Autism…now what?

What do you do after you receive the diagnosis that your child has autism?  This is not a simple answer nor is there a prescribed list of things you should do since each child's needs will be different.  For me though, I would recommend the following steps as a starting point.  This is not what I did, but rather what I wish I would have done.  The things I’m recommending I eventually got to, but I took a long route in getting there.  

 I had a few stumbling blocks along the way that slowed down my journey.  The first one was denial.  When I received his diagnosis I was in deep denial.  I didn’t stand still, but I didn’t dig deeper either.  Well, I dug, but in all the wrong places.  I spent countless night after countless night looking up what autism was from a conventional standard medical point of view.  That only led me further into my denial because if I believed them then this would be a dead-end diagnosis with no hope of recovery.   I told myself that as soon as his speech caught up no one would notice any difference between him and other children.  I told myself that he would simply outgrow it.  I desperately looked for stories of children who simply outgrew their autism. I only did what his school recommended, which was speech therapy and occupational therapy.  While that’s fine and a great beginning I should have search out the right kind therapy for a child with autism. 

 Not all children are the same and not all therapist are the same either!  Well, hindsight's 20/20.

Here’s my list of the steps I think every parent should take.

    1.   Find a speech therapist that specializes in children with autism.  I did a lot of home therapy, but I really find that receiving any therapy in a therapy facility affords much more opportunity for progress.  The resources are better and more abundant than what a therapist can bring to your home.  Also, there is a lot more on going training, supervision, and consistency in methods when a therapist works at a facility vs. one who is an independent contractor.  Again, solely my opinion.

2.  Secondly, and most importantly, is to find an occupational therapy facility that specializes in sensory integration.  This is SO important I can’t emphasize it enough!!  The type of therapy you receive from sensory integration OT is very very different!  This therapy has made the biggest impact on my son’s progress more than any other therapy.  I could only imagine where we’d be had he had it from an early age. 

    3.  ABA.  Sadly, we never did Applied Behavior Analysis.    I would try out every type of therapy you can until you find the right combination for your child.  While we are not in exclusive ABA therapy, our current therapist use ABA in both speech therapy and occupational therapy 

    

    4.  My next, and most important step, would be to find a DAN! Doctor.  This has been the single most important decision that my husband and I made and one that I believe will save our son from struggling with autism.  DAN! (Defeat Autism Now)  Doctors  follow a certain protocol when treating autism and believe that autism is a biomedical disorder that is caused by a combination of lowered immune response, external toxins from vaccines and other sources, problems with food allergies and digestive issues, and at times genetic predisposition.  Unlike traditional doctors, they do not view autism as a psychiatric disorder.   They work on healing the child internally to minimize or stop autistic behavior.  Treatment usually consists of nutritional supplements, gluten/casein free diet, extensive testing for allergies, deficiencies, and genetic vulnerabilities, treatment of yeast overgrowth which is very common in autistic children, and detoxification of heavy metals and toxins. 

 

My child is not the same child who I brought to our DAN! Doctor almost 6 months ago.  The changes have been noticed by everyone in his life.  The changes have been big!  We’re not there yet, but we’re on our way

I think that these are good places to begin when your child is diagnosed with autism.  It’s not easy in the beginning and it requires a lot of time, patience, planning, organizing, and sacrifices, but it does get easier.  It becomes second nature and you establish routines.  Many people become discouraged and even give up when they see the work it takes.  Don’t give up!  When I came home from my first DAN! Doctor appointment I was overwhelmed.  I spent all day and night making charts and graphs and plans in order to  give my son his supplements and other therapies.  Now, I prepare 3 baggies of supplements the night before, mark them breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I’m done.  I drive him to all his therapies just as any other mom drives their kids to soccer practice or dance class. We do exercises and therapy at home just as any child would practice their hobby or sport at home.  When we go out to parties or restaurant I pack his lunch box with his gluten/casein free foods and no one has said boo to us.  I know that each child is different and that each child’s needs might be different, but I believe this is a good bouncing board to start from. 

I highly recommend reading the book “Healing our Autistic Children “by Dr. Julie A. Buckley.   It will change the way you see your child, autism, and treatment.