Re: New member

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/2/2006 11:08:27 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

dsaware@... writes:

We would like to

know if anyone has tried to begin an ABA program on an older child and

if so, how was it implemented. Our school district does not have any

ABA trained teachers/therapist on staff so we don't know if it will be

possible to get this added to her IEP.

Trisha is 13, DS/Autism and we just started an ABA program with her this

school year. It is working wonderfully! I wished we had tried it years

earlier.

Carol

Trishasmom

She isn't typical, She's Trisha!

If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you've always

gotten.

[Guest guest]

No actually, Trisha is going to an autism school at the district's expense.

Carol

Trishasmom

She isn't typical, She's Trisha!

If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you've always

gotten.

[Guest guest]

Hi, welcome aboard. At any age is a good start for ABA. I'm a high

fan of ABA. My son started at an older age with ABA and its one of

the best intervention for him.

In order for school to implement it into the classroom, you would

like a CERTIFIED ABA therapist who contracts with the school district

to do an eval and work with your child with a plan to work with the

staff too. Please do have the Neuro-psychologist write up a

recommendation letter and it must include an eval and treatment, well

worded to an educational level for the school district. If impossible

in the classroom, then something worked around the school hours at an

ABA center even its just for 1 hour a day. The school district my son

attends will provide transportation for it which hopefully something

could be worked around something like this. If the ABA center is

willing to work with the school district or vice versa with the

school district contracting with a certified ABA Therapist or at an

ABA center with private sessions which includes parent and teacher

involvement. If great results are shown teacher and staff see

tremendous progress, this would be the beginning of implementing it

into the classroom.

My son does not have ABA done at school, he receives it privately and

I do remove him early from school for it with no problem. I have had

friends kids receiving the combo of ABA with RDI and this too I have

seen great results.

Irma,17,DS/ASD

>

> I'm new to the listserv and am looking forward to learning from

others

> who share our journey. We have a wonderful 8 1/2 year old daughter

> with DS who was recently diagnosed as also having PDD. We are

having

> her MFE (multi-factorial evaluation) done a little early to

determine

> if additional goals (mostly behavioral) need to be added to her

IEP.

> Her Neuro-psychologists has recommended that we have an ABA consult

to

> determine if it will be of benefit. She also has recommended the

> Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) program. We would like

to

> know if anyone has tried to begin an ABA program on an older child

and

> if so, how was it implemented. Our school district does not have

any

> ABA trained teachers/therapist on staff so we don't know if it will

be

> possible to get this added to her IEP. There are a few programs in

our

> community that offer the ABA-based curriculum that are not part of

the

> school systems but most are for younger children. We want to do

what

> is best for our daughter and are trying to weigh the risk/benefit

of an

> ABA-based program vs. keeping her in her current environment (multi-

> handicapped special ed classroom) with some additional IEP goals to

> address the behaviors that interfere with learning. The RDI

program

> also looks promising but is somewhat costly and time-consuming. We

> look forward to your responses on any of these issues.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Carol-

Can you tell me if Trisha is getting her ABA program through her

public school? If possible, we would love to keep our daughter in

our neighborhood school.

---

In , Csvillars@a... wrote:

>

>

>

> In a message dated 1/2/2006 11:08:27 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

> dsaware@y... writes:

>

> We would like to

> know if anyone has tried to begin an ABA program on an older child

and

> if so, how was it implemented. Our school district does not have

any

> ABA trained teachers/therapist on staff so we don't know if it will

be

> possible to get this added to her IEP.

>

>

> Trisha is 13, DS/Autism and we just started an ABA program with

her this

> school year. It is working wonderfully! I wished we had tried it

years

> earlier.

>

> Carol

> Trishasmom

> She isn't typical, She's Trisha!

> If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what

you've always

> gotten.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

First of all, Welcome! You will find this group to be very helpful and also

that while we all share a common bond we also have differing needs and

styles. That is what makes this list so great. As far as the label, (now

remember this is just my own opinion) but I would not worry about how many

labels

my child has or doesn't have as long as she is getting the services she needs,

if you don't need the label to get services that's great, if you do need it

to get services then go for it. Think of it this way a label is nothing more

than a name which we all have at least 1 and some even more. The label/name

doesn't change who we are it just identifies either who we are or things

about us that are important. Trisha has a string of labels of which unless

it's

medically necessary we don't even list because it takes just too much energy

to go around listing every thing she has, lol. But when we need a label for

a specific service then she has it. I guess I am kinda the odd ball here

because getting a label never bothered me or scared me, not even that first day

when the doctor came in to tell me he suspected DS. Maybe it's the

secretary in me or maybe it's my background in mental health, I don't know.

However,

believe me there are other things I freak over big time. Things do get

better as you go along and sometimes the journey has some very large potholes

in

the road that we just have to either go around or mend. But it does get

better or at least for us it has. As far as knick-knacks, at one time I

couldn't have anything on Trisha's level, now I can put out most anything

except for

candles (which I can only do if I am sitting right there on top of them or

wait until she is asleep or at school) she just loves them too much and she

doesn't get they can burn her, besides she wants to blow them out as fast as I

can light them. lol I also understand about taking them outside, when

Trisha was smaller, you had to be on top of her every moment and I even got a

child's leash so that she could roam without endangering herself. Oh and the

comments that brought on were horrible. But we lived right on the road at that

time and her safety was my biggest concern. Now she is pretty good about

staying in the yard but if we go near a road I still have to watch her like a

hawk because she still doesn't get that those cars could hurt her. (but then

how many times do we see so called normal people defying those cars when they

walk in the middle of street or dart out in front of an on-coming car?)

Carol

Trishasmom

She isn't typical, She's Trisha!

If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you've always

gotten.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/8/2006 12:00:21 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

cabevizzo@... writes:

The only reason I have been shooing off the diagnosis of autism and others

have as well is that is very affectionate

Again, just my opinion and I'm not a professional so take it with a grain of

salt. But in my opinion being affectionate and being social is two

different skills. Trisha is very loving on me and sometimes her brother or

someone

she really cares a lot for, but then it's on her terms most of the time.

However, she does not socialize with her peers, she doesn't know how to make a

friend, she doesn't know how to start a conversation, she doesn't know how to

play games with her peers. She doesn't ask about any of her class mates

unless she sees a picture of them and then she just names them when she can.

She

also doesn't know when enough is enough. For instance she likes me to give

her a kiss and then she says yuck and I say no yuck and she will do this over

and over even when I say finish. I have to actually walk away before she

realizes that we aren't playing any more, that is one of many, many samples.

:-)

Carol

Trishasmom

She isn't typical, She's Trisha!

If you always do what you always did, you'll always get what you've always

gotten.

[Guest guest]

I can't get this off of my mind this morning and I have a question maybe you

could answer, or rather a theory I'd appreciate input on.

The only reason I have been shooing off the diagnosis of autism and others

have as well is that is very affectionate. He is. I'm thinking, though,

that affection is different from social/emotional. On one hand he is very

affectionate. On the other he doesn't socialize well with other kids. This is

iffy, as this could be developmental as well. BUT...if you yell at him or scare

him he has little reaction whereas a typically developing kid would cry or have

some kind of large emotional reaction. Does this make sense?

[Guest guest]

Jeanne: Our Tori, who will be 6 next month, has DS/PDD-NOS/OCD/NLD. Right

now we are trying to minimize her aggressive behaviors. After chatting with

drs. who have been treating Autism, I have come to understand that the main

umbrella is Pervasive Development Disorder and under that falls:

Autism

Asperger's

PDD-Not otherwise specified

Childhood Degenerative Disorder

Rhett's Syndrome

Most of our kids with a PDD dx. are labeled PDD-NOS because their skills are

so splintered.

Liz

-- Original Message -----

To: < >

Sent: Friday, January 13, 2006 7:02 PM

Subject: new member

> Hi everyone!

> I have been enjoying reading what each of you have been sharing

> regarding your children. I am Ben's mom 14 yo with DS-ADD/ADHD Speech

> Apraxia, Explosive Anger Disorder, etc, etc. Recently our biggest

> issue has been with the behavior issues...we have not officially been

> diagnosed with ASD but after reading this listserv I am prone to think

> that diagnosis would encompass a multitude of our previous diagnoses.

> I am hesitant to add another diagnosis officially on the record...our

> behavior therapist says that as close as any dr will come to that is

> PDD-NOS. One reason it might be advantageous is the funding (as

> always, someone wants to take money away from you) and mere mortals

> can't afford to pay for all of the therapies required for a kid with

> multiple diagnosis. Any words of wisdom?

>

> Thanks!

>

> Jeanne

> Ben's Mom (14/DS,etc)

>

>

>

>

>

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

> Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos

> of our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by

> including them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the

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

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Jill, my name is Gigi, Mom to Jake, 5. Jake also does not chew. He will eat

almost everything as long as it is a texture he can swallow on a spoon. I have a

small food processor (like the " magic bullet " ) into which every thing goes. If

enough water, milk, pediasure, juice is added it results in food he can

tolerate. His breakfast consists of an egg, fruit, a waffle or some oatmeal,

lubricated with 1/2 & 1/2 and butter for taste and calories. I also grind up a

multivitamin and throw it in. I noticed if he doesn't eat some protein he is

more distractable. I have gotten peanut butter into him this way too. PB is a

great food. I noticed he eats food more readily if it is spiced with garlic or

garlic powder. I grind up the solid contents of soup sometimes and add butter,

crackers, etc. If your son will use utensils at school and not at home you

should go and observe him eating at school and see what is different. My son has

a lot of difficulty just sitting at the table with the family while we eat. I

just managed to get him to start eating this year without watching TV. I bought

him a stokke kinderzeat for a mere $200 which I hope will make him feel more

secure sitting at table.

I am trying to find a local place that offers muscle based oral motor therapy

for him that accepts health insurance. I found a likely place, but they don't

bill. I think he needs more desensitization and exercises to stimulate all the

muscles of the mouth and jaw, both at the same time. He will chew on inanimate

objects but if its food he won't. That is the problem. When I figure it out I

will let you know how it goes.

I have to turn on the shower for Jake to pee in the pot. I bought him a

play-a-sound book, " Elmo can use the potty " which I use for reinforcement at the

end. He likes to wash his hands with soap that smells good and has little

granules in it. Also, I read somewhere that kids sometimes won't go if their

feet aren't supported so try a stool. Maybe your seat is cold and he doesn't

like to sit on it. I know I have difficulty doing this myself on cold winter

mornings! If he likes to flush, don't let him do it unless he pees. Make sure he

drinks a lot, at least 24 oz a day minimum.

As an aside, does anybody have any experiences they can relate about auditory

intregration training?

Thanks and good luck

Gigi

Jake's Mom

New Member

I am a new member to the list serve. My son is 6 years old and has

been diagnosed with DS-ASD. He will not chew food of any kind. He eats

primarily smashed bananas, smashed pasta with red sauce and oatmeal.

He will use utensils at school but not at home. Does any one have any

suggestions? Also does anyone have any suggestions on toilet training?

He is totally dry in the morningbut he goes into full vetical

extension if I try to sit him on the toilet. If I am able to get him

on it, he will not go. However, he is fascinated with repeatedly

flushing it.

--------------------------------------------------

Checkout our homepage for information, bookmarks, and photos of

our kids. Share favorite bookmarks, ideas, and other information by including

them. Don't forget, messages are a permanent record of the archives for our

list. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/

--------------------------------------------