Therapeutic approaches for autism

My four year old son, Kaleb, was diagnosed with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on March 17, 2005. His official medical diagnosis is PDD-NOS, which mean Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified. This is the diagnosis people get when they don’t quite fit the full criteria for Autism or Asperger’s Disorder. Asperger’s is considered the mildest form of autism. Individuals with Asperger’s have normal language development. Kaleb’s language is behind his peers, so he doesn’t have normal development. However, his language is not quite as severe as someone with autism proper. He does have repetitive behaviors and most of the criteria for autism. He probably will also be diagnosed with ADHD. He has sensory integration problems and difficulty interacting socially.

The doctor who diagnosed Kaleb was Dr. Richard Solomon based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has developed a therapeutic approach based on Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s floortime method. Throughout most of Michigan this floortime model can be accessed through something called P.L.A.Y. Project. A trained professional comes into the home to help build goals and strategies for parents. The parents actually do the therapy. The professional video tapes and reviews with parents play therapy sessions. Parents can see how they are doing and the progress that’s being made. Before this new approach most people with ASD, relied on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) for the bulk of the therapy. This is a behavioral approach that requires lengthy evaluations and charting that is very cumbersome, but has been proven to be a reliable method for building skills. However, what the floortime method does that ABA doesn’t is build relationships that help the child with ASD begin to interact with the outside world. One year ago our son Kaleb could not tell us if he was hurt or sick. He would just cry, whine, or just be lethargic. We would have to guess based on his non-verbal behavior and by scanning his body up and down. It was just like an infant. Floortime also is much easier for parents to use, although it requires some physical and emotional stamina. Generally, it’s a fun approach and does not require much charting or graphing. There are opportunities to build skills, but the main focus is increasing the child’s ability to interact and relate emotionally with first his or her family, and eventually the world outside the family. It’s great to have a child be able to dress himself, but it’s more important for parents to know how their child is feeling. We want to know if the child needs comforting, a trip to the doctor’s, or a drink of water.

There are some parents who are following the research on certain foods and nutritional supplements as an additional form of therapy. As soon as I can I’ll post the different web sites with some of this information. The problem with this special diet approach for our son is that it is very difficult to get him to eat anything. He eats rather well compared to other autistic children. Getting a meal down him is the main focus. If we placed him on a special diet, he wouldn’t eat. Kaleb will starve himself before eating something he absolutely detests. He’s almost worse than a cat. I do think there is some validity to this diet information, but I want Kaleb to eat. It’s difficult keeping him at a reasonable weight level. He isn’t underweight, but he certainly is at the low end of the curve for where he should be weight wise, based on his age and height.
Well, this is my post for this week. I don’t know what next week’s posting will be about. Whatever is on my mind at the time