From Jodi in Minot:  I wanted to e-mail a story in. I'm starting the support group in the Minot area. My husband is active duty Air Force. My son was diagnosed with Autism in March 2006. It was a LONG journey. In 2005, we were referred to EDIS (early intervention in Germany) because he wouldn't walk and had low muscle tone. He had appropriate words, but he had started to stim and didn't hold eye contact very long. When we returned to the United States in May, he had regressed considerably. Finally, in December of 2005, my daughter was born. He didn't recognize that she even existed. We requested that he be seen by a specialist and were sent to Dr. Kerbeshian in Grand Forks. There we received the diagnosis of PDD-NOS, as a preliminary diagnosis. We are in the process of requesting another diagnosis, because we believe that instead of PDD-NOS he is probably mild to moderately autistic. Right now, my son is 3.5 years old. He is receiving speech, OT, PT, and some behavioral therapy through the school.

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We are a family of 6, and our youngest son has PDD-NOS. We have been working hard with ABA, and have now added speech therapy. We have also been doing biomedical treatments since May of 2006 and have recently started the GFCF diet since late August 2006. We have seen good results from all. We are making slow progress, but GOOD progress. We will soon be having a sensory evaluation as well. I am so glad to see a website about Autism from North Dakota and I am proud to be a part of it. We are an hour away from Grand Forks and we are excited to share and receive knowledge with others.
 

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Our family consists of four boys, ages 6, 5, 3 and 1. Our 5 year old was diagnosed with ASD at age 2 1/2. We have tried many interventions since then such as ABA, PECS, OT, speech, music therapy... Last summer we discovered food allergies and implemented the GFCF diet and later, the SC Diet. Dietary intervention gave him the most dramatic improvement. We are interested in meeting other families dealing with autism. We live in Grafton.
 

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We are a family of 11, two adults, eight girls and one boy. We live in the Devils Lake area. Our beautiful daughter Rainann was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at age 2. Although we knew there was something wrong since birth, we did not get an exact diagnosis until she was 2. Rainann has no speech at all and is doing speech twice a week she also does OT (Occupational Therapy) twice a week. We are currently trying to get her into a special  needs classroom for preschool...but we don't live in the school district it is offered at so it is an uphill battle. I am very happy that ND is starting a autism society it will be so fun to get to know other families and share our stories and have support for each other. We have to stay together and stay strong. We will have to stand up for the help we will need that we are lacking now!
 

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My son, Aaron, was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 18 months, at the University of Minnesota Children's Hospital. My son lost all his language in one week, has many sensory issues, gastrointestinal issues, chronic sinus condition and an unknown sleeping disorder. He was non-verbal until this year, but is starting to regain his speech with a few words at the age of four. He is the most lovable child! He attends Early Special Education and receives speech and occupational therapy also. I am a single mom with and I also have another boy, who is 14.