Re: 's Blog

March 11, 2007

Hello, have you tried using PECS with him? I don't know about all states, but in IL you can get materials through Early Intervention services. Or you can make your own PECS book. Sharon wrote: Our little boy was formally diagnosed with Autism last Friday.He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He says afew single words, but inconsistently and although he used to point, hevery rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet

andtry some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant later inthe year. At the moment he has no tools to ask for what he wants (eventhough he says around 30 words), other than screaming and looking atthe object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eyecontact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to point atwhat he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for communication andsocial development but his speech and communication really aren'tshowing signs of improvement at the moment. His general development isa little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very well),though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop signs etcand is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it justonce, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will be highfunctioning (as he smiles at them and

appears social), yet they areunable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional speech.His understanding is very poor and he does not understand much of whatwe say and rarely follows single word comprehension tasks. Forexample, this morning I asked him "where is your teddy" and he pointedto his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word for teddy.I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts andrecording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and seeimprovements in his progress. Here's the link http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us earlierin the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated theadvice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how toencourage to communicate and give eye contact), please

e-mailus through 's blog.Regards,

Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debatein the Yahoo! Answers Food Drink Q&A.

March 12, 2007

My son was dx'd at 2 years 2 mos. He was almost identical to what you just wrote. What I did...I got a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, an excellent babysitter for when I worked, and then we all learned PECS. I also dealt with the horible screaming fits, done out of frustration on his part for lack of communication. I showed him how to point to things, or take me to what he's wanting. From there I taught him the words for what he wanted. Once he got a concrete word for what he wanted, then we worked on asking for them...and so on... He's now 5, and he can communicate very well. I had to resort to medication 4 months ago..and it helped tremendously as well, as it cleared his thinking process to where he can process better what he takes in. Just take baby steps...he understands a lot more than you think...he just can't

tell you. If you couldn't communicate you'd be doing what he does. For some, speech never comes, for some, it is a very slow process. My son speaks at a 2 yr old level...but he speaks and that's what matters. He still doesn't dress himself...he needs assistance, he is in pullups, he drinks from a sippy, and can sometimes handle a spoon. We just got him to brush his teeth in the past week. On comprehension--he takes in all of what is going around him...he understands what you are putting in him. With autism, the sensory overload is so intense that he just can't process the info the same as regular folks. He's taking in stimuli from all over...from the touch of the clothes on his skin to the sounds coming from the computer that you can barely hear. I speak from experience...I grew up the same way and somehow managed to overcome and live a fairly normal life. Until he learns how

to communicate, he will scream. He will stay up nights (autistic children have horrible time sleeping....and most parents resort to some kind of pharmaceutical means to help the child sleep...we use benedryl 10 cc nightly and it works wonders, as well as using heavy blankets for the snuggle effect.) When he gets overstimulated (and he will give you warning signs...you have to watch for his individual way of reacting to overstimulation)...find ways to soothe him... Most autistic children love the snuggle effect...weighted vests, blankets, something that gives pressure and lots of it...think like how one wraps a baby in swaddling... Same idea, bigger child. It is usually comforting, especially to the younger children... Right now my son is asleep under a heavy comforter and a second heavy blanket.... I must do the same or else I do not sleep. Deep pressure is a key factor...an occupational

therapist will show you how to do brushing...using a surgical brush to brush up the extremeties to the center body, from fingers to shoulders and back, up and down the back, legs, etc...as far as the child will allow. Also kneading the arms and legs, like you would bread dough, helps. Play games with him if he will allow...that invovles any kind of touch...adjust him to touch... And give lots of hugs if he will allow... Eye contact comes with time... Mine does it, I still have problems with it and I'm 29. I don't expect my son to look me in the eye to acknowledge he understands me... I simply ask a question and have him restate it to me, or I restate what he asks me to make sure we're on the same line. Just be patient...he will come around if given his own time to do so. My son is mild, and it's taking lots of time, work, etc to get him where he is. Your

child is special--let him learn and grow on his own time frame rather than what a Dr or specialist tells you he should be in. For inspiration, look up Temple Gradin....she is an autie who has done wonders in the agricultural industry. Also look at everyday folks who have done well. I'm what you would call a cross between a PDD-NOS and Aspergers...kinda somewhere in between...and I took a strong interest in law and nursing, and went into both areas and used them well. I read textbooks like novels, I have had many certifications in the nursing field and law enforcement field, and now have a mate who is a psychiatric RN, and together we raise my son (autistic) and his 2 kids (both ADHD). Remember this...his mind is a sponge...let him soak up as much as he can..he DOES understand even if he can't tell you! Ang

wrote: Our little boy was formally diagnosed with Autism last Friday.He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He says afew single words, but inconsistently and although he used to point, hevery rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet andtry some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant later inthe year. At the moment he has no tools to ask for what he wants (eventhough he says around 30 words), other than screaming and looking

atthe object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eyecontact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to point atwhat he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for communication andsocial development but his speech and communication really aren'tshowing signs of improvement at the moment. His general development isa little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very well),though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop signs etcand is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it justonce, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will be highfunctioning (as he smiles at them and appears social), yet they areunable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional speech.His understanding is very poor and he does not understand much of whatwe say and rarely follows single word

comprehension tasks. Forexample, this morning I asked him "where is your teddy" and he pointedto his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word for teddy.I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts andrecording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and seeimprovements in his progress. Here's the link http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us earlierin the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated theadvice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how toencourage to communicate and give eye contact), please e-mailus through 's blog.Regards,Harmony Mission Shops http://stores.ebay.com/Harmony-Mission-Shops?refid=store www.harmonymissionshops.com

March 12, 2007

Remember EVERYTHING takes time and consistency. You might want to try to get him into 120 minutes a week of therapy for speech. Then consult an ABA therapist and read "Engaging Autism" which is based upon DIR-Floortime. Here's some info about us. My son at 2 was given a speech eval and came back as untestable bc he was "nonverbal". He had absolutely NO eye contact and lined everything up and they had to be exactly 1 inch apart. I'm not a big one on starting diets on children just to start them. You might want to see if he actually has problems dealing with gluten and casein. First you will get a skin test then a blood test to check for IgG levels. If he has GI issues then perhaps the diet might help but always consult your pediatric gastroenterologist bc they will give an unbiased opinion. So many autism doctor's here in AR just biomedically treat without looking at the interactions between the prescriptions of herbs. They tried to give my 3 year ol charcoal. Well, charcoal will absorb ANYTHING that's in the stomach including antibiotics and things like that. Children with autism sometimes have a harder time dealing with medications so it's always better to start slow and work your way up.

My son has HORRIBLE GI issues and had to have surgery to relieve his constipation but we are not on the diet. Eventhough he has ulcers in his stomach bc my son also has a behavioral eating disorder and only eats a total of 10 things. We see a specialist for this as well. Putting a child with the type of problems as my son on a diet like SCD or GFCF would rock his world and we might not get him back.

My son is verbal now but he didn't even start speaking until he turned 3 and that was last may. He speaks approximately on an 18 month level but normally we totally understand him. As his speech has progressed a lot of the agression has quite but don't get me wrong we still normally go on about 2 meltdowns a day and a heck of a lot of crying.

I think the trend in autism here in Arkansas is just to jump on the biomedical bandwagon and leave the behavioral treatment aside well, that's what they need bc that's what insurance pays for so get all you can out of behavioral treatment and then start looking at biomedical intervention. However, if there's no symptom of something then I wouldn't treat it. For example my daughter (just delayed) has had 41 yeast infections so we do antifungal treatment of her but my son has only had two so we just give him a drink that contains good bacteria in it.

However, my son doesn't produce glutathione so we are under Dr. Jill study for methylcobalamine shots. She's a DAN! dr.

It's a lot of work just dealing with day to day issues just don't stress out about the biomedical stuff until your baby has all the bahavioral help that she can get. Also, if you believe that the vaccines caused the autism then report it to the CDC and get an immunological screen from an immunologist. We did this and found out that my children didn't produce any antibodies to the any of the vaccines therefore we got them revaccinated. We do not believe that vaccines had anything to do with our childrens developmental problems their father is Aspergers with dyslexia, ADD, and OCD, and so on.

anyhow I know this is a lot of info, but hope it helps a little

alena Re: 's BlogTo: AutismBehaviorProblems > Hello, have you tried using PECS with him? I don't know about > all states, but in IL you can get materials through Early > Intervention services. Or you can make your own PECS book. Sharon> > wrote: Our little boy > was formally diagnosed with Autism last Friday.> He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He > says a> few single words, but inconsistently and although he used to > point, he> very rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet and> try some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant > later in> the year. At the moment he has no tools to ask for what he wants (even> though he says around 30 words), other than screaming and > looking at> the object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eye> contact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to > point at> what he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for > communication and> social development but his speech and communication really aren't> showing signs of improvement at the moment. His general > development is> a little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very well),> though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the > letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop > signs etc> and is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it just> once, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will > be high> functioning (as he smiles at them and appears social), yet they are> unable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional speech.> His understanding is very poor and he does not understand much > of what> we say and rarely follows single word comprehension tasks. For> example, this morning I asked him "where is your teddy" and he pointed> to his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word > for teddy.> > I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts and> recording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and see> improvements in his progress. Here's the link > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/> > I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us earlier> in the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated the> advice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how to> encourage to communicate and give eye contact), please e-mail> us through 's blog.> > Regards,> > > > > > > > ---------------------------------> Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate> in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q & A.

March 12, 2007

I would recommend trying to find a BCBA with training in Verbal

Behavior. You might want to read Schramm's " Educate Towards

Recovery: Turning the Tables on Autism

http://www.lulu.com/content/425955

~Conny

>

> Our little boy was formally diagnosed with Autism last

Friday.

> He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He says a

> few single words, but inconsistently and although he used to

point, he

> very rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet and

> try some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant later

in

> the year. At the moment he has no tools to ask for what he wants

(even

> though he says around 30 words), other than screaming and looking

at

> the object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eye

> contact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to point

at

> what he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for communication

and

> social development but his speech and communication really aren't

> showing signs of improvement at the moment. His general

development is

> a little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very

well),

> though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the

> letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop signs

etc

> and is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it

just

> once, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will be

high

> functioning (as he smiles at them and appears social), yet they are

> unable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional

speech.

> His understanding is very poor and he does not understand much of

what

> we say and rarely follows single word comprehension tasks. For

> example, this morning I asked him " where is your teddy " and he

pointed

> to his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word for

teddy.

>

> I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts and

> recording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and see

> improvements in his progress. Here's the link

> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/

>

> I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us

earlier

> in the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated

the

> advice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how to

> encourage to communicate and give eye contact), please e-

mail

> us through 's blog.

>

> Regards,

>

March 12, 2007

Hi , It sounds like you've received a lot of good advice already, both biomed and therapy. Both are really important. Don't assume your insurance will only pay one or the other - our insurance has paid for speech and OT, as well as some of the biomed tests. There is an autism yahoo group that just deals with insurance issues that is very informative. It can be overwhelming to get the diagnosis and do research, and not know where to start. It's important not to get burned out, since we're all in it for the long haul. There's so much advice to give and we're only at this one year post-dx ourselves, for our 3yo daughter (but our 9yo son has Asperger's). The Autism One conference in May is wonderful - and brings together speakers from all walks and corners of autism. It's here in Chicago. They also have Autism One radio which has archives for six months, and

that is free. Regarding the non-verbal and frustration: I go to the special ed PTA meetings in our district, and get something useful every time. One session was on assistive technology and covered the big, expensive things you can look at with voice and all that, but it also covered lots of inexpensive, simple things too. One of the best things I picked up there was to print pictures (or PECS pictures) and print them on magnetic paper and put it on the refrigerator. So I took digital pictures and using a software package I bought called Overboard (it is similar to Boardmaker but is half the cost) I printed four pages that include 48 things my daughter likes to eat. Now when she is hungry, she will drag me over to the refrigerator and point to what she wants. I try to get her to say what she wants too, and sometimes she will. You can also do this with toys, videos, etc. and either print on the magnetic paper

(which you can get at an office supply store like Staples) or make PECS cards out of and put in the PECS notebook or even in plastic folders. Ideally the PECS system will allow your child to request what he wants, but this is an easy way for the child to see pictures that are specific to what you have at home and it's easily accessible to the child. You can also print pictures and laminate to make a placemat for the table, or even transfer onto a pillowcase for the bedroom that would have some requests specific to bedtime (one more story, drink, bathroom, etc.). When my daughter turned three we got her in a special autism program in the district, and she has grown by leaps and bounds since then. Unfortunately she made very little progress in Early Intervention, with speech, developmental, and OT. It really helps that her current program is five days a week for about five

hours per day. HTH. Best of luck to you! Marie wrote: Our little boy was formally diagnosed with Autism last Friday.He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He says afew single words, but inconsistently and although he used to point, hevery rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet andtry some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant later inthe year. At the moment he has no

tools to ask for what he wants (eventhough he says around 30 words), other than screaming and looking atthe object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eyecontact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to point atwhat he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for communication andsocial development but his speech and communication really aren'tshowing signs of improvement at the moment. His general development isa little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very well),though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop signs etcand is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it justonce, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will be highfunctioning (as he smiles at them and appears social), yet they areunable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional speech.His

understanding is very poor and he does not understand much of whatwe say and rarely follows single word comprehension tasks. Forexample, this morning I asked him "where is your teddy" and he pointedto his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word for teddy.I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts andrecording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and seeimprovements in his progress. Here's the link http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us earlierin the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated theadvice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how toencourage to communicate and give eye contact), please e-mailus through 's

blog.Regards,

Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center.

March 12, 2007

Hi ,

Zack started learning sign language shortly before he turned 3 because

he , too, could not pronounce his words. When he was two , it didn't

seem like he understood very much of what was said to him, but he

really caught up. Now, at age 7rs 5 months, he still cannot pronounce

his words, but knows a ton of sign and he was just tested on

his receptive language(what he understands) and he tested at an

8 yr old level!! Knowing sign can help them communicate , therefore

they don't get so frustrated. And no, it will not inhibit their speech.

They learn the sign , and then they will learn to say the word with the

sign, then eventually drop the sign.

~*~Billie~*~

On Sun Mar 11 21:00 , '' sent:

>

> Our little boy was formally diagnosed with Autism last

Friday.

>

>He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He says a

>

>few single words, but inconsistently and although he used to point, he

>

>very rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet and

>

>try some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant later in

>

>the year. At the moment he has no tools to ask for what he wants (even

>

>though he says around 30 words), other than screaming and looking at

>

>the object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eye

>

>contact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to point at

>

>what he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for communication and

>

>social development but his speech and communication really aren't

>

>showing signs of improvement at the moment. His general development is

>

>a little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very well),

>

>though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the

>

>letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop signs etc

>

>and is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it just

>

>once, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will be high

>

>functioning (as he smiles at them and appears social), yet they are

>

>unable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional speech.

>

>His understanding is very poor and he does not understand much of what

>

>we say and rarely follows single word comprehension tasks. For

>

>example, this morning I asked him " where is your teddy " and he pointed

>

>to his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word for teddy.

>

>I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts and

>

>recording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and see

>

>improvements in his progress. Here's the link

>

>http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/

>

>I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us earlier

>

>in the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated the

>

>advice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how to

>

>encourage to communicate and give eye contact), please e-mail

>

>us through 's blog.

>

>Regards,

>

March 13, 2007

Hi Sharon

Thanks for your advice. We're in the South of England. 's

therapist tried PECS yesterday and said at the very end of the session

he responded and picked up the picture card for chocolate buttons.

We're hopeful that he might do well with PECS.

Regards,

cherimoya@...

Our little boy was

formally diagnosed with Autism last Friday.

> He is 2 years and 2 months old and an amazing little boy. He says a

> few single words, but inconsistently and although he used to point, he

> very rarely points anymore. We're hoping to begin the GFCF diet and

> try some anti fungal treatment with the help of a Consultant later in

> the year. At the moment he has no tools to ask for what he wants (even

> though he says around 30 words), other than screaming and looking at

> the object. Does anyone have a tip on how to get him to give us eye

> contact when he wants something, or how to encourage him to point at

> what he wants? He has an hours therapy each week for communication and

> social development but his speech and communication really aren't

> showing signs of improvement at the moment. His general development is

> a little behind (he cannot dress, undress or feed himself very well),

> though he's just started naming some shapes and can identify the

> letters o and e. He is obsessed with signs, road signs, shop signs etc

> and is extremely musical. He can repeat a tune after hearing it just

> once, and has perfect pitch. The experts say they feel he will be high

> functioning (as he smiles at them and appears social), yet they are

> unable to say whether or not he will ever develop functional speech.

> His understanding is very poor and he does not understand much of what

> we say and rarely follows single word comprehension tasks. For

> example, this morning I asked him " where is your teddy " and he pointed

> to his own nose, yet at other times he seems to know the word for teddy.

>

> I have made a blog for as a way of sharing thoughts and

> recording his longterm progress so that we can refer back and see

> improvements in his progress. Here's the link

> http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pernod/blog/

>

> I wish to say thank you very much to everyone who wrote to us earlier

> in the year - we did read all the e-mails and really appreciated the

> advice. If anyone has any further advice for us (and ideas how to

> encourage to communicate and give eye contact), please e-mail

> us through 's blog.

>

> Regards,

>

> ---------------------------------

> Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate

> in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q & A.

>

March 13, 2007

Hi Ang

Thanks for your excellent and informative reply.

I love your ideas about swaddling. really enjoys what I call a

'squeezy hug'. I will ask the Occupational Therapist for ideas on

brushing as I'm sure he would love it. We're in the Soutb of England

and the waiting list for Occupational Therapy is 11 months, unless you

can get them referred on the MDA process.

What medication did you put your son on 4 months ago? Our

Paediatrician won't entertain the idea of ritalin but we feel

might need it in future years in order to concentrate in school.

Take care,

cherimoya@...

> Our little boy was formally diagnosed with Autism

last Friday.