3:54 pm - 08/22/2012
Jacqueline Laurita had tried for years to have another baby, so when she finally welcomed son Nicholas three years ago, the proud mom celebrated his every achievement.
But then, at around 18 months old, Nicholas began regressing with his speech and motor skills, then refusing to answer to his name or notice people enter a room.
"We had no idea what was going on," the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, who hid her son's medical issues from the reality cameras as she continued taping season 4 last year, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
After an agonizing wait to see multiple doctors, the Lauritas got a diagnosis: Nicholas is autistic.
"I worry about him being independent when he's older," admits Jacqueline, who is also mom toAshlee Beelzebub, 21, and C.J., 10. "I spend all my time researching what we can do for him."
Adds her husband Chris: "You never want to think that your child isn't perfectly healthy. We didn't want to believe it was true."
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Jacqueline Laurita: My Son Has Autism
Jacqueline Laurita had tried for years to have another baby, so when she finally welcomed son Nicholas three years ago, the proud mom celebrated his every achievement.
But then, at around 18 months old, Nicholas began regressing with his speech and motor skills, then refusing to answer to his name or notice people enter a room.
"We had no idea what was going on," the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, who hid her son's medical issues from the reality cameras as she continued taping season 4 last year, tells PEOPLE exclusively.
After an agonizing wait to see multiple doctors, the Lauritas got a diagnosis: Nicholas is autistic.
"I worry about him being independent when he's older," admits Jacqueline, who is also mom to
Adds her husband Chris: "You never want to think that your child isn't perfectly healthy. We didn't want to believe it was true."
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What I was talking about regarding early intervention is that recent studies suggest that with early intensive intervention, there is a possibility that you may actually be able to *change the structure of the brain* in some of these kids. As in...kill some of the extra brain cells and connections. Literally make their brains normal. But if you miss that early window, the brain is set, and you can't do it anymore.
http://autism.about.com/od/causesofauti
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/0
I don't understand much about brain stuff though (lol), but I understand (cognitive) psychology better, and the cognitive system of an autistic person is pm completely different from a neurotypical person - like, when you learn new stuff your neural network changes and the connection between synapses either get stronger or weaker, so that the nerve impulses travel faster. But in an autistic brain, the connections are not as evenly distributed, so it's possible that a person is a kick ass mathematician or pianist but can barely talk, but like the person above said, it's possible to change that if you intervene early enough, because it's more about learning intensively and efficiently than some pre-set brain structure.
/idk if I even answered your question or if that made sense at all. :D