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[Guest guest]

Hi!

My 4 year old DD, Kellie, was diagnosed with autism this past January. Kellie

was always delayed in speech. She started off in Early Intervention at the age

of 16 months old (ST,OT & PT). She progressed and was released from PT when she

was 2 years old. Kellie transitioned into our school district's preschool

program at age 3. SHe is in her 2nd year of preschool w/ a speech and OT IEP.

Her classroom is a mix of typical students and special needs' students. She

gets OT & ST through school as well as " outside " speech therapy once per week for

an hour. She has always moved forward with her development. She does not have

a lot of OT issues, but still is pretty delayed in speech. She definitely has a

desire to learn how to speak and communicate better. It's like something is

holding her back. A mental block or something.

After Kellie was diagnosed with autism, I looked into ABA and am currently

waiting for her to start ABA therapy (waiting list). I also made an appointment

with a DAN! Dr. in Columbus, OH (Dr DiMeo). The appointment is not

until Sept. I sent in our packet in today and spoke with his office. I told

them I would call them every week to check for cancellations. I hope we can get

in sooner.

As I said, Kellie was always delayed, esp. in speech. I never noticed any

" regression " in her. She never lost words or skills. In the past year, I

noticed that Kellie was developing some OCD-like issues. It has gotten MUCH

MUCH worse this past few months. Every week we add something new to her

OCD-list and I am close to getting to my breaking point. I really do not know

how to handle it. The ABA therapist is aware of this and will work on this with

her (whenever THAT will be). 2 days ago, Kellie got another OT eval from

Children's Hospital and the OT gave me a number to call about getting Kellie

into some behavioral programs. Of course, more waits for that too!

So I am feeling rather helpless these days. My DH is only home on the weekends

due to his job. I do not live near any family--they are all in the Phila. area,

I'm in Cinci., OH. On top of that my 5 year old DD has ADHD and ODD. She is

also a huge challenge. She has gotten a little better as her speech and

language skills develop.

I got to get going since they are both having their " end of the week meltdowns "

Thanks for " listening "

Carolyn