Re: Roxanne/was:ABA/MFE

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Roxanne, as I said there is a LOT I don't know about ABA. My original thoughts about ABA were certainly outmoded, and I have a personal bent about not taking a small child away from the mother for the 40 hours they recommend. I have also been thinking about your comment concerning smart kids being quirky.

We had more problems than that, early on. We had pronoun reversal and huge problems with gross motor skills (couldn't skip, hop, very serious balance problems) and fine motor skills (couldn't put enough pressure on a pencil or crayon to make a visible mark on paper). The day before we started biomed she scripted (just this one time) an entire portion of a Dora video. There were many sensory integration issues (wouldn't pet animals, a drop of water on her was enough to send her off, noise sensitivity). And at 3, no social interest, at 3.5 social interest but no clue how to sustain social interaction.

So I am pretty positive we were dealing with more than just some quirkiness and while she would not have received a dx of autism, she was what I would term "shadow ASD". I think we got to her just as she was slipping over the edge, and, indeed the biomed and the 24 hour play therapy (loose version of Floortime) pulled her back.

Now the only issue is attention with background noise, but today we attended her ballet recital and again, just like Pet Day at her preschool, with all the noise and chaos and the audience, her attention was spotless. Just like her, so many times we have considered something a permanent problem and just as many times she has shown us an amazing ability to progress far beyond what we thought was possible, but always at the last minute, so not to allow a moment's relaxation and tons of anxiety and worry :-) That's my girl.

As per your earlier suggestion, we are having her screened for CAPD, but I suspect that is not her problem any longer.

I have talked to so many parents, it is amazing to me that a good deal of parents have the ability to ferret out just what their kids need to progress whatever that is; ABA, biomed, medication, viral/immune issues. It never ceases to amaze me how many paths there are toward recovery of ASD and how different they are for each child.

----- Original Message -----

From: kneeleee@...

Sent: Sunday, May 21, 2006 8:14 PM

Subject: Re: [ ] ABA/MFE

In a message dated 5/21/2006 7:02:34 PM Eastern Standard Time, Ladyshrink111@... writes:

Now knowing what modern ABA is, still have some reservations about it, makes for a child with very programmed, stilted conversation. I much prefer Floortime and did a version of that here---constant, when awake, totally participatory playtime. Just seems more natural to me, but may be a function of where the child is.

I think it isn't rocket science either, but you guys are way over my head with this stuff.

School people warned me that my ds would be a "robot" if I did ABA with him. the thing is, being autistic is what causes the stilted speech. Trying to do new things that do not come naturally causes "robotic" looking behaviors. And in addition, having usable speech was, at the time, much preferrable to nothing, which is what we had. His echolalia is "robotic" in nature but it was before we started ABA as well - it is the nature of the beast, IMO. And after a year in the school program, he had not progressed at all. How natural looking was he as he wandered around the room not participating in anything with anyone? lol. So I didn't let that stop me. Further, any good ABA program will emphasize generalization. And you also have to have people who will not do the same things, the same way, the same order each time. Mix it up. Make it interesting. Once my ds would get something, we would mix it up and make it challenging but attainable. Problem would arise when people just went through the motions - like one teacher would ask him the same questions, right down the list. And he had the answers memorized so much so that he answered them all in one big word. This prompted the school to say that ABA was "too easy" for him and he was bored. duh. lol. But I think as you go, you think of ideas and ways to make it suit the child - going faster and slower as necessary. Some kids really need a lot of repetition, others need a lot of variety. Some need both. We do different things differently with my friend than I had done with my ds. But it is what suits him better.

Roxanna ô¿öAutism Happens

Roxanna ô¿öAutism Happens