As with many things, autism is not as black and white as people think it to be. Children with autism can experience autism in different ways, Thereby making every child’s experience with autism unique to that individual.

My cousin for example becomes fixated on new topics easily and for long periods of times. A few weeks ago all he could think and talk about was trains. He wanted to ride the train, watch train movies, play with his train action figures and wear his conductor outfit. However, he happened upon seeing a fireman one day and the trains got put of pause. The shift happened almost instantaneously and the focus of his life was all on fireman and fire drills. I remember reading several Facebook status describing how my cousin would make a fire alarm sound every 15 minutes and tried to make his mom, dad and brother all evacuate the house…he was successful in his attempts. Upon a dentist visit, my cousin saw a fire alarm and repeatedly tried to pull the alarm. This was not him being a bad child or disobedient, it was merely a fixation. After several failed attempts at pulling the fire alarm, my older cousin decided the only way to calm her sons fixation on pulling the fire alarm was to take him home, let him dress up as a fireman and bring a fire truck with him, and the take him back to the dentist. The plan was to entertain his fixation with fireman long enough to distract him from the fire alarms and allow him to make it though his appointment. Mission Accomplished. If only there was a hybrid of a train and a fire truck….

I say all this to say, my cousins autism is usually associated with a fixation with a particular subject matter, among many other things on the spectrum, whereas another child with autism may not have such fixations towards subjects. Many signs of autism range from:

*no perception of danger

*insensitivity to pain

*lack of verbal communication

*Difficulty is expressing needs

*ADHD

*inappropriate responses to

* and much more