Once again Bravo! And shame on OMM! Come on, OMM, aren't there some hungry children to feed or some homeless to shelter? Isn't it time to stop wasting so much time and energy over who someone loves? After all, if this really is about God, he is about love. And I don't think he'd be thrilled with your hateful behavior. Besides, this is setting a terrible example for your children. Since it's them you claim to protect, shouldn't you be teaching them that everyone is equal and God loves all his little children? The time to come together is now. This stuff is a foolish diversion. Here is a link that might be useful: Penney's Father's Day ad

Time will tell if it's a stage. If it's not a stage though, then getting help earlier is better in terms of long term benefit. Stuttering can be a complicated phenomenon. Young children, especially before the age of 5-7 are constantly developing at a relatively quick rate biologically/physiologically. Depending on the cause of the stuttering, it might not be a phase but might be something that is not expressed until verbal communication gets to where your 3 year old is. Things you can think about which can be worth mentioning or noting when you mention stuttering (at the doctor's appt) would be anything related to his earlier speech/sound-making development; anything related to his general physical coordination; any milestones reached late or not at all so far? Any milestones reached astonishingly early? Notable strengths, weakness, and quirks should be identified. This page has speech milestones http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/growth.chart/page1.html This page has one parent's short essay about their child who has some signs of unusual verbal expression strengths; but who needed and who has benefited from therapy and why. It gives specifics about speech patterns in toddlerhood and preschool age. It's clear about how her child's were unusual. http://www.csld.com/as.html This is a page from a multipage article. This page has milestones for communication and explains how they interact. http://www.apraxia-kids.org/slps/councillmilestones.html it's worth mentioning and ask questions about why or why not if the doctor agrees or doesn't agree that further assessment may be in your child's long term best interests P.S. This page is a good one about apraxia problems and the kinds of things you would see and some strategies which may be helpful. (This is just one sort of problem which can cause a problem which may cause speech 'symptoms' but not problems in other areas really.) http://www.apraxia-kids.org/slps/velleman.html P.P.S. This page has some tips for issues of 'differentness' in the gifted sense. Since your child has expressed frustration in his own efforts and abilities about such a basic function as being able to talk (and since he perceives that he was able to 'better') it might be useful. http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content4/joy.loss.eq.gifted.html

My oldest child, a boy, had autism spectrum disorder. it began to manifest itself at age 18 months and was diagnosed at age 3. Therapists at that time did not trust early age diagnosis because of other diseases masquerading as autism. For our case, a definite diagonsis was decalred at age 3. We had a heartbreaking time of it. We could not afford proper treatment and insurance did not cover "mystery" diseases. Our kid was antisocial and clever. He exhibited two personalities: one when he was in our presence and another when he was beyond our control or knowlege. He strove to keep these two lives separated, but when the two spheres of existance happened to meet, he tried to shrink into nothing like trying to melt into the floor. For example, one time he was with us when we were standing in line at the village hall to vote. Suddently, he dropped to the floor and covered his head. We were puzzled. The problem: He had spied his school teacher in the line next to us. We had never met this treacher, but we happened to say a casual hello to each other. We had another problem with school. He was an odd-ball at school and others began to either shun or tease him. His anger was held until it spilled over the break point and he would explode on someone. Sometimes, it was not the proper object, but another child who was nearby and whom he knew he could best. The second and major problem was the attitude of school personnel. This problem was festering and they never contacted us until it had gotten out of control. One day, he split he lip of a little girl and chipped her tooth. I beleive her parents were threatening legal action against the school, and it was at this point when the school authorities first contacted us. We were hauled in to inform us our son was being thrown out of school. This was the first time the school contacted us, and it was the first time we became aware of the problem. He had just become a 1st grader and was being tossed out. Nothing was ever done about teasing. There is more to this story and parental tears, but I'll wrap it up with the outcome. We moved to a different school system and when he came to live with us again, he entered his freshman year in high school. At graduation, he won the "most improved" student. He's now 45 years old, living away from home, and managing to hold a job to earn barely enough to pay his rent and food. He still has a couple of personal demons to resist, but these affect only him. One demon he has defeated. We are proud of his progress. It is much more than the progonosis of his childhood. It has taken much support tempered with iron will from his parents. On thing I will say is never give up, and do not accept inappropriate behavior. Do not respond to inappropriate behavior, but always be alert and always respond positivetly to appropriate behavior. As an adult, maintain contact and include him in the family circle. Make a point to visit with him on...

You know -- There are so many stories, and so many different outcomes because our children are all so different. In other words, my son's outcome and progress would tell your NOTHING about yours. I know you want to see into the future -- but I'm sorry -- you just can't. But there are some common threads that we see in varying degrees in different children: - Some children have genetic differences or syndromes that are probably at the root of their autism issues. (Mine probably does, but we haven't found it yet.) For these kids, they can improve, but they will never be 'cured' by anyone's definition. - Other children appear to have been damaged by certain toxic exposures -- possibly vaccinations, heavy metals, PCBs, pesticides, food intolerances, unknown other substances. Some of these kids have made remarkable improvements (or even recoveries) once the underlying problem agent was removed. These kids often have severe digestive or skin issues that can provide valuable medical clues. - Other kids seem to have been influenced by their early surroundings - Eastern Orphanages and such. They can also make big gains, but generally still have traces of 'stand-offishness' and interpersonal difficulties well into adulthood. To me, these are the saddest cases, because it just didn't have to happen. - Many others just seem to have been born that way, and we never have any idea why. I think that may be the hardest group because the parental guilt just has no escape valve. - Most autistic kids have speech and language impairments of some sort. Some will repeat long scripts verbatim. Many repeat key phrases over and over. Some develop huge vocabularies ('little professor syndrome') and others never get more than a few words. I'd say most high-functioning kids have 'functional but odd' speech by the time they're 8 or 9, and continue to sound different somehow throughout their lives. For many, the main difference is in prosody, the musical rythem of speech. - Statistics say that about 75% autistic children have IQs in the mentally retarded range, but I personally, don't believe that's true. I do believe they TEST in the MR range because the test protocols are so far out of sync with the way their minds work. But I've seen such a lively intelligence in many of these kids. And I've seen too many kids who tested in a MR range at age 4, but in an 'average' or even 'superior' range by age 10. (My own son doesn't test as MR, but I'm pretty sure he has a significant cognitive impairment.) - Most autistic kids do not have many other 'typical' children for friends past age 7 or 8 or so. It's sad, but true. Our kids are just too different and 'don't play well with others' because social interractions are just too complex to teach. But my son has many adult friends, and I'm hoping that when he's an adult, he will still have adult friends. He's also friends with other 'special' kids. But even those friendships are a lot of work relative to the rewards he gets. - In school, most autistic kids are in special ed. Some for academic reasons, some for emotional and social. Mine is and clearly has to be. He works one on one with the special ed teacher for reading, writing and math and is mainstreamed for the rest. We put him in private special school for age 3 to grade 4, then enrolled him in public school, repeating grade 4. The good news is that our son is extremely social, very affectionate, and about as happy as any child you've ever seen. He knows that 'technically' he's different, but also that 'Everybody's Different!' and that he is wonderful and very much loved. Try not to worry too much -- Just keep watching and 'therapizing' and loving your son. If he IS on the autism spectrum, it will be revealed to you as it becomes evident in his behavior. If he isn't, the therapy will only help him. He will continue to grow and develop and improve, and the best you can do is provide him the therapy and loving support to help him develop to his own best potential, whatever that turns out to be.