Wow ladies - you are all amazing!

Reading your post brings back a lot of memories...my little brother, who is now 19 years old has Autism. His Autism was very profound as a child and there was a lot of rocking, self harm, screaming, hitting and obsessions. When little was known about Autism people used to look at my mum in disgust as M screamed his way through shopping centers and lay on the ground spitting, kicking and trying to make himself vomit. Poor baby.

And food! My god, he went off food and had to be hospitalised. That was one of the worst moments of my life...my siblings and I waving him goodbye as my mum and dad drove off to hospital.

M's early intervention at Irabina proved to be a successful one, and he really turned the corner. I remember clearly...he told a lie. Up until then he was quite robotic in his communication and expressed very random emotions (ie. when he had hurt himself really badly he would laugh and smile). And then one day he hid something, we found it and asked him about it.... to which he lied and said he knew nothing of it and smirked! Well, we just about cracked the champagne! LOL

He attended VCE at a public high school and now studies Psychology at Uni....he was even a spokesperson for Autism Victoria for a while. To this day he admits he almost feels like screaming when we sing Happy Birthday (lol) and everything in his room has it's place so don't even think about moving it! But through this experience we have met so many incredible families and kids...

M's Autism has been an amazing journey.

Have added a link to Jenny McCarthy's Autism Organisation if you are interested. While I don't necessarily agree about the vaccination thing when it comes to my brother, I love the tireless work she has been doing.

Enjoy what's left of the day!