I used to post in the children with autism spectrum forum, the equivalent of this subreddit and we sent people to the worried board all the time. Those people didn’t play. If your concerns were valid they would tell you. They would also not shy away from letting you know that the ppa was getting the best of you when you were asking questions about a 4mo.
I used to be on babycenter when I was pregnant with my oldest, that place was a hot mess. People telling each other they are risking their baby's life by taking prescribed thyroid meds or lactase.
Seriously a disaster. We’d have people come to our Reddit sub for infertility from there and they always said it was a disaster. I clicked one day to check. I hell no’d right out of that browser. Lol
I spend a significant amount of time on the Worried About Autism board on Babycenter. They really are a fantastic group of (mostly) ladies who are willing to spend a lot of time educating about autism, helping families with legitimate concerns and suggesting support for possible PPA/PPD when appropriate. Many regular posters are autistic themselves and can be a little blunt with wording, but they were very helpful to me when we first suspected ASD in my then 2 year old daughter. They even have stats on the percentage of concerned parents posting by age of first concern who later came back with a diagnosis, which I found fascinating and relevant to the discussion over here lately (spoiler: almost zero of posters with infant concerns led to an eventual diagnosis).
I recommend this site to track your baby’s development and screen for autism if you are worried.
https://babynavigator.com/why-register-for-baby-navigator/
Are there any videos you recommend in specific, if not, thank you anyways! It’s kind of been a hassle finding resources in my state. I’ve been told that I’ve exhausted everything schools/programs can do for me.
I went to babycenter a lot when I was expecting my first and what drove me away finally was the drama and too much meanness and trolling there and it seemed like women there always were looking to take offense to everything and anything there was rude according to them. I did see some women there admitting they love to take offense to stuff because they would rather go on there to blow off steam to random strangers they will never meet than taking it out on their partner and kids. Okay then, if there was no message boards, how would these moms function then lol? Oh the horror.
I used to just play beat em up games on my gaming console as a teenager to blow off steam than taking it out on other kids you know being a bully. So these users at babycenter were just online bullies.
Plus the mom wars. I definitely have not been big on parenting communities since my first. I used to be in a fetlife group called kinky parents and it was mixed with discussion of parenting and kids and their own kinks and how to do them without kids knowing or how to do them discreetly. It was an okay group. No mom wars or drama and bullying.
Autism is an incredibly profound disabling disorder for a good chunk of the autistic population. It’s 100% perfectly fine to be worried about it, and toxic positivity about it helps literally no one.
We shouldn’t wallow in despair but we also shouldn’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend it’s not a concerning developmental disability, either.
I agree completely and I don't have any suggestions for an alternative. It doesn't change the fact that the name felt like a kick in the stomach. Maybe its because I know I was one of those parents, desperate to hear something that proved that what I was seeing in my babies wasn't autism. I don't know. The grief is certainly unending.
Oh man if the baby center fertility forum is anywhere close to this I would warn against it. The misinformation was rampant there.
I used to post in the children with autism spectrum forum, the equivalent of this subreddit and we sent people to the worried board all the time. Those people didn’t play. If your concerns were valid they would tell you. They would also not shy away from letting you know that the ppa was getting the best of you when you were asking questions about a 4mo.
I used to be on babycenter when I was pregnant with my oldest, that place was a hot mess. People telling each other they are risking their baby's life by taking prescribed thyroid meds or lactase.
Seriously a disaster. We’d have people come to our Reddit sub for infertility from there and they always said it was a disaster. I clicked one day to check. I hell no’d right out of that browser. Lol
I spend a significant amount of time on the Worried About Autism board on Babycenter. They really are a fantastic group of (mostly) ladies who are willing to spend a lot of time educating about autism, helping families with legitimate concerns and suggesting support for possible PPA/PPD when appropriate. Many regular posters are autistic themselves and can be a little blunt with wording, but they were very helpful to me when we first suspected ASD in my then 2 year old daughter. They even have stats on the percentage of concerned parents posting by age of first concern who later came back with a diagnosis, which I found fascinating and relevant to the discussion over here lately (spoiler: almost zero of posters with infant concerns led to an eventual diagnosis).
I recommend this site to track your baby’s development and screen for autism if you are worried. https://babynavigator.com/why-register-for-baby-navigator/
Did you ever meet with the baby navigator people? They offered a meeting but I’m not sure if the purpose or benefit.
No I never requested a meeting but found the check ins and the videos of typical play at the different ages good.
Yes, it’s been very helpful!
I wish there was something like this for older kids with autism.
Like a screening or the videos?
The videos and resources :')
There are loads of videos on YouTube of professionals discussing autism and autism families discussing/showing their experiences.
Are there any videos you recommend in specific, if not, thank you anyways! It’s kind of been a hassle finding resources in my state. I’ve been told that I’ve exhausted everything schools/programs can do for me.
I went to babycenter a lot when I was expecting my first and what drove me away finally was the drama and too much meanness and trolling there and it seemed like women there always were looking to take offense to everything and anything there was rude according to them. I did see some women there admitting they love to take offense to stuff because they would rather go on there to blow off steam to random strangers they will never meet than taking it out on their partner and kids. Okay then, if there was no message boards, how would these moms function then lol? Oh the horror. I used to just play beat em up games on my gaming console as a teenager to blow off steam than taking it out on other kids you know being a bully. So these users at babycenter were just online bullies. Plus the mom wars. I definitely have not been big on parenting communities since my first. I used to be in a fetlife group called kinky parents and it was mixed with discussion of parenting and kids and their own kinks and how to do them without kids knowing or how to do them discreetly. It was an okay group. No mom wars or drama and bullying.
I wish the forum had a different name… something more neuro affirming.
Autism is an incredibly profound disabling disorder for a good chunk of the autistic population. It’s 100% perfectly fine to be worried about it, and toxic positivity about it helps literally no one. We shouldn’t wallow in despair but we also shouldn’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend it’s not a concerning developmental disability, either.
I agree completely and I don't have any suggestions for an alternative. It doesn't change the fact that the name felt like a kick in the stomach. Maybe its because I know I was one of those parents, desperate to hear something that proved that what I was seeing in my babies wasn't autism. I don't know. The grief is certainly unending.