Re: Hi BJ and family

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all the welcomes. Tammy was diagnosed this last year at 8, and I

was told she is developmentally delayed with moderate autism. When she was

little I knew something was different...afterall, I had 2 older daughters,

and both had lots of language early, and did everything by the " book " .

After she was born, I decided to take my older girls out of public school,

and homeschool them. This was probably the best thing I could have done for

Tammy, because her siblings were constantly around, and we raised her in a

" learning " environment. When she was 4, I placed her in a co-op

nurseryschool, where I was able to be there with her, and it was at this

time, that I realized there also might be autistic symptoms we were dealing

with. She stayed in nursery school until she was almost 6, and then we kept

her homeschooling, and have tried to provide other outside, socialization

through brownies, playgroups, parkdays, etc. The reason we approached our

Regional Center to get an official diagnosis was because of behavior. I am

now getting behavioral support (just started with a therapist), and I think

it may help. I've never used SI yet, but am looking into it too. I also

recently bought " Behavioral Interventions for Young Children with Autism " ,

and have used some of their techniques in our " homeschooling " . She love to

swim, rollerskate, and ride bikes (dad takes her biking). We also found out

about horse lessons (vaulting), and that was the first time I realized that

girls are a minority in autism. The director mentioned that he had only had

2 other autistic girls in horsevaulting in the 20 years they'd been working

with disabled kids. interesting.

Tammy will be 9 next month, and the closer we get to puberty and all those

wonders, I'm getting nervous. These next few years will be a learning

experience for me!

love, bj