I just now have the time to sit down and introduce myself. I’m a mother of two children. Our daughter is 16 and a junior in high school, she also has PCOS. Our son is 15 with low-functioning autism and just recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He is currently in a residential treatment facility to get his meds under control (meds for aggression and agitation). He was diagnosed at the facility. My husband had several aunts and uncles with type 2, and one nephew with type 1. My sister is also pre-diabetic and our father died from complications of type 2 five years ago. Ethan had a big weight increase in 2004-2005 but he would always have a good blood glucose level when we would have blood drawn. His fasting bs at the facility was 289! They now have him down to 30 carbs a day to lose the last remaining 70 lbs. He had come down from 347 to 280 lbs. We had been walking him up to 3 miles a day on a bike path and thought that was the reason for the weight loss…but actually it was the diabetes. He will be coming home in mid February and we will all be working together on the diet (my daughter and I especially!) and continuing the excerise. I’m so glad to find such a wonderful community.
Well welcome Angela and I hope you find support and answers here. Check out the various groups here too that might be of interest. I am sure you will get some of your answers here. Take care and hang in there.
Welcome Angela! I bet Ethan will be happy when he comes home soon. Residential treatments are pretty helpful but home with family is still the best. I have worked with autistic children (both low and high functioning) several years ago in developing and creating exercises and new leisure activities with the objective of helping children in areas of developing socially accepted behaviors and even promote independence in the future. I am so sorry to hear that Ethan have other concerns healthwise. Is he seeing a regular endo? Is he taking any meds? We would love to know how he is doing…And I really do hope we can help =)
Hi Angela,
Welcome & keep us posted. Simply walking weekday mornings has been a beneficial & enjoyable way for me to exercise, help control bs, and lower bp. Best regards, Lucy
Hello Angela and welcome 
Are they measuring Ethan’s blood sugar? Do you know how they have been?
I think that sudden weight loss is usually caused by the onset of type 1 diabetes, not type 2. If his blood sugar is not responding to the medication, he should be checked to determine what type of diabetes he has.
Just because someone is overweight, it does not immediately imply type 2 diabetes. His doctor should check if he is still producing insulin (c-peptide test) and whether he has autoimmune antibodies that cause type 1 diabetes (GAD antibody and other antibody test).
If his blood sugars are good, then this may not be necessary, but if his blood sugar are not between 70-180 mg/dl, then you should be sure that he is getting the right treatment for his diabetes.
Also, here is a group for autistic diabetics: click here