My daughter's big improvements (brag post/positive post) :-)

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My daughter just finished kindergarten and I had her parent-teacher meeting and got her report. Initially I was dreading it because you know how those parent-teacher meetings often go... "Your child can't do this, they're having trouble with that, they don't do this" etc...that was pretty much how the mid-year interview went. I ended up being pleasantly surprised, though. It seems that she has come in leaps and bounds this second half of the year. She is participating in a range of activities (she used to just stick to a limited range of favorite activities and refuse to try anything new; then they put some things in her IEP to address that and it worked! She's trying out all kinds of things now) she has started playing with other kids and has developed a couple of friendships, and converses with other kids, too. The other kids LIKE her! She used to play on her own and didn't seem to know how to approach other kids, but now she's improved socially. And the teacher said she has some great literacy, numeracy and art skills. She said I should be proud, and I am!

You see, my daughter started kindergarten in January this year with no diagnosis and no help in place... We had just moved from another state, where I had been brushed off by specialists who failed to acknowledge that my daughter had anything serious going on with her. Once we moved to our new state, I fought to get her seen and assessed by some new specialists. In May, she received her life-changing diagnosis of ASD. I then fought with her school to provide her special Ed services. She started receiving those in July. I also got her into ASD-specific speech therapy and OT; started her on fish oil and vitamins and eliminated dairy from her diet after she was found to have a dairy intolerance.

And in just one year she has become a whole new child. No, I'm not saying that she's "cured" or "recovered" (I don't really believe that sort of tripe) but last year she couldn't follow instructions to do a simple craft activity that involved cutting and pasting... Now she is creating craft masterpieces and the teacher says she's one of her best artists. Last year my daughter only engaged in solitary play... Now she is conversing with and playing games with other kids. Last year her pragmatics were so bad that you couldn't barely get an answer to a question that was asked... The other day I actually shared my first funny story with her and she 'got it' and laughed. Last year I tried to teach her the alphabet and she had no idea what I was showing her... This year she has taught herself to read and write; totally self-taught!

She is starting first grade in January and will still be getting plenty of special ed services, and her IEP, and I can't speak for the rest of school years. But I'm feeling a lot more positive now than I did a few months ago.

Just wanted to brag And also put something positive to read on this forum because all too often we only hear about the struggles associated with autism, and not the triumphs.

Nice! Always good to hear the success stories, too.

Just the knowing makes a world of difference, because then everyone has the keys to how to help. Congrats to your daughter on her progress!

That's very good news.

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Good for both of you! Her teacher, and the kids in her class, too!

That's wonderful! My son is 2 1/2 and non-verbal autistic (sans letters, numbers, animal sounds and very little else) ... on a whim I took the advice of someone on a message board who said her son with oral apraxia started talking after giving him purified 3-6-9 fish oil .... So I did the same and it's only been 10 days and my son is almost like a whole new child saying new words every day (even asking for hugs!) and behaving so much better. His early intervention therapists raved over his progress but brushed off the chance that the sudden improvement was from fish oil and not therapy. I'm an (unofficially diagnosed) aspie and I started taking the fish oil too, it's only been a few days but I feel better than I have in a long time. Pretty sad I had to get that advice from a stranger on the internet and not from his doctor or therapists. I feel like a fog has been lifted.

Yay!! ! Glad to hear this! Great job Mum!

I like to see bragging posts...brag some more ! ! Its so nice when you go to a conference or an IEP meeting and they have positive things to say. Ive had four kids with IEP's...and one who really really needed one but did not get it because of some stupid Psychologist who was afraid of rats (Long story). Anyway...Im so glad your daughter is getting the assistance that she needs and that it is making such a change.
When Maddy was diagnosed they told me she was low to moderate functioning. Only two years later no one would recognize her from the little girl who did not speak or respond to anyone. I thought she was perfect the way she was but I know that she is happier that she is now able to communicate.....She just told me she wants some chips so I gotta go LOL.
Our kids are awesome cause they have awe-tism (Im so corny).

That's wonderful! It really is great to hear of triumphs and progress. I think it makes all of us feel proud even though we don't personally know your daughter.