RE: Kids w/ Classic Autism, PDD-NOS & Speech Delays

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[quote="nostromo"on our first ASD parenting course there was a couple with a boy with severe sleep issues, the peadiatrician put him on something that made him a bit psychotic and didn't help, then a higher dose which didn't help either, they changed doctors and got prescribed melotonin, and problem solved.[/quote]

My son's neurologist tried to recommend something to us too where drowsiness was just a side effect but the main purpose of the drug was some sort of behavior altercation. I told him I wasn't interested (and then he kept on talking about it anyway ), I wonder if it was the same thing. His allergy medicine should make him drowsy too, but it doesn't. At this point I'm just used to the terrible schedule, though I still have the melatonin and may try it eventually.

Fire engine came to the Kindie today, James was VERY interested and excited. He got to go in it, and hold a hose that was going. He looked at all the valves, and shiny things with interest.
I contrast that with a year ago when he didn't even know there was a fire engine there at all or appear to.
Yayy!! !

It's really great how children learn new things in spurts..

Well my boy is dancing around the kitchen naked while breaking pieces of polysterene up
Hows your day going?!

Just picked up my little girl from the speech therapist at school. The therapist was exhausted (poor lady) as my little one was a little hyper today with the beautiful sunny weather.

I had a slight scare when she bolted around the carpark - luckily no parents were driving there.

It's kind of you to ask... stressful. I had to face some issues with ABA therapists. Something was wrong with tecnique and my son was reacting with stims and wetting his pants. They asked a question every second on average and it was causing him meltdowns. He is a peaceful boy and he fortunately doesn't react harming himself and others, but he was suffering. So, it was not a comprehension issue as I supposed, but he was shutting down to avoid overload. He was also answering without listening to instructions. It was not easy to say because they are professionals and I'm a mother. It's difficult for a mother to be considered, they think we are too emotional to reason.
It's getting better now, but I think they are considering it's better to work with another parent.
I'm too intrusive, I think...
WP helped me because I learned about sound processing issues.
I have to say, ABA is something to be handled with care and it's not an unique tecnique, it's a collection of tecniques. Implemetation can vary a lot.
So parents have to monitor carefully... have a good day

Its so hard to know how hard to 'push' with ABA isn't it? I mean if my boy wasn't challenged he'd sit in a corner with two pieces of lego looking at them. But on the other hand being too hard on them and stressing them out won't achieve anything, in fact the contrary.
I don't do ABA at the moment but I've found when I take my boy to the gym activity that the local ASD group has that I know when to give him breaks because he needs it and when to insist on him doing something, I think we as parents do know our children pretty well and should be listened to.

We just moved to a very safe steep little grove instead of a main street for that reason, and my little guy ran off down the hill the other day, would've been dangerous a month ago..much better now.

I just saw this thread....guess it got bumped up. Im glad its here. I have problems finding people to talk to and relate to lately. I have five kids in total. My first son (will be 24 June 9) was early onset bi polar and from the things I told our Psychiatrist about him when he was little, completely obsessed with light switches, buttons and knobs, never played with toys....he thinks that he may have Asperger's as well but is predominantly bi polar. He was very very difficult and he was not diagnosed until he was 12 so I did not get any help with him. He developed a serious drug problem, he started using shortly after he was diagnosed. Even though he now has Hepatitis C from his drug use he is clean and on proper medication living in a sober living house and doing very well. Hes so different now its such a load off of my mind. However, when he was little I thought I had to be the worst Mom in history. My second child (21 year old daughter) is basically NT, very social, very empathetic.....a bit foreign to me but her and my son were like night and day so she made me feel like maybe I wasnt such a bad Mom after all. She has some LD's (dyslexia and auditory processing disorder) but she is doing very well and planning to attend college next year. My third daughter (will be 19 June 25th) has Asperger's, very serious anxiety (self harming, picking her skin...anxiety attacks that cause vomiting and rise in blood pressure)...she was also diagnosed Bi Polar recently due to a psychotic episode last year before I moved. I dont believe in the Bi Polar diagnosis I think it was due to the stress of her loosing her boyfriend and my leaving (she did not want to come with us she just wanted me to stay). She is also very paranoid (thinking people are after her, looking through the windows, ect and yes I do know that this sounds a bit paranoid schitzophrenic and maybe so) she is also agoraphobic. She lives with my parents but found a boyfriend who has schitzophrenia (they seem to understand each other) and she is again locked away (with him in his parents house) seemingly very happy. This, of course, is a worry for me but she does not accept her diagnosis or agree to any type of help so I nor my parents can really do anything until she is ready.
My fourth child will be 9 in July. He is the male version of me. He has Asperger's and also dyslexia and recently a lot of anger/frustration issues but he is typically a sweetheart. My fifth child has classic Autism and we are very worried about her right now as she is regressing slowly. Loosing her speech and engaging in more repetitive behavior.....flapping, lining, yelling, running and flinging herself into walls. All these types of behaviors and issues disappeared a few years ago. I have posted about this and I have gotten some responses from nostromo (thank you but it seems that most people are afraid to talk to me or offer support for this. Mainly because they are most accustomed to Aspie issues. I stopped asking for advice or help for her because I get little to no response.
I feel like this should be the place for me as I have Asperger's and have other children who are Aspies like me but I also have a child with more classic type autism.
Anyway....I guess I need both worlds and do not want to go around posting on several different boards. Ive been here since 2008 so I feel comfortable here. Even though I tend to get upset sometimes and leave for months and even a year once. I mainly try to help other people as I do have a lot of experience with a lot of different behaviors and issues but Im glad this thread is here because sometimes, like now, I need some advice and or support for my Autie. So thanks again cyberdad, Ill be watching this thread from now on .

I think sometimes it ok to step in and say, maybe my son/daughter need some sensory input right now (swinging, putty ect). I had an early ABA therapy program for my daughter right after she was diagnosed and they were usually very good with her. I was new at the whole thing and I wished now that I would have stepped in but once her therapist pushed her so hard that she ended up bashing her head into the floor....that was the time I stepped in and scooped her up before she hurt herself. She was having a huge longer than usual meltdown that continued to escalate and the therapist just keep pushing. Like I said I was new at the whole thing and would never let things get to that point now, but just because you child is not totally flipping out like mine was you still know your son better than they do. The second group of therapists we had after my daughter started school were very in tune with her (unless they were new then we had to break them in LOL) and would know when she needed sensory based activities like her swing or putty or her trampoline. Nothing wrong with making suggestions and if they dont like it then maybe there is something wrong with the therapist. I mean if you see that your child is that stressed....actually from what you describe they should have seen it too....than you definitely have the right to step in.

The point is that we have to slow down to adapt to child's level. If there's a processing issue, some ABA tecniques maybe overloading for some children. I asked to therapists to decrease the number of requests, but I had to understand that there is a processing issue. That issue is not diagnosed but this hypotesis explains well my son's behaviour.
Yes, ABA can be dangerous if not well implemented...

My wife and I did the ABA training but choose not to apply it as it's too cruel. We just want our daughter to be happy rather than growing up hating us.

Any tips on teaching road safety? I'm just trying repetition to reinforce the safety aspect.

Thanks Liloleme!

I was hoping this thread is inclusive of issues that relate to all autistic kids. Basically an alternative to the "My little genius is an Aspie" threads that seem to be mushrooming everywhere. Just a refuge for the rest of us.

Well i have been trying to show him the difference between road and pavement.

Good move! yes...I'll try that!