Therapy / Intervention Advice

Pine - posted on 06/15/2010 ( 8 moms have responded )

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Hello. I'd like some takes on my situation. My lovely son is 29 months old. He has one diagnose of PDD-NOS. He does not talk, though he has picked up words in the last week. Appears to have descent receptive language but not expressive. He can have joint attention but lacks most of the time with the "3-point look". Basically eye contact can vary. But can make wonderful eye contact when engaged. He can tune us out when doing certain things. He follows simple instructions. Mostly content. Loves praise. He doesn't appear to have sensory issues. As far as repetitive behaviors...they can be easily broken and there is not too many. Some toe-walking, holds his hands, runs in a circle.
He has a lot of strengths. We have an opportunity to put him in a therapeutic day school. I can't see that this would hurt him. I think the school indivdidualizes what goes on for each child. He is in speech therapy now. One doctor told us to work on the speech therapy and socialize him with Typical toddlers. So I am asking would sending him to a special school be too much for him? Are there any negatives? And based on what I have said about him does anyone have any opinions on therapies that would work with him?

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Sara - posted on 06/19/2010

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My son was diagnosed with autism last year at 3 years old, he attends a specialized school specifically for children with autism. He has progressed so much more than I thought possible. I am a homeschooling mom, so putting my 3-year-old in school was not an easy decision. We were really stuck on how to help him progress, we knew we needed some professional help. This has proved to be the best decision we could have made. His school has provided tons of excellent parent training specific to autism and provided individualized guidance during home visits. Finding a school that addresses your child's specific needs is key; all special ed classrooms are not equal. I checked out and walked out of several, and when I expressed my concerns to our early intervention program, my son was placed in the specialized classroom. Finding parent support and training is crucial! Our son is talking now, initiating social interaction, learning to play with his siblings and other peers, following directions, and responding positively.

Some of the things that we've used at home may help your son as well particularly with learning language: PECS, visual aids, schedules, and sign language have been huge to to help him understand, retain vocabulary, and use expressive language. Simplifying our language and using the same kind of language has helped. Allowing him extra processing time and walking him through everything several times (not just showing him) has been necessary. We also saw major improvement across the board when we removed dairy (later casein) and wheat (later gluten). Not everyone sees improvement, but we did. You can read more about what we've used successfully at our blog: www.FindingJackson.com. Hope this helps!

Melanie - posted on 06/18/2010

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Hello. I think the only person who can decide this is you. Have you visited the school? As far as your sons speech, teach him sign language. I taught my now 6 y/o to sign. He did not talk much until after a few months in a head start program. He signed up until about his 5th birthday. We uses the words & signs combined. That way I always knew what James wanted/needed. In addition, it taught him to keep his hands busy dong something constructive & helped to eliminate some of his "ticks"( repetitive behaviors)
James has never gotten the eye contact concept. It's as though it is painful for him. As for your son. can he repeat what you say or do? They call it echoing. It is a good sign if your son does this, he is paying attention to you to some degree then. He is not quite 3. Do get him in some sort of early intervention. It helps. But work 2x as hard at home. And be a very active parent. Know everything that goes on in & out of any program you choose. You will make all the difference if you do.

Suzana - posted on 06/17/2010

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my son has recently begun aba therapy through ABAlink,the changes have been amazing,he has an ASD diagnosis,your son seems so young to have already recieved a diagnosis,the aba therapists work with him 1:1 in his mainstream daycare centre and this is funded through his FACHsia funding,they really have made a huge difference to us as a family,if you need any names,numbers etc,please let me know-good luck

Melissa - posted on 06/17/2010

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For the VB ABA try this book. It's pretty good at describing hte method and showing you how to put it into place. My son's PreK teacher the method. Also google Dr. Carbone for more info.

http://www.amazon.com/Verbal-Behavior-Ap...

Pine - posted on 06/17/2010

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Thanks for the advise ladies. Melissa, it does make sense. I'll look into verbal aba. I didn't know there were different versions. Also, It's nice to hear your son is making great strides too.

Melissa - posted on 06/17/2010

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My son didn't talk at that age either (he said about 3 "words" and nothing else). At that point, his receptive language was behind as well. We did traditional speech therapy in our home twice per week. We did all of the activities the therapist did and followed her advice for what to do in the off-time. We added DIR therapy on our own and had great results.

Once he was old enough, we enrolled him in a specialty PreK for children with autism (he has classic autism). What that did was gave him time for therapy, but also time to be around other kids his own age. He still doesn't play with other kids at the playground the way other children do, but he enjoys the parallel play and is doing much better than projected.

Based on what you've said about your son, I would suggest him doing speech therapy and starting him on a bottom-up therapy, such as ABA, or better yet, Verbal Behavior approach ABA. Once he's come out of his shell some and is communicating better, move him up to a mid-level therapy, such as DIR, NET, or PRT.

By the time he's growing out of those he'll probably be ready for a school program. I wouldn't put him in an exclusively autistic setting, though. The reason for that is that you want to always be challenging him. You start at the bottom rung and make it the goal to move up the ladder. Because he has PDD-NOS instead of a more severe form of autism, he's already at a higher starting point. Hope that all makes sense!

Tammy - posted on 06/16/2010

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I have my son in an ordinary daycare for one day a week it was two but he couldnt handle it even the one day when i pick him up he has a meltdown as soon as he is in the car the kids there are pretty loud as most young kids are lol and i find there is no one on one time for him because of the child to teacher ratio so i think the special school might be beneficial and i would ask if they get some one on one time as well :)

Sheila - posted on 06/15/2010

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Hi Pine Apple,

My feeling if there is no harm, there is no foul. So, I believe that when a child presents on the spectrum, do as much as you can as early as you can.

I understand the doc's point of view in that he wants your child to model his behaviours based on the typical children he interacts with. The trouble there is that typical children do not explicitly model appropriate behaviours in an instructional manner! When on the spectrum, children need explicit instruction to help learn the socialization strategies that "typical" children learn through "typical" socialization.

If the therapy is individually based, and the environment is happy and productive...you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.

If you want the "typical" socialization, join a mommy and me gym class and have fun!

Sheila