enquiry about autism spectrum for my son

Hi @mshamdann, I definitely understand what you are going through. My nephews were diagnosed on the spectrum. One of our mentors mentioned that she has a separate room that they labeled "the sensory break room". That way the child (or adult) can go into that room to calm down. The goal is to have things in the room that would induce a calming effect on your son. Fluffy pillows, noise canceling headphones etc.
Does he currently have anything like that where he can take a break from other people?

I don't know if this suggestion would help or not because my autistic nephew was a only child. His parents got him a service dog. It was quite a undertaking and commitment at first though. Both parents had grown up with dogs themselves and are fond of them. Their child it turned out developed a bit of a allergy to the animal so the dog was not allowed in the child's room. I really think the dog had helped the parents out more than their child! This Labrador was so smart. He was a very early warning sign their child was becoming upset. The dog would up & leave the room, whenever it sensed the child would get agitated. Exit stage left. The dog beat a hasty retreat. When the child was calm the dog returned and rested on his dog bed faithfully in the child's presence, keeping him company. He was a very noble animal.
I remember too the parents had a nice tent inside their house the child like to unwind inside of as needed.

My daughter was diagnosed being 7% autistic when she was an about 3 years old. She is just turned 47 3 days ago. I’ve never heard the spectrum until here lately and some people tells me she’s on the spectrum and some tells me no. She goes back to the doctor in 3 months and I will try to get some answers. In the meantime do any of you know what percentage it is to be one the spectrum? I’ve tried googling it and I can’t find any answers there either.
Thank you in advance.

@littlebit71
Welcome to Connect!
Regarding autism the language describing the condition had changed some over the years.
To my knowledge there is no exact percentage that places a person on the spectrum.
It refers more to certain traits a person is exhibiting than a number. These traits or symptoms can also vary between people.
One person can show very obvious symptoms but someone else shows very little.

@littlebit71 You've asked an interesting question, to be sure!

I myself am on the autism spectrum, formally diagnosed with Aspergers in 2013 [gosh, 10 years already!] For a long time before then it was evident to me there was a major disconnect between others and myself, how my life had gone and my response to life in general. In my humble opinion, while there are tests that can give scores, and point towards a diagnosis, that same diagnosis can vary on a day-to-day basis, depending on situations, and be very subjective.

From Embrace Autism, here is their website, and offerings of information and diagnostic testing: https://embrace-autism.com/ For what it may be worth, I took a self-assessment test this morning from there, and scored 40, definitely on the spectrum per their resources.

Please let me know if this helps you understand the situation you find yourself in.
Ginger

Thank you so much. Your information is very helpful.

Thank you very much. Really helpful.