Therapy, autism, results.... -

Therapy, autism, results....

My 3.5 yr. old autistic son has been attending speech therapy and occupational therapy(OT) for about a year now. I am curious to hear about others whose child has attending such sessions and how they turned out or how it helped. I would also like to hear from some people who have not sent their child to all of these sessions and hear how they are doing and what the parents did. He is an only child so it is usually just me and him all day while daddy works.

Written by Christy

Posted on 10/12/2010

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Hi my name is Teresa and I have an autistic grandson who is now 4years old. I have been his sole babysitter all his life. He was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was 2 years of age. He was not talking or using any words. He was grunting and pointing at what he wants and was unable to tell myself, his mother or father what he wanted or what was wrong. He began taking speech and OT at 2 1/2 years of age at home. At first therapy was difficult because he did not want to cooperate and would rather run through the house than sit still. After a few months of having therapy once a week with each OT and Speech, on different days, we started to see improvement. The road to where he is now has been a rough one. He is know 4 years old uses all his words and does not hesitate to tell you how he feels or what he wants. He started Pre-school this year, in a regular pre-k class, and trust me that is another obstical that we are slowing over coming do more to the teachers than with him. But he loves school. He still takes therapy at school with a therapist that comes in to work with him on his school work once a week and has continued OT to work on socialization skills and sensory issues. I honestly believe that if he hadn't taken speech and OT he would not be where he is today. I know this must be hard for you it was hard for us at first. But the important thing you can do for your child is work along side the therapist. Ask them what you can do to help in his progression. They have wonderful ideas in the forms of games that you can play with your child that will actually help them with thier speech and OT. If you have an autism support group in your area I really encourage you to contact them and start attending. It is a great way to gain helpful resources and information and answers to questions you may have. It is also a great place to make new friends that are dealing with the same ups and downs you are when it comes to our loving, caring unique children. A great website to check for support groups in your area is the Autism Speaks Website. Another helpful tool for me was the Book written by Areava Martin, ESQ. She is the President and Cofounder of the Special Needs Network. She has a child that was diagnosed with Autism when he was almost 2 at a time when resources for these children where nearly non-existant. The book is called The Everyday Advocate Standing Up for Your Child with Autism. It takes you through the time of diagnosis of her child through high school years. But it also supplies you with resources and ideas of places to check and people to contact to get the needed resources for your child. I paid $10.00 for the hard back book. I hope this has been some help to you. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. Teresa

posted by Teresa on 10/14/2010

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