Guest guest Posted December 7, 1999 Report Share Posted December 7, 1999 ****** This is a confidential, unmoderated list. ****** Responsibility for posts to this list lies entirely with the original author. ***Send personal messages privately, *not* to the me-list.*** To signoff, send SIGNOFF ME-LIST to LISTSERV@... *****ALL NEW MEMBERS READ--> http://www.addr.com/~me-list/mlguidelines.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear me-listers, I have received so many requests for the questions/answers from Santopadre that I am posting them to the list. There are several letters back & forth so I will post each of her responses. I hope this is helpful! Donna :-) ---------- > From: SvcsInfo@... > sdcarv@... > Subject: Re: Thank You! > Date: Thursday, December 31, 1998 4:28 PM > > Donna, > I'm glad to hear the tape arrived so quickly! And I'm glad that you were able > to share your combined tapes with your group...they are a lucky group to have > such dedicated people (you) in their area. > > I'm happy to answer whatever questions people may have... > > How many years did do this? > We were clients of Behavior Analysts for 5 years (actually 5 years to the > day!). We, of course, had a great deal more involvement in the first 3 years; > then it tapered off. The final year was mostly Dr. Jim (as we fondly call > him) using his time to observe her at school and make recommendations to the > classroom teacher (and, of course, give us feedback!). He also did an > elaborate inservice training for the school staff just before she started > kindergarten. > > How many therapists did you use? > I wish I could give you a concrete answer on this one; but I'll explain it as > best I can... > Dr. Jim was our consultant throughout the entire 5 years. After 10-12 months > of working with him, we hired 2 teachers (Schelley and Cathleen--Schelley > worked with us for about 6 months; and Cathleen was with us officially until > age 6. Cathleen is a wonderful family friend now-- and athon > were in her wedding two years ago; and she is expecting a baby in February--if > it's a girl, her name will be !) from his school (STARS) who came to > work with one time per week (2-hour sessions) each for a total of 4 > hours per week. At age 3, our school district provided us a speech therapist, > who received training from Dr. Jim, and she implemented the program just as > the others did (this was about 3 hours per week--though the quality was not as > good as our skilled STARS staff members). At age 3.6 we hired athon's > former preschool teacher, Leta, to work with a little at home but > mostly in her classroom after school when her preschoolers were gone--this was > about 2 hours per week. We did this with the hope that could one > day join Leta's preschool class--and she did in January of 1994! Leta then > continued to work with her through age 6.6 and the number of hours varied > (anywhere from 2-4 hours per week...this was pretty consistent; however, there > were times when her family's needs prevented weekly visits; so we just went > with the flow. During the summer months (and Christmas breaks) when > was 3 and 4, athon's kindergarten teacher's daughter, Eryne, was trained > by us and Dr. Jim, and she would come several times a week to play and teach. > Eryne was a natural at this, and I could have screamed when she graduated from > college and now works in the human resources department at Chevron! She was > SO good, she could have made such a difference in a number of children's > lives! > > Did you use any other therapies in conjunction with her home program eg. > Sensory Integration ? > Through her IEP we used an OT for a short period of time. At age 3.6 to > almost 4; however, we saw very little benefit compared to the " cost " of > 's time. I truly felt her time was better spent with other > activities. At age 6.6 to 7 an OT consulted with me regarding her upper body > strength in order to increase her writing skills. Again, we found the benefit > could be achieved through her ballet and gymnastics classes--the gymnastics > really did the trick for that one. > > Yes, we took to a psychologist who did developmental play therapy. > She was located in Berkeley, California; and we drove there for weekly visits > for almost 4 years (from age 2 until almost age 6). Dr. Stuart did not do > behavioral intervention at all, but I learned a lot from her--In the > beginning, we worked mostly on 's separation anxiety issues (she > suffered from separation anxiety disorder in addition to the autism--I didn't > know that was a disorder... but truly was abnormal in her response > to my not being with her). > > We went to a music and creative arts therapist for nearly a year (again, a > lengthy, weekly drive). was emerging with her verbal skills at this > time, and the creative arts (mostly puppetry) was extremely useful for > conversation skills-- LOVED the puppets. The music therapy we used > did not resemble the 12/28/98 Dateline show in ANY way! Lizz, the music > therapist, was a registered therapist with years of training behind her, and I > think she would have been disappointed in that show. > > also took ballet lessons from age 4.6 until 8.6... This was a > WONDERFUL forum for her to use and practice her imitation skills, attending > skills, and turn-taking skills. It also increased her interactions with > typical peers. > > She participated in a Kindermusik class for two semesters...This is a great > program! If it is available in your area, please look into it!!!! I would > recommend that the child have some attending and imitation skills and the > ability to follow simple directions. The curriculum from Kindermusik is well > rounded and has clearly been developed by individuals who KNOW about child > development. > > At age 7.6 began gymnastics...she participated for almost a year; > then she became less interested when there was a change in teachers, so we > discontinued. > > At age 8 she played Bobby Sox softball...she had a GREAT time and loved being > a part of a team--like her brothers!!! She wasn't great, but she was > certainly the team leader in attitude and hard work! > > Those are the main things we did in addition to Dr. Jim's program; but every > piece incorporated language training--language training was REALLY our focal > point, and it was imbedded into all aspects of her life. > > Did suffer from gastro problems such as chronic diarrea or > constipation? > No, thankfully we didn't have these issues to contend with. > > Did she have frequent colds or infections? > No, not really anything out of the ordinary. Many ear infections, but no more > than either of her brothers. > > How well did she sleep? Did she ever suffer from sleep apnea? > > Thankfully, was a good sleeper!!! At least we thought she was, we > now suspect that she was awake in her crib more than we realized; however, she > preferred to be alone, so she did not always let us know when she was awake. > Also, she would not get out of her crib or bed when she awoke--we literally > had to teach her to get up and come out of her room in the morning (that was > actually kind of cool when she was little <g>). > > Donna, I hope this is helpful...let me know if there is anything else I can > help with. > > :-) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ME-list website: http://www.addr.com/~me-list ME-list databases: http://www.addr.com/~me-list/databases Collections of ME-List files (Username is private; Password is melist): http://www.sca.uqam.ca/~sqa/prive/ For complete instructions see: http://www.addr.com/~me-list/mlfaq.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 8, 1999 Report Share Posted December 8, 1999 Lynette, this post was blank. ?? Rhonda From: Lynette Rorer <lnett@...> < onelist> Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 1999 2:48 PM Subject: [ ] [Fwd: Fw: Thank You!] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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