Intensive therapy up to age 5 (and beyond in my humble opinion *smiles*) is the only proven thing to show results in our children... and i do think it is great and the best way to go... BUT with doing therapy like this... you need to become a very good juggler.... For instance with Zach even though he was non-verbal till this Past Jan./Feb. we aren't doing any ST therapy with him, because during his ABA therapy they work on his speech a lot... A lot of his behavioral therapy is based on him being able to communicate his frustration rather than tantrum it out. His OT therapy is only once a week right now because what we do as a family often is very muscle based... I guess what i've found out is that.... just because it's "therapy" doesn't mean it can't be fun or a family activity... like i take Zach and bounce Him on his big ball.... while doing it i go ... "ready, set...* pause* get him to say Go... then as a reward i bounce him on the ball a few times ... i do this with 1,2,3 and use other phrases too like.. "tell me" and try to get him to say bounce. See this way Zach is getting sensory therapy and speech and He has no clue that this is "work" its fun to Him He's playing with me.
I also wanted to add... for the moms here who are having an issue with intense therapy.... look into Floortime therapy. It's mildly intensive... but it's completly play based. Zach's in-home therapy provider are ABA centered, but they pull from a variety of different therapy approaches and Floortime is one of them. The Basic idea of it is that... You get on the Floor with your child 5,6,7 times a day for 30 minutes to an hour and play... you let your child lead the activity... and then focuse the playing around things you want to work on... *laughs* this is sord of my adaptation of it... but i do different things with Zach right now sometimes we work soley on speech things, sometimes soley on OT, sometimes on socialization.. taking turns and such, sometimes on imaginative play, a lot of times i do a combination of different things... speech, OT, taking turns....but i always let him pick out what He wants to do... and then i choose what we will focus on. Zach won't start in-home intensive therapy for a lil' while as we are waiting for the stupid funding to be approved by the state
Obviously, we are the best judges in how to balance the therapies and needs of our autistic child with the needs of the marriage and the family. I am still new to this so I do have long road ahead...but I expect life to be throwing me curve balls to keep our lives much more...exciting, ie my #2 (ds) was diagnosed w/ language delay and has sensory issues. So now we have the fun task of taking both our autistic dd and language delayed ds to ST and OT - we are still trying to figure out how we will physically be able to do it since we have no family around to help.
[QUOTE=ZachiesMom]
Intensive therapy up to age 5 (and beyond in my humble opinion *smiles*) is the only proven thing to show results in our children... and i do think it is great and the best way to go... BUT with doing therapy like this... you need to become a very good juggler.... For instance with Zach even though he was non-verbal till this Past Jan./Feb. we aren't doing any ST therapy with him, because during his ABA therapy they work on his speech a lot... A lot of his behavioral therapy is based on him being able to communicate his frustration rather than tantrum it out. His OT therapy is only once a week right now because what we do as a family often is very muscle based... I guess what i've found out is that.... just because it's "therapy" doesn't mean it can't be fun or a family activity... like i take Zach and bounce Him on his big ball.... while doing it i go ... "ready, set...* pause* get him to say Go... then as a reward i bounce him on the ball a few times ... i do this with 1,2,3 and use other phrases too like.. "tell me" and try to get him to say bounce. See this way Zach is getting sensory therapy and speech and He has no clue that this is "work" its fun to Him He's playing with me.
I also wanted to add... for the moms here who are having an issue with intense therapy.... look into Floortime therapy. It's mildly intensive... but it's completly play based. Zach's in-home therapy provider are ABA centered, but they pull from a variety of different therapy approaches and Floortime is one of them. The Basic idea of it is that... You get on the Floor with your child 5,6,7 times a day for 30 minutes to an hour and play... you let your child lead the activity... and then focuse the playing around things you want to work on... *laughs* this is sord of my adaptation of it... but i do different things with Zach right now sometimes we work soley on speech things, sometimes soley on OT, sometimes on socialization.. taking turns and such, sometimes on imaginative play, a lot of times i do a combination of different things... speech, OT, taking turns....but i always let him pick out what He wants to do... and then i choose what we will focus on. Zach won't start in-home intensive therapy for a lil' while as we are waiting for the stupid funding to be approved by the state
Tamika
Since he is going to OT, he obviously has sensory issues. Maybe the schedule that you have him on is just too much for him to handly physically or emotionally.
I do believe that a child can get too much therapy to his detriment and the detriment to his family. You have to find a balance that you can accomodate that doesn't cause damage to your bank account and your family. We made this mistake w/ my daughter. We focused so much time and energy on her when she first had speech problems (that eventually resulted in an Autism Diagnosis) that we neglected our son. Who was just last week evaulated by early intervention and needs to see a ST and OT because he has sensory issues and language delay. We had our concerns, but never acted on them because we were so focused on our daughter.
In fact, we were so focus on her that we never enjoyed ourselves as a family when the entire process began for us. Now we have realized this and have cut back. She is actually making more progess now than she did when we first started because much of our family enjoyment is centered around getting her (and our son) to communicate and socialize w/ us.
Thank you for the input ladies. From what I read, they say that 20hrs. per week of ABA is standard. Along with the Speech, OT and PT. He also needs feeding instruction because yes as you both have guessed, he has some major sensory issues. Me and my husband both work so we can not give him all the attention during the day that he needs. I do see what you mean about family time. My 6yo is having some behavioral issues since Dylan was diagnosed. Any idea how to deal with that?
Tamika
Maybe you and DH can each take your 6 yr old out for 1 on 1 time w/ each of you for half a day. It can be as simple as taking him to the park, swimming or just to the mall to play games and eat ice cream. Or do something that loves. This will allow him to and you/ DH to get a break from all the therapies and enjoy yourselves. Then maybe you can take a day where the entire family can do something fun like go to the lake/ beach or have a 'special' day at home (if your youngest doesn't do well w/ transitions or has sensitivity issues) where there is no therapy and just enjoyment - such as having BBQ and set up games in the back yard....
Sometimes we all just need a break so we can get refreshed, kwim?
[QUOTE=tmikucki]
Thank you for the input ladies. From what I read, they say that 20hrs. per week of ABA is standard. Along with the Speech, OT and PT. He also needs feeding instruction because yes as you both have guessed, he has some major sensory issues. Me and my husband both work so we can not give him all the attention during the day that he needs. I do see what you mean about family time. My 6yo is having some behavioral issues since Dylan was diagnosed. Any idea how to deal with that?
Tamika
[/QUOTE] Little byrd, I couldn't agree more! Very well said. I think it is easy to get so caught up in trying to help our kids, that we forget they are kids sometimes! They will only get this childhood once, and while I want my children to be prepared for life, I want them to enjoy this time for what it is. Just playing can be GREAT therapy, and you don't need to follow someone else's instrucions on how to play with your kids to help them.
Hi all,
Our son was just diagnosed with Autism. I have started home based therapy for him. Is there such a thing as too much therapy? He's receiving ABA 5 days 2 hours each. Speech 4 days 1/2 hour each. OT and PT 2 days each 1/2 sessions. There will be another 10 hours of ABA in September when he starts center based therapy. Along with another speech and one more of OT and PT. Again, he is only 2 but he is non verbal. The tantrums are starting to increase and are getting worse. Will therapy help? Is there anyone who tried intensive therapy?