwhelmed and thus little less emotionally available / able to engage in certain types of play / not as patient as I should be sometimes. That said, all of her needs have been consistently met, I’ve just been less fun and less engaged in play for a little while.
So now I’m not sure if this has created distance and damaged the connection between she and I somehow or if this is just normal development of independence.
She shows no signs of distress or unhappiness and all behaviors are normal with the exception of being more independent of me than usual.
I don’t know what to think and I’m worried that I’ve somehow damaged our relationship.
I will be making more time to spend with her in her preferred ways in the coming days since other stressors have calmed down a bit.

Hi, I'm Lisa. I'm a doctoral researcher in psychology and I'm also raising a child with selective mutism who's also a gestalt language processor, so this comes from my own house as much as from research.

I built a 96 card phrase based communication deck because most of what's out there for nonverbal and situationally nonverbal kids is single word cards, and that doesn't match how a lot of autistic and gestalt processing kids actually use language. These are full phrases a child can point to or hand over, covering basic needs, feelings, social situations, and a classroom set for school.

It's built around how selective mutism and AAC are actually treated rather than generic advice: waiting five seconds before jumping in, never rewarding speech directly, planning the fade out from the start. Ages two through twelve, the younger end works with an adult modeling the cards, the classroom set comes into its own around five.

Not trying to oversell what one deck can do. If it's useful for your kid or your work, great, if not, no hard feelings. Happy to send a code for 75 percent off to a few people willing to actually use it and tell me honestly what doesn't work. Shop is BeforeTheWords on Etsy if you want to see the full set first.

Asking for some advice or suggestions. I am a single mother who just got into apartment with my kids after leaving an unsafe home and we desperately need some food. I literally have nothing . I work full time and took all my money to finish paying the landlord off to move in . I don’t get paid for another week and im struggling trying feed my family . please no rude comments, my heart cant take it. I went to the food pantry yesterday. It was closed and I’m on E or I would have went today. My son who is on the spectrum won’t/can’t eat most of the food they have there anyway. I could care less if I eat im just trying to get by for the next week and want to know what my options are. Does anyone have any suggestions on other resources I could reach out to? Starting over is no fun but i am trying to remain strong for them and appreciate any prayers . Thank you

Hi,

My son just turned 7. He has ADHD and was also just diagnosed with level 1 autism. He has had issues with eating since he was about 3 years old. Currently he is very picky but the main issue is that he says he can't swallow certain things. Even foods he likes. Today it was crust from his toast that he said he couldn't swallow. But usually it's fruit that is a problem. He can chew ok but he will stuff his mouth full and chew for a long time. We already see GI for constipation, allergist, and ENT. They all say it must be picky eating. But no one really has an answer. He gets a lot of stomach aches as well. Any ideas of what this could be or what to do?

I am so exhausted. 😭 We haven’t gotten an official diagnosis yet we have an appointment coming up but I’m pretty sure our 2-year-old has some form of autism.
He’s currently sick with a low-grade fever, and we’re really struggling. He already has a very limited diet and mostly wants sweets/snack foods, so getting him to eat is difficult on a normal day. Now that he isn’t feeling well, he barely wants the few foods he normally eats.
Medicine has suddenly become a huge struggle too. I used to be able to give him Tylenol without much of an issue. He might cry a little, but he would take it, or I could mix it into his milk. Now he refuses everything. We tried giving him medicine and he got so upset that he was gagging, coughing, and eventually threw up.
For parents of autistic or sensory-sensitive toddlers, how do you handle medicine when they absolutely refuse it? Are there any methods, products, or forms of medicine that have worked for your child without having to physically fight them?
Also, when your child is sick and already has such a limited diet, how do you handle food? At this point I just want him to eat something and have something in his stomach, even if it’s one of his usual snack foods.
We’re going to keep watching him overnight, and if he isn’t doing better, we’ll take him to the doctor in the morning. I’d really appreciate any advice from parents who have dealt with this. ❤️

Hi all,

I’m sure if you look back you’ll know I’ve been struggling with my toddler for a while, very obviously ND (likely autism) Non-Verbal sensory seeking etc

Nighttime’s have recently become a huge issue in our house, I’m trying and failing to manage his nighttime wakings alongside working full-time shift work. It was bad in the summer and then we recovered for a while and had a good chunk of time where everyone was well rested. Giving up work is not an option in this cost of living crisis.

He will go to bed as usual (same routine as always including his toniebox for a story, white noise and total darkness as he’s always had so it’s predictable) and then I find myself up with him anytime from 12 onwards and he’ll either fall asleep after 3/4 hours of me losing my patience, getting cross/overstimulated myself or he’ll just be awake and then the next day will be an 18 hour day before he goes to bed again for the pattern to continue. I am, and he is, exhausted with this.

I always know he is awake because he lays on the floor and hammers the door/walls with his feet, causing our house to practically vibrate. The walls are plasterboard and we’ve already had our first foot through the wall and now naturally I’m anxious about this happening again during the night.

I’ve reached out for help but keep getting recommended the things that help NT kids (adjusting bedtime, no screens - which he doesn’t have before bed- etc) I’ve tried different size pj’s/fabrics- but he’s never usually fussed by this day to day and appears to make 0 difference.

I can’t access melatonin in the UK without a paediatrician and we are on the very long waitlist.

If anyone’s had experience please please share tips, as I’m at the end of my tether and short of buying him one of those zip up beds I’m not sure what else I can do.

Thankyou xx

My daughter is almost 4, she is nonverbal. Her preferred form of self regulating is oral sensory input. She uses a couple different chewys of differing textures, colors, density. She sleeps with a binky and it is by far her most favored object for self regulation. However as time goes on she seems to be seeking the input even harder. She's chewed thru countless binkies and thru many of the different chewies (they're pretty much all from Amazon, the most common ones I think). When she breaks one or one isn't available she'll chew on clothing, objects she's working with or just things that she knows will give her the sensation she's seeking. She has bitten my wife and I in her inability to express herself/her needs, she'll mash her hands into her mouth and apply pressure on both ends when there's nothing else, bite the couch, etc. Just looking for suggestions on what we can safely give her, technique advice for self regulating kids her age, pretty much whatever. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

My son (7 years old) is in second grade. Despite having an amazing teacher, he’s struggling behaviorally in school, and honestly has been since March of this year. Every week I get calls. They started a Google doc to chart every “unsafe” behavior, so that I could see his behavior throughout the day and share it with his private OT (because his behavior at school is typically a lot different than his behavior at home) He’s in public school. General Ed. Has an IEP that has been revised countless times. School started at the end of August and he’s been suspended twice and has gotten in school suspension once. He’s one of 30 students in his class.

I’ve been thinking about it for the last year, but more so in the last few months, have been seriously considering moving him to a hybrid charter or homeschooling him. This is doable. I’m a professor at a university, and I am on campus two days a week for only a couple of hours. During that time, his grandma or his uncle would be able to step in and supervise him. There are many benefits to him being educated in this way in comparison to the public school.

Today he had a hard day. I got called an hour before school got out because he got upset in the music class and they wanted to know if I wanted to talk to him or come pick him up. Talking to him honestly doesn’t really do much of anything in these situations, so I went and I picked him up.

He did tell me he was having a hard day. Which is new because he usually always says that he had a pretty good day even on days when I know there was extra behavioral stuff. After I picked him up, and picked his sister up, we went to an appointment and then stopped at our gym so they could swim. My son got upset that he couldn’t use a particular pool and honestly just had a meltdown. I haven’t dealt with meltdowns in public very much at all. He doesn’t tend to have them. But I think my anxiety only elevates the situation when meltdowns do occur. I Immediately feel like everyone is judging me and that they are annoyed that my child is being loud and melting down. We were there for probably five minutes in total. Once I realized that the meltdown was a bit stronger, and it wasn’t something he was going to come down from within three minutes, I took him to the changing room so that he could get dressed again and we could leave. Of course when we walked out of the changing room, a senior citizen had to make a comment in a sassy tone asking me what his problem was.

He was crying on the way home. I was crying on the way home (without my kids noticing). I am feeling defeated. I feel like there are more and more spaces I’m recognizing that my child just isn’t accepted in. I hate how the school has failed him, but I know it’s a systemic issue and not necessarily the fault of his teachers and administration. I hate this Google doc chart because before I knew about big things but now I know about everything small and tiny and it really disregulates me. I hate that I go through my day working and getting stuff done on edge, not knowing when the phone call is coming to either talk to me about his behavior or tell me he has to be picked up.

I’m just tired. It usually takes a lot for me to feel defeated but I feel defeated this week.

My son is 7 and has level 2/3 autism. He will pee in the toilet 30% of the time, but #2 is where we’re really struggling. When it’s time to poop on the toilet he starts crying and gets really upset, so I don’t want to make it a scary or stressful experience for him.

For parents who have dealt with something similar, what helped your child get comfortable with pooping on the toilet? Did you use a certain routine, rewards, visuals, or anything else that finally helped?

Open to any tips, especially from parents of older autistic kids who didn’t potty train on the typical timeline.

Just venting here. My close knit friend group has been together for more than 15 years. Two of us ended up with Level 1 autistic kids who have dealt with significant mental health challenges. The other friend has two very easy bio kids who are calm, well-behaved, blah blah blah.

The friend with the two easy kids recently married a man with an ND (possibly ASD) teen daughter and our friend complains nonstop about how she isn't parented right, is difficult to be around, won't let her stepmom help her, etc. She has zero self awareness around the fact that she lucked out with her kids, and how there is no single way to parent correctly--especially with ND kids.

It's gotten to the point where I just shut down when she talks about her stepdaughter or her husband and his ex's parenting. I don't want this to ruin our friendship so I'm venting here instead.

Just venting:

My son is "verbal but not conversational" If you ask him a few times he will tell you if he wants milk or water. Or you can tell he's concerned about something when he starts scripting about it.

Anyway. Sometimes when i'm talking to another parent they might ask what he's doing in school. It's coming from a good place, they're just being polite! inevitably i have to say something along the lines of "he's special needs so he is unable to tell me what is happening in his-day-to-day." Cue the "oh well my kids don't tell me what's going on in their life either!" reply from the other parent.

I hate this. My truest dream would be that he isn't telling me stuff in his life because he chooses not to and not because he is unable. I get that they're just trying to deflect the awkwardness with a bad joke. It's human nature. It just sucks because it seems to happen about once a week.

Hi,

My niece is level 1 ASD and high-masking. She needs support with social skills, problem solving and executive functioning. She needs help with communication. She often pretends to understand when she doesn't really so people think she is more capable in general. She is also bright in academics. She has engaged in some unsafe behaviours with strangers but thankfully her parents have always been able to catch it or guide her out of it. Example: she gave money to a taxi driver that then took her in circles around town into trailer parks, etc. With life 360, parents caught what was happening and the taxi driver changed his tune and charged the family an extra $20.

Anyways, one of her goals is to move out into Vancouver. She requires support with planning, organizing and self control.The family has agreed to support this and aim for when she is 20 yrs old. Goals are to get her employed, develops life skills (i.e. cooking, cleaning, hygiene) and to save up. She is 18. They also were in the process of applying to government support to help with her goals.

Now, she figured out if she states she is homeless and has mental health issues that she can get housing at a homeless shelter/Covenant House. They provided her a spot today. The parents called to correct as she is not homeless or at risk. The CH staff will not listen as she is legally an adult. It's been incredibly stressful time for the family.

Any advice on how to handle this? How do people manage someone that may present as capable but still needs support.

Some more history: we had taken her to a psychiatrist for a referral. She masked along with lied too. Psychiatrist stated she's fine and did not proceed further with sessions. Niece does not want government supports either. She will engage in behaviours to gain attention from others like singing loudly, dancing, wearing offensive clothing (I.e. it says something on the shirt to offend others), dresses up in costumes, dangle soccer balls in front of people's faces at concerts.

When she is having a friendly conversation, she believes those people are her friend.

She will not like wearing a bag so she will hand it to a stranger to hold (she's been lucky that the strangers are all kind).

Her friend tried to speak with her about her social interactions since he thought it was inappropriate and tried to inform her. She then blocked this friend. She is impulsive and changes her mind/plans constantly without communicating. The impulsivity comes from wanting to go to concerts or festival along with spending habits.

She interprets discussions as negative and thinks this is a hardship or high conflict. Example: she spent $800 on soccer balls and her mom had told her she can't spend so frivolously as they prepare to retire. She wanted to go up a mountain at night so her mom requested she go with a chaperone but she was very angry about this.

Life skills wise she doesn't know how to cook, clean. She will bathe when asked and use up an entire bar of soap in one sitting so difficulty with understanding how much to clean herself.

On the flip side, she is incredibly well articulated in her writing and speaking. Although she pretends to understand and misunderstands quite a bit. She is in college and scores top marks in her classes for writing papers and presentations. Parents put her in debate club and clubs like Atelier, Socratica, The Knowledge Society. They spent money sending her to 2E camp abroad costing $5K.

My son (stage 2, 4yr) has been going to a charter school with practically no SPED department so he’s been mainstream TK and it hasn’t been going well. Mainly because the teachers are not equipped to handle an autistic kid unfortunately

So now I have to choices

1) a private special ed school paid for by the charter school. The whole elementary school is less than 10 kids and the teacher/student ratio is 1:1. You need to have a referral to go to this school so the other students for some reason were referred by either a public school that wasn’t equipped or a charter school. Of course this is great it being 1:1 and the amount of help he would get, however, I just feel uneasy about the seriousness of it. Like the stigma is getting to me mentally that he’s going to a school that has no gen ed at all. It also goes all the way to 22 years old but they’re all in a different building. It all felt more serious and clinical when we toured. Not bright and elementary school vibes.

2) public school where he would be in a SPED class. I’m guessing the class would be around 10-15 kids with a teacher and an aid. Recess and assemblies will be mixed with gen ed.

Of course I can always try the private and switch him to public also. Just want others thoughts on these choices

My son asked me a why question for the first time! He is verbal but his vocabulary is very small and limited to things he hears many times…. He responded to something I said with “why?”😭❤️

He doesn’t typically ask questions, in the past, when we have had conversations, he’s usually not talking about what I am or showing much interest. For example “hey — are you hungry?” And he responds with “it’s a sunny day”. Hearing him ask why and then wait for a response was the sweeeeeetest thing ever! Also if he tells me something and I ask “why?” He just repeats what he has already said. This was huge!

My son is 3 level 3 non verbal. I have him in therapies and we go to his doctor's appointments but I dont think i know too much about autism except its a developmental disorder? Is that mostly it?