School District and Speech Therapy | Autism PDD
I spoke to the program services and she told me I do not want my son in individual speech therapy unless he has a particular speech problem. He is essentially non-verbal and no one has been able to attain a proper assessment with him yet! He needed to be in a position where he had to talk to get what he wants. She told me a story of letting a little boy tantrum for a cookie until he said the word. Eventually, the child learned to say the word because he had too.
This sent chills up my back as he is three and now they want to promote frustration to help him speak???
My feeling is that we don't even know if he has the processing ability to retrieve words??? I was told and believe one on one speech therapy and a combination of group would help my son build a foundation then in group and class he would have that foundation.
Also, I expressed a worry over how long they wanted me to send my three year old to school. She told me I could sign something saying I did not want ABA because I did not feel it was right for my son. We just would not do ABA she said. Its not that I did not want it I wanted it provided differently.
I was told by her that they do not like using outside providors such as a regular preschool or someone else for ABA because they do receive state money for that and it has to comeout of pocket and takes a way from other kids. She also said the school district was begining to sue parents in order to get them to put their kids in the right programs. Has anyone heard of this
What have you others done along speech therapy???? ABA and so on???
Thanks so much in advance
Stephanie and Andy
Jeffrey used pecs at first. He was non verbal. He had individual speech and group speech. But he also went to a day treatment center that dealt specifically with autism/pdd-nos. Do they offer pecs there? Ask for that policy she is telling you in writing.
Tammy
Hi
Speech Therapy is what AJ NEEDS! He does TRY to talk and I KNOW he can learn. However, we also have a fight on our hands to get him the help he NEEDS. On that note, that is the reason we are willing to pay someone else to do so. She starts out with signing and goes from there. I still, however, am going to pursue the school into giving him Speech Therapy there, too. My question is...will it confuse him ??? We will be starting next Tuesday. He will be getting Speech Therapy two times a week (one on one) I FEEL, in my heart that "She" is the one who will be able to help AJ and all of us. Will TRY to keep you's posted when we start this marvelous trek.
Pssssssst PECS have not worked with AJ! He needs to SEE the "real" thing He is essentially non-verbal and no one has been able to attain a proper assessment with him yet! [/QUOTE] Frightening to think about who is in charge at these places!! You need a speech therapist to teach the child to speak. Paul had almost no words left at 2--maybe 5-10 that would come and go--and he was put in speech therapy immediately and intensely! First therapist was the let 'em get frustrated til they say it type. She saw him about 6 times (I'd leave so that I wasn't interfering). That last time I went to pick him up and she said "better session--his head banging was way down today". That's great except Paul wasn't a head banger!!!! I fired her--began the road of learning that I'm still on and went to someone else, who had a 2 way mirror for observation, and who connected, cajoled, rewarded, etc. It took only a few months for Paul to get back the language he had lost--50 words or something like that. And we built from there w/ the ot doing si the entire way. jeeeeeeez! these things get my blood boiling. pat ps I totally agree with the say it or you don't get the reward thing once you've got a program going--great! But that's not a place to start! Yea..i understand what mypaul is saying here. With Adam he has always been somewhat verbal so when we would use rewards to get him to speak..we already knew it was possible for sound to come out. We also started out with more simple language like for instance..he learned the sign for "give" first to get the reward...then we prompted him to verbal "give" then after that went on to the actual word for what ever he wanted us to "give him" etc. It was a process. I agree that it's not a place to start especially if a child is not verbal at all. I would think it would cause more frustration if they dont' understand what you expect from them. I'm not a professional though so what i say might not mean a thing here. lol Karrie I agree w/ the other posters. Get the policy in writing. And I agree that upon your written request, they are legally bound to provide you with an independent evaluation and they pay for it. After that, I'd request in writing another IEP meeting to reevaluate his needs. I'd bring all the reports indicating he does have problems w/ language and is in need of the services. That is crap that they aren't going to place him in ST because that is not there procedure. I'd also check your state statutes to see what protections he has. Where I live, children w/ autism are guaranteed ST, but their IEP has to say the child has Autism. I am in a similar situation in that I did not have dd's ADOS results at the time of the IEP meeting and we had to rely on the school's system's evaluation as well as evaluations from STs and OT. I could not challenge their findings that my daughter was at the level of a 37 mo old in social skills because she followed directions and interacted w/ her. I told the lady that for the 45 min you evaluated her, you did all of her fav activities - painting, jumping, sorting, etc. Of course she is going to give you her full attention. Yet the lady neglected to mention that she did not respond to her name 50% of the time. Yesterday, I submitted my written request asking for an independent evalaution and requesting that her ADOS be accepted into her record and she be classified as Autistic instead of developmentally delayed. We have 2 mo of ST (prepaid by in-laws) so I am going to make sure she gets ST. The point is to be the squeaky wheel. Is there an organization in your state that helps parents w/ IEP and manuevering through the schools system on behalf of children w/ disabilities. You ought to find out because they would be knowledgeable about the laws and the rights of your child. Our of curiosity, does is IEP state that he is classfied as having Autism?
school, and we took him to individual private therapy at Cal State
Northridge Speech and Language center. The group therapy is very good
for helping them build social skills, but they also need the one on one
that individual therapy provides. Now, six years later, he get 1/2 hour of
group each week at school that works entirely on pragmatics and social
skills.
we also had ABA for a short time through FEAT of MN. i wasnt too
thrilled about it. the therapist suggested i give her an m&m
everytime she spoke, for positive reinforcement. he said i need to
carry around m&m's in my pocket all day long. so i asked "if she
learns to speak this way, will i have to give her m&m's for talking
for the rest of her life? will everybody around her have to carry
m&m's?" and he said "yep." ABA didnt last too long, and i found my
own (non-food!) reinforcements for her that worked out better. now, she
is not getting ABA at school. only OT and ST.
Oh lord, I completely agree with Tammy, get that policy in writing!!!
And DON'T let them bully you either...that whole business about suing parents...what a crock! You have every right to attain whatever services your child needs! Who cares if he doesn't help their profit margin!!! Speech Therapy was invaluable to us...so I'd highly recommend it, and maybe I don't quite understand what their problem is, but first, get an official dx, and second, YOU decide what would work best for your child....you really do know best! I don't understand how they don't see there is a speech problem if he's non-verbal?!?!?! (by the way, frustration will totally close off my son, it will not help at all, so that practice would only do harm for us!)
Good luck!
~Lesley[QUOTE=andysmama]
Oh yeah....ask the school district for a list of "Independent Education Evaluators". If they are not able to obtain a proper assessment, they have a duty to get one from an independent provider...it is part of the law, they don't like to 'cuz it costs them money, but by law they have to, especially if they've admitted they haven't gotten one yet. (Nolo's IEP Guide is a great resource to have...will instruct what can and can't be done by the school, and how to request these services. Also check out www.wrightslaw.com)
Again, good luck to you and Andy!
Yes--definitely get their policy in writing. Next time you speak
with her have her supervisor there also. As for "suing" parents,
I think she should be worried about you suing 
them for not providing the services to your son.
Stand your ground--you are your son's voice at this time--you know better what he needs.
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