Anonymous wrote:OP, I am the PP who posted the book links and FCPS resources.

Some of the Autism Preschool teachers/IA's will be willing to work with your kid@home during Summer for around 40-45$/hr (you both can come up with the hrs). We are in FCPS, I found them because our base school has an Autism program and my DC attends another school due to capacity restrictions. May be that will be a right start for you. I found them through word of mouth.

I would do this and increase the speech therapy to twice a week.

OP, I am the PP who posted the book links and FCPS resources.

Some of the Autism Preschool teachers/IA's will be willing to work with your kid@home during Summer for around 40-45$/hr (you both can come up with the hrs). We are in FCPS, I found them because our base school has an Autism program and my DC attends another school due to capacity restrictions. May be that will be a right start for you. I found them through word of mouth.

OP here...thanks for all of the book recommendations. I'll order them when I get home from work

For the PP 16:54, who wondered why we don't try a couple hours of ABA a week instead, well, we'd love to except for most private ABA companies we've checked with require a minimum of 9-10 hrs/week. I completely agree with you that the speech coming in will be huge. Right now he "jabbers" a LOT, but doesn't really have any words that he uses repetitively. When did your son's speech end up coming in? Did you find the speech therapy helpful? Right now he is only getting 1hr of speech every other week (through early intervention), and it is making zero difference. I'm starting him with a private speech therapist in July though once a week...so hopefully that will help.

Thanks for the FCPS resources....we're in Loudoun, but I'm sure there are similar resources here....so I'll take a look. Thanks again

Why don't you try two hours a week and if you are in speech therapy, more speech therapy. We are borderline autism but at that age it really looked like autism. We had many of the things you described. Honestly, the speech coming in as we have both expressive and receptive delays was what made the big difference. At 2 my son would not sit at circle time but at 4 he will no problem. At 2 it is not always a realistic expectation so basic all that.

Hi OP, If you are in FCPS, Parent resource center offers ABA training for parents. GMU also offers some parent ABA training.
Good book for ABA is :
http://www.amazon.com/Work-Progress-Management-Strategies-Curriculum/dp/0966526600
verbal behavior is:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Verbal-Behavior-Approach-Disorders/dp/1843108526/ref=pd_sim_b_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0KVNA1WKV1BMY2X5FB38

I have a 3 year old son and started ABA in March. We can only afford 4 hours a week but in the few months he's had the therapy we've seen rapid progress. He's picking up sign language quickly, he's starting to say words. He's starting to focus and follow directions. I'd been working with him for the longest time in these areas as well as his school. Somehow ABA works for him, he really responds. Why not give it a try, what do you have to lose?

OP, I highly recommend this book: An Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn http://www.amazon.com/Early-Start-Your-Child-Autism/dp/160918470X
It's not a substitute for training, but it's a great first step to take until you get everything else figured it out. It helped my family tremendously, both understanding DS's disorder and figuring out how to change our approaches. You can literally see changes overnight.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may do better with a behavior therapist who can help you develop a parent-led ABA program. Find someone to train you on how to train and shape your child's behavior using behavior therapy. This is what we've done with my son and it's worked wonders.

OP here. Where would I find out about these programs? I'm in Northern Virginia.

Thanks to the rest of you for your responses. DC is 2 yrs old, and has delayed speech as well as ASD, but was found to be mild on the spectrum. Currently he has difficulty focusing (won't sit in "circle time", won't sit for art projects, but will sit for lunch b/c of his love of food). He tolerates his peers but won't engage them. He is very impatient and gets upset easily, and when he gets upset, he tends to throw things or tip things over, and this behavior is what worries me the most. Thankfully he bounces back quickly though instead of throwing a tantrum. I've been told by a number of the professionals who've evaluated him that they think he'd really benefit from ABA. It has been helpful to read your responses so far...thanks again.

For a child that young, and with limited resources, I would agree that you might get the most for your money by having someone provide parent training on how to use ABA techniques - then you would probably have more lasting impact. They could help you come up with very specific behavior plans and teach you how to implement them, help problem-solve particular situations, and help you find more effective ways to teach your child. At 2, I would expect that it would take a long time for your child to even get used to responding to a new provider.

Anonymous wrote:You may do better with a behavior therapist who can help you develop a parent-led ABA program. Find someone to train you on how to train and shape your child's behavior using behavior therapy. This is what we've done with my son and it's worked wonders.

OP here. Where would I find out about these programs? I'm in Northern Virginia.

Thanks to the rest of you for your responses. DC is 2 yrs old, and has delayed speech as well as ASD, but was found to be mild on the spectrum. Currently he has difficulty focusing (won't sit in "circle time", won't sit for art projects, but will sit for lunch b/c of his love of food). He tolerates his peers but won't engage them. He is very impatient and gets upset easily, and when he gets upset, he tends to throw things or tip things over, and this behavior is what worries me the most. Thankfully he bounces back quickly though instead of throwing a tantrum. I've been told by a number of the professionals who've evaluated him that they think he'd really benefit from ABA. It has been helpful to read your responses so far...thanks again.