Question:
My 27 month old son has just been diagnosed as autistic. I am
currently living abroad in Croatia and services are minimal at best
here for him. Fortunately my permanent address is in Pennsylvania so
i am thinking of going home to get him in an early intervention
program. I would like to hear of any one's experiences with the
program. He was developing normally until about the age of 2, and now
can only say 3 words. He is starting to show some of the sterotypical
behavior, spinning in circles, jumpinp up and down , arm waving,
staring at lights. He only relates to me, and is very affectionate.
My biggest fear is watching him deteriorate further. Does this
normally happen?
I dont have much info here. Any advice would be appreciated.
thanks roni
Answer:
At the age 2 mostly I think therapists would come to your house. If
you look into lovass type programs they are where a therapist comes to
your house and works with your child and supposedly will teach language
and simple skills like counting ect and then move on to more difficult
things as time passes. In different states the early intervention
programs are different as far as what they will provide.
Usually there is some kind of screening process that the Agency will
do to see if your child is language delayed and they would consider
your child "at risk" and then get the services going... Sometimes you
don't even have to have a definite Diagnosis for the child to obtain
services below the age of 3 in some states.
Usually pre school starts at 3 yrs old and some parents will enroll
the child at that age to a school for special needs children. Not all
parents do that though and prefer to have a in home program.
well it's been awhile since I have been at this stage with my
son who is 9 but, I remember being told to slow down my speech when I
talk to my child and to use alot of visual cues, like draw a picture to
explain something I am talking about.... Also use photographs for all
the things in your house that he uses to communicate with him.
If you can find out the phone numbers on the web to the place in your
state that deals with early childhood intervention that might help you.
It might be kind of expensive though making international calls. You may
have to wait any way once you get to the states
Yes my sons vocabulary seemed to stand still mostly and not go
anywhere but there was a certain amount of regression also. My son also
went from eating a wide variety of foods to being extremely picky and
preferring only one cup to drink out of and lining up cars but not
playing with them. Later I taught him how to play using stuffed animals
like puppets and just looking for opportunities to teach him play
skills, language ect.
I wish I had more specific information for you as far as your state,
but I am in California.
