Stubborn/Independent Personality

[Guest guest]

When my 3 1/2 year old son was tested recently for speech and fine

motor skills I noticed he purposely would not do what was requested

of him. When asked questions I knew he knew the answer to, he

wouldn't answer. When attempting to duplicate a block tower, he would

complete the entire tower except the last block. I was afraid the

therapist thought he understood less than he really does. Is this

typical for autistic kids? I've noticed that when people are really

persistent in trying to get him to do something the right way (their

way) he won't. He just wants to do things his way. If this is

typical, what therapies work best to change this? Should I even

worry?

Also, has anyone ever heard of Brush Therapy? A Speech Therapist told

me to use a surgical brush and brush over my son's body 3 -4 times a

day. This is supposed to improve on desensitization and in

processing incoming information.

Thanks,

Michele in land

Mom to 31/2 HFA

and 8 mos.

[Guest guest]

Michele,

The analogy that I've come up with is this: It's the like the

difference between cats and dogs. Dogs are social animals, cats are not.

If dogs are allowed to run wild, they will come together with other dogs.

Cats, on the other hand, will live alone. Humans, of course, are social

animals as well. When we have a pet dog, the dog being social tries to

please it's master. It can easily be trained to come when called, do simple

tricks, etc., etc. When we have a pet cat, the cat being asocial cannot

easily be trained to come when called, do tricks etc. You see where I'm

going with this? Nicolas, being autistic, is socially challenged and

doesn't care to do the " tricks " that are asked of him. Work on socializing

your child and this type of behavior will decrease. Dr. Mac

(www.jamesdmacdonald.com) is really great on teaching socialization.

Regarding the brush, many asd children have sensory issues as well.

Brushing is a common (and effective) way to treat these issues.

Pat in Ohio

[Guest guest]

Hi Michele,

Yes I think many autistic kids could be described this way. Mine would be a

pistol no matter what, but add autism on top of his personality and we have

major battles. Non-compliance is the major complaint from all his

therapists. We have not yet figured out how to gain it. We can get it

briefly with the right reinforcers, but my son is smart enough to know he's

being manipulated and quickly loses interest in whatever we're using. It

makes learning sessions very brief and it's tough to make a lot of progress

with him. Anyone out there got a handle on this problem? I'd love to hear

about how you managed it!

The brushing method you were talking about is called the Wilbarger (sp?)

method and it is part of what is called a sensory diet. There is a right

and a wrong way to do the brushing (which should also be followed by joint

compression). You are supposed to do it every two hours because the effects

wear off.

We used it when my son was younger and crawled with his fists clenched tight

and carried things around in his hands all day.... When I was able to do it

often enough it did seem to help. He hated it at first, but then he got to

a point where he would bring me the brush and shove it in my hands and yell

" brush! " I would recommend having an occupational therapist who is trained

in this method show you how to do it properly (otherwise you'll be wasting

your time and driving your child nuts in the process!)

Donna