Re: apraxia with autism vs just apraxia...questions.....long

[Guest guest]

" I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST! "

In my opinion you should pursue BOTH, regardless of diagnosis.

Biomed can help those with " just " apraxia, and ST helps apraxia -

even when autism's involved too.

Just my 2 cents,

Kerri

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore

this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being

evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but

every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she

is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to

her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills.

According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and

is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a

preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him

more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play

based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more "

autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?!

And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over

it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Martha-

I've been through this questioning phase with both my kids. My son has

PDD-NOS and my daughter had both PDD-NOS and apraxia. I would

encourage you to use a biomed approach with your son, as biomed helped

both my daughter's autism and apraxia. She no longer has any language

delay or symptoms of autism. If you start now, you have an excellent

chance of preventing any further regression in your child (mild or

questionable signs of autism can become more severe as a child grows

older... my son definitely regressed during the first six months after

diagnosis, before we started biomed and ABA) and increasing his

language. I used ABA with both my kids, and again I do think this

intensive approach helped my daughter immensely, and that ABA and

biomed together are the reason she no longer has apraxia. I encourage

you to try the gfcf diet, a high quality multi-vitamin and

multi-mineral without copper like brainchild

(brainchildnutritionals.com), omega 3 fatty acids, lipoceutical

glutathione (wellnesshealth.com - 1/2 tsp 2x/day is what mine needed),

and carnaware (carnaware.com - 2 caps 2x/day). The lipo glut and

carnaware produced huge gains in language in my daughter.

Many will tell you that children cannot recover from apraxia or ASD,

but that's not true. Most professionals who see a recovered child will

just say the original diagnosis was incorrect. But kids can and do

overcome these disorders.

Speed of response to therapy doesn't mean much - even kids with ASD

span a wide spectrum from very mild to more severe, and some progress

very fast.

Though you didn't mention what symptoms your child has, it sounds like

this isn't a clear cut case of apraxia/language delay. If his current

school program is helping, I would stick with it (change later if it

stops working for him). I think many kids can benefit from intensive

therapy with a low student-teacher ratio, particularly if ABA is done

right and tailored to the needs of the child. I suggest you jump in

and try biomed and continue his ABA, and hopefully when you go back

for re-eval in a year they'll say, " oops, we were wrong, he is just

perfect! " .

Good luck,

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Martha!

This is Leah...'s Mom. I have posted here several times before and am a

regular reader of all the posts here. i couldn't help but tear up at the thought

of your little one on the bus b/c right now i am going through the exact same

stuff, only autism has not been an issue with him yet. my goes to a

private speech therapist 3 x's a week and medicaid pays for it in full and also,

just this summer he was evaluated by our local school district, ( i live in

southwest mississippi) and both his slp and the IEP team believe that he has

DAS. he is very social and he is very delightful yet he has a terrible temper

when it comes to trying to communicate. his slp said that she has worked with

many apraxic children using prompt therapy but not yet has she seen one this

severe. my jacob will be 4 the 6th of January and has a vocabulary of about 5

real words and about 15-20 word approximations. no signs, mostly gestures. he

does know how to get your attention and he knows how

to get his point across. he just screams WAY too much. he has had his tonsils &

adnoids removed and ear tubes put in 2 times already. he passed his hearing test

with flying colors...actually i think he did better than me and i hear just fine

(just selective hearing...lol). we are waiting on out evaluation at a child

develoment center in jackson ms. to meet with a team of psychiatrists, therapist

and neurologist. the eval is supposed to be 4-8 hours long. this will be a first

for us. i have recently started him on the efa's & epa's and they seem to be

working...he has had a few surges and made progress but he has lost them

again....i give him the supplements faithfully but he just has his moments i

guess. the therapy has not helped too much but i can look back and over the time

he has been attending (almost 2 years) he has improved greatly. i am just too

impatient. well anyway, he has been attending a local day care b/c i work 8-5

mon-fri. and the people at the daycare were

excellent with him however they had no trained staff readily able to deal with

" teaching " him. so when i went to the school system for his eval there they told

me that if i would like that he qualified for services (speech) to come to the

daycare to work with him 3 times a week for 30 mins each ( that is on top of his

private speech ) so i was like ok...well then the school therapist called me at

home late one night and she said that she had just got finished looking over

jacob's case and told me that if i put him in the public school that he would

recieve 1:1 therapy with her 5 days a week for 1 hour each and also he would be

in the sped class ( level 1 which is the milder cases of sped. ) for 2 hours a

day to work with that teacher and then the rest of the day he would be in a

regular class. now this is the public school pre-k program i am talking

about....having to be at school at 7:30 and get out at 2:30. A REAL SCHOOL just

like a big boy i tell him. well then after he

gets out of school he gets to ride the " short bus " sped. bus from his school to

an after school day care. ok....let me clarify...he has adjustment

issues...MAJOR...issues...he does not cope well with change in routine. so on

august 11 he attended his last day at the day care he had finally gotten use to

after 2 years of going there....and monday morning got thrown to the wolves by

me taking him to this new school he had NEVER SET FOOT IN leaving him there and

then having to ride this bus to another place he had never been before....a new

day care b/c the other one did not accept after school transfers. so this poor

little 3 year old boy in one day has to deal with 3 HUGE changes....and he did

it BEAUTIFULLY!!! i was so amazed at how well he handled it! his extensive

therapy started yesterday at school and already he is trying harder to tell me

what he wants at home. so to make a extremely long story short....i think i was

the one not ready for the change. i did not want to

let go....i was the one that cried when i had to just walk away....he did not.

i was so hurt....lol...yet i was so proud of him and now i honestly believe that

this is a REALLY good thing for him. so yes the thought of my sweet little jacob

having to ride a bus scared the pajubies out of me but i think it is good for

him...he enjoys it. he gets excited about it. and every morning when i walk him

to his class at 7:20 when i turn to walk out he runs and stops me, gives me a

BIG hug & kiss and tells me " bye bye moma " and goes back to sit down, and i tuen

to walk away with tears in my eyes and a broken heart. but i know that it is

best for him. he needs all the help he can get.

i hope that this little bit of insight on my world will help make yours a

little easier too.

with lots of love,

's Mom,

Leah

ojosazules76 <ojosazules76@...> wrote:

aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

only place I know to go.

My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

(both run in the family).

I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

with the signs.

So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

child would be slower to respond).

I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

Martha

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

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[Guest guest]

>He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

First you said, no verbal breakthrough... then you said verbal

approximations with the sign. Isn't that communicating wants/needs?

Sounds to me like it is an improvement.. It might not be what

the " typical " 3 yo would say, or how they would. But I'd take it over

the screaming/crying/grunting, and physical aggressivness that my

daughter did at just 3.

Did you read the Late Talker book yet? Have you considered EFA's?

Dawn in NJ

[Guest guest]

Hi -

As I have 2 kids - one with severe apraxia (resolved) and one with a

severe communication disorder (still working on it), I can tell you

that what's most important is that s/he get access to the best and

most appropriate resources available. Since you're seeing a benefit

to the autism interventions, I'd stay with that, but perhaps the ST

isn't addressing the motor planning portion of the ST well enough?

Also, some kids just aren't ready for ST until they learn how to

work with someone else. Sounds like you're there - and now ST might

be a different, more productive experience than it was. I'm so glad

you've seen a difference in the tantrums - I'll tell you that my

younger son had crying jags - not real tantrums - they were more

like panics. It was because he didnt' have the receptive language

to know what was coming next and it freaked him out. His verbal

skills have increased expodentially and, in like kind, his issues

have resolved as he's understood what was going on around him. The

fact that your child is learning different ways to communicate will

alleviate the tantrums regardless of the methods.....for now. If

s/he has more complex things to say and doesn't have a way to

express them, you might see the tantrums reappear. That's why even

though we used a form of PECS and some signing, it was important for

me to push the verbal portion. Thankfully, it worked.

One last thing to consider is switching STs. I've said it tons

here - even if you love the ST, if they're not getting results, it's

worth it to try someone else. We had a SLP that we LOVED and worked

great with my apraxic son, but made no progress with my younger son

(even tho he was technically in her specialty). Just not a good

fit. Got someone else who actually specializes in fluency and

stuttering issues and she's FABULOUS and has made the biggest

difference in my son's life. Bigger than anyone - including me. I

know that there are children who, despite having all the mental

capacity for a life rich with language, will never talk. I don't

believe that with children as young as ours that it's appropriate to

assume that a child will not speak using their own voice unless

concrete evidence has been illuminated to prove it. I was told (by

a qualified but rotten SLP) that my older apraxic son would never

speak - at least never speak normally. Do you know that I will him

to be quiet at least 2x a day??? Do you know how wonderful that

is?

As for biomed, I cannot speak to that really, but I do believe that

all these " wiring problems " - dyslexia, apraxia, autism, ADHD,

communication disorders - all are on some sort of continuum.

Perhaps same issues presenting differently....I see too many

similarities between my two boys. By the by, my developmental ped

agrees. If you're of the mind that autistic kids are not

automatically MR, nor are they inherently socially stilted, but have

incredible sensory disturbances mandating that they create a safe

spot for themselves - compounded by the fact that many have language

difficulties because of similar sensory processing issues dealing

with their hearing (I don't say auditory processing because that

diagnosis has become too specific dealing with phoneme awareness,

etc.), then if you agree with biomed interventions, I would say that

if it would work for A, it might work for B. Please pardon that run

on sentence.......

Just my 2 cents since you were asking -

M

> >

> > aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore

> this

> > post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is

the

> > only place I know to go.

> >

> > My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being

> evaluated

> > and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> > answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but

> every

> > other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> > sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but

she

> is

> > not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to

> her

> > he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills.

> According

> > to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria)

and

> is

> > one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> > (both run in the family).

> > I am posting because he has made progress since starting a

> preschool

> > based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> > integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA,

PECS,

> > Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> > better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> > overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> > problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> > therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> > uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> > Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal

approxamations

> > with the signs.

> >

> > So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him

> more

> > or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> > well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play

> based

> > therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> > anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more "

> autistic

> > child would be slower to respond).

> >

> > I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking

at

> > VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to

pursue

> > the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> > Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> > school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program

(9-

> > 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?!

> And

> > ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over

> it

> > and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

> >

> > Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child

was

> > apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

> >

> > Martha

> >

>

[Guest guest]

--- In , " jerzmomof4 " <>

> First you said, no verbal breakthrough... then you said verbal

> approximations with the sign. Isn't that communicating

wants/needs?

> Sounds to me like it is an improvement.. It might not be what

> the " typical " 3 yo would say, or how they would. But I'd take it

over

> the screaming/crying/grunting, and physical aggressivness that my

> daughter did at just 3.

>

> Did you read the Late Talker book yet? Have you considered EFA's?

>

> Dawn in NJ

>

Hi Dawn,

Yup, read the Late Talker - that's why I so strongly believe apraxia

is part of what is going on. We have the EFA's (liquid & gels) but

can't get my ds to take them - believe me I have tried everything

but he wises up after 1 or 2 doses. Next I am going to try to hide

it in cookie dough (!!).

As for the verbal breakthrough....he only signs at home. I bought

the signing times videos and he learned several signs before I

figured out it is ASL (not SEE, the only form of sign used in our

schools). The teachers only know some SEE but have not been using

any sign, or encouraging him to. They focus on PECS & Kaufman flash

cards. So while the preschool program may be helping him with

sensory type issues so he is more ready/willing to communicate at

home, they are not encouraging the only method of helping him

communicate that has helped so far......I am considering a re-write

of his IEP to include sign. But I want to hava a better grasp of

what is going on so I can back-up my requests with literature (just

in case it turns into a battle).

And while he does some signing he also still has tantrums and

aggressivness - but it is different. When he is pissed he looks for

anything he can throw/knock over/bite. But he does not do these

things to us specifically. His temper has been something we are

working very hard on. We constantly remind him to " use your

words/hands " .

I am also questioning everything because our next steps are private

services and evaluations. We do have some financial resources but

they are not infinate (sp?). We are literally talking thousand of

dollars and I want to spend them in the most effective manner so

that they produce the most benefit for my ds.

Martha

[Guest guest]

The more I read, and the more success or failure I have with my son, the

more I believe that it's better to have a wide angle lense. Whether a

child is on the spectrum or off, they all seem to benefit from some

biomedical approaches. For example, the successes that many here have

seen from essential fatty acids MIGHT be more than just the fatty

acid/brain balance. I believe it is performing a chelating function.

(search for heavy metals in this link

)http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html

<http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html> (Yes I know it

talking about aging -- but read it anyway!)

They have found a link between oxidative stress and autism..

http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html

<http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html>

So even though my son has not been diagnosed " on the spectrum " , I am

looking at the DAN protocols and others -- because I think they are all

useful. The fact that there are more kids with apraxia and autism in

areas of heavy toxicity cannot be ignored. The fact that essential

fatty acids seem to help all kids -- ASD, ADD, ADHD, PDD_NOS,

Aspberger's, even depression -- makes me think there are environmental

issues involved.

As far as therapies are concerned, I really think every kid is so

different here. If the ability to sign and increase his

communication is making him happier and giving him feelings of success

-- great. If you can gently show him that signing is good but it won't

work when you are driving, for example, you might be able to see more

breakthroughs. I know that helped for us --my son was more verbal in

the car -- because he had to be! Necessity is...

My school district doesn't seem to be as advanced as yours -- you seem

to be getting good access to services -- where are you located?

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

" I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST! "

In my opinion you should pursue BOTH, regardless of diagnosis.

Biomed can help those with " just " apraxia, and ST helps apraxia -

even when autism's involved too.

Just my 2 cents,

Kerri

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore

this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being

evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but

every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she

is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to

her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills.

According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and

is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a

preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him

more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play

based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more "

autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?!

And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over

it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

i am not certain but if you were asking me where i am located....i live in

southwestern mississippi, a town called natchez. if you were not asking me then

pardon my intrusion.

's mom

Leah

mommtlc <oldworldtile@...> wrote:

The more I read, and the more success or failure I have with my son, the

more I believe that it's better to have a wide angle lense. Whether a

child is on the spectrum or off, they all seem to benefit from some

biomedical approaches. For example, the successes that many here have

seen from essential fatty acids MIGHT be more than just the fatty

acid/brain balance. I believe it is performing a chelating function.

(search for heavy metals in this link

)http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html

<http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html> (Yes I know it

talking about aging -- but read it anyway!)

They have found a link between oxidative stress and autism..

http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html

<http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html>

So even though my son has not been diagnosed " on the spectrum " , I am

looking at the DAN protocols and others -- because I think they are all

useful. The fact that there are more kids with apraxia and autism in

areas of heavy toxicity cannot be ignored. The fact that essential

fatty acids seem to help all kids -- ASD, ADD, ADHD, PDD_NOS,

Aspberger's, even depression -- makes me think there are environmental

issues involved.

As far as therapies are concerned, I really think every kid is so

different here. If the ability to sign and increase his

communication is making him happier and giving him feelings of success

-- great. If you can gently show him that signing is good but it won't

work when you are driving, for example, you might be able to see more

breakthroughs. I know that helped for us --my son was more verbal in

the car -- because he had to be! Necessity is...

My school district doesn't seem to be as advanced as yours -- you seem

to be getting good access to services -- where are you located?

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Martha-

I've been through this questioning phase with both my kids. My son has

PDD-NOS and my daughter had both PDD-NOS and apraxia. I would

encourage you to use a biomed approach with your son, as biomed helped

both my daughter's autism and apraxia. She no longer has any language

delay or symptoms of autism. If you start now, you have an excellent

chance of preventing any further regression in your child (mild or

questionable signs of autism can become more severe as a child grows

older... my son definitely regressed during the first six months after

diagnosis, before we started biomed and ABA) and increasing his

language. I used ABA with both my kids, and again I do think this

intensive approach helped my daughter immensely, and that ABA and

biomed together are the reason she no longer has apraxia. I encourage

you to try the gfcf diet, a high quality multi-vitamin and

multi-mineral without copper like brainchild

(brainchildnutritionals.com), omega 3 fatty acids, lipoceutical

glutathione (wellnesshealth.com - 1/2 tsp 2x/day is what mine needed),

and carnaware (carnaware.com - 2 caps 2x/day). The lipo glut and

carnaware produced huge gains in language in my daughter.

Many will tell you that children cannot recover from apraxia or ASD,

but that's not true. Most professionals who see a recovered child will

just say the original diagnosis was incorrect. But kids can and do

overcome these disorders.

Speed of response to therapy doesn't mean much - even kids with ASD

span a wide spectrum from very mild to more severe, and some progress

very fast.

Though you didn't mention what symptoms your child has, it sounds like

this isn't a clear cut case of apraxia/language delay. If his current

school program is helping, I would stick with it (change later if it

stops working for him). I think many kids can benefit from intensive

therapy with a low student-teacher ratio, particularly if ABA is done

right and tailored to the needs of the child. I suggest you jump in

and try biomed and continue his ABA, and hopefully when you go back

for re-eval in a year they'll say, " oops, we were wrong, he is just

perfect! " .

Good luck,

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Martha!

This is Leah...'s Mom. I have posted here several times before and am a

regular reader of all the posts here. i couldn't help but tear up at the thought

of your little one on the bus b/c right now i am going through the exact same

stuff, only autism has not been an issue with him yet. my goes to a

private speech therapist 3 x's a week and medicaid pays for it in full and also,

just this summer he was evaluated by our local school district, ( i live in

southwest mississippi) and both his slp and the IEP team believe that he has

DAS. he is very social and he is very delightful yet he has a terrible temper

when it comes to trying to communicate. his slp said that she has worked with

many apraxic children using prompt therapy but not yet has she seen one this

severe. my jacob will be 4 the 6th of January and has a vocabulary of about 5

real words and about 15-20 word approximations. no signs, mostly gestures. he

does know how to get your attention and he knows how

to get his point across. he just screams WAY too much. he has had his tonsils &

adnoids removed and ear tubes put in 2 times already. he passed his hearing test

with flying colors...actually i think he did better than me and i hear just fine

(just selective hearing...lol). we are waiting on out evaluation at a child

develoment center in jackson ms. to meet with a team of psychiatrists, therapist

and neurologist. the eval is supposed to be 4-8 hours long. this will be a first

for us. i have recently started him on the efa's & epa's and they seem to be

working...he has had a few surges and made progress but he has lost them

again....i give him the supplements faithfully but he just has his moments i

guess. the therapy has not helped too much but i can look back and over the time

he has been attending (almost 2 years) he has improved greatly. i am just too

impatient. well anyway, he has been attending a local day care b/c i work 8-5

mon-fri. and the people at the daycare were

excellent with him however they had no trained staff readily able to deal with

" teaching " him. so when i went to the school system for his eval there they told

me that if i would like that he qualified for services (speech) to come to the

daycare to work with him 3 times a week for 30 mins each ( that is on top of his

private speech ) so i was like ok...well then the school therapist called me at

home late one night and she said that she had just got finished looking over

jacob's case and told me that if i put him in the public school that he would

recieve 1:1 therapy with her 5 days a week for 1 hour each and also he would be

in the sped class ( level 1 which is the milder cases of sped. ) for 2 hours a

day to work with that teacher and then the rest of the day he would be in a

regular class. now this is the public school pre-k program i am talking

about....having to be at school at 7:30 and get out at 2:30. A REAL SCHOOL just

like a big boy i tell him. well then after he

gets out of school he gets to ride the " short bus " sped. bus from his school to

an after school day care. ok....let me clarify...he has adjustment

issues...MAJOR...issues...he does not cope well with change in routine. so on

august 11 he attended his last day at the day care he had finally gotten use to

after 2 years of going there....and monday morning got thrown to the wolves by

me taking him to this new school he had NEVER SET FOOT IN leaving him there and

then having to ride this bus to another place he had never been before....a new

day care b/c the other one did not accept after school transfers. so this poor

little 3 year old boy in one day has to deal with 3 HUGE changes....and he did

it BEAUTIFULLY!!! i was so amazed at how well he handled it! his extensive

therapy started yesterday at school and already he is trying harder to tell me

what he wants at home. so to make a extremely long story short....i think i was

the one not ready for the change. i did not want to

let go....i was the one that cried when i had to just walk away....he did not.

i was so hurt....lol...yet i was so proud of him and now i honestly believe that

this is a REALLY good thing for him. so yes the thought of my sweet little jacob

having to ride a bus scared the pajubies out of me but i think it is good for

him...he enjoys it. he gets excited about it. and every morning when i walk him

to his class at 7:20 when i turn to walk out he runs and stops me, gives me a

BIG hug & kiss and tells me " bye bye moma " and goes back to sit down, and i tuen

to walk away with tears in my eyes and a broken heart. but i know that it is

best for him. he needs all the help he can get.

i hope that this little bit of insight on my world will help make yours a

little easier too.

with lots of love,

's Mom,

Leah

ojosazules76 <ojosazules76@...> wrote:

aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

only place I know to go.

My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

(both run in the family).

I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

with the signs.

So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

child would be slower to respond).

I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

Martha

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

Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+

countries) for 2¢/min or less.

[Guest guest]

>He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

First you said, no verbal breakthrough... then you said verbal

approximations with the sign. Isn't that communicating wants/needs?

Sounds to me like it is an improvement.. It might not be what

the " typical " 3 yo would say, or how they would. But I'd take it over

the screaming/crying/grunting, and physical aggressivness that my

daughter did at just 3.

Did you read the Late Talker book yet? Have you considered EFA's?

Dawn in NJ

[Guest guest]

Hi -

As I have 2 kids - one with severe apraxia (resolved) and one with a

severe communication disorder (still working on it), I can tell you

that what's most important is that s/he get access to the best and

most appropriate resources available. Since you're seeing a benefit

to the autism interventions, I'd stay with that, but perhaps the ST

isn't addressing the motor planning portion of the ST well enough?

Also, some kids just aren't ready for ST until they learn how to

work with someone else. Sounds like you're there - and now ST might

be a different, more productive experience than it was. I'm so glad

you've seen a difference in the tantrums - I'll tell you that my

younger son had crying jags - not real tantrums - they were more

like panics. It was because he didnt' have the receptive language

to know what was coming next and it freaked him out. His verbal

skills have increased expodentially and, in like kind, his issues

have resolved as he's understood what was going on around him. The

fact that your child is learning different ways to communicate will

alleviate the tantrums regardless of the methods.....for now. If

s/he has more complex things to say and doesn't have a way to

express them, you might see the tantrums reappear. That's why even

though we used a form of PECS and some signing, it was important for

me to push the verbal portion. Thankfully, it worked.

One last thing to consider is switching STs. I've said it tons

here - even if you love the ST, if they're not getting results, it's

worth it to try someone else. We had a SLP that we LOVED and worked

great with my apraxic son, but made no progress with my younger son

(even tho he was technically in her specialty). Just not a good

fit. Got someone else who actually specializes in fluency and

stuttering issues and she's FABULOUS and has made the biggest

difference in my son's life. Bigger than anyone - including me. I

know that there are children who, despite having all the mental

capacity for a life rich with language, will never talk. I don't

believe that with children as young as ours that it's appropriate to

assume that a child will not speak using their own voice unless

concrete evidence has been illuminated to prove it. I was told (by

a qualified but rotten SLP) that my older apraxic son would never

speak - at least never speak normally. Do you know that I will him

to be quiet at least 2x a day??? Do you know how wonderful that

is?

As for biomed, I cannot speak to that really, but I do believe that

all these " wiring problems " - dyslexia, apraxia, autism, ADHD,

communication disorders - all are on some sort of continuum.

Perhaps same issues presenting differently....I see too many

similarities between my two boys. By the by, my developmental ped

agrees. If you're of the mind that autistic kids are not

automatically MR, nor are they inherently socially stilted, but have

incredible sensory disturbances mandating that they create a safe

spot for themselves - compounded by the fact that many have language

difficulties because of similar sensory processing issues dealing

with their hearing (I don't say auditory processing because that

diagnosis has become too specific dealing with phoneme awareness,

etc.), then if you agree with biomed interventions, I would say that

if it would work for A, it might work for B. Please pardon that run

on sentence.......

Just my 2 cents since you were asking -

M

> >

> > aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore

> this

> > post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is

the

> > only place I know to go.

> >

> > My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being

> evaluated

> > and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> > answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but

> every

> > other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> > sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but

she

> is

> > not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to

> her

> > he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills.

> According

> > to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria)

and

> is

> > one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> > (both run in the family).

> > I am posting because he has made progress since starting a

> preschool

> > based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> > integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA,

PECS,

> > Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> > better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> > overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> > problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> > therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> > uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> > Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal

approxamations

> > with the signs.

> >

> > So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him

> more

> > or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> > well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play

> based

> > therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> > anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more "

> autistic

> > child would be slower to respond).

> >

> > I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking

at

> > VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to

pursue

> > the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> > Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> > school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program

(9-

> > 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?!

> And

> > ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over

> it

> > and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

> >

> > Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child

was

> > apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

> >

> > Martha

> >

>

[Guest guest]

--- In , " jerzmomof4 " <>

> First you said, no verbal breakthrough... then you said verbal

> approximations with the sign. Isn't that communicating

wants/needs?

> Sounds to me like it is an improvement.. It might not be what

> the " typical " 3 yo would say, or how they would. But I'd take it

over

> the screaming/crying/grunting, and physical aggressivness that my

> daughter did at just 3.

>

> Did you read the Late Talker book yet? Have you considered EFA's?

>

> Dawn in NJ

>

Hi Dawn,

Yup, read the Late Talker - that's why I so strongly believe apraxia

is part of what is going on. We have the EFA's (liquid & gels) but

can't get my ds to take them - believe me I have tried everything

but he wises up after 1 or 2 doses. Next I am going to try to hide

it in cookie dough (!!).

As for the verbal breakthrough....he only signs at home. I bought

the signing times videos and he learned several signs before I

figured out it is ASL (not SEE, the only form of sign used in our

schools). The teachers only know some SEE but have not been using

any sign, or encouraging him to. They focus on PECS & Kaufman flash

cards. So while the preschool program may be helping him with

sensory type issues so he is more ready/willing to communicate at

home, they are not encouraging the only method of helping him

communicate that has helped so far......I am considering a re-write

of his IEP to include sign. But I want to hava a better grasp of

what is going on so I can back-up my requests with literature (just

in case it turns into a battle).

And while he does some signing he also still has tantrums and

aggressivness - but it is different. When he is pissed he looks for

anything he can throw/knock over/bite. But he does not do these

things to us specifically. His temper has been something we are

working very hard on. We constantly remind him to " use your

words/hands " .

I am also questioning everything because our next steps are private

services and evaluations. We do have some financial resources but

they are not infinate (sp?). We are literally talking thousand of

dollars and I want to spend them in the most effective manner so

that they produce the most benefit for my ds.

Martha

[Guest guest]

The more I read, and the more success or failure I have with my son, the

more I believe that it's better to have a wide angle lense. Whether a

child is on the spectrum or off, they all seem to benefit from some

biomedical approaches. For example, the successes that many here have

seen from essential fatty acids MIGHT be more than just the fatty

acid/brain balance. I believe it is performing a chelating function.

(search for heavy metals in this link

)http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html

<http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html> (Yes I know it

talking about aging -- but read it anyway!)

They have found a link between oxidative stress and autism..

http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html

<http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html>

So even though my son has not been diagnosed " on the spectrum " , I am

looking at the DAN protocols and others -- because I think they are all

useful. The fact that there are more kids with apraxia and autism in

areas of heavy toxicity cannot be ignored. The fact that essential

fatty acids seem to help all kids -- ASD, ADD, ADHD, PDD_NOS,

Aspberger's, even depression -- makes me think there are environmental

issues involved.

As far as therapies are concerned, I really think every kid is so

different here. If the ability to sign and increase his

communication is making him happier and giving him feelings of success

-- great. If you can gently show him that signing is good but it won't

work when you are driving, for example, you might be able to see more

breakthroughs. I know that helped for us --my son was more verbal in

the car -- because he had to be! Necessity is...

My school district doesn't seem to be as advanced as yours -- you seem

to be getting good access to services -- where are you located?

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>

[Guest guest]

i am not certain but if you were asking me where i am located....i live in

southwestern mississippi, a town called natchez. if you were not asking me then

pardon my intrusion.

's mom

Leah

mommtlc <oldworldtile@...> wrote:

The more I read, and the more success or failure I have with my son, the

more I believe that it's better to have a wide angle lense. Whether a

child is on the spectrum or off, they all seem to benefit from some

biomedical approaches. For example, the successes that many here have

seen from essential fatty acids MIGHT be more than just the fatty

acid/brain balance. I believe it is performing a chelating function.

(search for heavy metals in this link

)http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html

<http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/ss04/ageessential.html> (Yes I know it

talking about aging -- but read it anyway!)

They have found a link between oxidative stress and autism..

http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html

<http://www.newstarget.com/007199.html>

So even though my son has not been diagnosed " on the spectrum " , I am

looking at the DAN protocols and others -- because I think they are all

useful. The fact that there are more kids with apraxia and autism in

areas of heavy toxicity cannot be ignored. The fact that essential

fatty acids seem to help all kids -- ASD, ADD, ADHD, PDD_NOS,

Aspberger's, even depression -- makes me think there are environmental

issues involved.

As far as therapies are concerned, I really think every kid is so

different here. If the ability to sign and increase his

communication is making him happier and giving him feelings of success

-- great. If you can gently show him that signing is good but it won't

work when you are driving, for example, you might be able to see more

breakthroughs. I know that helped for us --my son was more verbal in

the car -- because he had to be! Necessity is...

My school district doesn't seem to be as advanced as yours -- you seem

to be getting good access to services -- where are you located?

>

> aahhh yes, I know this is a frequent hot topic so please ignore this

> post if it bothers you. But I have a few questions and this is the

> only place I know to go.

>

> My son Will, just turned 3, has spent the last year being evaluated

> and tested over and over and over. As you can guess we have no

> answers as to what is going on. The local EI says autism (but every

> other child has autism in their eye), the dev ped said she isn't

> sure - obviously a communication disorder & maybe pdd-nos but she is

> not convinced he is autistic (we follow up in Oct). According to her

> he shows empathy toward others and has good social skills. According

> to ME he likely has apraxia (fits so many of the criteria) and is

> one hell of a stubborn willful child with likely ADD & dyslexia

> (both run in the family).

> I am posting because he has made progress since starting a preschool

> based autistic therapy program. It is 2.5 hrs a day and they

> integrate all sorts of autism therapies (principles of ABA, PECS,

> Visual Support, and more I didn't understand). He is doing much

> better - fewer tantrums, more willing to try to communicate, and

> overall just seems to have a higher stress threshold. The only

> problem is that he has had no verbal breakthrough from the

> therapies. In fact what has helped the most has been signing. He

> uses tons of signs and has even signed a sentence - Want Cracker

> Please (!!!!!!!!) He has even started making verbal approxamations

> with the signs.

>

> So does the fact that he is responding to the program make him more

> or less likely to be autistic? Seems like all kids would respond

> well to almost 1:1 attention, positive reinforcement and play based

> therapies. Does the speed with which the child responds mean

> anything? (to my uneducated brain it seems like the " more " autistic

> child would be slower to respond).

>

> I am posting because depending on the diagnosis we are looking at

> VERY different private treatment paths. If autism I want to pursue

> the biomed approach. If apraxia - way more ST!

> Also, unlike so many who from areas with too few services....our

> school wants mt son to gradually advance to an all day program (9-

> 3)!!! I am not sure why this freaks me out. All day at 3yrs?!?! And

> ride a bus to school?!?! If this is best for him I will get over it

> and send him, but mothers intuition says this is wierd.

>

> Please share your experiences with figuring out if your child was

> apraxic, autistic or both. Feel free to respond privately

>

> Martha

>