Do autistic people have a hard time dealing with cavities?

It can be very difficult not only for autistic people but also their caregivers. Often times they are not rational in this aspect, if they are sensitive to being touched. You need a referral to a pediatric dentist in your area, one who is used to seeing or perhaps specializes in the mentally handicapped. General anesthesia or sedatives may needed to perform necessary dental work or medical procedures.

Unhappily to complicate your family matters your husband's ex-wife may be using their daughter as a tool to complicate his and your life. Sad. A special-needs child can place a terrific stress on the parents and a marriage. But to answer your question, yes, depending on the person and the severity of the autism the caregiver has a good deal of work cut out for them. You may be required the patience of a saint at times, because now by marriage your step-daughter's problems are going to impact you because of your husband daughter and his former marriage.

Not sure if this will help your son but if it does then pass it onto someone else in need. There is a homeopathic remedy called 'Secretin' which my son uses and a friend of mine uses for their son who has AS. Without giving an answer that sounds as though I have swallowed the Lancet the long and short of it is that children on the autistic spectrum may not naturally produce enough/any secretin. I call it 'hormone replacement therapy' for kids that need it. I can only tell you that when my son is not taking it other people notice the difference. I was called into the school to ask why there was a return to no eye contact and he wasn't focused, not on task, fidgety etc. Only then did I tell them about the Secretin and that I had run out. My friend at school used it and her son reduced the hand flapping associated with AS almost immediately. However, it is the other things that happen that I have found most interesting, my son (and my friends son too) no longer have stomach troubles, no constipation etc. They are also more likely to try different foods that they would have previously rejected on colour/look/smell/presentation. Better sleeping pattern, less swing of emotion or moods. Lots of other things have just fell into place. Yes, this could be a natural progression as they grow older or it could be that you so want something to work you almost will it to work, but it is not until you have someone else comment on the positive effects that you actually believe it. Try researching 'human Secretin' (there is a porcine one available) in the Homeopathic form and being homeopathic if it doesn't do any good it won't do any harm. Hope this is of some help to you and I wish you and your son lots of luck.

As one of the other answerers pointed out, it is common for people with autism to be extremely sensitive to changes in their routine, and to touch. If you have no experience with autism, the problems your step-daughter is having can seem like a lot to do about nothing.

It would be in your self-interest to read about the disorder so you can better understand how Rachel deals with the world and the issues that result for her mother and your husband. He is always going to be her father and will always have some responsibilities with her, and having an understanding wife at home will just make his life and your relationship go better.

Remember, if anything happens to her mom, it's possible that some of Rachel's care-taking may fall to you and your husband. No doubt, one of his concerns will be who cares for her after her parents become too old or disabled themselves to do so. If they don't have some sort of long range plan in mind for Rachel down the road, it would be worth raising this issue with your husband at a time when things are calm.

Yes, it is common with autism. The bacteria that accumulates in their mouths causes cavities more readily than other populations, and it doesn't help that this population tends to be orally defensive and poor brushers. I have 3 autistic sons. Conscious sedation is always performed for any oral work including x-rays, and the pediatric dentist is a specialist, and no the anesthesia isn't covered and yes, bills do exceed 1000 dollars. Sometimes the work is so extensive the outpt procedure is done at the hospital.

My q is @ 31yrs old why has the mother not yet found a special needs dentist who works with autistic patients under conscious sedation? A crack can occur @ anytime and is extremely painful, the ER is really the only way to go. Is your husband the father not very involved? When an autistic person of any age is in crisis, its a crisis, and the father should drop everything.

It does sound like your husband has his ex do most of the caretaking. I say that because you are new to the situation and don't know much about autism yet are married to a man with a moderately autistic daughter. Precisely why I left my husband, he was not involved with the children like he should be and I can't fathom why anybody would be attracted to any of these deadbeat SOB's. (I have no idea if your husband falls into this category, I'm not judging you or him, just my ex never came to anything ever or rarely ever, still doesn't know clothing sizes, doctors, teachers, extra curricular's, therapists etc.) It is a big big job. Bigger than mom and dad, and they should look into respite care, and employment for Rachel. If your husband left his ex and his ex is manipulative and vindictive, it could be that she is playing him a bit as well. I have been near the brink of hospitalizing one of my sons for SIB's (self injurious behaviors), 2 hrs of basket holds, then he began vomiting, and his father did come to deal with that, had he not I would have had to 911 him.

If possible I do think he should be there for the surgery. After my son's, he could not walk, and had to be monitored for biting his tongue and cheeks. He needed to be absolutely carried to the car and into the house and we had to barricade him in a small room so he wouldn't hurt himself trying to get up and fall down. We placed mattresses all over the floor and were 1:1 with him for several hrs until the sedation wore off.

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