Children with autism who have feeding problems may be helped by an interdisciplinary feeding program.
Feeding problems are a pattern of eating that is not normal and causes social or health problems for the patient. The purpose of this study was to see if a feeding program was able to help 46 children with autism who had feeding problems. The children (aged 3 to 12 years) in the study received intense behavior therapy and oral motor therapy. The authors found the program to be a success based upon one follow-up data point for each child. While the program was able to help the children, the authors note that these children had severe feeding issues and were part of a feeding disorders program.
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Please comment on this autism topic.
Responding to high-functioning autism
Feb 12, 2010 by Anonymoussafe alternatives- BUT WE CANT HAVE EM?
While there is not a cure for Autism, there are safer alternatives to the chemicals we feed our children. I do think the Gov't and Big Pharmas have dropped the ball on this one! Our children are being poisoned, all for the sake of some improvements? Safe, all natural, alternatives to these meds are available, but in most cases are with held due the lack of making profits?
Cannabis is being used SUCCESSFULLY for a very few who have been lucky enough to explore this treatment legally. Cannabis can easily be ingested orally in the form of an edible for children. Cannabis is a SAFE, ALL NATURAL, Alternative medicine that is making improvements in children with everything from behavioral issues, to feeding issues. They are being treated successfully, and the children are NOT suffering, or dealing with any life long side effects that is being seen in children today. It is NOT FAIR that only a select few get to explore this SAFE ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT, All While MY SON SUFFERS? It doesnt make any sense- Not TODAY, Not in the USA? What is this world coming too when big pharmas and the govt would rather MAKE PROFITS than to find effective treatments and cures?
Please find some compassion, and DO SOME RESEARCH!
MY SON IS STARVING TO DEATH!
Hopeful Mother of 2
Middle of the road
Oct 14, 2008 by dankohnAgain, I’ve fallen off the weekly-writing bandwagon. Tina’s wedding was this weekend and between fielding phone calls from her (at least twice every day for the past two weeks) and getting last-minute stuff done in addition to my normal chores, there was time for nothing else. She left for her Cancun honeymoon this morning, though, and I know I’ll miss her like crazy until she gets home.
The wedding: a complete and total success! Everything was so beautiful and we all had the greatest time. The wedding party (my sisters and the groom’s friends and brothers) all got along like old friends and I can’t imagine any group of mutual friends meeting for the first time getting along better than we all did. Jonathan and I had a great time – really wonderful. My sister was radiant and we all looked like a million bucks.
Oh, yeah, this blog is supposed to be about Thomas. He and Hayley spent most of Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning with their grandma. I was a little concerned that it was going to be too long for them, but what could I do? And the promise of a three-day weekend for Grandma to enjoy with the kiddies was too much for her to resist. We could have picked them up on Sunday afternoon, but she said they were fine and were expecting to stay through to Monday. Jonathan and I certainly needed a day to rest and recuperate. I was dancing non-stop from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, the after-effects of which reminded me that I’m getting older. My friend Pegs told me to just do what she does: “Dance, dance, dance, and then don’t move for two days.” She doesn’t have kids.
I e-mailed Thomas’ teacher last week and told her that Thomas would be with his grandmother all this weekend and warned her that after one of those over-night trips, Thomas has a hard time getting back into the swing of things. However, I was at school today to help out and witness his reluctance first-hand. I was right that he would have a hard time. He just seemed really tired in the morning, and he started to have a really tough time just as school was ending. He actually cried a little. The thing is that when I’m at school with Thomas, he tends to want me to do things for him, even though I know he can do them himself. He just expects me to do it, like at home, I guess. I have to remember that the switch from Grandma’s house back to home and school is hard for him. He actually did better than I expected. Hayley was a little difficult too. We’re slowly returning to normal, and if anyone needs a brown bridesmaid dress, please let me know.
Halloween is approaching and Thomas wants to be “nothing, never, EVER.” Again with the drama! He has forgotten that candy is involved, I think. Hayley wavers between wanting to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Who was the genius at Disney that came up with the whole Disney Princess thing? It gets old, though, and I have to keep reminding her that she’s not a princess after all, since Mommy is definitely no queen and Daddy is not a prince.
So how do we get Thomas to settle on a costume? I’m not sure…we might have to just keep suggesting ideas to him when he’s in an agreeable mood. We still have a few weeks, however. Hopefully, they’ll be talking about it at school and he’ll get used to the idea. I hope we can go trick-or-treating with my sister-in-law and her daughter again this year. It was fun last year, but more importantly, short and sweet.
I can’t believe how fast the holidays are approaching. After Halloween, it’s a straight shot to Christmas and another year passes away. Does time go faster as you get older? Thomas will be six right before Christmas, which I cannot believe. He’s looking more and more like a big kid…well, he is a big kid, after all. He’s been potty-trained for over two years, but it seems like yesterday we were working on it. It seems like yesterday that I was working on breast-feeding, come to think of it. They’re just growing up fast and I wish that time could stop for a while. On a good day, anyway.
Report cards come out soon, I heard the teacher say. Today, I was doing assessments on kids in Thomas’ class, mostly identifying and writing numbers. The teacher is going to do Thomas’ assessment, which I told her was good because I might be inclined to help him more than I should. I wonder where he falls in terms of abilities as compared to his classmates. I thought he could do better than some of the kids I worked with, but not as good as others. This one boy in his class is a pistol; always giving the teacher trouble and not listening, but he’s smart as a whip. I wonder if he’s bored with the curriculum. Either way, I think Thomas falls in the middle somewhere. Middle is good – great, even. I’ll take middle-of-the-road any day. Isn’t that just another way of saying “average?” There were times that we never could have hoped for average, so I’m thrilled.
can you help?
Apr 2, 2007 by AnonymousI am the parent of a 8 yr. old Autistic child. I need help with feeding issues,potty training and
how to get a used Convaid stroller/wheelchair or
simular type. His insurance covered it when he was younger but he has grown out of it,need
another one for safety issues. He is a extremely picky eater and refuses to try new foods. He will pee-pee in toilet but wont poop. Any help on these issues will be greatly appreciated.
Halloween is here
Oct 29, 2006 by AnonymousAnother weekend gone! Halloween is this week, and I’ve decided to keep it simple. Thomas is going to be a Chicago Bears football player, and Hayley is going to be a Bears cheerleader. Thomas’ “costume” is just going to be sweatpants and his Bears jersey. I don’t think we could get him to wear a helmet or anything even remotely resembling shoulder pads, so that’s that.
My husband and I were remembering Halloween 2004, when Thomas was a bumblebee and Hayley was a little ladybug. Thomas looked so cute in the little bee costume, but I remember how difficult it was to convince him to wear it. He didn’t like the little fuzzy hood with the antennae and kept trying to push it off of his head. Of course once people started giving him candy, he forgot all about the costume. (“So you just ring the bell and people give you candy? Let’s do this every day!”)
We were at my mother-in-law’s cottage in Wisconsin this weekend. The kids had fun feeding ducks by the stream that runs through the middle of town. Thomas kept saying, “I wanna go feed Susie the Duck!” He really seems to like animals but doesn’t always understand their emotional cues. When he really gets in our dog’s face, she starts to growl and show her teeth (after prolonged annoyance) and Thomas doesn’t understand that she’s angry and wants him to leave her alone. Hayley understands right away that Sophie (the dog) is mad and it scares her. Thomas never gets scared of Sophie. Lots of times, I have to separate them like (they’re both) children.
The potty training is still going well. Thomas has had one accident every day, usually in the afternoon, except for today. He kept himself dry all day - even during the long drive home from Wisconsin! He’s really doing a great job and we’re so proud of him. We’re still taking him to the toilet every two hours or so, so the next step is for him to tell us when he needs to go. The next step after that will be for him to go by himself. I really want him to learn how to go standing up facing the toilet but he won’t have any of that at this point. We made a little mistake a while ago, when we were first introducing him to the toilet. We were told to put him on the potty facing backwards to make sure that he hit his target. We did this, but now it seems there’s no turning back. He absolutely will not sit on the toilet any way other than backwards. He can even have bowel movements that way with his little feet dangling over the sides. The bad thing is that to sit on the toilet that way, he has to completely remove his pants and underwear. So he has to do a lot more clothes wrangling than the average kid who can just pull everything down to the ankles. Someday, I’ll get him to see the convenience of standing up, but for now we’re just going to have to be satisfied with what he can do, and we are.
We’re going out to dinner tomorrow night with my husband’s family for his birthday. I always dread these birthday dinners because they tend to be drawn-out affairs with dessert and presents. Anytime we go out to dinner with the kids, we order as soon as we can and leave as soon as the kids start getting restless. That’s not an option during these birthday feasts, especially since tomorrow night is for my husband. We can’t really leave before he opens his gifts. We’ll have to bring some new Matchbox cars to keep Thomas occupied and hope that the server is fast and efficient.