I am sure that by now you have gotten the numerous e-mails from me regarding the walk for Autism. Sorry about that but i am feeling that this is something that we need to do . I wanted to share a little bit of info with you about Justin so you understand his disorder.

If you were to see my son Justin you would think to yourself "there is nothing wrong with this child he seems fine to me." But if you were to spend some time with him you would soon see the things that we see.

First off let me share with you Justin's Disorder, He has what is called Autism Spectrum Disorder or PDD-NOS which means that he has a number of things that fit into the autism label but not enough to fit into the official Label of Autistic in other words he is high functioning. He has also been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and ADHD. On a normal day Justin would kind of prefer to hang out and just play alone in his room with his dinosaurs or play a video game.

He can memorize every commercial or infomercial just by seeing it once and then quote it back to you word for word. He is a human sponge!!!

Sometimes he will just decide that he wants to go out side once there he will search out a child and not say hi do you want to play but instead go over and start making loud dinosaur noises in their face!! funny at first until the child starts to cry because they are scared which is not Justin's intention at all he just wants to play. If he sees someone staring at him he will continue to say what are you staring at!!! Don't stare at me!!! not in a calm voice!!

Justin has a hard time reading peoples moods and facial expressions which makes it very difficult to make friends.

He also finds it very hard to stay in control if he gets upset or angry which happens quite often.

Justin does not liked to be touched, unless you ask him first.

He loves cats but is deathly afraid of dogs.

Sometime he will draw pictures and you say wow that is beautiful and he will then add something that is totally inappropriate just for shock value!!

Justin could swim the length of a lake and not even think about how deep the water or how dangerous it is. Even after repeated warning!! Will continue to run in the street even after i have told him he could get hit by a car. He doesn't understand consequences.

He could spend hours lining things up in a row like hot wheels or dinosaurs. Touch or accidentally knock one over and you are in for a scream of your life.

He can have a lengthy conversation about something that he loves like a video game or a dinosaur and not even look at you and if you change the subject he will say hello I'm not done!! or just walk away.

Justin has times when he is very loving and affectionate but it has to be on his terms.

Now at school is a totally different story. I have seen all of these things first hand as i did volunteer in his classroom in kindergarten.

In the classroom he will sit and listen to a story by his class teacher, But bump his leg if you are sitting next to him and he flips out! Don't touch me! Imagine being a 6 year old and hearing this!

If you bump his paper while he is working in class forget it that's another tirade! ( i honestly don't know how his teacher did it!)

But at the end of the day when he knew that it was time to go home he would go into a panic yelling "oh no i am gonna miss the bus hurry! hurry!"

A personal note i have come across a number of family members who i have recently found out also have children with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder which makes me think that there may be a possibility that this is a genetic disorder.

So you see from the out side he does look like your normal CHILD BUT ON THE INSIDE HE IS A CHILD WHO NEEDS LOTS OF LOVE AND SUPPORT from his friends and family!

I hope that this has given a little bit of history on Justin and you can see why we are so adamant on doing this walk for Autism.We are not the only ones out there who need support. The money raised in this fundraiser will help support research and development for Autism. We love this boy with all of our heart and soul and hope that someday their will be a cure for this disorder and all of the other disorders associated with the Autism Spectrum!

We love you all and hope to hear from you soon.

Love and peace,

Mark, Teri, Joshua and Justin

Some words are more of a demand rather than a thought.

like here.

First off let me share with you Justin's Disorder, He has what is called Autism Spectrum Disorder or PDD-NOS which means that he has a number of things that fit into the autism label but not enough to fit into the official Label of Autistic in other words he is high functioning. He has also been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and ADHD. On a normal day Justin would kind of prefer to hang out and just play alone in his room with his dinosaurs or play a video game.

Try

May I intrude on your thoughts for a moment,and ask that you picture a small child ,a child who loves to play with dinosaurs and spend hours in his room playing with his video game.

"What is she talking about" I hear you say why are we looking at this child he looks like any other child but you are so wrong ,look closer.

This child has a lifelong neurological disorder

This boy has two invisible disorder's that the untrained eye cannot see.

I want to change that,today! I want you to understand just how this wonderful special child percieves what you and I see has "normal".

May I take the great pleasure in introducing my son

Justin.

Then go on to talk his routins etc

Post edited by: spectrummum, at: 08/18/2008 13:54