Our daughter, Teagan was diagnosed with Autism at the age
of 20 months. We brought her in to be evaluated by a speech therapist in our area. In our eyes, the only
problem was the lack of speech. Before we knew it, we were being told a whole list of things that she wasn't doing.
And was told that she was Autistic.
We were then referred to the Early Intervention Program in
Virginia. Due to lack of staff, we had to continue to pay out of pocket for our own speech therapist. We
found a neurologist and he confirmed the diagnosis. Because we were in Virginia, we were only able to receive one hour a week
of an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) type therapy. We asked if we needed more, but were discouraged.
After a few months of barely any therapy, we decided to move back to Florida and have our second child. Once
in Florida, Teagan was re-evaluated through the Early Intervention Program and was awarded 5 hours of Discrete Trial (ABA),
2 half hours of Occupational Therapy and 3 half hours of Speech Therapy. We were very excited for her. And that
was only the beginning. We also hired outside therapists to work with her, so she would have 10 hours of Discrete Trial.
Our Board Certified Behavior Analyst trained the other therapists.
Once we were in the thick of all the therapy,
I was so bothered that each time these therapists came to teach my daughter, she cried. Actually she tantrumed.
It took me years to really understand that they were trying to get her to play and that she wanted to stay within herself.
My instinct was to just scream "STOP!" But boy am I glad that I surrendered to the process. It was hard
to understand that she was crying, but nobody was doing anything wrong to her. I would say that THAT was the
biggest lesson for me. To trust that the therapists wanted to teach Teagan to play, learn and
just socialize as other children do.
Once she turned three, she was then part of the Child Find program.
Teagan was once again evaluated to become a part of this program. She was enrolled in public preschool, and was
put in a VE (varying exceptionalities) class. This class had children with all kinds of special needs, but most
had speech and language issues.
After the first year we moved her to another school, because we
felt her needs were not being met. We had to meet with an ESE coordinator for the county and told our concerns.
The new school was granted to Teagan.
Once in the second school, she flourished. She was potty trained; she
started some social interactions; the teacher took so much interest in Teagan succeeding and we; as parents
got great advise.
For the past two years Teagan was in a public elementary school, in a Kindergarten inclusion
class. Which means there are just a handful of functional special needs students and the rest of the class are typical
Kindergarten students. We just got her a shadow by having meetings with the IEP (individual educational plan) team. This
will help her stay on task, but the person will not be on top of her. She doesn't need that.
At the
end of this past school year, we decided (IEP team) that Teagan needed a little more help. She will go to a different
school in an autism cluster class. This means, part of the day she will be with special needs children with a small
ratio of students and the other part of the day she will be with typical children. When she is ready, she will transition each
subject into the mainstream classroom again with typical students.
Teagan has participated in hundreds,
if not thousands of hours of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Social Skills classes (behavior therapy) and
Discrete Trial. She has received in home; as well as services at a local clinic, Advanced Pediatric Systems.
One of her social skills training was through Butterfly Effects. She has also gone through a listening
therapy called The Tomatis Method. This therapy helped Teagan organize her thoughts. She spoke
her first words after first doing this therapy almost 3 years ago. She also participated in horse-back riding lessons
and a friend of mine did energy therapy on her.
She has also participated in Naet,
which is a homeopathic way to rid the body of allergens. She takes supplements to make sure her body gets her
daily allowance of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The main product is called Juice Plus.
And to top it off, she sees Dr. Matt Symons weekly, our chiropractor. This is called Chiropractic
Care.
Another auditory retraining therapy that Teagan has participated this year, 2007, is called
Berard's AIT. Her speech really increased since this therapy; as well as social needs for her.
Cranial Sacral therapy is another therapy that helped Teagan, but was only done briefly.
It is
amazing the difference in this child, in more than 5 years.
If you would like more information
on these therapies, check out our favorite links page.
As far as our family life, it has been
quite difficult to keep a level head some days. Some days are harder than others. But I can say that we work
very hard as a family to make sure Teagan gets everything she needs. And the biggest ingredient is staying positive.
I never felt that Teagan would always be the way she was at 2.
I also want to comment on the recently controverisal
opinions from Jenny McCarthy. (I do recommend reading her book.) She claims that her son has been cured from autism.
(We tried gluten free - caseine free diet, but it did not work for us.) I have to agree with Jenny. I do
believe our children can be cured. What I mean by that is..nobody is perfect. We all have issues that we learn
to cope with. I feel that my daughter will function in the world due to her knowing her capabilities and her challenges.
She might be more shy than the average or need to regroup in large crowds, but she will be cured. I feel that if financially
you can do it, expose your child to oodles of therapies. Some work and some don't. Don't try everything,
but try what sounds feasible to you. My daughter has made miraculous changes in a short time. She's been
exposed to many different therapies and has made changes with the majority. NEVER GIVE UP!! AND
ALWAYS KNOW THAT YOUR CHILD TODAY IS NOT GOING TO BE THAT CHILD IN A YEAR!!
If you need to chat,
want advice about a therapy or need to vent, please contact me. I also write social stories and schedule books.
This has really helped my daughter. Check out schedule books and social skills books page.
