Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My level 1 DS is now 17. He’s improved in some areas but still struggles in others. School is going very well and he will likely attend college, but his main deficits are social rather than academic. Get your child involved in as many activities as possible while he’s young and prioritize socializing with peers. Help him find his Tribe.

Op Can you share more detail?

DS is academically gifted but socially impaired. The hallmarks of level 1 autism are inflexible thinking and difficulty in seeing another person’s point of view, which causes problems as kids get older and parents are less involved in managing friendships. The middle school years are hard, as friends want to be part of the “in crowd” and ASD kids often miss subtle social cues. Let DS pursue his interests because in those activities he will be most likely to find others like him. His obsession may also become the key to a future career.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child was diagnosed at age 5. No language or intellectual disability. We didn't do ABA based on my reading of how autistic people experience it. He did mostly parallel play, long after others his age had moved on, but that didn't make him unhappy. Had friends at the end of ES and now, in high school, but MS was HARD. The best thing we've done is nurture his special interests and made sure that he had a place to shine, outside of school. No academic problems until late ES, when his talent for facts and concrete understanding was no longer helpful. School is hard, but he'll graduate from high school and most likely go to college.

Does that count as a success?

OP Why was MS hard and what helped improve things in HS?

Great idea re: giving him opps to shine to boost his self-confidence and interests.

MS is hard for everyone, but it's when my child's anxiety really ramped up. Social dynamics become harder, school becomes harder, puberty is hard. I hadn't really come to terms with his academic difficulties and so we fought a lot about homework. Things just seemed to even out in high school. He also became friends with other neurodiverse people, so didn't need to try to force NT social skills.

Anonymous wrote:My son is 10 and was diagnosed at 5-6. We did a little ABA but it was honestly not helpful. Maybe we started too late? I think our parenting approach and his schools were more floortime than ABA.

He’s doing fine. We had some rough times from 3-8 but way fewer tantrums, etc these days. He’s finding his place with friends and school.

Op Thanks. What exactly is the difference? Apologies for the naive question, we are at the very beginning.

My son is 10 and was diagnosed at 5-6. We did a little ABA but it was honestly not helpful. Maybe we started too late? I think our parenting approach and his schools were more floortime than ABA.

He’s doing fine. We had some rough times from 3-8 but way fewer tantrums, etc these days. He’s finding his place with friends and school.

OP

He's 2.5

Anonymous wrote:Throw every resource you have at early intervention, the more you can do before age 5/6 and the earlier you start the better off you’ll be ime.

OP In addition to ABA and OT, what else can we do? Other ideas?

Anonymous wrote:My level 1 DS is now 17. He’s improved in some areas but still struggles in others. School is going very well and he will likely attend college, but his main deficits are social rather than academic. Get your child involved in as many activities as possible while he’s young and prioritize socializing with peers. Help him find his Tribe.

Op Can you share more detail?

Anonymous wrote:My child was diagnosed at age 5. No language or intellectual disability. We didn't do ABA based on my reading of how autistic people experience it. He did mostly parallel play, long after others his age had moved on, but that didn't make him unhappy. Had friends at the end of ES and now, in high school, but MS was HARD. The best thing we've done is nurture his special interests and made sure that he had a place to shine, outside of school. No academic problems until late ES, when his talent for facts and concrete understanding was no longer helpful. School is hard, but he'll graduate from high school and most likely go to college.

Does that count as a success?

OP Why was MS hard and what helped improve things in HS?

Great idea re: giving him opps to shine to boost his self-confidence and interests.

Anonymous wrote:I have positive stories for kids that did 30- 60 hours per week of ABA including parents pitching in for additional 1:1. Not 10 hours though.

Op Thanks for sharing. Including for mild autism? We were told b/w 10-20 for his deficits.

But now worried we should do more?

Or were these numbers for level 3 maybe?

We were planning to put him in a mainstream school with additional support.

My child was diagnosed at age 5. No language or intellectual disability. We didn't do ABA based on my reading of how autistic people experience it. He did mostly parallel play, long after others his age had moved on, but that didn't make him unhappy. Had friends at the end of ES and now, in high school, but MS was HARD. The best thing we've done is nurture his special interests and made sure that he had a place to shine, outside of school. No academic problems until late ES, when his talent for facts and concrete understanding was no longer helpful. School is hard, but he'll graduate from high school and most likely go to college.

Does that count as a success?

My level 1 DS is now 17. He’s improved in some areas but still struggles in others. School is going very well and he will likely attend college, but his main deficits are social rather than academic. Get your child involved in as many activities as possible while he’s young and prioritize socializing with peers. Help him find his Tribe.

Throw every resource you have at early intervention, the more you can do before age 5/6 and the earlier you start the better off you’ll be ime.

I have positive stories for kids that did 30- 60 hours per week of ABA including parents pitching in for additional 1:1. Not 10 hours though.

OP

Around what age do other kids stop playing for the most part with ASD kids because the ASD kids don't interact in the same way? I already feel so heart-broken for him especially since he is so warm with adults and kids alike. He is not the socially withdrawn ASD type.

Any positive stories for children who were diagnosed level 1 prior to age 3/4, and who did therapy (we're doing OT and likely will also do 10 hours of ABA)?

Very social kid in that he loves other kids but does not play well with them.

No cognitive or language impact other than some echolalia.

Pretend play is sub-par, mostly plays with the same toys all over again. He can engage with other toys but with much prompting.

Some disruptive behavior in school.

At home, prone to tantrums but nothing extreme as of now.

Concerned though as I was reading in many cases problems actually become much more significant as they grow up, say elementary / middle school. Anything we can do to help?