22 month old with Autism Diagnosis

[agandret]

My 22 month old son is recently diagnosed with Autism. I am overwhelmed with all the information I read online. I am planning to start speech therapy and ABA therapy for him. Does anybody have success with ABA at such a young age? Also can anyone suggest good speech language pathologist and ABA therapist in the Northern VA area (Fairfax, Loudoun). We live in loudoun county.

[Anonymous]

It is overwhelming.

You might want to start by reading the 100 day kit from Autism Speaks. It breaks it down.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-day-kit

[Anonymous]

OP, we have been in the same spot a few months back and it was overwhelming.
We have gone through quite a bit of information, and we are convinced of benefits of ABA therapy (especially if started at earlier age).

I highly recommend the book "Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family's Triumph over Autism " by Catherine Maurice.
The book is quite informative about ABA and gives you hope and what to expect down the road.

Also, did you already contact Child Find? If not I recommend doing so immediately.

[Anonymous]

Big hug and good for you for being on top of this and getting the help your kid needs.

ABA is usually done when kids are young; usually when kids are 6 or younger. It may take a while, but hang in there.

[Anonymous]

OP, I was in your shoes 4 years ago. overwhelming is the best word to describe how I felt. But be assure that you and your little one can achieve a lot by working hard.
We started ABA when my DS was 25 months. We use ALC (autism learning center) they are based on Tysons, but they serve loundon county I think. I do not have a contact for a ST there, but the sooner that you start the better.
Hang in there, and a big hug your way.

[Anonymous]

Hang in there! You can also get county services for free! Speech and it!

[agandret]

Thanks all..I looked at Autism Learning Center (ALC) website.. Looks like there are 2 types of services - fully managed and supervised. Do you suggest any one if these in particular? I am not even sure if Insurance would cover.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP- You are in good company. I remember feeling very overwhelmed initially. My advice? Just remember to take baby steps. Slow and steady wins the race. I am the mom of an ASD 4 yr old who has made great progress with biomedical and behavioral therapy. I am much less overwhelmed today and very optimistic about my child's future. One of the most helpful things I did was to apply for a local mentor through an organization called TACA. My mentor provides amazing support for me and my child and has helped me to identify local experts and resources. I should point out that TACA has a strong biomedical focus, so it may not be a good fit for parents who are not inclined to believe that their child's autism stems from a root medical cause.

[Anonymous]

DS was diagnosed at 2.5 and started aba a year ago just after his 3rd birthday. It is amazing how much progress can be made. We work with Continuum, based in McLean and are very happy. We do the fully managed program simply because we both work and could not handle managing therapists ourselves. But I have friends who have done supervised and it ha worked well for them. It just depends what you truly think you can handle.
It it completely overwhelming to say the least, and just remind yourself that you are doing the best you can do.

[Anonymous]

I recommend Teach Speech in Aldie for OT and ST or Fleming Therapy (in Centreville). We had good experiences with both practices and they are in-network for a lot of insurance providers.

[Anonymous]

Another vote for continuum in McLean. We use them with our 3 year old and are happy with them.

I also recommend looking at floortime or PLAY project to help with connecting with your child to improve their overall engagement. This worked for us.

Books I would reccommend are Overcoming Autism and The Autism Revolution.

[Anonymous]

OP - what county do you live in? Fairfax? FCPS has a top notch, free, preschool program designed for children with autism. It's called the Preschool Autism Class (PAC), they use ABA for the curriculum, and children are eligible at 24 months. If you do live in FCPS, contact Child Find, and ask them for information about the PAC. That'll get the ball rolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - what county do you live in? Fairfax? FCPS has a top notch, free, preschool program designed for children with autism. It's called the Preschool Autism Class (PAC), they use ABA for the curriculum, and children are eligible at 24 months. If you do live in FCPS, contact Child Find, and ask them for information about the PAC. That'll get the ball rolling.

this is a hit or miss. in our case was a huge miss. we also used ALC (Autism learning center) first the type I cat for about a year, after that we hired our own therapists, they provided the BCBA consultant. This option was cheaper but a lot more work for the family (hiring, screanning, etc)
Good luck with everything.

[Anonymous]

I know a fantastic speech therapy group in LoCo. Check out Progressive SPeech Therapy, Pooja Agarwal is the owner.

OP, Good luck to you. Thank God your DC was diagnosed early enough to start receiving services. Early Intervention makes a huge difference. My DS didn't talk, didn't point at 4 years old. 4! With early intervention at FCPS preschool, OT and ST, we were able to help mainstream our child. He has Aspergers. He's now 9 years old and is doing better than we ever expected.

[Anonymous]

OP here.. Thanks for all the suggestions. I went to Fleming Therapy services for speech consultation. Does anybody have any particular speech therapist over there that you suggest? We are also trying to get into Loudoun County child find program. DS has his evaluation soon. Thanks.