5 Yr Old Has ASD

There is an Aspergers High School in Moraga and their website also has good info. Tuition is very expensive ($25,000 a year), and 50% of the kids have their tuition paid under their special ed programs. Imagine the state of CA paying for your child's $25,000 a year private school education. Plan early- the waiting list is very long.

http://www.orionacademy.org/
There is also a program in San Ramon that my daughter attended, excellent class that teaches social skills in a Friendship Club. We paid out of pocket, several schools pay for the service. They also have many summer school programs for these wonderful kids!

http://www.sandiefrawley.com/
http://www.questcamps.com/

You may also want to read "The Bipolar Child" book, our doctor recommended it and it has great info on documenting the behavior and how to handle the rages. Our doctor also recommended supplements called "Kid Calm," "Calm Child," or "TeenLink."

We left private medical insurance (the meds were over $4,000 a month and we had a big co-pay) and joined Kaiser. Now meds cost us $15 a month, the counseling is excellent and their autism program has a 6 month waiting list. Recommend Dr. Rao and Dr. Manning in Pleasanton.

Finally, get some help for yourself. I joined a womens 12-step program for codependents. At first I didn't understand why I was there, and later I understood that raising a raging child is sometimes like living with an alcoholic. The classes and support really helped.

Blessings on your FAITH WALK!

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My 10.5 year old has severe autism. It has been my experience that he has not really 'outgrown' any of his behaviors without significant intervention. We have used ABA, Floortime and medication. Each has played a vital role in his development.

Without his medication, he would not be ready to learn how to behave and how to relate. Without Floortime, he would not have the desire to interact with people. Without ABA, he would not have the discrete trial practice to learn how to behave and to interact with people.

Combined with this is a lot of prayer, OT, S/LT and PT. He improves over time but I'm beginning to (sadly) think that he will never appear normal and will always demand some kind of intensive support.

But every child is different and every child responds differently to every type of therapy. It's been my experience that what works well for one child may have no affect on another child. Of course, what works well for that child won't impact the first child. The trajectory for one child rarely predicts the path and/or speed at which another child develops.

The only thing that remains the same across childen, across ages and across therapies is that the parents must remain informed and involved. Be supportive or be confrontational but be there.

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Dear J., My ten year old son was diagnosed with ASD this year. Another name as you may know is Asperger's Syndrome. I raally reccommend the tapes and books of Dr. Tony Atwood, an expert from Australia. His materials give you hope and direction,and other important resources like Carol Gray's materials for social skills. My guy was in a special class for preschool and a regular Christian preschool at four. This was because of Auditory and Speech issues. In kindergarten and first grade, he went part day to the special class and part day to the regular classroom. He has never had an aide. In second through fourth, he has been in a regular classroom, but due to immaturity with his social skills plus a late birthday, we did fourth grade again this year. It has gone well, but we keep working at the next skill. Next year we will have a specific teacher with an organized classroom with our IEP, or we may use private school. Each year we talk and pray for the best situation looking at all the factors, and the special person our son is. When I am told things about how he will be in the future, I have to remember that only God knows what he can do and be, and if I try to worry about it all, I get discouraged. Get as much information as you can about your resources, and grab all the positives about your awesome young man, and trust God to show you each step of the way. I believe when we are given bigger challenges in our children it is because He trusts us more not less to walk in love through our challenges. Our son is a amazing, and fun person, growing and maturing as best he can. Our job is to love and grow with him. Your family will be in our prayers.

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My son's behavior improved remarkably after treating his "leaky gut" (horrible digestive conditions due to mercury and measles viruses). He had less gas, inflammation,and pain.
The enzymes, probiotics, calostrum and omegas, helped to heal his condition. He improved as he was on the detox program to dump the heavy metals from his body. He has been the best behaved little boy since kindergarten.
Many of the children's behaviors are because they are in pain or in neurological distress. Yeast infections are known to give kids tons of behaviors as well.
Good luck.

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I am a teacher that has a high functioning autistic child in my classroom and this is what I have learned as a result of having him. Hope this helps.As he gets older he should be able to recognize when he is feeling angry and be able help control himself. I would recommend starting him off right away with charts----identify the feeling, identify why he felt that way and what happened as a result. Then, if it was a negative result, chart with him what some better choices would have been and the result of a better choice. Do this for all negative behavior, but also do it for positive behavior as well. And when you do this, sit NEXT to him so he can look at the paper. I know he can't read right now, but you want to avoid talking directly at him because then he will feel you are confrontational and that is too many sensory stimuli coming at him. Obviously, the behavior will not change overnight but you will have to keep at it. Eventually he will learn to recognize his feelings and begin to make better choices, especiaslly if you always sit down and do this activity.

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J.
You are a step ahead!!! You have an early diagnosis and a one-on-one aide early in your son's school career!!!
I was a one-on-one aide for a high functioning Autistic young man. He had received services from the time he was 3 - he was not diagnosed at the time, but there were major behavior issues. He was in a self-contained classroom through third grade (as far as the self-contained Autistic classroom kept the kids). In 4th grade he was in a self-contained resource room with all sp ed classifications, one teacher, one aide, and 12 kids. Evidently it was awful. "My" student has awesome parents. After 4th grade all students were expected to be main-streamed. "My" student's parents advocated for a one-on-one aide. I worked with a private contractor who specialized in discrete trials and behavior programs as well as the regular ed teacher, the resource teacher, and (my to the chagrin of the school district) the parents. And I used my own educational background, training and instincts to meld these together. I was with this young man all through 5th grade and transitioned him up 6th grade which is in the middle school. He was able to handle letting other people touch and check his student planner, pass papers, hear the intercom without cursing out the principal, handle fire drills, handle Picture Day, handle losing a game on the playground, handle walking in a crowded middle school hallway, going to middle school dances ... he is awesome. But he will always be "odd." :-)
Find out about "The Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills" (The ABLLS). Contact James Partington, Ph.D., at Behavior Analysts, Inc.; 1941 Oak Park Blvd. Suite 30; Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 to find a behaviorialist in your area. Be ready to be consistent. Be ready to work. Be ready to be successful.
One more thing - if your aide has not been hired already, see if you can be involved in the process. Stay in CONSTANT communication with the school, teacher, and aide. Be involved. There is no letting the school and family be separate in your future. You have to be a team. Someone needs to be the "hub." I love my student and his family. It was the most satisfying position I've ever had!
Good Luck!
T.

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I have an 8 year old son (2nd grade this year) who was diagnosed with autism at age 3. He still has a lot of behavioral issues, but academically he does very well. We couldn't do the regular classroom after kindergarten because well, kindergarten here is only three hours a day, but first grade is double that time. He couldn't handle six hours in regular ed class. So he was moved into a special day class. He's in one for grades K-3rd grade, but there are no kindergarteners, only one or two first graders, and the rest are second and third. Total of 12 kids, One teacher, and two aides in the classroom. So basically four kids for one teacher. And typically the kids rotate out going to different things since it's a special day class, many go to speech therapy, Occupational therapy, adaptive PE, or are put into a regular class for certain times of the day, so usually the classroom only has a few kids and each teacher usually only working with 1-3 kids.
When my son was smaller he used to bang his head quite a bit when he got mad. He doesn't do that anymore. I'm not sure what kind of behaviors your son has that you're asking about. What does your son do that you are hoping he'll mature and outgrow?

My son still has his tantrums, rolling on the floor, hiding under desks, running away from teachers, hiding from teachers, screaming for as long as he can and as loud as he can, etc. I'm certainly hoping that many, most, or at least SOME of the behaviors my son is doing now he will outgrow. I'm sure it would look rather odd to have a 16 year old screaming and rolling on the ground because he doesn't want to do his classwork that day.

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Hi J.,

My sister has a 19 year old son with high functioning autism. They struggled through public school through about the 8th grade with problem after problem. My sister did alot of research and found that the state would pay for him to go to a school that specializes in autism. It was a battle but there are laws and loopholes that made it happen. The difference in him was and continues to be incredible. He has become so articulate about his feelings, desires, etc. He told me last week how hard it is for him because he just wants to be like everybody else, be independent, and he knows he never will. He also told me how much better he feels since he is not taking medication. A few years ago, a conversation like this would not have been possible. I believe he will go to the school until he is 20. I can get more information from her if you like, just let me know. Best of luck.

L.

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