New member saying Hello

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I am new to the group and my 3 1/2yr old daughter was recently given the added

diagnosis of ASD. Part of me is still not sure and part of me knows this is the

answer to the question that has been in my head for awhile now, " is there

something else going on? "

Of course we are now on the path to determine the best options for her...the Dev

Ped wants us to do 20+hrs of intense ABA. I'm not sure I know enough about it

at this point to decide if that is best for her.

She currently attends a Spec Ed preschool 4 days a week for 2 1/2hrs and

receives services there. She also attends a community preschool 2 afternoons a

week for 3hrs. It is a small class of just 5 kids (3 of them are mine- my

daughter is one of triplet girls). She gets private ST every other week and

goes to a OT for a " mealtime " clinic weekly.

The major " red flags " the Ped saw were lack of reciprocal communication and poor

eye contact. There are some other signs but those were the biggest. She is

above her actual age in letter recognition and knows alot of words but just isnt

using them to communicate.

My question now is, what do you know now that you wish you knew when you

received the diagnosis? What path did you take and would you make a different

decision now? Also, if anyone has experience with ABA and can share some

insight that would be great.

I was so glad to find this group. I have always felt like we never " fit " . I am

the only one in my multiples group to have a child with DS- in the DS world it's

hard for people to understand the challenges of raising multiples, espicially

one with a disability and now we have the ASD to add to the mix. It's

overwhelming most of the time but we love them all more than anything.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions!