Testing...

[Guest guest]

HELLO KARA, HEHE YOU TOO HAVE ARRIVED LIKE ME AND LAURA.......... TAKES SOME

GETTING USED TO ALL THIS NEW STUFF........... CHEERS FOR US MAKING IT

THROUGHHHHH......... TAKE CARE ALLLEAH

[Guest guest]

:

Well, for therapies, you have options that apply to all special needs people,

like speech therapy and occupational therapy, music therapy, hippotherapy,

aquatic therapy, physical therapy. Obviously, how much and whether she needs

these therapies depends on her particular need. My son was very low tone, and

so we have done all of the above. He also has no language, so speech therapy

has always been a part of our repertoire.

With O.T., there are two ways to go: traditional OT and sensory integration OT.

I like the sensory integration approach, because it is very much a part of my

son's problem that his sensory systems don't function well, and not together.

Autistics who can communicate about what it is like to be autistic describe this

problem a lot. So, the mouthing of objects, for example, is a sensory need.

The school system won't do sensory integration as their focus, probably, so you

may have to go private with it if you decide to go this approach.

As for particular autism therapies, there are basically two approaches:

behavioral therapies (ABA, TEACHH, " discrete trials " ) and developmental

therapies (RDI, DIR/Floortime). Emory Autism Center has lots of wonderful

resources for ABA therapy and education, and there is a group called DIR

Associates (Barbara Dunbar, Kathleen Platzman, and others) for DIR. We have

done DIR, and have had some progress with it.

As for biomedical, the place to start is the gluten and casein free diet. Go to

" gfcfdiet.com " for information on that. I highly recommend it, because it has

made a major difference for my son's hyperactivity and lack of sleep. If you go

casein free, be sure to supplement with calcium in a cheweable or liquid form.

There is a great book, " Children With Starving Brains " by McCandless,

M.D. that helps you down this path.

Also, for those just starting out, some have liked the Marcus Institute for

information. We went there after we had been fairly educated on our options,

and they didn't add anything to the stockpile that we didn't already have, so it

depends on the level of help you need.

'

Re: Testing...

we discussed ESY at our IEP update which was the last week of school.

I met with her teacher, OT and ST. They said that they had to be considered to

be at a crucial point of development or that they would regress by not

having ESY. They didn't think she was either. I think there was a third way for

them to qualify but cannot remember what it was. She also said ESY is more for

severly disabled children. I feel she has regressed some but that is a Moms

opinion:) Her teacher was new to Georgia. I think she started in Feb or March

and was a bit unsure how things worked. We had to reupdate her IEP twice

because things she thought could happen couldn't. I am not sure if her being

unfamiliar was part of the problem or not, although the two therapists seemed

to

agree with her.

I love the Special Ed sysytem. My stepson graduated fron Roswell high with a

Special Ed diploma so I know what a wonderful program it is:) My oldest(13)

is in TAG which has been wonderful for her. Also my grandson(6) by my

stepdaughter has been in special needs since PreK and has done wonderful:)

loved the Special Needs Inclusion class and misses it I am sure.

I think my main problem right now is I have no experience with Autism and

with her not being diagnosed with anything at this point I am not sure what I

should be doing other than waiting for the genetic testing to come back. I

have seen from this list what a great variety of treatments and options are out

there and I am overwelmed. My Mom was so good about helping me figure things

out. She raised my sister who had Cerebral Palsy and moderate Mental

Retardation so she was very understanding of Special Needs children. She died in

November and I am totally lost wihout her. My husband can be a good listener but

he just agrees with whatever I say...lol.

Sorry this got so long!!

~

I am In a message dated 7/16/2005 2:18:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

lscowen@... writes:

:

I am surprised that they wouldn't let her go to ESY. I live in Clayton

County, and say what you want about the rest of the school system (our typical

child is in private school), the special ed program is pretty good. They at

least have all of the kids in the autism program going to ESY. Anyway, I

understand about working and juggling the whole thing, because I work too.

Luckily, my husband is able to stay home.

Why don't you try to ask what you may be confused about here, and we'll try

to help. There are lots of things to explore and decide upon. Therapies and

other interventions relating to education, as well as biomedical approaches.

Which are you confused about, or is it all of them?

[Guest guest]

(:-)