hi new member | Autism PDD

Hi Sherry Welcome to the board. There are some great links in the For Newbies to our Forums thread.... you may want to check it out. Here are just a few and there are many on Pecs as well.

Other Books.....
Autism Resources

http://www.nap.edu/books/0309072697/html/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0399523863/ref=sib_dp_pt/104 -2414085-4493562#reader-link

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1891383132/ref%3Dpd%5 Fsxp%5Felt%5Fl1/104-2414085-4493562

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/185302967X/ref =pd_sim_b_6/104-2414085-4493562?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glanc e

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0312326440/ref=sib_dp_pt/104 -2414085-4493562

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0309072697/ref=sib_dp_pt/104 -2414085-4493562

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-241 4085-4493562

thanks alot for the information. i need all of the support i can get. there is nothing close to where i live as fas as support groups. sherry

Welcome to the board Sherry. That seems to be the issue with alot of parents, the support groups, or rather, a lack of them. I know where I live at there was support groups, until the kid reaches the age of seven. I guess they figure you don't need them after that? Where they get that idea I have no clue.

Tammy

has anyone used a weighted blanket for their child. hthis was recommended to me by an ot. my son will not sleep in his bed for a short time an hour and half no matter what i try. my son has problems relating to other children instead of hugging them he will choke them not meaning too. has anyone tried aba, teaach, floor tyme with thier kids and have they responded with them. i have used signs and am trying to continue where therapists left off. any suggestions would be great. he also loves to spin in computer chair and flaps arms like crazy when excited. he loves the playground and being outdoors. sad that people that there should be support groups for parents families for children with disabilities. thanks alot. sherry

Sherry I started using a weighted blanket and weighted vest with Tyler not quite a year ago (the balnket this past January) I NEVER would have believed someone had they told me what a difference in sleep a weighted blanket would make for him! The VERY FIRST night he slept the whole night through. Its soothing, calming, and relaxing for him! The only problem I recently had with it was it being summer and him getting too warm because its made of very thick material, but I am going to have another one made with lightweight cotton material and hopefull that will take care of it. The vest has also helped to calm him during homework time and when we go places that are stressful for him. I have a pattern I can send if you are interested in making or having someone make a blanket or vest.... just PM me with an email address to send it to.

I do alot of heavy loading activities with my son, we have 2 different sized therapy balsl he sends the majority of his day on, and we also use a trampoline. The bouncing helps him regroup and re focus.... its calming for him. Maybe its the repetative movement???? He also loves to spin in the chair. The doc told me unless it really bothers me to let him do it, so I do. Incorporating some of these activities into the daily schedule helps keep him calm. Having him do some time on the ball or pull on the stretchy theraband before transitioning is also helpful in preventing meltdowns.

We did use Pecs and Teacch but it was so long ago I dont want to try to go off memory Pecs was hard for us to take the board everywhere we went, I know Teacch took a little while but he did respond very well to it in a preschool setting with the Pecs board.

Support groups problems I am finding too is they run on a school night here from like 7-9 and I don't have a sitter. Alot dont have daycare provided there and even if they did my son takes meds at 8 and starts his shower and calming activities to go to bed by 9 I can't leave at 9 and drive 1/2 an hour to get home to start his routine that late! UGH

i have a 3yr old with mild cp and autism spectrum disorder. he has just started earlychildhood last week. i am trying to get tehrapy services as outpatient since school is not going to be very aggresive with therapy he should get. i have read several books about pecs which he uses and am going to make a visual schedule that may help. he is severely delayed with speech and has sensory intergration issues. does anyone have any suggestions. thanks sherry

hi sherry, welcome. strap yourself in for a bumpy ride. we all have many suggestions about many topics. pick your issues. ask anything and we are all here to help! this is a fantastic group and we all share the same craziness that you do, so do not isolate yourself. there are no dumb questions, and we all need to vent sometimes.

glad to have you aboard!

kate

Jeffrey was using a weighted blanket at school. He calls it a burrito. But the current school didn't follow that thru. They did attempt ABA with Jeffrey for six months but wasn't getting any results. So they used pecs and sign language with him. That did help him. They also used pecs and sign language with Gabe. He was not the ideal candidate for ABA so that was not even attempted.

Now the visual schedule thing, Jeffrey still likes that. With Jeffrey we cannot put a time on the activities or he will expect to do that activity at that time. Of course this is something else the school didn't follow thru with. Also I was told recently that some parents have their kids carry laundry baskets from one room to the other with stuff in it to work on pt type issues.

Michelle I have the same problem with the support groups here. Plus some of them, the parents, let's just say too rich for my blood, lol. And you would think with the increase of kids being diagnosed , there would be more support groups that were specific to asd. Or maybe it makes too much sense to do that. I have asked why there are not any support groups once the kid is over seven. The answer I get is "good question. I will look into that." I have never, ever gotten an answer on it.

Tammy

michelle my email is sbced051801@charter.net
i would appreciate it very much if you could send me the pattern for the vest adn blanket. i was curious what kind of weight they use for the blanket. thanks for the information
tammy thanks for the information all of you guys are really helping me. i feel like i am alone on this journey. my husband is clueless and does not incorporate alot of the things we learned with therapy. i will keep in touch. sherry

Welcome sherry. This is a wonderful board to go to for support and suggestions. I like to use it sometimes just to get out something in my mind, because I know those here will listen and understand like no one else. I have a 27mth old ds being eval'd next mth. Good luck to you w/ the therapies and look forward to further chatting w/ you.

Amber

hi amber, glad to meet you. hope things go well withyour son's evaluation. keep us posted. so far this has been a great place to talk and get ideas. thanks everyone for the warm welcome. sherry hi jean and mary thanks for in put. dakota has to wear shoe inserts for his mild cp he is not great with running and jumping but likes to do both. loves the trampolinie. dakota has sensory issues trouble holding crayon, pen the right way. he does not get pt at school but i try to work with him. jean what delays does your son have? take care. sherry

Sherry,

My guy is four. He has lost all his words for now, they come and go and a few times this past few weeks he will echo back what we say. He has severe sensory issues. He also has behaviors, anxiety, severe ADHD and O / C behaviors. Now our big thing is that he has decided that he is NOT going to particpate in any kind of exam or therapy and that is that. It is going to be a long haul to overcome this behavior. He is just fine until we go to out patient therapy or even drive by the school, then it is a total meltdown with no overcoming it until you remove him from the situation. It is gonna be a loooooooooooooong school year here. The school has yet to evaluate him and they do not seem to understand that he is going to require a LOT of help and a LOT of special care.

Again, welcome to this great board!

jean i hope things get better for you. just keep fighting with the school for what your son derserves, i know it can seem like a losing battle but hang in there. keep in touch sherry Hey Sherry, First of all welcome to the board and to all this wonderful people on here.I'm sure you will find that you like it a lot here. My carlo uses visual scedules and were getting ready to start a senory diet.Were we will be using a weighted blanket and weighted lap pad. hope you like it here. take care and keep us posted on life.Mom2carlo

Sherry~

I haven't met too many who also have children w/mild CP like my Anna. (: Glad/Sad to know I am not alone.

Anna has mild CP, hypothyroidism (born w/it). And is HFA or PDD-NOS (don't know which is which yet).

What is motor delays in? Can he jump and run well? How is his fine motor skills? Anna isn't good at jumping, has balance issues, and can't skip at all and still runs w/stiff limbs. She is getting PT at school and I work w/her too. (:

~Mary

does anyone know what autism spectrum disorder involve just curious know dakota is delayed with speech gross and fine motro skills and sensory issues is there anything else to look for sherry

Welcome Sherry,

My son is 4 and sounds a lot like your son.