Intro

jenna3016

Hi, my name is Jenna, and my son was diagnosed with autism, today. 

He is just over three years old.  He was diagnosed by a Behavioral Pediatrician, and she recommended ABA therapy. 

I have ordered the book by Coplan - Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Create the Brightest Future for Your Child with the Best Treatment Options

Our local school district has specialists on staff for their Early Childhood Education program, and he has already been evaluated, and accepted into the program, but he has not started attending, yet.  We are not sure exactly what assistance for which he will qualify, but the ball is rolling.

In hindsight, I am not surprised by the diagnosis, and H & I did see a few signs.  We thought he just a had a speech delay, though, and it was hard to hear an actual diagnosis. 

Anyway, I am sure I will have more questions as I process all of this new information.

kcisthebombdotcom

Welcome! I have a little girl your sons age and she was dx in December. It seems there are quite a few of us here.

jenna3016

KC_13 said:

Welcome! I have a little girl your sons age and she was dx in December. It seems there are quite a few of us here.

Are you seeking some sort of therapy for your daughter?

kcisthebombdotcom

jenna3016 said:

KC_13 said:

Welcome! I have a little girl your sons age and she was dx in December. It seems there are quite a few of us here.

Are you seeking some sort of therapy for your daughter?

She was in early intervention from 17 months-3 and started preschool in January. She's made lots of progress.

hopanka

Hello and welcome! My DS did two years of intensive ABA between ages 3 and 5. It taught him a lot. Good luck, it looks like you have a good plan to start with.

jenna3016

hopanka said:

Hello and welcome! My DS did two years of intensive ABA between ages 3 and 5. It taught him a lot. Good luck, it looks like you have a good plan to start with.

About how many hours a week for the ABA therapy?  Is your son in therapy, now?

hopanka

jenna3016 said:

hopanka said:

Hello and welcome! My DS did two years of intensive ABA between ages 3 and 5. It taught him a lot. Good luck, it looks like you have a good plan to start with.

About how many hours a week for the ABA therapy?  Is your son in therapy, now?


He graduated ABA. He had a full load until 5 yo, though. He had an ABA BII with him at preschool daily for 4 hrs, plus in-home ABA for 2-3 hrs. So, about 6-7hrs a day total. If you figure in 2 additional hrs of ST and 2hrs of OT a week at a clinic, that is pretty much a full time job for a little kiddo. About 40 hrs of therapy per week. It was kind of insane, but very worth it in hindsight.

He is 8 yo now and doing pretty well overall. We are running into some academic challenges now, though, as courseload gets tougher, but it is also getting tougher for NT kids from what I talked to other parents.

It's a long distance run, for sure, but in comparison to what we were dealing with at 3 yo and now - it is much easier now.

funchicken

Welcome to the board!

MirandaHobbes

Welcome- there are a lot of us here. My son was diagnosed at 20 months and we, too, just thought it was a speech delay. It took us a full year to really come to appreciate and accept the diagnosis. We still went ahead with  private ST and public EI (group setting about 10 hours a week). At 3 we added a private social skills class 10 hours a week. Our dev. pedi didn't recommend ABA for whatever reason, but his other therapy served him well. He's in kindy now in a mainstream room with an aide who helps him and the other couple ASD kids in his class. I remember being told very early on that academics would be a bright spot for us when DS was in K-3 and that's turning out to be very true. He's such a literal thinker and has such a good memory that things like learning to read and do math are enjoyable for him. This has made the transition to kindy a bit easier.

bumpuser511563

Welcome to our board!

august06mom

Welcome! DS2 turns 3 next week and is dxed HFA. He receives 10 hours ABA and 45 min OT a week. He also attends a preschool/daycare with NT kids 12 hours a week. He has made huge progress.

lite-bright

Welcome! Glad to see you made it over here. 

jenna3016

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.