Our son had hand & foot movements, slept very little, was very cranky & non verbal until age 3 1/2. He had headaches often. He was diagnosed with Lyme disease & treated. Today, he is a healthy 32 year old man that is now married & leads a regular life. ❤

The thing that blows my mind is the fact that anyone would give you a dislike. God bless you for sharing your story. I have autism and I’m 36 and I have two kids with autism. We exist! So thank you.

I'm so glad that the girls had you as their mother. You are very loving. Keep up the awesome work.

My son is 7. He never slepted and was the hardest baby. He was diagnosed with autism at 3. God bless you and yours.

Thank you for bringing in your own experience about eye contact as well! That’s one trait that I have a weird relationship with because I thought before my diagnosis that I never had trouble with eye contact, but I found out that if I’m having to think about what I’m saying or if, as you mentioned, I’m uncomfortable, eye contact gets hard. I had a situation at church this evening where I was in a conversation I really wanted to get out of, and it became almost impossible to make eye contact with the person, and I found that even afterwards I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone for a while. It’s interesting how just one trait can manifest so differently across people and situations.

You are an inspiration. Please keep sharing your story you real life. Moms need to hear your message.

Thank you. Wish we had seen your videos back in January. You just taught me so much.

One hour of sleep every night for 18 months?!?! That must have been torture!! When I don't get enough sleep it affects everything, and my stomach will hurt too. All the best!! Stay safe and be well.

Thank you for what you do! I’m an Aunty to a wonderful lil 3 yr old girl and she happens to have autism. She’s finally getting some help and I just want her to be able to live a life as free as she can be! Thank you for helping understand in layman’s terms and tips so I can connect with her as much as I can ☺️

Thank you for sharing your families experiences. I was diagnosed w classic autism in my early 30s and I dont want my unborn child to wait that long in life.

My little brother is high functioning, and doesn’t have too many stims, but he’s always been a flapper too! & as he has gotten older he loves listening to his jams in his AirPods and flapping! Bluetooth headphones are amazing bc regular wired headphones are not flap-friendly !!!

I have 3 kids on the spectrum too. They were all non-sleepers. They are still non-sleepers lol we struggled with breastfeeding a lot. They wanted to nurse but didn't want to be touched. My oldest struggled the most with this.

I am autisitic and when I was a little kid, I didn't sleep much either. Once I was about 2 years old (maybe younger?) I never took naps. The manager of my daycare had to take me on errands with her during naptime because I refused to sleep or even lay down and stay quiet.

I believe it can be seen in newborns, with autism newborns babies do not have a strong fist clenching reflex, instead of keeping the thumb tucked in they straighten fingers out. Another thing I've noted with autism is a reluctance to relax when held constantly arching spine away.

You have beautiful eyes. I love how you did your makeup. That lipstick color looks great on you. :)

Love the video and thank you for sharing! Suggestion: it would be very useful for you to use on-screen text and/or time stamps. :)

As a 34-year-old woman with Asperger's, I still don't sleep through the night. Waking up five or six times on average is normal for me.

This is very useful for me as a nurse practitioner to recognize early autism in patients thank you!

Thank you so very much. Your voice is calming.

My daughter didn’t sleep up until she was in her teens. I worked out different ways to deal with her but I was an at home mom, who had the time to watch and figure her out. She is in her 30s now. I haven’t seen her in last 4-5 yrs. I have PTSD from these yrs. it took along time for me to deal.

I’m pretty sure I had some sort of sensory processing disorder when I was little. I hated sitting in grass, and I hated loud noises (still do, but it’s a little better now). I wouldn’t walk down stairs without someone holding my hand.

My granddaughter is 27 months old. She doesnt say very many words and does put 2 words together. My daughter thinks she may have autism. She has talked to the doctor. The doctor wants her to take her to speech therapy. She lives in Charleston, SC, but there is no neurologist there. She would have to go to Columbia which is 2 hrs away. Would take a year to get her in.

Starting watching this to see if my first (11 month daughter) could possibly have ASD. When she was younger she didn’t really want eye contact and LOVED to be held 24/7. She pretty much still loves to be held all the time when we are downstairs with the rest of the family. Now watching the whole video I feel like I might have ASD. I hate eye contact, I kind of dislike touch and I’m terrible at communicating with people. My mom (adoptive) told me it’s most likely because of my past. But I know I used to get into trouble with the teacher when I was about 5 for spacing out and not knowing any of the answers. I didn’t sleep during nap hours and I’d be up most of the night. It’s hard for me to do simple things that most people know how to do but harder things is what I do best. I was in special needs for most of my life because I had a harder time learning. So when we did an ASD they would test me and said the only thing I did good on was my ability to find things that are different/same. But if I had a stem it probably would be work because I had to work 24/7 or I just didn’t feel right. I’m not sure if that’s a thing. My mom also she tested me to see if I’d move things back were they were before being moved. And each time I moved it right to the same spot and I’m still like that to this day. I am so sorry for the long message.

Thank you. You are brave and kind.

I was lucky to have a great daycare. Because, my daughter was diagnosed at 6 months.. She also had sleep apnea.

I’m in my 60s, and was just diagnosed last year. I wish they knew back then, what was going on. Both of my parents are gone, thinking I was a difficult child, and not like my siblings.

Unrelated to the topic: you are slaying in that red lipstick!

Omg that owl onesie was the same one my daughter had and I loveddddd it so much lol.

Yup.... I have a Sadie😊

You were so lucky to have help from husband and family members. Not every one has those outlets or help.

Your video is really informative and engaging. Just curious, has anyone mentioned to you that you might be under the spectrum too?

My son was super high need. He cried for hours on end, never slept more than an hour at a time, didn’t want to be held or cuddled, wanted to face away from us during feeding, wouldn’t look at us for diaper changes or playtime, etc. At 5, he’s still high need. He is very verbal, makes good eye contact (not for pictures), but does not play with toys or entertain himself at all. He also requires tons of exercise and sensory input. He is just recently looking around for us to see if he’s a safe distance which is very helpful because one of his main stims is running. He used to run off every time we were in public and never even notice. Now he still runs up and down the isles or sidewalks but stays decently close to the area or isle we’re on. A few of our other big clues when he was a young toddler were lack of responding when we called his name, major obsession with the alphabet and nursery rhymes, constantly knocking over and spinning the wheels on his stroller, and not following a point. He still has obsessions and still loves to spin things, mostly anything he can twirl around like a lasso.

My littlest sleeps Terribly. I just had to give her melatonin to help her sleep. I went like 2yrs hardly no sleep having had two babies back to back who stopped sleeping once they turned 1. Just now starting to sleep my daughter's are 2 going on 3 and 1 going on 2. Autism and sleep is hard.

God bless you and your family. 💞

I'm a firm believer that girls are just DIFFERENT than boys with Autism. My kiddo had horrible eye contact. Then her OT gave her candy. Now she makes great eye-face contact....but it's not true eye contact. She knows it gets her what she wants when adults ask for it. She's never made eye contact with another child.

Absolutely gorgeous wolf eyes for sure

Another fun and informative video! Thank you!

Thank you.

Hi can you please do a video about speech differences between the girls as I would find that very useful. I am based in the UK and have a 3 year old autistic son i research alot into autism, but wherever dont recieve mucj help in regards to therapy over here as our healthcare isn't private like it is in USA, finally I am complete aware that every child is completely different bit find that you have alot of experience between the 3 girls and you cover alot. Finally any tips on potty training a nonverbal child

She's ( the lady) so pretty, beautiful

A funny thing with me and eye contact is i cant look at the tv screen when someone is looking out and speaking. So things like your vlog today i cant look at. I just listen. In fact i watched you cat in the background.

off topic but your jumping cat was to cute xD anyways ... as a baby I was very quiet, loved to play with my own fingers and totally fine with being only by myself.

I know your not a doctor but im asking for what you would do?? My son also slept as a newborn and content by himself he wouldnt wake up to eat and was preemie. He needed to eat. Also he is almost 2 he flaps his hands loves running back and forth repeatedly. He covers his ears to block out sound. He isnt talking full sentences but he speaks. And sometimes in a language i dont understand its gibberish lol. He also likes to sleep with his head covered. My son also doesnt like being held never did but he did like to lay in bed next to you... But not on us lol it was winter so im sure he wanted by us for warmth... I think my son is on the spectrum imma call his doctor shortly. Oh and he has had food texture issues since he started eating at 6 months. Certain things make him throw up. Now I have worked with adults with intellectual disabilities and i see some similarities bc everyone on the spectrum is different and special in their own beautiful way. I am not afraid of the diagnosis. But ready bc i want my son to get all the help he needs early intervention is key. And mama i love the lipstick lol. Your kids are so beautiful!!! I am pregnant 8 weeks in hoping for a healthy baby and maybe a girl but if it's a boy thats ok too

I wasn't diagnosed until adult hood. My mother always said i hated her and was rejecting because i didn't want to be held a an infant. I was also an early riser, very unlike the rest of my family, so life was interesting.

Your girls look so adorable god bless them

All my 3 kids are on the spectrum, they all did not like to be held and would especially not like it when they wanted to go sleep. But my youngest, i noticed when he was 1 day old that he was probably was autistic. Knowing then about my others being autistic, I suspected that offcourse. As a 1 day old baby, when I tried to get him to grab my finger. He would open his palm and tried to move away from it. I have never in my whole life seen a baby to that, and he did it again and again. So I just went hmmmm well he is gonna be something. And he grew up to have alot of aversion to touching, wasn’t allowed to pat his head or hug him even until he was like 4-5yrs old at least.

In the olden days kids were just labelled "different personalities" Scary they're now being _labelled so early_ and so treated differently. Makes u wonder..I was v. shy, good @math..today I wld have been labelled Autistic. We _can't lose sight of NORMAL DIFF personality traits,_ look back on history. Do we _really help our kids by SPECIAL HELP_ Wld have spelt social _death_ at my private school ! Give kids a chance to figure _themselves out_ AUTISTIC Are _smart not dumb_

I think eye contact in girls on the spectrum is different than boys. I'm 52 and autistic, and although, now as an adult, I have more issues with eyes than I did when I was young. I am not sure if it's because of how we were raised and my mom saying LOOK AT ME 5 billion times. It could have been an issue or it could have just been my demanding mother who said that to all of her kids. Not sure lol

My daughter slept well, but only if I was holding her. She could not sleep unless she was in contact with me until she was around four.

Hello, new to your channel ..are any of your girls potty trained fully and will they need to be cared for all their lives? I know the spectrum is very large I am just trying to distinguish high functioning to low functioning autism. My son is severe and is 10 still not potty trained😥

20 yrs ago doctors could not diagnose babies so early. Now that some diagnosis are given as infants shows how far forward the studies on Autism Spectrum has come.

My grandson as an infant was nicknamed propeller feet. He constantly moved his feet literally like a propeller on a boat. He would play with a paticular toy that have moving parts always.. He was always happy and never slept all night. He didn't walk until 18 months and at 5yrs still doesn't talk much but when he does you can't understand him. He many times repeats what we say to him. I have voiced my concerns to the parents and am hoping he will get tested.

Your kids are beautiful!

You didn't sleep for a year and a half but it wadn't horrible? You are a saint.

They are so cute!

I LOVE shredding paper!

I have a question about your girls responding to noises. How were your girls with sounds and looking. My girl is 10 weeks and 5 days. I had coronavirus with pneumonia and the flu during pregnancy im looking at your videos and my baby doesnt make eye contact with me alot. I feel like she purposely looks away away from me as well. She does sleep through the night for sometime now, but i am noticing she wakes up really easily.

I suspect my partner is on the spectrum. He was a super easy baby to the point I don't think he's mom did anything with him. He's really smart so a lot of his issues were overlooked as with his brother he struggled and was treated at a young age. I have ADHD and dyslexia which I noticed in him right away. The other stuff like inability to not to hold back on saying things. He gets very overstimulated etc. I'm hoping he can get some help in the next few years because we are thinking about starting a family. So it will be helpful.

Bless your heart. You had a child on the spectrum and you dared to have another! I have two daughters myself, and neither is on the spectrum. But being a working mom was so challenging, my second was a surprise! Parenting is a challenge and I get the feeling you are intuitive and a compassionate loving mom.

My son was so happy to be in his pack n play most of the time as a baby. But by the time he was 2 he wouldn’t take naps and even at 18 months old had to give him melatonin just to get him to sleep at night or he was up till midnight or 1 am then up again between 8 to 10. Now he’s 3.5 years old and sometimes even melatonin doesn’t always work so I have to go to another over the counter sleep meds (he’s a big 3 year old and only as a last resort. Only used about 2 times since I got it). He’s never really had a sense of fear and still would run into the streets sometimes or run away in the store. I had to get him shoes with squeaker in them just so I knew where he was if he ran away I just follow the squeaker. About a week and a half ago he was diagnosed with Provisional Autism and is now starting to get actual testing to get a actual diagnosis. In the last 2 months he’s changed so much. Went from asking for things to pointing and whining like he can’t understand or verbalize. Forgot his middle name he’s know for a year and a half. He thinks his first and middle name are the same. I used to ask what his first name was and he would say Kayden then I would ask what his middle name was and he would say Tucker. Now when I ask what his first name is he says Kayden and when I ask what his middle name is he says “Ka Ka Ka Kayden”. Forgot things he’s known since he was 15 months old to 2 years old. He stopped responding to his name. I have to say it over and over and over before he’ll answer. Runs away from kids at the playground when they want to play with him. He’ll only play with babies, teenagers, or adults. If he does play with kids his own age is so rare maybe 1 kid but that was before the pandemic so I’m not sure anymore. He spins all the time and never outgrew it. He’ll spin till he’s dizzy or falls down from being dizzy. He started loving fidget spinners because they spin. He started lining toys up the other day one moved out of the line and he moved it right back. He’s started getting obsessed with things he’s never been before and you can’t distract him for anything. He expected a package today and insisted on waiting outside for it for about a half hour and started clapping over and over but barely said anything to the delivery guy like he would 3 months ago. Never learned to dress himself only hake shoes, socks, and pants off but can’t put them on or pull his pants up. Never learned to take his shirt off. Could never potty train him and I almost have to fight him to change his diaper because he insists it doesn’t need changed and actually has told me he likes his diaper wet. I didn’t listen to his old therapist who told me he did everything for attention. He regressed it was for attention. He screamed it was for attention. He doesn’t respond it was for attention. She diagnosed him with intermittent explosive disorder and oppositional defiant disorder right after his 3rd birthday so I guess she just assumed instead of suggesting to get him looked at to make sure. Even after I told her IU13 was alarmed by all of that she insisted it was attention. There’s a Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders which is where he is getting his new testing done and they even said he needed to be re tested (he was tested at 15 months old and they said he was at moderate risk for it they just didn’t know how much was age related and how much wasn’t). What I can say to anyone is if you feel something isn’t right then don’t just believe someone or a doctor that says everything is for attention because it may not be. I literally have a completely different child then I did 2-3 months ago. He’s just becoming more and more dependent on me and others in the house and he was even getting frustrated at first because he didn’t understand why he couldn’t do things he use to.

Yeah I understand the lack of eye contact isn't immediate.

James was sleeping through the night by 4 wks, but never took naps during the day. Honestly now looking back i can see some signs that he showed but none of them were the stereotypical signs they said to look for. He made good eye contact, his gross motor skills were on point, he loved interaction with people but his most significant sign was adhd, he also wasn’t crazy about being held but didn’t completely resist it.Most of his signs were mild so it wasn’t that obvious

My autistic 2-year-old loves spinning, too. He even spun himself *before* he could stand. He'd sit there on his bottom in the middle of the floor and use his legs to spin himself on his bottom, lol. It was super adorable.

OMG..you have been through so much specially with on sleeping baby...such a brave mum you are. God bless you and increase your courage and strength.

It’s interesting that all of their stims are very different.

My children's doctor said if you know the diaper is clean and they are warm and feed and a Been feed, add white noise then put them in their crib and leave the light on and close the door and go to bed! set an alarm and peak in to check their OK. I did and after 30 minutes they slept great.

This is really interesting for me, I have 3 girls oldest ok. Second is 3 we’re going through the diagnostic and the littlest I have is very loud, she likes to make a lot of noise and has done since a baby, I put it down to being the smallest and then I see other things and put it down to copying her sister (the 3year old) she also loves her own space and runs away when outside completely Opposite from the 3 year old. Has now made me think I may need to start watching more closely thank you. X

I was like Sadie, if the sun was up I was also up 😂 also, I'm 26 and I still like to spin a lot...

Love your cat!

My middle child is 1yo and he’s nonverbal autistic he’s doesn’t like to be touched we knew something wasn’t right when he would forget words or just wouldn’t talk at all and now I have a 1mo and hope he isn’t but if he is then it won’t change anything my oldest son is not autistic

Oh the title of this video - I can completely relate! I have a 13-year-old high-functioning autistic son who still sleeps in my bed. He doesn't sleep well, so no matter how much medication the doctor put him on for behavioral issues/medical issues, and sleep, My other son, with Aspergers, screamed for the first 2 years of his life, and NEVER - NEVER slept. I was so fed up, I went to the hospital every day for two weeks until they started to take me seriously about the screaming. He wouldn't let us put him down, put him in a stroller, put him in the car seat, nothing - in someone's arms, upright, constantly moving. We took night shifts - I walked him all night until 3"30 am, hubby took him until around 6:00 or so, and then i'd get up to get the other 2 kids off to school. (turned out he also had GERD but even on meds, he just stopped vomiting as much - didn't affect the crying). He was WAY ahead of other babies in the milestones, but refused to be held except to nurse after the age of 2. My mother was so upset by this, insisting it was because I didn't visit with him enough (right, because I have time to even brush my hair to visit, never mind shower, brush my hair, pack the screaming baby up, drive half an hour, then try to have a conversation).When he started to work people came up to me all the time to tell me it was 'bad' for him to run on his toes. Show me a 2-year-old you can teach not to walk on their toes! He never walked on his heels, ever. What you said about staying with their parents is SO true! Also, the eye contact - we bought him a kids' camera, and I KNEW he was autistic when he was taking pictures of people at eye level - so through the camera, I saw that he was only looking at ME, Daddy, and everyone else at eye level - he didn't take pictures of our faces because they were irrelevant. This suspicion was confirmed when my friend's daughter, same age, took all kinds of pics of her parent's faces. AND - the eye contact! In a picture - we have NO photos of him making eye contact - he will turn his head to face me, but his eyes were always looking elsewhere! Anyway - great that you shared this! :)

The question is...why is this so widespread today?

Did they ever move their head back and forth a lot like repetitively?

I’m 69 and I just diagnosed myself with autism., I can’t make eye contact.

Where in Michigan?

I wish you mentioned more motor skills etc. my baby is 4mo and she’s rotating her wrists funny and stiffens out her legs. I wonder if this is concerning for autism

How about handflapps?

Mam can you please tell that is autistic baby cry alot during pee and poop.

Yeah a lot of this is ADHD symptoms. The two are closely interconnected.

Have you ever considered having the boys evaluated as well?

Specially with non sleeping baby 😥

My son was high needs and would never sleep 🤦

Given that you have 3 girls with ASD, have you considered being evaluated yourself?

I like your Blue eyes

Thanks for sharing, please do you know the causes of autism?

Traduction svp!!!

Eee poor Sadie. I bet nap time with her and Maggie were pretty bad.

Is autism the new norm now? Or is there no such thing? I have a 7.5 month old and worried.

Can they buy or sell real estate for themselves?

Beautiful girls!

Can autistic people get driving licence in US?

7:10 thats normally an ADHD sign

Anyone ever mention that it seems like you may be on the spectrum?

Is that really there names?

At this point it autism sounds genetic

What has caused so much Autism?

you have boys too, right? it's interesting that it's your girls that are on the spectrum and not your boys... since autism is more common in boys.

This woman has some good practical information, but is presented in such a way it is confusing. She is very wordy, talking about her three girls by name and expecting the listener to understand which daughter she is talking about. It is very confusing and hard to remember what she is saying and what points she is making. As an early childhood educator, I have dealt with children on the spectrum, even a child whose highly educated and successful parents were in denial. We need this information accessable, but presented in a more structured and understandable way.

Los papas con niños con TEA son solo eso papás...me encanta como habla pero es absolutamente sentido común..nada de información fidedigna

Did you ever notice if the autism signs started to appear after vaccination was given?