My two year old son was diagnosed with autism in June 2011, he will be three in February 2012. He's a wonderful little boy, although he has no speech, he is very affectionate and very passive. However, I was shocked the other day when he threw a heavy plastic toy at a baby at toddler group, hitting him right on the head and leaving him with a nasty bruise. I felt so embarrassed and really bad for the little boy and his mum. This is only the third incident in about 2 months - he threw a toy at a child a little while ago and also bit a little girl on her hand, again I think she had a toy he wanted.
I'm still trying to work out what may have lead to these outbursts and but am also very worried about the future. It's really brought it home to me as well how other people react to children with 'hidden' disabilities - there dosen't seem to be alot of understanding out there, which I kind of knew but actually experiencing it for yourself really brings it home so to speak.
I've decided to give up this particular toddler group now - to be honest, since one of the staff left this year, it's gone a bit downhill, the toys seem to be of little interest to him and they never rotate them anymore, always seem to put the same toys out. Also, being a religious group, I've noticed that the bible stories and prayers seem to be getting longer and longer at the end, leaving less time for singing, something which my son really enjoys. As I'm not a religious person in any shape or form, I am starting to find this irritating, as well as the fact that the toddlers are expected to sit there and listen while the stories/prayers are being said - a difficult task for any toddler, let alone one with autism!
Just wanting some support really, as I feel so isolated sometimes.
