Therapies

[Lavada Robertson]

Hi everyone! A new member to the site asked if their was a place on here that we could talk about the kids. Ages, progress, therapies current and past, what has worked and not etc.

[Cindy Davis]

I feel your pain as well, we lost thousands last week of employee stock purchase plan at my husband's work that we use to pay for therapies/supplements. We are going to have to make some serious decisions soon! Scary stuff!

[Liz Zurn]

Hey there!
My son Jack is 2 1/2. He was diagnosed early with ASD. He stims a lot and is echolalic. Most of his language *(he has a fairly large vocabulary) is non-functional labeling things or listing things.
Someimtes at night, we hear him saying "Let's name the animals that live on the Savannah" (from Baby Einstein), and then..."Carabou! Lion! Gazelle!..."
We are doing ABA, Speech Therapy, and DD Preschool. Thinking about GF/CF, but not sure about it yet.
ABA seems to be the most help. He had lost all language and is now getting it back.
I hate Autism.

[Lavada Robertson]

Liz,
I had to read your post aloud to my husband bc Baby Einstein is a staple just like Thomas, Dora and Veggietales! Where are you guys located? ABA is the way to go. What provider are you going thru? CAS? We do GF for now. We were GFCF for a long time. Sometimes you have to tweak it for your childs needs. Have you seen a DAN! doctor yet? Speaking is speaking in my book though. Even though it may not be purposeful. ABA can shape it into meaningful language. Audreanna's favorite Baby Einstein is Shakespeare bc of the dragon popping up at the beginning!

Liz Zurn said:

Hey there!
My son Jack is 2 1/2. He was diagnosed early with ASD. He stims a lot and is echolalic. Most of his language *(he has a fairly large vocabulary) is non-functional labeling things or listing things.
Someimtes at night, we hear him saying "Let's name the animals that live on the Savannah" (from Baby Einstein), and then..."Carabou! Lion! Gazelle!..."
We are doing ABA, Speech Therapy, and DD Preschool. Thinking about GF/CF, but not sure about it yet.
ABA seems to be the most help. He had lost all language and is now getting it back.
I hate Autism.

[Cindy Davis]

I think this is the natural progression for boys and correct me if you have seen anything different: Baby Einstein, Thomas, Little Einsteins, Wiggles (I survived Wiggle hell !), Blues Clues, Dora, and Go Diego Go! Now my guy is 6 and watching Power Rangers and Spongebob Squarepants. Kinda normal television programming for his age and playing Wii now. Alex was echoic too at 3 so Liz, you are doing the best treatment with ABA-VB with Autism Outreach to break that cycle!

[Lavada Robertson]

Remember, I have the girls of the bunch. They are on the same path though. We are full steam ahead with Thomas!!!!!!

Cindy Davis said:

I think this is the natural progression for boys and correct me if you have seen anything different: Baby Einstein, Thomas, Little Einsteins, Wiggles (I survived Wiggle hell !), Blues Clues, Dora, and Go Diego Go! Now my guy is 6 and watching Power Rangers and Spongebob Squarepants. Kinda normal television programming for his age and playing Wii now. Alex was echoic too at 3 so Liz, you are doing the best treatment with ABA-VB with Autism Outreach to break that cycle!

[Lavada Robertson]

Hi everyone! We are getting ready to start Epsom salts baths with Audreanna. Has anyone else done this or are doing this now?

[Andrew B.]

Therapies
Let me first say I am not the expert on this subject in my family that would be my Wife Michelle. We have a soon to be 9 year old boy Chandler a.k.a Mr. C. He seemed to be a normal loving child until age 2 when all in our world seemed to notice a drastic change in him after a week long battle with mono. It was like someone turned the light off! My sainted wife a nurse carried him from Doctor to Doctor after many sleepless nights. Till we landed at a Dr. Taylor’s office he ordered test CT scans to check for brain damage and other things but none thing was found. Dr. Taylor along with others finally told us Mr.C had DD. The Doc told us to go to GNC and get liquid melatonin to help the C man go to sleep something none of us were getting at that time. We had tried the pills but they hadn’t worked we shared that with him. He replied what do you have to lose $5? It is not like you are going to lose more sleep over it. Then he explained some kids can’t digest the pills. It worked and that why Dr. T will go to heaven! That was the first corner we turned! The next biggest thing was when Michelle signed him up for Horses In Service a therapeutic riding program. You see Mr. C loves animals and this was enough to get him hooked. The program gave him a chance to socialize with others in an excepting environment that reinforced following directions taking turns identifying numbers and letters colors etch. At the time he started HIS our oldest James starting scouting Chandler wanted to go but was to young and honestly he couldn’t handle it if he was old enough. Mr. C would cry when we left to go to meetings or camp. A few years later and after a lot of work Chandler was able to join cub scouts mom and I have been involved every step of the way but I must admit there were times when I didn’t think he would ever be able to participate. Sure Mr. C has been getting speech, OT for 7 years and ABA for about 2 “since he received the ASD diagnoses” and they have helped greatly. But those are not the only things that can be therapeutic. Think outside the box! We never have tried the food thing. We have paid for additional services at Children’s hospital because depending on the school system to do the job isn’t realistic.

[Lavada Robertson]

Thanks for sharing Andrew!!! Chandler looks like he loves Horse Therapy!! We will be starting here soon! I have the name of another Dr. to get on board for you and Michelle.........ha ha ha

Andrew B. said:

Therapies
Let me first say I am not the expert on this subject in my family that would be my Wife Michelle. We have a soon to be 9 year old boy Chandler a.k.a Mr. C. He seemed to be a normal loving child until age 2 when all in our world seemed to notice a drastic change in him after a week long battle with mono. It was like someone turned the light off! My sainted wife a nurse carried him from Doctor to Doctor after many sleepless nights. Till we landed at a Dr. Taylor’s office he ordered test CT scans to check for brain damage and other things but none thing was found. Dr. Taylor along with others finally told us Mr.C had DD. The Doc told us to go to GNC and get liquid melatonin to help the C man go to sleep something none of us were getting at that time. We had tried the pills but they hadn’t worked we shared that with him. He replied what do you have to lose $5? It is not like you are going to lose more sleep over it. Then he explained some kids can’t digest the pills. It worked and that why Dr. T will go to heaven! That was the first corner we turned! The next biggest thing was when Michelle signed him up for Horses In Service a therapeutic riding program. You see Mr. C loves animals and this was enough to get him hooked. The program gave him a chance to socialize with others in an excepting environment that reinforced following directions taking turns identifying numbers and letters colors etch. At the time he started HIS our oldest James starting scouting Chandler wanted to go but was to young and honestly he couldn’t handle it if he was old enough. Mr. C would cry when we left to go to meetings or camp. A few years later and after a lot of work Chandler was able to join cub scouts mom and I have been involved every step of the way but I must admit there were times when I didn’t think he would ever be able to participate. Sure Mr. C has been getting speech, OT for 7 years and ABA for about 2 “since he received the ASD diagnoses” and they have helped greatly. But those are not the only things that can be therapeutic. Think outside the box! We never have tried the food thing. We have paid for additional services at Children’s hospital because depending on the school system to do the job isn’t realistic.

[Laurie A]

My son is 10 years old. He was diagnosed at the age of almost 3. In his case, there was no "regression" and he has never had any digestive issues or physical problems. He does have some exczema, but so do his 3 NT siblings. I had a very difficult time delivering my son when he was born and a part of me wonders if he might have suffered from that, but I don't have enough proof to consider that to be the cause of some kind of difference in how he functions. I will say that my husband, knowing what I know of his childhood, would probably be diagnosed within the ASD spectrum nowadays and I had lots of social difficulties growing up.

In any case, on to the therapies, etc, that we have tried. My son has been in speech therapy from the time he was diagnosed. He was in Music Therapy for a year after that as well. I put him in public pre-school at the age of 4 and he remained in school until the end of second grade. I now teach him at home. While I commend the efforts made by the teachers at his school, in my opinion the best I ever would have gotten there would be for my son to be made dependent upon an aid in order to function within the school setting. I want my son to learn to function independently. I can take much more time with him here at home.. I can wait him out when he is being stubborn and will not do his work, I can teach him without using all the verbal queues that his teachers and aids at school were using.

At the age of 6 my son started becoming violent at home. Most of this violence was due to not wanting to comply with expectations made on him (having to stop playing a video game, for example). I was able to get in-home help from the Matthews Center, which he had for the next two years; 9-15 hours per week. Our family was introduced to a visual schedule system and other techniques and this changed our life. Now, four years later we can take him out in public safely. Unfortunately, I lost FAPT funding for assistance from the Matthews Center when I took him out of school, and I was not successful in continuing privately paid help from them. However, my son is now on the EDCD waiver and I have in-home help through personal attendants that I am able to hire.

So for now we are here: speech therapy one time per week at the school he used to go to, Occupational Therapy through Valley Health services for one hour per week, academics being taught at home, social skills being taught at home, at speech therapy, and at OT. The personal attendants I have hired help me with my son at home. We are still very much challenged by my son's outbursts, but we are teaching him to control his temper through a technique that the Matthews Center introduced to us.. taking breaks. After two years we are starting to have some success with this. Social skills training and personal hygiene training are still very big issues that we have to deal with. My son does relatively well with eating a variety of foods for a child with autism, but I know he could eat a little better. I'm challenged with this with all of my children, and I have heard that my husband was a very particular eater as a child as well. My son is tall for his age. My husband is very tall, so I know that my son will be bigger than I am in a few years. My biggest challenge is trying to teach him to comply and control himself while he is still young.

[Amy Trail]

I would tell Noah's story here but I am sure that most people here and in the whole state of Virginia have already heard his story!

This is a wonderful idea for all to talk about for the new moms and Dads! Lavada - this is great - keep talking, girl, they are listening whether they will admit to it or not!

Love you all - keep on keeping on! We are all helping each other in many different ways and more we talk about the issues at hand - the more we can find more answers!!