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.

Welcome

Thanks for coming. Where to begin....I'm supposed to be cleaning and dejunking today but I'm here instead.

I am dedicating this blog to my beautiful family and my extra special kids. I'm hopeful that the sharing of my experiences can bring laughter somedays and peace/comfort to those that might need it.

9/28/09 - Our History with Autism....

Life is good overall at the Wallace house. We have our struggles and it's not always fun to deal with the kids disabilities but we survive and the good days far outweigh the bad at this point. Our lives changed dramatically in 2005 when Madilyn was diagnosed with Autism and then again in 2007 when Melodi was diagnosed. I remember crying alot, wondering if things would ever get better. My sweet friend Laura Campbell who has two older boys with Autism would comfort me and tell me that things would get better someday. I wasn't sure I believed her but got to work. I dedicated most of my time to whatever the kids needed. Therapies are expensive, too expensive and there were times I wondered how we would do therapy x 2. Mark has a good paying job and we are very frugal by nature but still we worried. I knew I needed to help the kids but I also needed to help financially if I could so I did the paperwork for our home based business in the middle of the night. We needed $25k to send Madilyn to the special autism school for 1 year (yes you heard that right $25k). We were really blessed the year that I worked in the middle of the night to earn extra money. Our business did the best it had ever done and we were able to earn exactly $25k - funny how that happens :). Fortunately Madilyn didn't need the special schooling after all and we were able to put the money in the bank for other uses but the whole experience taught me many lessons about sacrifice, doing your very best and the tender mercies of the lord. It's been a long journey with the kids full of ups and downs, laughter and tears, worry and more worry. It's not a journey that I would have chosen myself but it's a journey that I can now look back on and in some ways cherish. It's a journey that has brought me pure joy by teaching me to appreciate the simple things and celebrate the littlest of accomplishments. It's a journey that has taught me patience, compassion and flexibility. It's a journey that has taught me to speak up and advocate on behalf of my own children and others even when it's uncomfortable or unpopular. Finally it's taught me to rely on my Heavenly Father more than ever before. The days are not as dark anymore and I'm finally able to look back and see how far we have come. We are now at the point that the girls are starting to do less therapies and more normal kids things. I am now able to help other families rather than just worry about my own. My friend Laura was right, it does get better someday.