Thanks a and another question

[Guest guest]

Joyce , Our 6yr old asd daughter has been busing since she was 2 and she does

great even though she was completely non verbal when we started and only has

a little meaningful speech.

Hope this helps, Valarie in ca

[Guest guest]

a, I cannot describe what I'm feeling right now. I have tried

other groups that focused on children with the Autistic Spectrum, PDD,

or Aspergers but I always felt like something was missing. I am so

very thankful I have found this group - I feel like I can really

connect and that you all understand exactly where I'm coming from.

I will start working on my husband right now and hopefully he will

agree when school starts in Aug. Another problem with the school is

it's a 1/2 day program and because of the distance one of us will have

to take about 1 1/2 hr. to take him then 1 1/2 to pick him up and take

him back to daycare. They provide bus service but because Jaedon does

not communicate well I'm afraid to put him on the bus. Did you have

to deal with any of this?

Thank you,

Joyce

>

> > Well husband

> > is totally against preschool program but he continues to get

speech.

>

> That is too bad, because my son was dx'd exactly as yours, and I

found that

> the preschool program taught him far more than a couple of speech

lessons.

> A child who is delayed needs both, and if there is any chance your

son is on

> the spectrum, he needs the interaction of other children to help him

along.

>

>

> >I cannot say I was thrilled with the dx from PDD to DD because my

son

> > still has some strange behaviors (e.g. high pitch screaming, some

> > behaviors look compulsive to me, outburst of rage towards 1 yr old

> > brother). I am at my wits end and that's what lead me to the

> > positive discipline group.

>

> Other than the outbursts towards other children, my son was exactly

like

> this at the same age. He is now 5, and through " floortime " ,

preschool,

> diet, speech, ot and pt, he has made incredible strides. I tried to

not

> focus on the label, but rather I on where my son needed improvement.

For

> him, it was behavior, first, social skills second and speech third.

He is

> now only 6 months behind his peers, and I'm more than pleased.

>

> >My first concern is what is my child going to

> > eat? But secondly, I've been wondering if some of this strange

> > behavior could be connected to his severe allergies? He has a

follow

> > up appt. next week but I thought the more info I have the better.

>

> Well, its tricky but you will have to become accustom to making more

foods

> from scratch and relying on only a handful of mixes or packaged

foods. I

> found it was harder to go corn free. As far as the behavior

improving on

> diet, yes! That was the area where we saw the most improvement. It

sounds

> hard to believe, but we've proven it over and over. Any infraction

of

> casein or gluten causes my son to become difficult. His voice gets

louder

> and he screams answers at your face, rather than use a pleasant

voice. He

> gets whiny, and becomes an overall crab! I also found that the diet

made

> his runny nose stop! It was worth it just for that.

>

> a - Madison WI mom to Alec 6.10, 5 (ASD), 3.3

[Guest guest]

My son has been riding the school bus since he was 3, and he loves

it! There is an aide on the bus for the kids. When he started

riding, my son was nonverbal. Hope this helps!

[Guest guest]

Thank you I may have to consider this as an option.

Joyce

> Joyce , Our 6yr old asd daughter has been busing since she was 2 and

she does

> great even though she was completely non verbal when we started and

only has

> a little meaningful speech.

> Hope this helps, Valarie in ca

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you - I never thought of an aide. I'll ask about that.

Joyce

> My son has been riding the school bus since he was 3, and he loves

> it! There is an aide on the bus for the kids. When he started

> riding, my son was nonverbal. Hope this helps!

[Guest guest]

Thanks for responding a. I guess my fear is that when Jaedon is

in a new/unfamiliar situation he starts yelling 'I gotta go pee

pee' and high pitch screaming. But I guess I have to let him start

developing some independence, right?

Joyce

> I didn't because my son has pretty much always spoken, it just came

in very

> slowly. However, one of my closest friends has an 8 year old, non

verbal

> son and he rode the bus to and from daycare to school. She met with

the bus

> driver ahead of time and got to know him first. He was very

receptive, and

> caring towards all the kids needs on the bus. Her son was not the

only non

> verbal child on the bus. Perhaps others can share their experiences

with

> the bus situation.

>

> a - Madison WI

[Guest guest]

Thanks Dianne, great idea!

Joyce

> I would check to see if there is an assistant on the bus as well.

If the

> school is just for " our " kids, the busing staff has to take a course

on how

> to deal with them.

> My son is 4.5 and he has been riding the bus for a year. There

is no

> law in Florida requiring an assistant, but there ususally is one,

especially

> for the preschool folk. When there wasn't one, I made calls,

emailed and

> wrote letters and got one on the bus.

>

[Guest guest]

Joyce,

I am sorry to butt in here, but I have to tell you about our situation with

the preschool bus. My five year old niece with autism has been living with

me for the past seven months. When she began preschool she had just had her

third birthday. She did not walk, talk or seem to be in the same room with

you much of the time. Emotional contact was totally on her initiation.

She loved riding the bus. Every driver she had was wonderful. It

takes a special person to drive a bus with small children, special needs or

not. Many children riding these buses are going to preschool because they

need help to prepare for Kindergarten.

Preschool was a Godsend to . She learned so much there. She

walks now, is beginning to talk, plays with other children, plays with toys

in their intended purpose, rather than spinning and starring, just much more

social. Of Course, she has had physical therapy, occupational therapy and

speech therapy at home too, but being an only child she could have NEVER made

the progress she has made with preschool.

I am not trying to tell you what you should do, I just wanted to let

you know what preschool has done for our angel. She is like a blooming

flower. She stayed in the bud stage longer than most, but it sure is

beautiful to see her pedals opening up.

I am a teachers aide and it is amazing to see the difference in

children who have been to preschool and those who have not, although, I am a

let children be children person. I think sometimes children are pushed too

much, but some children need pushing.

Sorry so long!!

Shirley

[Guest guest]

Ok this is just me but...I can't imagine putting my 3 y/o PDD daughter on a

bus. But that is just me. It is reassuring to hear others say that it is

ok for their little ones. H

[Guest guest]

> Ok this is just me but...I can't imagine putting my 3 y/o PDD

daughter on a

> bus. But that is just me. It is reassuring to hear others say

that it is

> ok for their little ones. H

I felt the same way when Dallas started school in March. I drove him

and picked him up everyday. My fear was that since he is basically

nonverbal, I wanted to leave out the go-between and felt more

comfortable dropping him off and picking him up. During those few

months, I learned how their transportation system works and I feel

confident enough to put him on the bus this year. In our district,

one of the classroom aides for JumpStart actually rides the bus, so

he will be on the bus with someone that he already knows and who

knows him and who will be in the classroom with him. I think this

will actually aide in the transition to the classroom and since he

thinks buses are pretty cool, he will feel better about leaving me in

the mornings. I hope anyway ;-)