Re: PDD-NOS/apraxia/ABA Therapy

January 13, 2007

I don't know anyone who has gotten assistance, but this may vary from

state to state. Are you working full-time? Could you hire a babysitter

to stay with him during (some of) his therapy hours? Different

providers have different rules about who needs to be at home during

sessions. It's really stressful to deal with the issue of needing to

work to pay for ABA while at the same time needing to be home to

manage ABA sessions. Both our kids did ABA - my daughter for 1 1/2

years and my son for 3 years (we just ended my son's program in

December). I wish you the best of luck in figuring out how to manage

it all. The past few years have been stressful, but it was worth it -

ABA has helped my children so much.

take care

>

> After having a psychological assessment this week, it looks like my 2

> year old son is going to have a PDD-NOS diagnosis. As yet, apraxia has

> not been brought in to play. He has just been approved for OT, and has

> been receiving special ed and speech therapy since November through

> Early Intervention. He is going to be approved for ABA therapy and I'd

> like feedback from others who have gone this route. I'm going to have

> to stop working so I can be available for the 20-25 hours of services

> which is going to further stress an already tight income. Is there

> assistance available through disability or ssi if this is considered a

> disability?

> Thanks

>

January 13, 2007

Hi

My son has a PDD diagnosis (from behavioral psych - & still evaluating,

apraxia per ST).

For him an ABA based (not classic in a chair ABA) preschool program was

amazing. It helped him with learn how to cooperate (that doesn't make a lot of

sense but I don't know how else to put it). He was not inerested in doing

anything he didn't want to do already. It was impossible to get him to cooperate

with tasks that were theraputic (ST).

Whether these problems were simply behavioral or autistic is up for

conjecture. But I can say that the program he was in ( I can't speak for all ABA

type programs) would be good for just about any child. It is very structured and

full of positive rewards. This may sound crass but that is how you train anyone.

All people, special needs or not respond to positive praise.

For WIll the diffence came when he no longer needed that much structure and

reward to stay on track with his treachers. He responded so well to the progam

that he was ready to " graduate " after 4 mo. To me that indiactes more of a

behavioral issue than autism. None of the other children have " graduated " .

In other words, the ABA was GREAT for the short term to deal with behavior and

to establish a system by which the ST could be delivered. As for helping with

speach? Not so much. But I am hopeful now that his cooperation has improved the

therapy can too. His ST is not delivered through an ABA approach (other than

rewarding cooperation with toys he likes).

As for SSI, that is state dependant. Where are you?

The financial strain can be tremendous. I recently returned to work part time to

help cover our private services (and we have insurance coverage!!). The

deductables & co-pays & specialist visits & supplements really add up. There is

no pefect answer there - just what works best for your family. We have the max

on a flex spending account to help off-set costs.

Martha

telizabeth64 <traceyd717@...> wrote:

After having a psychological assessment this week, it looks like my 2

year old son is going to have a PDD-NOS diagnosis. As yet, apraxia has

not been brought in to play. He has just been approved for OT, and has

been receiving special ed and speech therapy since November through

Early Intervention. He is going to be approved for ABA therapy and I'd

like feedback from others who have gone this route. I'm going to have

to stop working so I can be available for the 20-25 hours of services

which is going to further stress an already tight income. Is there

assistance available through disability or ssi if this is considered a

disability?

Thanks

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

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January 13, 2007

Just one thing -- If your child does have apraxia (or any other

speech delay) he will need speech therapy as well. While ABA and OT

may be beneficial, they can't replace good speech therapy.

As for your other concerns, I don't know if this differs from state

to state, but here in Louisiana, your child can receive EI services

at home or in daycare (i.e., in the " least restrictive

environment " ). The down side of the latter option is that you won't

be able to observe what the therapists are doing and then put that

into practice with your child the rest of the time you are with

him. You could, however, have regular phone calls with his

therapists to go over what they are working on and what you should

be doing.

Unfortunately the only financial assistance I know of for things

like this is through Medicaid, and in my state there is a 7 year

waiting list. I would check with your EI coordinator to see what

options might be availabe to you in your state.

Good luck!

>

> After having a psychological assessment this week, it looks like

my 2

> year old son is going to have a PDD-NOS diagnosis. As yet, apraxia

has

> not been brought in to play. He has just been approved for OT, and

has

> been receiving special ed and speech therapy since November

through

> Early Intervention. He is going to be approved for ABA therapy and

I'd

> like feedback from others who have gone this route. I'm going to

have

> to stop working so I can be available for the 20-25 hours of

services

> which is going to further stress an already tight income. Is there

> assistance available through disability or ssi if this is

considered a

> disability?

> Thanks

>

January 13, 2007

hello you can get your child on disability my son id 4 years old and since he

is speech delay he gets disability since he been 2 or so

april / mark jr