Developmental therapy comes to the house and today they provided this feedback...
"Nea came right over to play and did a nice job using words; both repeating and naming."
Woohoo!!!
That's some big steps for my girl. It's great that Nea walked over all on her own to begin playing with "J". (For the record I'm using all these therapists initials because I haven't talked to them about their names in a public blog. You won't see any therapy pics either until I talk to them.)
What I'm noticing now is that the therapists are doing more "pushing" with Nea and changing goals. That's also a good thing. They've spent the better part of 3 months building a relationship with her and gaining her trust. Don't get me wrong, they were working and it all served a purpose. But now, I get the impression that things are going to shift ever so slightly to take Nea to the next level. "D" said to me, "I'm going to start pushing her a little more. She's going to get frustrated a little more." And I also note in the developmental therapist's note today
"....her frustration level was low and we had to push to complete a few tasks."
Pushing is okay. Pushing allows for growth. Meltdown into oblivion gets no one anything. It's a fine line we walk!
I just had this conversation with my Mom this evening. We work really hard to PREVENT the meltdown. Because in reality, once we get to DefCon 10.....it's all over anyway. This is why the sign language is very important. There is power in being able to communicate. Nea's surroundings and sensory issues don't allow her much power at all. And damn, it can be frustrating for her! So being able to communicate with us is paramount in helping her feel in control of her environment. She has "help" and "please" down very well. We are working on the sign for "yes" and "no." Even though she can say no, being able to connect words with a sign will help us in the future. I'm not naive enough to think a meltdown will never happen (because, heck even without the Autism, the fact remains that she is 2!), but understanding how we get there in the first place is my responsibility as her parent.
Someone asked me this question, and I thought about it for a long time.
"Why are we seeing more Autism?"
In the things that I've read, it doesn't seem like there is a rise but more so a better understanding. CNN put out this report in April to discuss some of the most recent findings. There is some concern about the data collection pieces, but the moral of the story is..."if it is...then let's figure out why" and "regardless if it is or isn't these families still need services early."
If you are reading this, and you think your child may be showing signs I implore you to seek out information. Autism Speaks has this screening tool available to parents and caregivers that you can do right on line. You can answer the questions and then discuss them with your physician. A developmental pediatrician is the expert in this field and can do detailed testing to determine if your child has Autism. The VERY next thing out of his/her mouth is what services are available to you.
Of this I am certain..... Of everything I've read and reviewed, the one single thing that is common in ALL discussions is....
"the earlier the services, the better the outcome"
In my experience in special education, the increase in diagnosis went along with a broadened definition of which disorders fell under the autism spectrum label, paired with greater awareness on the part of parents and educators about what to look for. I also have a friend who is a school psychologist that says that she read a study that theorized that people with Asbergers and other less severe forms of ASD are often found in careers such as computers, and that in the past the "nerds", with all of their awkward social skills, were not desirable as mates. Now, with the rise of tech culture and the acceptance of geekiness as cool, more and more people with autism are getting married and having children. With the genetic component, that increases the likelihood of children being born with autism.
ReplyDeleteThanks Heather! I think that's very interesting as well. I do remember reading about the genetic component. That's all very fascinating as Nea's Poppa would be in the "nerd" category for sure!!
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