Autism - ABA

Our son was diagnosed as being in the autism spectrum just before he turned two years old. His language was severely delayed, he was aggressive, and he had many self stimulating behaviors. At the time, we knew nothing about it. Since then we have learned more than we ever wanted to know about autism. We have also met more and more families with children (mostly boys) who have had similar diagnoses, some more severe, others more mild.

If you have a child who does not look you in the eye, has echolalia, self-stims, says few words; if you feel you are at your wits end trying to connect with your child, my advice, is see a doctor at the local children's hospital for a diagnosis. Hopefully, they will say you are over-concerned and send you on you way. If not, all the treatment you child needs, flows from a proper diagnosis. Getting the diagnosis can take months, so get on it right away.

There is lots of info on the web such as this father's site, however, there is also a lot of bunk out there. Don't waste your time with the bunk. ABA is the only scientifically proven approach, and I have personally seen it work with my son and with other boys. You may want to read Catherine Maurice's book Let Me Hear Your Voice. Some people feel it gives too much hope to parents of severly disabled children, but I needed to read it when I did, and would definitely recommend it.

In short, if your son is diagnosed with autism, start and ABA program.

If you feel this post applies to you, and you are in the Cincinnati area, feel free to email me and I can give you some good contacts in the area for therapists, etc..

An early detection advocacy site.