Where to seek help for 3yo with anxiety issues?
seethesmiles
member
My DS has been receiving speech therapy for several months. We suspect he has bigger issues, possibly AS, but our appt with the developmental pedi isn't until Feb 2013 (yeah, crazy wait time).
At his last speech therapy class, the therapist told me that his anxiety level is abnormal for his age and she's "very concerned." I'd like to start getting him some kind of help for this but I don't know exactly what I'm looking for.
My first thought was a behavioral therapist but we live in a very rural area and when I googled behavioral therapists within a reasonable driving distance of our house, I could only find marriage counselors and those dealing with addiction. Would an occupational therapist be helpful?
I will ask the speech therapist for recommendations next time we see her but she's on vacation for 2 weeks and this is really bothering me. I want to do something immediately!
Re: Where to seek help for 3yo with anxiety issues?
Have you tried going to your pediatrician? They can write you a referral if you request a behavioral therapist.
That is how we got ours.
To find a behavior consultant in your area, you'll want to look on the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's website. This is the certifying organization for the most credentialed behavior consultants. Their website is BABC.com. Then click "find a certificant". You'll see several different credentials listed. A BCBA must have a master's plus taken so many graduate level courses in behavior and have trained for a specific number of hours in addition to passing their board exam. A BCaBA must meet those same credentials, but is only required to have a bachelors degree. BCBAs are typically more expensive, but operate on more of a "consultative" manner and can train somebody with far less credentials (who will also be much less expensive) to really put in the leg work under their guidance. DD saw a psychologist for quite some time surrounding attachment issues from her adoption. Since she's younger and non-verbal most of the therapy revolved around me engaging her in various activities or ideas set up by the psychologist. Almost a therapy-by-proxy if you will.
Hopefully your pediatrician will be of help for local resources. Finding the root cause of the anxiety will ultimately help you determine your best course of action. If there's a chemical imbalance, meds may be introduced at some point. "Play therapy" is sometimes done by social workers or psychologists to address anxiety issues. Floortime can also be used to address for anxiety, though that's not its typical purpose. Has your speech therapist mentioned whether she sees a connections between his language delays and the anxiety. Ie. A lot of children with language delays can become easily frustrated surrounding issues in which they possess the intellect and intentions, but are not able to convey themselves adequately to get their message across. One such issue related to this that helps a lot of children is creating a schedule. Your speech therapist should be able to help you design or get more info on this. Basically the idea is that if a child doesn't know what's coming they (rightfully) would become very anxious that they essentially feel at a loss of control in their world. By implementing a schedule (and perhaps offering areas of the schedule where they are in control), they are able to have the foresight that will help them cope with the numerous transitions that happen in a day. This all goes back to needing to find out the root cause. Transition periods may be part of the issue, as this is a common time for anxiety to come up for children. But then again he may be set off by an entirely different set of issues. Having a BCBA evaluate when your son's anxiety is occuring through a Functional Behavior Assessment or interviews with you and others he is frequently around will be very valuable.
To answer this part of your question: An OT may be helpful if what looks like anxiety is actually a sensory processing issue. While some OTs focus more on fine motor skills, others are uniquely qualified to address sensory issues. Again, a behavior consultant should be able to help you determine the root cause of the problem so that you would be able to pinpoint which additional team members to bring on. (Standard FBA include a "Motivational Assessment Scale" which offers "sensory seeking" as one of the choices for why the said behavior is occurring.)