From 2.5 - 3 yr old till today

amother

Azure

Tue, Feb 06 2024, 11:10 pm

Hey. Not sure if I meet the criteria you are looking for as my son is only 4 but he has autism and is mainstreamed. At 2, my son was completely non verbal, made no eye contact, did not use gestures, no response to name, would stim, major crankiness, huge sensory issues, etc.

Right now he is completely verbal, makes decent eye contact, uses gestures appropriately, responds to his name, minor stimming, minor crankiness, minor sensory issues. He is much much easier to deal with. It is amazing to be able to communicate properly with and have a full conversation! I can’t believe the difference in him! He still has social difficulties and a few other struggles but he is doing so well for an autistic child.

What we did was get him early intervention services as soon as possible and got as many therapies as we could from them. I sat through each session and implemented the techniques throughout the rest of the day/week. I worked HARD. I asked questions to the therapist of how to deal with each and every interaction and I made sure that my interactions with him were therapy based. I got ABA therapy for him as well a little bit at home and mostly in school. They also have worked wonders with him and we were blessed to have amazing therapists who really clicked with him. Another thing we did which we saw a huge improvement with him was putting him on the GFCF diet. It was hard work in the beginning but the results were so clear and worth it.

It is a daunting journey and a lonely, hard process but the efforts you put in now to your child will really pay off. They are young and impressionable at that age and can learn the skills they need to succeed with therapy. As lonely as it feels, there are so many other moms out there going through the same thing as you and hopefully you can find some to connect with.

Most important is to set up a support system for yourself and self care so you don’t get burnt out. Hashem should bless you and your family with the strength and patience you need to make the process easy for you. ❤️

amother

Azure

Sun, Feb 11 2024, 8:35 pm

amother Lightgray wrote:

I’m not OP, but I have similar questions . DC has been in early intervention since 18 months , now at 3.5 yrs old I don’t see major improvement at all. She is a lovely child , sweet and happy but very very inconsistent . Can use a word to communicate for a few days and then drop that word and use other words

Might be worth it to increase hours of therapy. You can do through insurance.

mha3484

Mon, Feb 12 2024, 12:24 pm

I don't know if I meet the criteria. My 13 year old has had a LONG journey. ADHD, Gifted and eval did not say ASD but he gotten a lot of therapy by the time we did the eval in 1st grade. He has a lot of overlapping traits with ASD. Hes k'ah in a great place.

He was never the easiest baby/toddler. 2 and 3 year old playgroup got progressively harder but he also didnt have a great shidduch with the morah for 3 year old so was hard to pin down what was the cause. He went to 4 year old nursery in a real school and totally imploded. Could not sit in a regular chair, no eye contact, was not playing appropriately with the other kids. Poor body awareness. Plus more.

We got him a lot of help that year and he made a ton of progress. We did OT, talk therapy with more of a focus on the behavioral issues, and later a special ed program that was able to give him the social coaching he needed.

Pre1a and 1st grade were extremely mixed and 2nd grade we made the decision to put him in a program where he did half days in his yeshiva and the rest in a therapeutic program. 3rd grade he went back to yeshiva and he has mostly kept up. We do therapy, and when there are social issues his school is great and works with him and us.

In 5th grade he had a very challenging situation with a kid in his class who himself has a lot of issues. I sat in the menahels office and said no one will come to his bar mitzvah. I was feeling so despondent. We made kind of a last minute kiddush at our shul that davens very early on shabbos and is a far walk from most of his class and they all came. I cried. There is hope. He is talking about mesivtas and his extra needs are way less of a focus of the conversation then they were a few years ago.

TwinsMommy

Mon, Feb 12 2024, 8:35 pm

I have two 17 year olds with autism.... my son still struggles with the autism a LOT. My daughter...... her autism is secondary to her ADHD and physical issues---- she has friends, is mainstreamed (not in a Jewish school because she DOES need extra supports that public school intervention provides), and I can see her driving and having a job someday and living on her own and in fact she works summers now as of this past summer.

Honestly? She didn't have autism yet at 2 and 3. She regressed into it at age 3 and a half in the course of one really rough week. Other kids have terrible 2's--- she was an ANGEL of a 2 year old. She had terrible 3 through 8's. Smile

Things were REALLY REALLY REALLY hard with her until puberty ended and now she's totally manageable. She still needs extra support and we do have to adjust our way of thinking when dealing with her and we have to let a LOOOOT of things slide that we would NOT let slide with a neurotypical teen, but she's alright. Smile

She is on a LOT of meds to help. No therapy currently. Just her brother is in therapy--- but that helps the whole family.

What helped her over the years other than meds was behavior therapy, OT, PT, speech, and interventions in school.

Hatzlacha!