RE: Kids w/ Classic Autism, PDD-NOS & Speech Delays

Post Reply New Topic

This is true. I'm sure that it is a combination of things.

You know, I don't think I mentioned it here but maybe a month or so before we left my son started speaking a lot of Japanese words he picked up at day care. He is still using them here, speaking more Japanese than English now so we call him "Mr. Contrary."

He is no longer in day care of course, just stays at home now with his mom and grandma. I hope to get him back to some sort of preschool setting soon, but we are not in our permanent home yet, still just staying with my parents.

My partner's cousin's son was about 4 when he came back to the US from Japan and he spoke mostly Japanese, but I think he stopped speaking it entirely soon after he started school. His demeanor changed too from being around American kids.

nostromo it might be easier for him to have a daily PECS schedule and then he will know what is going to happen and he can prepare. Other than that one little glitch he sounds like he is doing awesome. I have a meltdown when people drop stuff on me and so do my two aspies and my autie. When Maddy was non verbal her schedule was vital....actually it still is. When she started speaking one of her first sentences was "whats next?".....she always wanted to know what was next. I got a laminator and just printed pictures from google image and got the little dot velcro things and I bought a strip on one of the autism sites. I just found some little round magnets so I put Maddy's schedule on the fridge now....I warned her about it days before that we were going to move it as the strip was too short to fit everything on it. I like the fridge much better and when you make your own PECS you can also write the word. I still say its why Maddy learned to read so soon....also she has a photographic memory. I know schedules like ours dont work for everyone but its worth a try now that he is going off to school. OH, also the French Government....or the scary psychologist with big black painted on eyebrows...Its my game of pretend to make eye contact, look at glasses or eyebrows but she was scary....anyway, they find me Autistic .

Maddy is really stressed right now, dont know if you have seen my posts about her school but we are hoping to work things out this week. Im either pulling her from school until next year when we can put her in the Autism school or she will spend half her day at school and stay home with me after lunch and her therapy schedule will stay the same. Ive had to make her schedule very detailed and that has helped a bit and we also made a sensory room....our ball pit is huge, we had to get 3000 balls to fill it half way but she loves it.....the pool was cheap at least, just a small blow up pool....if you dont have one yet and he likes them I would highly recommend.....I managed to get it it, even with my screwed up back, and it felt awesome. We did ball angels . You would not need one as big as ours as you only have one little boy and I have a big 9 year old and an almost 7 year old Maddy .

My kids actually learn a lot better at home--both academics and speech--so it might be good for him to be at home for a while if mom or grandma has time to work with him. Both of my kids are strong visual learners who benefit from direct teaching, repetition, simplifying difficult concepts, and reduced stress and distraction. We just got back from a playdate, and we do that kind of thing for socializing.

My daughter behaved like this at school on Friday. It turned out after some rigorous investigation she wanted to go home and do a number 2 as she was feeling constipated.

My older son used to act out at daycare or the special ed preschool program when he was hungry, thirsty, needed to potty, or was sick. He wouldn't/couldn't tell anyone what was wrong, so he'd just act out. I remember telling the preschool teacher more than once that if he seemed grumpy, see if he needed something to eat or drink and see if he needed to go potty.

We occasionally used drop off daycare centers when my older son was two and three years old, but I was afraid to leave him very long (not more than a couple of hours) because I feared that he would need to go potty or get thirsty if I left him too long, act out, and get banned from the facility. (He was written up a couple of times at one drop-off daycare facility, banned from another daycare mother's day out program after a meltdown, and a third daycare [where he stayed half days for a while] said that he didn't belong but that they would keep him until he got evaluated for special ed).

It's frustrating, we want to help her but she doesn't tell us what happened!

My younger son has had problems in daycare, too, but not associated with failure to express his wants and needs. The same drop off daycare that wrote deciplinary reports on my older son (I think that 3 reports=temporary ban from the facility) asked me to come pick up my younger son once because he screamed and cried after I left and would not stop (separation anxiety) even though his older brother was there. He also did poorly when he was in a daycare half days for a few months at age two--didn't interact with the other kids, constant chewing on clothing at the facility and at home, and the facility kept him entertained by letting him perseverate on an alphabet book.

Anyway, both kids are doing better now that they are on meds for anxiety, that they've had some ABA therapy, and that my older son's speech skills are now pretty good.

What's the anti-anxiety meds? is it the same as anti-depressants?

For anxiety, my kids use the SSRI Prozac (an anti-depressant, but anti-depressants also help control anxiety). They are also on Clonidine at night and they get a tiny piece of it during a meltdown. Clonidine was orginally a heart med and works by lowering the heart rate.

Prozac has been used for about 20 years for OCD, my younger son's primary issue, and it is also used regularly for selective mutism (my older son's severe social anxiety disorder making him act mute in social situations). Prozac also improves their moods and does not cause drowsiness.

The Clonidine has a stronger effect on anxiety and has been used for years with ASD. However, it causes drowsiness (why my kids only take it at night or in the case of an anxiety attack).

I am debating trying a time-release form of Clonidine for day with my older son (Intuniv). It would still cause drowsiness, but maybe not as much as the non-time release form. Intuniv is now also being used with some kids with ADHD. The trick would be to get the dose right--achieve the benefits without undue sleepiness. I would like to keep him on Prozac even if he starts with the Intuniv because Prozac improves the mood while Clonidine/Intuniv can make some kids weepy. (When I tried some Clonidine for day with him a couple of years ago, this was a complaint). Currently, my older son takes 24 mg/day of Prozac, and any increased in his dose cause too much hyperactivity.

The paediatrician gave us a script for Prozac in December 2011. I purchased a packet but still haven't given it yet.
My daughter is only 6; most literature recommends age of 10 as safe to start giving Prozac.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000885/

Regarding the Prozac concerns, here is a link to the information put out by a U.S. government agency about the med. It does contain a warning about risk of suicidal thoughts in people up to age 24. The same warning is given for all SSRIs. A few years ago, I think that there was a teen suicide and a lot of bad publicity about SSRIs. However, I do not know that there were ever any double blind research studies establishing this risk.

I'm sure that there are some risks to my older son's health, but my son is more of a risk to himself and others without the drug, and it greatly helps him function.

Anyway, here in the U.S. it is regularly prescribed for kids with autism and is generally considered a safe drug by doctors. (It was prescribed by both my son's former pediatric neurologist and current child psychiatrist). I told his pediatrician about the med, and she had no problem with it. My family doctor also inquired about what meds my son was on, and when I told him, he said that Prozac was a safe drug for children.

I think that it is important to look at medical research studies and what doctors have to say and write because, at least here in the U.S., so much "scientific" and "medical" stuff gets published for the general public or put on the Internet without solid research underpinnings and factual support.

Last edited by blondeambition on 07 Mar 2012, 10:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

My son also takes an SSRI for anxiety (Luvox) - we found that half the recommended dose works best for him. It hasn't stopped the meltdowns, but it has helped him to calm down faster as he doesn't get "stuck" in the thoughts and ideas that go along with the meltdowns. He also seems to have less worry about everyone watching him. It did increase his hyperactivity. When the dose was too high, he started having problems sleeping. He also had aggression associated with coming off the medication. We split his dose to twice a day so he doesn't have the ups and downs of it wearing off and dropped it back down to the 1/2 dose. He has been doing well on it since. Our psychiatrist said she has noticed many AS kids do well on a lower dose of meds. She also took it really slow, starting with a really low dose and slowly increasing. She said this reduced the side effects of starting a new medicine as she has found that if they move too fast, many specrum kids will refuse to take the meds because of the side effects or the "funny feeling" (the new feeling of the meds).

Hi everyone. Haven't posted in a while...haven't had time.

My son has been improving more. He will now sit and listen when I read him a book (instead of grabbing it out of my hands) and even pretends to read books by himself.

He also said "I love you" to the cat!

We are still in the process of getting him evaluated at school.

I'm glad that your son is doing well. I'm sure that it is a lot less confusing for him to hear the same language at home as he does elsewhere, now that you are back in the U. S.

I've been super busy, too, reorganizing my website. There is a lot more that I have thought of doing with my website, but I don't have the time. The kids and hubby need me right now, so I can't make too many major improvements on the website right now.

Currently, I'm out of town with my kids (my older son has a week off of school) visiting my parents and siblings.

On another note, my sister's baby son just turned 6 months old. He is not sitting up, talking, babbling, or crawling yet, so I'm a bit worried. The family history on her husband's side of the family also isn't too great. Her baby (who was born full-term and a healthy weight) was in the intensive care unit of the hospital for ten days after birth for failure to eat (couldn't figure out how to latch onto bottle or nipple and wouldn't eat enough). However, he has not been diagnosed with anything.