RE: [SPAM]Re: Re: Speech & Behavioral Therapist-Houston

[Guest guest]

The psychiatrist you are referring to is Dr. Stanley Greenspan, the founder

of the federal zero to three program. I am a huge fan and happen to believe

in his approach. The DIR model fills in many, many gaps that ABA leaves

wide open. DIR/Floortime goes beyond modifying surface behaviors and

focuses on the underlying problems that cause these troubling behaviors. We

use both models of intervention and find both to be helpful, but if I had to

choose just one - I would opt for Floortime and the DIR model any day over

ABA.

As far as I know, ABA does not follow a developmental approach focusing on

the following:

1. Staying calm and regulated, and shared attention (joint attention)

2. Engagement and relatedness

3. Basic intentional interaction and communication

4. Problem solving, co-regulated interactions with a continuous flow

5. Creative and meaningful use of ideas and words

6. Building logical bridges between ideas

7. Multi-causal, comparative thinking

8. Grey area thinking

9. Reflective thinking off an internal standard

There will be studies to fill the need many have for " peer-reviewed,

researched based, " but in the meantime there are outcome studies that will

help you see the amount of progress being made.

Just wanted to relay that although it may not be for everyone, DIR has made

a remarkable difference in my son and we continue to see progress...

From a big Greenspan fan! :-)

On Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 9:26 PM, Singleton <

chatmom@...> wrote:

> It has always been very interesting to me that Bridges chose a modality

> that

> has no solid research to back it up-but that's what happens when the wife

> of

> the president of Texas Children's gets to run the show. Floortime, while

> it's currently being studied, was developed by a psychiatrist who never

> bothered to conduct a study to see if it was even effective. Apparently

> Texas Children's is so uninterested in science based interventions, so

> rather than choosing ABA, they chose something unproven and charge people

> a

> LOT of money for it.

>

> " Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great

> scientist.

>

> They are wrong: it is character. "

>

> Albert Einstein

>

> From:

Texas-Autism-Advocacy <Texas-Autism-Advocacy%40yahoogroups.com>

>

[mailto:Texas-Autism-Advocacy <Texas-Autism-Advocacy%40yahoogroup\

s.com>]

> On Behalf Of Dr.

> Graham-Garza

> Sent: Thursday, March 06, 2008 9:21 PM

> To:

Texas-Autism-Advocacy <Texas-Autism-Advocacy%40yahoogroups.com>

> Subject: [sPAM]Re: Re: Speech & Behavioral

> Therapist-Houston

>

> I gotta put in my two cents here - we lasted in Bridges for a month - at

> that time (Oct. 2004) it was VERY poorly run, very expensive and a

> complete

> waste of our time.

> Re: Re: Speech & Behavioral

> Therapist-Houston

>

> Did the Meyer Center not tell you about their Bridges Program for children

>

> up to 7 years old? Bridges is a comprehensive therapeutic program that

> provides floortime, speech and language, occupational and physical therapy

> for

> children with developmental challenges and their families.

>

> _http://www.texaschildrens.org/carecenters/Bridges/faqs.aspx_

> (http://www.texaschildrens.org/carecenters/Bridges/faqs.aspx)

>

> CReece

>

> **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and advice on AOL Money &

> Finance. (http://money.aol.com/tax?NCID=aolprf00030000000001)

>

>

[Guest guest]

As the writer of the poison pen comment, I thank you for calling me on it.

I keep thinking that my anger at not being able to find an " establishment "

MD

who actually gave me any useful or helpful advice that helped my son

progress

will go away, but obviously I have more work to do. (just to clarify, my

son has gone from being an out of control toddler with no functional

language

to succeeding with the general ed in 3rd grade. He still needs an

aide for support. He enjoys playing spontaneous, cooperative, imaginative

games

with his younger sister when he's not provoking her, like any typical older

brother would. Most adults describe him as delightful. He has friends at

school, but doesn't have any friends that he sees on the weekends or after

school.)

I think it is educational for new parents coming in to this to realize that

MDs

Often do not have answers that will help. In America, MDs seem to have this

Aura of " rightness " about them, and people seem to think that if an MD said

It, then that thing is beyond reproach. I have heard from many, many, many

Parents how MDs made them question their own instincts about their child.

In my own experience, MDs actually cautioned me against using the modalities

That I had actually found to be working for my child. In light of the lack

of

knowledge the MDs themselves usually have about autism, I find this

to be enfuriating-and I can be very acerbic when I'm angry.

My main goal is to support parents making educated choices and acting on

their

Instinct about what is best for their child. At this point in the search

for

Answers, parent's instinct has so much more valid than any 'expert opinion'.

If you are pleased with the progress that your daughter made with

Floortime, then yeah! By all means continue.

My other goal is to point out misconceptions about ABA and research-based.

Part of the reason that I am so adamant about research based, is that

For almost 40 years ago, a psychologist by the name of Bruno Bettleheim

Wrote two books that have had very detrimental effects on the field of

autism.

He invented the theory of " refrigerator mothers " , where autism was

Blamed on bad mothering. So when you took your child to the doctor

And asked what was wrong, the doctor would say, " you are. " This

Theory was based on not one single iota of evidence, but the medical

Community swallowed hook, line and sinker for almost 30 years.

He also wrote another book called " The Empty Fortress " which basically

put for the theory 'children with autism have been so alienated that

they retire into a fortress that is empty indeed.' Turns out that he

was found to have falsified his psychological credentials-at least

that's the story I read. His ideas caused a lot of pain in a lot of

families and is something that doctors have only just in the last

10 years admitted was wrong.

The genius of Lovaas is that he recognized that people with autism

Were probably like everyone else-the goal was to help them express

That humanity.

ABA does have its limits in the sense that there's a lot of schlock

Being passed off as ABA because of the shortage of properly trained

And credentialed professionals. Also there doesn't seem

To be the appreciation of the amount of underlying medical problems

That could be the cause of behaviors and a denial of real pain,

Physical pain that children can be experiencing.

So I am very hard on psychologists and psychiatrists like Gutstein and

Greenspan, who develop methods and only write books about them

Rather than researching them properly. Although I've heard that Floortime

is

being studied in a large study that will include an age matched

control group. Our children deserve methods that have

been proven-not just some ideas that are an experiment.

S.

" Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist.

They are wrong: it is character. "

Albert Einstein

From: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

[mailto:Texas-Autism-Advocacy ] On Behalf Of Dilworth

Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 6:15 AM

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

Subject: [sPAM]Re: Re: Speech & Behavioral

Therapist-Houston

I was also deeply disturbed about the comment that I read in response to my

statement, about Dr Madduri, and about physicians in Houston not being worth

their co-pay. What a poison pen thing to say. I though this site was to

educate, inspire and give parents hope for their child, not make them second

guess the choices they make all with hope that their child may one day

become self sufficient. I don't need to read things like that.