RN and Autism Mom

Hi Betty - my name is Valerie and I've been in the D.D. nursing field going on 5 years. I have obtained certification in the area. Your best place to start would be with the West Tennessee DD Nurses Network. According to the newsletter they are having a quarterly meeting in Arlington sometime this month. Another excellent resource would be the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association. (DDNA) It is the national organization. Website is:
www.ddna.org I love this area of nursing, it's the best! Good luck.

I too am an RN and a mother of a four year old with severe autism. You will be a great advocate for your child and his care.

Good luck!

Renee

I'm an RN and have a 7 year old son with severe autism and severe developmental delay. Every day is filled with rewards and challenges.

I have considered doing developmental delay nursing, after seeing his wonderful school nurse and what she does. I've only been an RN for 16 months, in med surg, and I want to gain a few years of experience first, though. I came here to see what I could learn about autism and nursing, since I am always looking to learn more about both.

Hey there,

I am Mike, a CRNA with a 5 year old with ASD. We found out at Denver Children's Hospital just before he turned three. My wife and I suspected as much but we were in denial for a period. All I can say is keep up the therapy sessions. When we were in Colorado, my son had OT, PT, speech, and dynamic platform (aka therapeutic equestrian training). He made great strides, but the Army moved me and he regressed and lost we figured about 3-6 months of progress. Obtaining our services again through tricare still isn't finished and my Wife is the expert when fighting Tricare (they stink about getting services, so much red tape). But we have OT and speech, working on PT, and take him to a local stable to ride.

Keep fighting the fight. I moved to study Autism, give me four years and I will tell you more . I am looking at endocrine abnormalities in males with autism.

Take care,
Mike

Hey Mike,

Can you explain a little more about dynamic platform and the impact it has made on your son? Also, can you elaborate on your experience with relocation? My son was diagnosed early (1 year 10 months old) and I have been working with him for a little over two years with PT, OT, speech therapy, early intervention, socialization in the classroom setting, and some behavior modification principles. I am now in the process of moving in order to save money to apply to CRNA school next year. I am worried about my son regressing and am feeling quite guilty about moving when I have found something that works. He was completely nonverbal with just utterances and crying until he was almost 3 1/2 years old. Now at four years old, he is learning early imaginative play, acknowledging others, trying to socialize with other children, and speaking in short sentences (although garbled). I would love to hear more about your experiences. Thanks for posting.

Renee

My son is nearly 8 and diagnosed with Aspergers. He was also extremely premature (23.5 weeks, but otherwise healthy now) so we attributed his off-beat development to the prematurity. He was diagnosed at 6 throught the school district even though we had been followed by a pediatric neurodevelopmentalist annually. He is doing well and the school district is and has been very proactive and helpful regarding the dx.

My son is 12 and has Asperger's. You are not alone here. Welcome to allnurses!