Hi, Dad and anyone else with advise.
I was referred to you by “itsjustbarb” at webmd and am looking for advise.
We have been told that our 18 month old son may be autistic but that we will just have to wait and see.
I don’t really want to take a wait and see approach so am hoping that some of you who are dealing with autism can give me a little help.
Primarily:
If you have been through this what would you do in this situation (what type of doctor would you see, services you would request, types of evaluations, etc.)?
Also, I want to start teaching him and working with him as if we knew for sure he was autistic. Can you give me any advice on teaching methods, books, etc.?
My thought is that if we give him extra therapy and extra teaching at this age and he is autistic we have done him a great service and if he turns out not to be we didn’t do him any harm. Why wait and see just to find out you should have started therapy earlier?
Any other tips or thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks
Re: DAD - Autistic 18 month old
Another thing to consider— I esp like the PECs idea, very good communication method, would be to take a look at ABA (means applied behavior analysis) therapy. This is one on one therapy that divides skills into small parts and teaches each piece separately and builds on skills already developed. It is intensive, usually more than 10 hours a week and sometimes up to 40 or so. It has a high effectiveness track ratings.
—des
Re: DAD - Autistic 18 month old
If you are in the US, there is a state Early Intervention System for children ages 0-3.
Put Early Intervention and your state in a search and you should have no trouble finding the number-if not, post again and I will find it(I work in IL EI and have a disc somewhere with all the contact numbers)
You have the right idea. You can do him no harm by providing extra therapy.
Give and take play is important. He needs to interact with people. Rolling a ball back and forth, playing pat-a-cake, itsy bitsy spider. Read to him and work on him pointing to pictures and imitating animal and vehicle sounds.
Think of all the things people did with kids before technology
Limit exposure to TV, video, and computer like toys_id say one hour a day MAX
No, I dont believe they are the cause but they are the exact type of thing autistic kids like becasue there is no human interaction and no give and take.
Parents see their child happily absorbed in Leap Frog and think “wow-hes learning his ABCs”
Well intentioned and loving, but your child doesnt need to learn his ABCs-he needs to learn to communicate and interact with living things in his environment
Pretend play is important. He should be tromping around in an adults shoes or pretending to feed a baby doll. If he isnt, show him, hand over hand him throught the motions. Dont wait for it to ‘happen’-its not hurting him to teach him how to feed a baby doll, right?
Encourage eye contact. A simple hint-put the object he is interested in up to your eyes. If hes focused on a toy train or a BLues Clues toy, pick it up and move it to your eye area to get his attention where it should be-THEN speak to him slowly and clearly and simply. Give it time to sink in-research shows these kids process words slowly.
Does he have trouble with transitions? Pictures can help here. Use a digital camera to take pics of the next step-be it the car, bath, bed-whatever may be the ‘difficulty’
Imagine youre in Italy and someone mutters something to you in a foreign language and starts dragging you by the hand-youre going to freak. If they show you a picture of McDonalds, you will know where you are going and relax.
Watch out for typical autistic behaviors. Lying on the floor watching the wheels on a toy car for 10 minutes is not appropriate. Spinning toys for more than an exploratory “wow-look at that” is not either. Ditto for watching overhead fans or playing with only trains
Do your best to divert him. Grab some blocks and build a tunnel for the train. Take the car in the sink and play car wash. Shut off the fan.
Help him interact with a dog or cat.
Specialists? Occupational therapists can be useful if your child shows sensory sensitivities. A developmental ped can be useful when and if you want an official diagnosis.
As someone said, a speech therapist is vital. PECS(pictures) and sign are wonderful bridges to the spoken language
Re: DAD - Autistic 18 month old
What made your dr. think autism at 18 mos? Any signs of seizure activity (including absence seizures, i.e. zoning out)? Is he lining things up, avoiding eye-contact, regressing after his MMR, failing to use verbal communication, doing weird things, eating dirt, having frequent meltdowns for no apparant reason?
First 3 things to do:
Have your child screened for metals, expecially lead, mercury, aluminum cadmium copper and arsenic. Blood test is a must, but also hair test if you can get it done. Insurance should cover it (if they try to balk, lie and tell the dr. you caught him peeling paint off the wall and eating it when you were visiting a friend 200 miles away.)
Try eliminating all milk products from his diet and see if you see any improvements in behavior, cognition, communication and socialization. May take about 2 weeks or so to have an effect. (And yes, that means ALL milk products including pre-processed food with milk solids in them).
Get your child screened by a competant, experienced developmental psyche. There is one on staff at all Children’s Hospitals. 18 mos. is still a little young for most to be comfortable in making a pronouncement, but if anyone will be able to tell you, this is the person.
3 must-read books you can get from your public library:
Catherin Maurice “Let Me Hear Your Voice” Discusses ABA and other early intervention
Karyn Seroussi “Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Dsorder” discusses the basis for the GFCF Diet and supplements
Claire Sainsbury “A Martian on the Playground” gives pretty good insight into how being autistic differs from being typical
If you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I don’t have all the answers, but I sometimes know where to point you so you can get them from people who may have them. Do not count on your dr. having any answers, the schools giving you any help or social service agencies being either social or providing service. If your boy is autistic there is one person who will help him and that will be you.
Most important of all, believe in yourself and never give up on your child!
suggestion
Please read Judith Bluestone’s new book, The Fabric of Autism: Weaving the Threads into a Cogent Theory. This book will help you figure out what’s going on with your child and more importantly, resolve the neurodevelopmental issues that he may have. You can buy this book on amazon.com or from the Handle Institute, www.handle.org.
I’m in the middle of it right now. It is not just for parents of autistic children. It will give you many insights into children with all kinds of neurodevelopmental challenges.
Angelmaker,
First, God bless you, your child, and your family. Early remediation is always the best option because, as you point out, it can’t hurt!
You may wish to get in contact with a DAN doctor (Defeat Autism Now). They tend to be up on the latest therapies that are helping children with autism. It might also be helpful if you identified your location. For example, there are a number of resources that I am aware of in the Atlanta area, and I am sure that others on this site could help guide you in other areas of the country.
Your local school system should be able to offer support to you as well. At 18 months, this suppport will promarily be home based. Call you local elementary school. They should be able to give you the contact information for Childfind in your area. At the least, your child should receive speech/language therapy ASAP. A good SLP is invaluable for your child at this point. He or she can help you develope a PECS system, and may encourage sign language initially.
Good luck,
Karyn