**New PDD/NOS Parent | Autism PDD
Hello to all. I am new to the forum and just wanted to say hello. I have a son (Shayden) who was recently dx with PDD/NOS in June 2007. He will turn 3 in October 2007. I can not believe how many children are dx with autisum. We are new to this and it seems very overwhelming at times,where to go, who to turn to, and what to do. We are new to the Ohio Area if anyone out there can lead me in the right direction I would so kindly appericate it. We currently have no health insurance if anyone would know of what I can do or if there is any programs that I can get him into please write me back. Thanks for taking the time to read this and hope to talk to someone soon. As you can read Im just beginning all of this and in need of some help.
Thanks again,
Shannon
My son was diagnosed at 16 months and he still only has about 8-10 words like mama, dog, Emma (his cousin), blue, hotdog, and milk. He knows about 25-30 signs but still won't use them without prompts. My son, like yours, is always on the go! He is like a little tornado in the house! He will be 3 in January and he is my joy in life- although every day is a struggle. I would for sure get him in your local school district asap to get him in the PPCD program that they will have there. It will provide speech and occupational therapies for him if they see that he needs it. They will provide him with structure, routine, and consistency which all of our ASD children need. My son starts in January and I CAN'T WAIT!!! We are doing ABA 2 hours a week and have state funded ECI services providing OT and ST now twice a week. I also try to work with my son as much as possible at home, which is hard trying to be mom and therapist. PLEASE feel free to ask questions or private message anyone who you would like to talk more in private to to ask questions or get advice- best wishes and again welcome! Wow thanks so much for all your advise. Your right I just need to stay focused and follow my heart. It is so nice to finally talk to someone who is mine my shoes. I tell things to my grandma who is 71 and i know she really dont know what im telling her. Its like when we first found out it was like Spanish to us and really still is. Thanks again and I so appericate all your help. Shannon Welcome to the group! I just wanted to say how I love your little boys name! I have never heard that name before---"Shayden"---it's beautiful! Welcome. Take a deep breath, I know it's alot to take in. Contact your school district. Tell them you have a child with an autism dx and you need to get him evaluated for services through the school. I usually try the phone first. If for some reason your school isn't responsive, you can put your request in writing and they have so many days to comply. Once your child is evaluated by the school, he can begin to receive services. The school has to provide services and you don't need any health insurance. You should also buy the book "From Emotions to Advocacy" - it's a comprehensive crash course in special education. You will need to become familiar with this. By law, parents are a part of the IEP (special education) team and need to be full participants in the decision making process around therapies, classroom placements, aides, etc. However it's tough to be an informed participant in this process and a good advocate for your child unless you fully understand what your rights are. This book helps you with that. In addition to services you will get through the school, you can augment with private therapy, or you can do therapy at home yourself. Some therapies you do yourself you can learn from a book, others you need to go for some training first. Popular therapies are ABA, DIR/Floortime & RDI. Sometimes it takes a whild to figure out what the right mix is for your child. He's only 3, and you're starting early. This is a great board. Lots of experience, lots of support. As you have questions just post them out there and the troops will rally around. You're not alone in this. Take care, Shannon, first let me say welcome to the boards. I'm not familiar with anything in Ohio, but I'm sure one of our other members will come through with a few links for you soon. I'd say your next step might be applying for SSI and/or medicaid. Medicaid isn't great insurance, but it's something at least. Also contact your local school district. Age 3 years is when the school district takes over for services. So what's your little guy like? Thank you so much Ill try to get things going with the school and see where that will lead me. Well Shayden is a very bouncy, energetic, crazy 3 year old. He wanders around our house alot and is always on the move. Our famous question is "Where is Shayden and what is he into now" but he has a heart that is filled with love! Now only if we could only just get him to tell us that, life would be great. Were waiting for the day for him to say "I Love You". He only says about 5 words and that is limited. OUCH, MA, WOW, and DA DA. Not much but its crazy because we now exatly what he wants though. This is very crazy to me. I have 2 older children who are ok. I have heard alot about this gluten /ceasin diet??? Have you ever tried it before? It seems real great!! Shayden only will eat about 5 things...thats it. I fill like he is going to strave to death but he wont even try things at times. He loves milk and it seems to be mostly bread products that he eats. No meat at all. Well im sorry to give you all this at once. I did see the pictures of your boys HOW CUTE!! How are things are your end? Thanks for being my ears tonight. Shannon Ahh Shannon, Take a deep breath girl. I've not done GF/CF with either of my boys because if I totally eliminated wheat products, their diets would consist of pepperoni and fritos. I have taken away the cow's milk though. I saw an bit of an improvement with Brendon's behavior after. I never gave Jacob cow's milk so I don't know how he'd tolerate it. I also took Brendon off of artificial sweetners and red dye. Now he sleeps instead of staying awake 3 days straight. The only advice I can really give you is go with your heart. You know your child better than anyone else does. If you feel that GF/CF might work, you might want to try it. I've had to learn many life lessons on this journy that I've been lead on. That's the one that's really stuck with me. I have to go with my heart on any decision I made regarding my boys. My heart told me to learn ABA because there were no therapist here. My heart told me to quit working so that I could do this for my boys even though we're always broke. Even though we have to depend on my parents alot for survival type things, I'm here for my boys. That's what my heart told me to do. Welcome to the forum. Here's a topic on our forum with links to various websites where you can search for various specialists, services and support groups in your area. http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=19141&am p;KW=expert Good luck with everything. Hi ,Welcome to the board, My son was dx'd at 3 as well,he is 6 now and has come so far ,I wish i had found this board when he was newly dx'd I would not have felt so lost. I'm from Canada, so I can't help with services , Besides speech,what were the other red flags your son had??,any stimming,ex..Pacing, flapping, rocking spinning, things like that,Just wondering. I never tried the diets on my ds ,but I limit his sugar and try to avoid the dye found in a lot of kids treats. God bless,Linda
The wise and wonderful folks here can probably answer any question you
throw our way, and do a little supportive hand-holding too!
You've gotten great advice that I was going to give, but others beat me to
the punch!
Medicaid, for your child especially and get your school district to evaluate
your child and place him in an appropriate pre-school. They HAVE to.
It's the law.
My kiddo receives most of his interventions at school (occupational
therapy, speech therapy, social skills, etc.) free of charge! yay! Learn
about IEPs and find out about any special ed advocates in your are to help
you through the process at the beginning. This is very important. 
Glad to have you on board, and looking forward to more posts from you
soon.
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