Autism Therapy: parent

definition of parent: A parent is a person, usually a mother or father, who takes care of a child. Parents can be biological or adoptive. Parents teach social, moral, and communication skills to their children. They are responsible for their well-being and education.

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Behavior Modification, by Thiessen, C., Fazzio D., Arnal L., Martin GL, Yu CT, and Keilback L., published in 2009, summarized Oct 26, 2010

A newly revised training manual may be helpful to teach college students and parents to use applied behavior analysis (ABA) to help children with autism.

ABA is seen by many to be the treatment of choice for children with autism. There is a large need for research-based, low-cost, rapid training to train tutors and parents to conduct discrete trial training with children with autism. This study was designed to see if a revised version of the training book used to teach students to do this type of ABA therapy was useful. The authors found that the revised manual was good at training college students to use discrete trial training to teach three tasks to children with autism. The authors note that the college students did not really work with children with autism, but instead worked with people who acted like children with autism.


Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Matson, ML, Mahan S., and Matson JL, published in 2009, summarized Oct 5, 2010

Parent training may be one way to decrease the time and cost of therapy for a child with autism.

This review article describes methods that can be used to train parents of children with autism to act as therapists for their children. While there are many cases of parent training in autism research, there are few autism treatment plans that are designed around using parents. Research shows that parents are able to gain skills in therapies such as applied behavior analysis (ABA). The authors suggest that a lifelong treatment model of parent training may be prudent even for those children who respond well to early intensive behavioral treatments.


Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Mayes, SD, and Calhoun SL, published in 2009, summarized Sep 16, 2010

Children with autism often have sleep problems, and therapies such as behavior therapy (applied behavior analysis [ABA]) and melatonin may be helpful in treating these sleep problems.

The goals of this study were to see what types of children with autism also have sleep problems and to see how often parents of children with autism reported sleep problems. More than half of children with autism have parents who reported sleep problems. The study showed that many children with autism have sleep problems and that sleep problems are worse in children with more severe autism. Children who were on drugs (melatonin, clonidine, and diphenhydramine) to treat sleep problems had greater sleep problems than children who did not seek treatment. In most cases children with autism slept fewer (not more) hours than children without autism.


Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, by Itzchak, EB, and Zachor DA, published in 2009, summarized Sep 14, 2010

Children with autism who have decent receptive language skills are most likely to improve with early intervention.

This study looked at a wide range of factors that might result in a change in autism diagnosis after intervention. The study focused on groups of children whose autism changed or stayed stable after intervention. They then looked to see what types of children were most likely to change their autism status. They found that the child’s age, level of skills, and parents’ ages were not linked to changes in autism status. The authors found that those children who were improved post-intervention improved in both verbal and visual skills.


When asked about his autism, Ezra Fields-Meyer compares it to his religion. The young man explains that he, "knows he has a good memory and likes to repeat things. As a Jew, he’s noticed similar qualities....We repeat Shabbat every week. And we sing the same songs." Ezra's dad said the journey wasn't always easy. His child went from a non-verbal 3 year old to a "son worth celebrating." Tom Fields-Meyer decided his story might be able to help other parents. He wrote Following Ezra: What One Father Learned About Gumby, Otters, Autism, and Love from His Extraordinary Son. Tom says it started when a therapist suggested that he and his wife celebrate the boy they had, rather than the one they did not. Rather than pushing his son towards, for example, playing soccer the way it's supposed to be played, he and his wife let Tom develop his own interests and passions. One passion and talent Ezra has is animation; he recently completed his first film, Alphabet House.

Read original article: Beyond Labels, Raising Autistic Son Yields Treasure


Dotun Akande, the founder of Patrick Speech and Languages Center in Lagos, believes that early intervention is the best chance for children with autism in her country. Akande, mom of a child with autism, works to reach out and educate as many families as possible. She explains, “Parents too should know that having a child that has this challenge is not the end of the world. Early intervention is the key; so, all you need do is to help that child come out of that problem.” Patrick Speech offers interventions that include speech and language therapy, behavioral modification therapy, OT, social skills training, vocational training, academics, music therapy, hydrotherapy, and sensory integration.

Read original article: Early Intervention is the Key to Managing Autism Well


A study from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that two-thirds of teens with high-functioning autism disorder (HFASD) in PA are driving or are planning to drive. Dr. Patty Huang, a developmental pediatrician, explained that there is not a lot of research explaining how a teen with HFASD might perform as a driver. Because car wrecks are the leading cause of teen deaths, the research hopes to suggest evaluation and appropriate driver training. The researchers surveyed 300 parents of teens and developed a list of characteristics that seemed predictive of teens with HFASD who will drive. CHOP has created a site, teendriversource, for parents and educators.

Read original article: What to Consider When Teen with Autism Want to Drive


Osseo Area Source of Information and Support (OASIS) in Minnesota has begun a series of lectures on dealing with kids on the autism spectrum. OASIS will meet once a month and will focus on ADHD, ADD, LD, EBD, ODD, OCD, anxiety, depression and bipolar issues as well as autism. While the meetings last from 6:30-8:30, participants may stay longer to continue with questions and answers. PrairieCare and Weaver Lake Elementary School sponsor OASIS. Future topics will include: behavior therapy, social skills, and use of technology.

Read original article: OASIS Meetings Planned for Parents, Caregivers



Please comment on this autism topic.

I have a son with 'Moderate Level' Autism, who was diagnosed in 2009. After completing an intensive ABA program he has developed to a stage where he is developmentally, educationally and socially on par with his peers.

As such, we established our business called 'Simply ABA'. This facilitates ABA Programs for families with Autistic children, please feel free to review our website at www.simply-aba.com which gives a full history of our son's condition, extracts from his original diagnostic report from the consultant paediatrician and information on his current progress and abilities, in addition to valuable information on ABA itself.

I wish all parents the very best in successfully obtaining support and guidance in the area of Autism which I understand first hand to be an extremely distressing and daunting diagnosis as a parent.

Julia


I am a parent of an 18 yr. old young man with ASD who we have been doing RDI with for the past 3 years. Once we began the program his life and ours changed. He now initiates conversation with us - true conversation, with give and take, perspective sharing, observations are related and my interests considered. He is much more other-focused and considerate. Outbursts and anti-social behaviors have been significantly decreased. Our household is so much more calm and life normalized. His ability to make study us during communication (total body language - faces, posture, tone - not just the words said) and approrpriately respond and interpret this non-verbal aspect of language is really imporved and remarked upon by family/friends and teachers. He is able to do this on his own, no prompting, no scripting - it is becoming "normal" and happening as expected. We are completely satisfied with this program and while costly, it has delivered the results where others haven't. It really changed his life. I work in Special Olympics and have a control group to compare him and this intervention against as a result. His progress compared against his peers (same age/ school experiences/ but different interventions) is significantly better. We very much look forward to how far he can go.



Responding to applied behavior analysis (ABA)

Nov 6, 2011 by RichardSaffran

ABA Resources for Recovery from Autism (http://rsaffran.tripod.com/aba.html) is a collection of resources for parents who want to learn about or implement ABA programs for their child with autism. I started this site in 1997 after learning first-hand how difficult it is to get accurate information about ABA and autism.

The site includes directories of ABA service providers, private schools, and special education attorneys and advocates, both in the US and world-wide. It also includes years of 15 years of letters from parents describing their own difficulties securing effective services and their experiences with ABA.


Island Chairs and Autism

Sep 15, 2011 by Anonymous

Congratulation's to your new School,
 
We have created a short Video, to show you how the Island Chair  benefit  autistic children, parents or care takers.
 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=is3dWyuNRP4  
www.islandchairs.com

Orders & Distributer wonted!
 
Warmly
 
Ursula Nussbaum
 



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