Verbal prompt and modeling may be useful in eliciting communication in low verbal and nonverbal students.
The purpose of this study was to collect data on how children with severe autism communicate in the classroom. The author found that even though the 32 students were non-verbal or had few words, they did communicate in the classroom. They did this rarely (about once every six minutes). The children with the most severe autism spoke the fewest words. Almost all of the teachers were able to prompt communication from the students.
Twitter
Facebook
By Email
RSS Feed
Please comment on this autism topic.
Nutrition and Essential Fatty Acids May Help Verbal Apraxia and Autism
Dec 2, 2009 by AnonymousCan nutrition help verbal skills in children with autism? A study reported the August 2009 issue of Alternative Therapies says yes, for some children. Combined vitamin E and omega 3 therapy may help a type of verbal apraxia (a type of speech problem) that may be linked to food allergies and nutritional problems.
Children with verbal apraxia have trouble pronouncing words and may have severe speech problems. Many scientists have thought that verbal apraxia is a brain disorder. This study suggests that verbal apraxia may also be related to metabolism differences and nutritional problems.
Metabolism is the process of making energy from food. Metabolism is a complex system of enzymes, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that work together to digest food and turn it into energy that the body can use. People likely have a wide range of metabolic differences. Some of those differences can be quite large for some individuals. In this study, they suggest that some children with autism may have metabolism differences that affect how they process foods, and how their brain works.
What did the study show? This study tested 187 children with verbal apraxia, and many of them also had autism. All of the children took 400-3,000 International Units of vitamin E daily. They also took 1-3 grams of polyunsaturated fats (including omega 3 fatty acids) per day.
Almost all of the families (97%) reported improvements in speech, imitation, coordination, eye contact, and other skills with vitamin E and omega-3 therapy. There were few side effects reported during the length of the study.
The authors also described blood test results for nutritional information about 26 of the children. They reported low carnitine levels, high anti-gluten antibodies (suggesting a gluten allergy), low vitamin D levels, and fat absorption problems in most of the children they tested. They described how nutrition and metabolism might be different in some children with autism.
What do these results mean for children with verbal apraxia and autism? The results are exciting because 97% of the children showed improvements, and there were few side effects. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? But it’s not quite as perfect as it sounds.
There are some major limitations of this study. First of all, the researchers asked parents to give their subjective opinion of improvements. The parents knew they were in a study. Although they were given specific improvements to look for, there is a possibility of bias in favor of reporting a good result.
Secondly, they did not use placebo controls. All of the parents and children knew they were getting the supplements. There is the possibility of the “placebo effect” which is when people taking placebo (“sugar pills”) report feeling better or actually show improvements. Many think it is the power of the mind/body connection that somehow influences how they feel or even how their body physically responds. There is scientific evidence for brain connections to the immune and endocrine systems to support these observations. It is possible that, in this study, the children and/or parents were hopeful that the supplements would work, and that influenced the outcome. There was a placebo effect observed in a recent study of citalopram and autism in children.
Third, the supplements may be helpful for only a subset of children with verbal apraxia. The researchers chose children with verbal apraxia who also had metabolism differences….
What is the bottom line for omega-3 and vitamin E from this study? In spite of the shortcomings of this study, the results are very promising. Children with verbal apraxia may benefit from vitamin E and omega-3 supplements, which may get their metabolism on a better track. And researchers will continue to explore the nutrition/metabolism link with brain function. Good nutrition is likely to be important for many brain functions, not just verbal apraxia.
Speech and behavior therapist conflict
Sep 8, 2009 by AnonymousWhy can't the speech therapist and behavior therapist both agree to work together? I'm feeling forced to choose one therapy over the other because the speech therapist is having us use a modified PEC system - (verbal / picture & sign method) which is working pretty well and Behavior therapist (VB approach) refuses to let's us use them. The only person their rigidness is going to hurt is my child! Anyone had this problem? Result?
Picture-Based Communications on the iPhone/iPod
Jul 21, 2009 by AnonymousHi there,
My name is Dan, and my wife Carey and I are parents to a four-year-old boy (with autism) and a two-year-old girl (neurotypical). Both of our kids are adorable and keep us laughing!
Our son is verbal, though his expressive language is weak and he struggles with sensory processing, particularly in new environments. We were turned on to picture-based communication aids by the Connecticut Birth to Three system -- laminated strips of pictures, notebooks, magnet boards, etc.
These tools worked. They helped Evan a good deal. Unfortunately, though, they weren't the most "workable" solution. Carrying around notebooks and boards is inconvenient. We'd lose the symbols, or not have the right one on hand when needed.
So, we invented an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that lets caregivers customize and present visual schedules, social stories, timers and choices -- all right there in the palm of your hand. It's called iPrompts -- check it out at http://www.iprompts.com. We've gotten some incredible feedback about it. Hope it helps!
- Dan
Memory lane
Apr 14, 2009 by AnonymousDisney World continues to be a main topic of discussion in our house when we really should be talking about first grade and what lies ahead for the next school year. I can’t believe kindergarten has gone by so fast. Already it’s April and May will fly by…June 9 is Thomas’ last day of Kindergarten which makes it a good thing that we cancelled our trip to the “vacation house” in June. That vacation was scheduled to start on June 6.
Thomas’ class is almost done with the Sea Life unit and will shortly move onto the Farm unit. At school today, Mrs. H. took delivery of twelve eggs and an incubator. All of the kids were very interested in this and I’m told that the eggs will be hatching 21 days from today. Hopefully, I will be there on that Tuesday to see what happens. Mrs. H. told me that the year she was pregnant with her daughter, she had to bring the eggs home on the weekends to turn them (the new incubator does that automatically, so there are no worries unless someone unplugs the unit) and she didn’t keep them warm enough and there were no hatchlings. She was already emotional and pregnant and she told me that she cried and cried about it, saying, “See! I can’t even keep little chicks alive and I’m going to have a baby…” She ended up borrowing hatchlings from another class.
Thomas is not as excited about this turn of events, as is his usual way of handling new and different things. He wants nothing to do with the eggs, the eventual chicks or any of it. What a surprise! I get so frustrated when he’s like that and I never know what I can say, if anything, to change his mind and make it okay for him. I usually just drop the subject which works in the short-term, but I need to know how to handle his apprehension about anything new or different. Maybe I should go back to the pictures I used to draw for him.
Thank goodness that the one new and different thing we’ve got planned (Disney) is something that he seems very eager for. That’s Mickey Mouse Magic for you, I guess. We’ve watched countless YouTube videos of different rides and views of the park and even a video someone took of the interior of the rooms at the hotel we’ll be staying. Nothing can prepare us better than that sort of thing. We’ve been doing immense amounts of Internet research as well. There’s actually a website called AllEars.net which has a whole section on touring Disney World with an autistic family/group member. Most of the time, it says that Disney can work magic with an autistic child…there were testimonies about autistic, non-verbal children saying their first words at Disney, beginning potty-training there and other amazing feats. One contributor to the site says that their family plans a yearly trip to Disney just because their autistic child makes such vast, lasting improvements there that they consider it therapy. The kind that insurance, lamentably, does not cover.
Thomas has been doing very well in telling us what has been happening at school. Today, I was there so I know what happened – but on other days, I get a very good description of books they read, math problems they did and what the question of the day was. They’ve been learning about sea creatures and Thomas told me all about sea turtles and dolphins; which sea creatures are actually mammals who breathe air and which breathe the water through gills. I think that the Strattera really helps him pay attention and retain information to be regurgitated later. I remember back to when he was in his first year of preschool and we would ride home in the car, me peppering him with questions about what he did and Thomas sitting there, stone-faced and staring out the window. He’s made such a huge improvement with that.
I was home alone on Saturday after working because Jonathan had taken the kids to his mom’s house for a while and I popped his preschool DVD in to have a stroll down memory lane. It’s amazing to watch how he never participated in circle time and showed extremely low interest in whatever was going on in class. Several times on the video, the teacher herself or one of her aides had to try and drag Thomas back to the action. It remains difficult to watch how he used to resist that kind of contact. On this video you could also hear Thomas’ echolalia…little repeated snippets of what the teacher was saying. We don’t hear it in that context anymore, which is wonderful. That video is so hard to watch at times (like when Thomas was kicking the teacher as she brought him back to the circle) but it’s a good thing for us to watch at times, too. Living with Thomas day to day, we don’t notice the huge improvements he’s made. Looking back like that reminds us of how much he’s able to do now and how hard he’s worked over the past few years. And despite the fact that Thomas did a fair amount of kicking and resisting that first half-year, the teacher still referred to him as “My Thomas;” another reminder of how Thomas, though difficult at times, endears himself forever to these marvelous people who work so hard to help him. He is very cute, so that helps too.
We have Hayley’s dance recital coming up on May 15 and Thomas says he’d like to attend with us and Grandma. We think that it may be good practice for the shows and things we’ll see in Disney World in which he’ll have to sit and enjoy the spectacle. We’ve been trying to explain to the kids that not EVERYTHING in Disney World is a “ride;” many of the wonderful things we’ll see will be in a theater-setting. So the dance recital will be a great tool to gauge how well Thomas can sit and wait and watch without being loud or difficult. Plus, if we have to haul him out of the theater, I don’t think it will cause too much disruption. We’ll be sure to get aisle seats and bring snacks…or the PSP – probably both.