ST: how long before yours was "ready"? | Autism PDD
So we've started doing 2 hours of ST a week beginning a week ago. Today
was our 3rd appointment. I realize it's awfully early to be making
judgements about our therapist and/or the best way to reach our son,
but it's going badly. He acts like he wants to go (says "go see
teacher" all the time now), but when he gets there, he wants to leave
immediately or just sit and eat cookies or drink milk. He'll
participate at a bare minimum.
I'm wondering who else here has had a similar experience and how long
we should tough it out before considering a different
clinic/therapist/methodology. If he's still behaving this way after a
month (8 sessions), we're going to be pretty discouraged. I believe my
wife is already halfway to discouragement... 
Thanks all!
Mark
Thanks again for all of the input! We will give it a solid month.
And thanks to you, ames, for input from the ST perspective! Our ST
doesn't seem worried about our son's reluctance to warm up, so I'm
guessing she's seen all of this before. I'll ask her about all this
tomorrow -- our Thursday appointment got bumped to Wednesday and it's
my turn this time.
It makes me sooo happy to hear that our children are getting speech therapy! While we were ending our session today, I seen how the children responded to her. Big happy smiles and even said her name...how 'bout that?! She is super with children. I believe, with all my heart, that she is the ONE to get AJ to talk. I just hope that everyone else finds a speech therapist like AJ's. One more thing, she also "includes" me in on her sessions...I believe that helps, too.
My son had a bunch of different speech and ABA therapists come to the house before he was in school and I got to know what people seem to mesh best w/ my son. For Nicholas, he responded best to people who let him take the lead in the beginning, like two to three visits and would try like at the end of a session to really work w/ him...once he got use to them he'd flee the room less, the ones that jumped right in and tried to force therapy on him didn't work out at all, it was like he'd hold a grudge and become stuborn about it. Now he works well his teacher and all his therapists thankfully, but works best with his teacher who has him figured out the best...you have to give a little to get a little LOL
best of luck!
Ali
Well in our case we're lucky because our St comes to US. And I swear that has made SOOO much difference. Ds is much diff in home than out of home. He will even be more social in his environment and give more eye contact than outside home. At first he was iffy about ST still and wouldn't look directly at her much and tantrumed a lot. Now he interacts very well most days and gives great eye contact and tantrums less. In the last 2 weeks his speech has really improved.
But everyone is diff. Some children might show improvments quickly and others probably may take much longer. It might depend on age and also severity of the asd and such. I'm not a specialist in this by any means so I'm only speculating or going off of what I've heard from other parents. Ds had a really good couple of weeks w/ ST before, then he...well I don't want to say regressed that's not the word, but he started interacting less suddenly and tantruming more and just went backwards a little like he first was w/ her. Then he got great w/ her again and the last few weeks have been amazing w/ his progress. Plus dh and I have been working hard w/ him and trying to make him talk more.
I don't have any real answers for you, except to be patient and just see what comes. I know it's hard. I'm sure it'll improve w/ time. Even nt children can take awhile sometimes to warm up to someone like a dr or babysitter or what not. Keep us updated.
Amber
Just a side note ...when Luke was having such a tough time with speech in the beginning, I wondered WHY since he usually gets along with adults pretty well. I think it's be/c the interaction with the ST is so very intense. One-on-one, using a lot of language (often not a strong suit for our children), in a room with few distractions. Kind of like if I were sitting in a small room with a very intense French-speaking person who was really trying to get to know me. I wouldn't have a CLUE what the person was saying or trying to get out of me and I'd feel pretty uncomfortable, too!
Hi Mark,
how are you and your wife confortable with the ST's approach? Does it meet your expectations? How did your son respond to her/him the first time?
I had to go through quite a few before I found the right one; in most cases, there was always something that did not quite fit with what I was expecting and Nicky was not really accommodating to them.
It was love at first sight for Nicky with his current ST...he even agreed to kiss her on his way out of her office! (She is a firm believer in sign language to open up the communication channels - now Nicky can make the basic request (more, give, etc...). We have 1 hour / week with her during which she gives me the "program" to work on for the week.
Great book as a tool: More Than Words (Sussman). We use it a lot with the little one.
My recommendation? Take your lead from your son; he will respond positively to the right one.
Take care,
Jo.
Jo --Thanks for that advice. This is exactly my fear -- that trial and error is the only way to know, and sadly, it currently looks unlikely that our son will warm up to this woman. I like her. She's very easy-going and no-nonsense. I just don't know how many more "getting to know you" sessions we can stand before we start to see work getting done!
Thanks for the input.
Mark
Mark,
Luke took about a month to 'warm up' to his current speech therapist. Initially, Luke would cry and try to leave the therapy room almost as soon as he got in there with her. He's been seeing her for just over 3 months now, and he RUNS to their therapy room and occasionally gives her kisses. He had just one visit per week for the first 2.5 mos and is now going twice per week. Good luck and I hope things improve soon.
Kellie
Kellie --
Very encouraging!
It is funny how he'll stare out the window saying "more go see teacher" (we call the ST "teacher") but when he gets there it's like he's in hell!
Fingers crossed we'll be in a better place next month. The place we're going to has such a great reputation, I really don't want to try to find another.
Mark
It makes me feel better to read my child is not the only one!! He says he wants to go see Miss Vicky (ST) but once we get there he asks to go potty every 5 minutes (his way of asking to be removed from the situation cuase he knows we'll listen to that request). Its SOOOOO frustrating!! I don't know if its the time of day or the therapist or the place. We've only gone 3 times (4th tonight) but I figure we are going to give it a month before making a decision to change. Hi Mark,
Hope you don't mind a reply from a speech therapist! I usually tell the parents I work with to expect the bonding process to take anywhere from the first session to about a month into therapy, depending upon how often per week the child is being seen. Children can often "test" the therapist during the first few sessions to see what they can and can't get away with :)! It is also during these first few sessions that new expectations are placed on the kids, which could set off some negative behaviors/reactions initially (such as the amount of time spent on a particular task, staying in seat for as long as possible, the appropriate time to move to the floor, when to reward, etc). One thing you might want to try is to bring a favorite toy or activity with you to speech therapy. Give this to the therapist to use either as an ice breaker OR as an incentive to complete the tasks the therapist has in mind. It must be awfully frustrating as a parent to see your child be so excited to go to speech one minute, but want to leave the second he/she gets there. How about reading a social story before going to therapy sessions (I am pretty sure there are links to social stories pages somewhere on this board)? That might help. I would also recommend, like the above posters, to go with your gut. Sometimes therapists and clients aren't an exact match, and that is okay. Talk with your current speech therapist about your concerns. If she is a good therapist, she will listen to your concerns, try a different approach, and if all else fails, refer you to another therapist or agency that may be better suited. Good luck to you!
Anytime Adam has switched therapists it usually takes him about a month to adjust to the change and then he will usually work pretty well. See that is the thing here though....it is "work" and Adam knows it..LOL So there are still days where he may be having an "off" day and won't perform as well because he just doesn't want to.
Karrie
Hi hi....Yup yup.... Zach too.... His first speech lesson was HORRIBLE, OMG the tantrums were bad.... it actually was the first time i ever saw what a real meltdown was. And it was the first clues to me taking the road to get Zach diagnosed.... up till that first session i still thought Zach was just a lil' slow. His speech therapist at his last session actually said to me, "I thought you were going to call and tell me not to come back again." I laughed and said no way, because i knew if Zach reacted that way He needed the help.... By the 3rd week He was warming up to her and He was loving her by his last session with her he would cry whenever it was time for her to leave. (She was with Early INtervention and now He's in school with a different ST)
We learned from Zach's psychologist after He was diagnosed that things similiar to his first speech lesson will always happen when we start to introduce him to new learning experiences. And it did at school yesterday (his first day). It is overwhelming for him.... and the expectations are set at a much higher bar than what my husband and i were setting for him, although *smiles* that has changed.... We were coddling Zach way too much, not giving Him enough credit.... using the excuse that He didn't understand. BULL!!!! He understands a whole heck of a lot more than i thought He did. He's actually very very smart. Just can't tell me that *laughs*
My advice.... give it time.... a month is a good marker like everyone else said.... If things don't change by then.... tell the ST it's not working out and we need to find someone who can connect with our son.... Heh, don't be discouraged by that... I had to fire half of Zach's therapy team in May.... His OT therapist and his special ed teacher. Good luck.
Thanks again all! Today was appointment 4 and lo and behold, he was (trying) to say her name by the end of the appointment (if only to say goodbye!)! I'd call that improvement! He still would rather eat cookies than deal with the therapist, but I see him inching towards her emotionally, ever so slowly. We already have more hope today than yesterday.
My daughter LOVES her ST and gets excited when she comes (although her way of showing it is standing there staring in space and smiling for a minute before running to the baby gate that leads upstairs to the therapy/play room). And my ST uses ALOT of floortime so it is a relatively fun time for DD. Even still, within the course of one session she will go from totally engaging with ST to totally ignoring one or both of us.... it's getting better, though, we rarely have tantrums or screaming in ST session any more! However, she is still nonverbal except for "no" and "uh-oh" (we are working on communicating with pictures) so it is hard for me to tell what she really feels about anything.
I think these kids are sometimes slow to warm up or respond to anyone - DD ignores me and her Dad sometimes too! If he's responding to her at all, I'd give her a chance if you like her methods!
Hang in there!
I'm so glad that today went better for him! Acting interested in her at all is a huge deal so it's a good step forward. Keep us posted. Rachel screeech_2001: since my St comes to our home for ds's sessions, I am there w/ him and I think, like you, that it does help. If I ever feel that I am being more a distraction I leave the room, but especially at first I think that me being there is partly what kept him from flipping out totally. Glad you found a great ST for you son! Amber In response to JillNJake: Cookies rule! Jo. I was hoping it would start to work out. That is wonderful I pray it keeps going well as it is so important. Amber That's wonderful!!
Best of luck with the OT today, Rachel
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