Question for parents with autistic children?

My 3-year-old daughter has autism, and right now she is in DD Pre-K for 12 hours a week. She loves school, but I feel like I should be doing more for her (like speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.).

So my question is…what kinds of activities are your autistic children involved in? Thanks so much!

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When my daughter was that age, she attended early-intervention pre-K for about 9 hours a week, and had occupational and speech therapy for 1-2 hours per week. Other than that, we just played with her. She loved Barney & Friends and learned a lot from watching that. Plus, because she is such a visual learner, I would sit with her and draw pictures of letters, numbers, etc., and things they represented (A is for apple, draw the A, draw the apple, etc.).

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I tried to give her opportunities where she could excel, like with colors – she knew them very well and liked them, too, so I would draw rainbows and she would tell me what color to use, when. Or sometimes, for a special treat, we’d mix water with food coloring and then pour the colored water into other jars to make new colors (i.e., red and blue make purple, and so on).

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I wish I could say that now (she is 15) my daughter no longer exhibits any signs of autism but that’s not true. She still struggles with language, still attends speech therapy for an hour a week, still has the occasional meltdown, etc. However, I have happy memories of spending that time with her when she was little, and feel fortunate that she is as affectionate with me as she is. I think in the long run, she has taught me more (about things like empathy, patience, and courage) than I ever taught her….

Hope this helps!

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ABA therapy funding in Pennsylvania? (for autistic children)?

I want to get homebased ABA therapy for my autistic son. I’m considering a move to PA and am wondering what the funding options are there for families that can’t afford to pay for it themselves?

If you live in PA and managed to get homebased ABA therapy for your autistic child, then please tell me how you managed to get it. Was it through insurance? If so, then which provider? Was it through the school system? Or something else?

Here in NC, there’s a company called It’s a Small Miracle that will bill Medicaid and not charge families. But I don’t know of a similar company in PA, where I may have to move.

Any information would be highly appreciated! Especially if you can outline the steps you took to get the therapy, and how long it took to receive it, etc. Thanks in advance!

if your thinking about moving think about new jersey it has some of the best schools for children with autism i had my son there at joseph capello school they really love the children and are very supportive of the family its a public school and it was great thier in near by trentonalso for a little more hope please read this www.son-rise.org.com

How is the care for autistic children in Phoenix, AZ?

I’m looking in to moving to Phoenix but would like to hear from other parents with kids on the spectrum who live and receive care. My son is 5 and I’d like to get him into an ABA program & speech therapy. Lastly, how is the education for autistic children in the elementary schools? (that’s a pretty broad question but any help would be great).

A don’t live in Arizona, but if you ask me, services for child with ASD in this country are a joke.

How do you get therapy in the home for autistic child?

My daughter is nine years old and very smart, pretty, and funny. She has high functioning autism, partial complex seizure disorder, memory disorder, coordination disorder, severe expressive-receptive language disorder, etc. She gets speech and occupational therapy at school.
Her speech teacher does not teach social skills training. My daughter is very socially naive and really needs social skills and communication training. I had read somewhere that if your child needs certain therapies recommended by her doctor that the school is supposed to provide it. Does anyone know if this is true and if so who do I contact to get the information?
Her occupational therapist at school does work on some sensory training, but not very much. She mostly works with my daughters handwriting. She only goes to these therapies at school one hour each a week. I feel like my daughter needs more.
We live to far to go to a place where she could get this therapy. I could not afford the gas to go there on top of paying for the therapy. It would be during the week after school and she already struggles with her school work.
My daughter does not do well with transition already. Even if I go to the store after school she does not do well with that.
Any suggestions?

Contact the nearest Parent Training and Information Center (PTI). They will be able to give you the type of information that you are wanting.

which is the best hotel in India for Autistic children?

Can any one suggest me the best hostel for autistic children where special care is taken for these children like OT, Speech therapy, etc…

there is so many option, you can check it in this site http://www.traveldealsfinder.com/hotels

Does anyone know of grants for Autistic children to help pay for their therapy?

I have a 5yr old Autistic son and his therapy is costing my husband and myself $735 a week. We really can’t afford this. We are paying for this out of our 401Ks. Just wondering if anyone knew of any grants that could help absorb some of the costs.

i’m not positive, but contact university hospitals (most states have them). they are learning hospitals and often provide lower rates and even free treatments if you are willing to try new therapies. i don’t mean anything frankensteinish. all medicines and treatment regimes have to go through an experimental stage before they are accepted. a lot of these hospitals will provide them for free if you participate. you can agree or not, but it’s worth a shot. that’s a LOT OF MONEY.

Are dolphins being used in therapy for autistic children?

Dolphins are one of the most intelligent animals in the world. Researchers found out that they can help people who suffer from neurological disorders, especially autistic children. Dolphin therapy is claimed to increase speech and motor skills of children with autism, however, it’s still a controversial topic. Different practitioners have different aims for their particular kind of dolphin therapy. For example, Lukina states that dolphin-assisted therapy is designed to correct the ‘human psychoemotional state’. (Lukina, 1999).

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Nathanson, on the other hand, states that children with disabilities will increase their attention to relevant stimuli in the environment as a result of their desire to interact with dolphins. According to Nathanson, the general purpose of the program is to encourage children to engage in desired responses in accordance with the child’s individualized therapy program. The dolphin- assisted therapy sessions are designed to “jump start” the child and to complement or reinforce other, more traditional, therapeutic procedures (Nathanson, 1998).

Different practitioners have different theories as to how human/dolphin interactions might work. These include
* the effect of ultrasound on human tissue and cell-structure
* the effect of altering brain wave patterns in humans
* the fact that dolphin therapy generates intense emotions of “love and connection to nature”

There have been various claims made for dolphin assisted therapy. For example
* Lukina (1999) and Servais (1999) claim that DAT can effectively improve language, behavior, cognitive processing, attention, motivation to learn, and certain medical conditions.
* Nathanson et al (1997) claim that Dolphin Human Therapy (DHT) can significantly increase motivation, attention, gross and fine motor skills, speech and language. In addition, they suggest that two weeks of DHT can achieve the same – or better – results as six months of conventional physical or speech therapy.
* The Antalya Soulscience School claims that
‘A six-year-old autistic child went through the dolphin therapy and received special tutoring and therapies for a year; he got rid of all autistic symptoms and when he came back for the dolphin therapy the following year, no autistic traits were observed’.

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There are many different kinds of dolphin therapies. The simplest involve the child just swimming with, touching or ‘looking after’ dolphins. The more complex therapies, such as dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT), are based on structured programmes which are supposedly designed to meet the needs of the individual child. etc (more on link)

Dolphin therapy poses many potential hazards to the human participants including
* Aggressive behaviour by dolphins, which can lead to injury
* Transmission of diseases from dolphins
Dolphin therapy also poses many potential hazards to the dolphins including
* Stress in captive dolphins
* Transmission of diseases from humans
* Pressure on wild dolphin populations

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In the 1960s Dr. John Lilly, a physician and psychoanalyst, studied dolphin-human communication. He was one of the first people to suggest that dolphins could help humans learn to communicate better with one another.

In the 1970s Dr. Betsy Smith, an educational anthropologist noticed the therapeutic effects of dolphins on her disabled brother. She and other researchers began to study the effects that interacting with dolphins appeared to have on children with neurological impairments.

In the 1980s Dr. David Nathanson of the Dolphin Human Therapy centre in Florida developed dolphin human therapy, a form of dolphin-assisted therapy.

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What should be the goal for Autistic children?

ABA at centres is ok, but what to do at home? And what should be the goal, to continue with this therapies or push the child to a main stream school with a shadow? I am so confused.

Ask them what they want. If they have communication issues, it is best to shield them from mainstream schools as it can be very hard for an outsider, especially if they have this kind of disability. Continue with therapies until they have succeeded in their goal i.e. can talk from speech therapy. Aim for the child to reach a new potential. For example, help them learn emotions/facial expressions. It is hard to be specific because many children are at different ends of the spectrum and it is hard to generalize with a difficulty like this.

What therapy for autistic child in UK?

Is there any parent of autistic child from UK?
I live in England and I find there is not much support and therapy for autistic children where I live (My son is 6 and has autism)
Is anybody from England here? Any experiences in therapies for autistic kid in UK?
Thank you for your answers.

I’m sorry I don’t know anything about therapy for those in the UK, but you may want to contact The National Autistic Society (UK) if you haven’t already http://www.nas.org.uk
"They champion the rights and interests of all people with autism and aim to provide individuals with autism and their families with help, support and services that they can access, trust and rely upon and which can make a positive difference to their lives."
I hope this helps you somewhat.

Question about sensory therapy for those who have autistic children who are head-bangers?

Have you tried sensory therapy to help with the headbanging? How well did it work to solve the problem? Did it reduce the problem? Did it get rid of the problem altogether? How long did it take until you saw results? Did you have to do sensory activities with your child at home in addition to the therapy that your child got with a sensory therapist? How often did/does your child go for therapy?
Melissa, what is Somatis?

The faster you come to the understanding that ASD is 24/7 the better you will be able to assist your child. Therapies at school at an office at home – need to be connected.

I for one have seen some good outside therapists BUT I have seen many who while they may be well intentioned – really just will provide services as long as you still have money or insurance thus you may think your child is MORE impaired than he or she is. Not all mind you but there are some so pay attention.

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