Fulfilling my new years resolutions, well one of them

January 3, 2001

Happy New Year to Everyone.

Well, time to start on my new years resolutions. One of my resolutions was

to write to this group and introduce myself to you all.

My name is . I have two children, , six and a half, and Sara,

four years old. Sara has Down Syndrome and was diagnosed with Autism by her

paeditrian in late September. I joined this group in October and have just

been 'lurking' since then.

I had a hard time accepting this 'news' as I'm sure many of you can

understand. I guess what made it even harder is that both of her teacher

aids from her nursery school didn't agree with the diagnosis. We all agree

that Sara has lots of autistic tendencies, but not that they were enough to

be labelled as Autistic. I had a second opinion by another doctor whom I

totally trust, and she too felt that Sara was Autistic. So here I am.

So, any help, words of wisdom, etc. would be of great help. I am on a long

waiting list for an Autistic clinic which I believe is something along the

lines of behavourial modification. Not real sure though. Sara recieves

speech therapy, however only about once a month. It really isn't doing

much, the therapist isn't really knowledgable with DS/Autism. Sara is

physcially doing very well, however very delayed mentally (I think we're

pushing it even to say that she is at an 18 month old stage, it is so hard

to tell when there is no, or very little communication skills).

I guess what I want from you guys is ideas and suggestions on what I should

be asking professionals, what I should be demanding from schools, etc.. Oh

ya, and do any of you know anything about ABA or is it ABM?? I heard about

it on a local TV program and it is apparently the only proven method to help

children with Autism, but I'm not sure if I even got that right. Too much

stuff to think about and remember. ( has been diagnosed with ADHD in

October so I have to think DS, ASD and ADHD - I'm sure glad they can all be

abbreviated, saves on typing more letters).

Well, I'll end now. Sorry I took so long to fulfill my resolution. Wish me

luck on my other resolutions: losing weight, quitting smoking, being

organized...........

, in Mississauga,Ontario Canada

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