Guest guest Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 My name is . My 8 year old son, , has DS and Autism. We have recently started an ABA program and medication and would love to hear how others have done with either of these. My little guy is mostly nonverbal, using signs, gestures and an ipad (proloquo). He has a lot of behaviors. We are trying to take things one day at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 15, 2012 Report Share Posted February 15, 2012 Hello : My daughter, Milly is 24 years old, DS and PDD-NOS. I'm not sure what you mean by " behaviours " , but when Milly was about 's age, we started with the anti-psychotic Risperdal, mostly to regulate her sleeping (we had tried everything else, without success) but also to decrease her stimming and help her focus on learning. She was, and still is, non-verbal. The Risperdal helped a lot, particularly with her sleeping pattern, although after dose increases to help her through puberty resulted in excessive weight gain, we switched her to Seroquel about 3 years ago. She has lost 48 lbs, but started to engage in SIBs. However, she is much more alert, hence a bit more challenging at times :-) What I have learned since we changed her meds, and since I have been dealing on an ongoing basis with Behaviour Specialists, is that, even though Milly was always on a low dose of Risperdal, it was too high for her, masking some of her precious, spunky personality, and hindering her learning potential. Now, we have the SIBs to deal with, not severe, but challenging for her and for us, but I'm hoping we can increase her communication skills over the long run. Medications are always a balancing act, we need to always be aware of their effects, good and bad, and realize that the needs of our children change as they grow. There was no ABA program when she was young, so this is a great advantage for . When I look back, I really wish that I had pushed communication skills more than I did. WE have never gotten far with signs, PIC-symbols, communication boards/devices, or picture exchange. We're still trying, and are planning to buy the IPad 3 when it comes out. I hope that reading of others' experiences helps you, it has certainly helped me very much. Sue B, Mom to Milly > > My name is . My 8 year old son, , has DS and Autism. We have recently started an ABA program and medication and would love to hear how others have done with either of these. My little guy is mostly nonverbal, using signs, gestures and an ipad (proloquo). He has a lot of behaviors. We are trying to take things one day at a time. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 28, 2012 Report Share Posted February 28, 2012 Sue and Heidi, Thank you so much for your responses. I really appreciate your comments. Sue, it's encouraging to hear about your success on Risperdal. 's dr. believes we will probably end up there. 's behaviors include hitting, kicking, screaming, hair pulling, and throwing items at walls and people. There's been biting in the past but has decreased. Head banging is also gone. We are currently trying to increase doses of ritalin for his ADHD to see if it helps. We have been doing ABA since October. We have it in both the school and home. It is making a difference as far as communication but the behaviors at home are still really bad. We know it is a process and not a quick fix. (I wish) Heidi, its good to hear how much ABA has helped with 's communication. That is so huge. They have been teaching how to get someone's attention, say he's all done (with a sign/gesture) and that he wants do do something for " one more minute " instead of hitting. This has been big since he usually would become aggressive to try to communicate. I am praying more words come but am excited about the progress so far. If we could just get those behaviors under control.... I'm so glad to be connected with this group. , mom to Addyson(11)and (8)ASD,DS,ADHD,Apraxia of Speech > > > > My name is . My 8 year old son, , has DS and Autism. We have recently started an ABA program and medication and would love to hear how others have done with either of these. My little guy is mostly nonverbal, using signs, gestures and an ipad (proloquo). He has a lot of behaviors. We are trying to take things one day at a time. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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