Autism Therapies

My girls have come such a long way through various therapies. I always silently smile/cheer when someone is surprised to hear that they have Autism. We have had great success with the following therapies:

-Applied Behavioral Analysis
-Speech Therapy
-Occupational Therapy
-Physical Therapy
-Social Skills Training
-Therapeutic Listening (The Listening Program)

We also learned last year that the girls have additional disabilities beyond Autism. These incluce Auditory Processing Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Anxiety Disorder and Seizure Disorder. Many of these things were blamed for years as being part of Autism but actually are seperate. It has been amazing to watch the girls improve rapidly once we learned of the additional disorders and needs.

I'd like to dedicate today's blog to Auditory Processing Disorder and Seizure Disorder.

Madilyn has Auditory Processing Disorder. In a nutshell it takes her brain longer to process language and what is going on in the world around her. For years she would cover her ears, become anxious and at times scream. This was blamed as part of Autism. Fortunately we saw a news show about APD and decided to investigate. We took her to an Audiologist for the diagnosis. It took Madilyn nearly a year to be comfortable enough with the Audiologist for the testing. We began Therapeutic Listening nightly (music therapy) and within 6 weeks saw major improvements. In May 2008 the school system told us that Madilyn could only handle being in a regular education classroom for 20 minutes a day. We started Therapeutic Listening in August 2008 and by the end of September 2008 she was able to spend the bulk of her day in the regular ed class. She has been able to maintain placement in regular ed and now attends our neighborhood school. We had discussed the possibility of Auditory Processing with the school system and they initially blamed everything on Autism. We pushed harder and they finally did some tests to pacify us. They found that there was no problem, it was only after we went to a private audiologist that we got real answers. My point is don't rely on the school system to look for problems/solutions or test for them, the more they find the more they have to provide and they want to provide as little as possible.

Melodi has a Seizure Disorder. We noticed staring spells when she was a toddler. All of her therapists blamed the staring on Autism and/or trying to avoid therapy. We thought we were so on top of things....In Spring 2008 I saw a story on Good Morning America about kids with seizure disorders being misdiagnosed as having Autism. The message was get your kid tested just to be sure and so I immediately made an appointment with a Neurologist. The Neurologist was skeptical despite the story and a video tape of the staring that I provided. I had to push really hard for her to order an EEG. She ordered only a 45 minute EEG for Melodi. Sure enough they found that the staring spells were actually seizures. Melodi was immediately put on anti seizure medication and an MRI revealed no brain damage. We don't know why Melodi has the seizures but we do know that she became a whole new child once we got them under control. Shortly after going on the medication she began talking more than ever (she was almost 4 w/ little language up to that point). She also became more engaged in the world around her, less frustrated and she started sleeping through the night. The initial diagnosis was devastating to hear but it's been a huge blessing. We tried discussing Melodi's lack of progress and motivation as well as need for constant prompts to complete basic activities with the school system. They blamed all on the Autism and still would be doing so if we had not sought private help. I emphasize again not to rely on the schools to help you, they don't want to know all the issues because then they are obligated to help. The Neurologist told us not to expect real improvements with the "autism" but we've seen otherwise. I now tell all parents dealing with Autism to see a Neurologist and push for an EEG. You never know what they might find.

I hope that this information is helpful to someone, somewhere. Thanks for reading.