New pdd-nos

[tees2tots]

My ds has just been tested and will be eligible for services through the school. But now I have to register with the state for hs'ing and probably will not be able to start until the fall. Any advice on tx or what I can do for ds during the summer. His biggest ed problem is prepositions and identification of common objects. He couldn't tell his tester what an oven was. but he is accelerated in math (finishing 1st) reading (3rd grade) other la (2nd gr).

 

He's a picky eater, has "melt downs", would prefer to never acknowledge or answer questions (has recently gotten better). Will NOT sleep in no matter how late he goes to bed. Doen't like "new" things.

 

I've been dealing, but now with the DX I feel I need to give him every opportunity to help him overcome/learn to manage all aspects of his life to the fullest.

 

Tee

Mom to Coby (5) and Elijah (3)

[Laurie4b]

I always suggest an evaluation by an occupational therapist when there are other possibly related problems present because what they do in OT is SO helpful and there is a window of time when it is most helpful. The picky eater, meltdowns, not liking new things could be related to sensory processing disorder, which is evaluated and treated by OT's. The book The Out of Sync Child has a great check list of behaviors. There's another one (name escapes me at the moment, but it's something like the Sensory Sensitive Child that has really good descriptions of the various types of SPD and how it looks in a typical day and what treatment looks like.) OT practices often have social skills groups as well, and will work on social skills when there are two kids in the therapy room at the same time.

 

Also, with the difficulty with naming, I'd want an evaluation and to start therapy as soon as possible with a speech and language pathologist.

[tees2tots]

Thanks! They school said they could not do OT testing until I register as a hs'er with the state. I'm working on it, but that brings up a whole new set of issues-- change of homeschool statis from parent hs'ing child to running a non public school with religious objections to certified teachers:confused:

 

I'm quickly becoming religious against certified teachers :001_huh:

 

I'll look into the books and website you offered, thanks

 

Oops I meant checklist

[5knights3maidens]

I just finished reading 'Unraveling the Mysteries of Autism and Pervasive Development Disorder: A Mother's Story of Research and Recovery by Karyn Seroussi....excellent book .... it is worth reading more than once. This might help you.

[Holly IN]

What state are you from? Make sure the school is not going against the law. Some schools think they can require more what the law states.

 

Let me know what state you are from and we can help you more.

 

Holly

[Laurie4b]

Honestly, I'd look for an OT outside of the school. What is needed to treat sensory processing disorder typically requires a large room with lots of specialized equipment PLUS an OT specifically trained and experienced in SPD. I can tell you that around here, school OT's do not provide treatment for SPD, just for stuff like handwriting. However, occupational therapy is often covered by insurance.

 

A speech and language pathologist employed by the school is a better bet for quality treatment in that realm.

[tees2tots]

We're from Michigan.

 

I'll check into the OT and insurance, I was lead to believe by the drs where ds was originally tested that most insurances don't cover what the school offers.

 

From what I understand the school can do testing for Autism spectrum and work up a plan for speech, psych, and social w/o our being registered, but cannot provide services or test for or provide OT unless we are registered hs'ers.

 

Thanks everyone for all the great sources/ideas etc.

 

Tee

[GymboFroggie]

My son is 9.5 and was dx's PDD-NOS and ADD at age 4. Our public school system did not come through for Benjamin - he was placed in an early intervention program with an "unfortunate" teacher. Too bad, because most teachers in these programs are wonderful... Anyway, after fighting to have him moved and not succeeding, I decided to homeschool him and have not regretted it.

 

I just wanted to share that perhaps you might consider looking at your son's diet. I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject lately and am led to believe that many behavioral/learning issues like PDD, ASD, ADD ADHD, etc. are related to their gastrointestinal system - Most kids in the spectrum have some kind of gastro issue - My son has recently been diagnosed with IBS.... All this to say, there have been some amazing recoveries through implementing dietary changes...

www.pecanbread.com has been very enlightening as well as the book Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell McBride, an excerpt of which you can read here:

http://www.behealthy.org.uk/gaps.pdf

 

Best wishes on your journey!

[tees2tots]

Great info. Thanks everyones been so helpful!

 

My insurance covers OT and by chance we had dr appt today. So we at least got that started.

 

I've considered diet--but he's such a picky eater. Maybe we'll have to do it anyway! Thank for the information. And I will read and look at the sites!

[5knights3maidens]

The book I recommended above has alot of info. that GymboFroggie (below) mentions. etc... It is an awesome book with lots of resources in the back and lots of websites. Here are 3 websites...(I just gave this book to someone to read.)

 

 

http://www.austimndi.com

 

http://www.nowheat.com/grfx/nomilk/index.htm

 

http://www.devdelay.org

 

I hope this helps you.

[GymboFroggie]

Great info. Thanks everyones been so helpful!

 

My insurance covers OT and by chance we had dr appt today. So we at least got that started.

 

I've considered diet--but he's such a picky eater. Maybe we'll have to do it anyway! Thank for the information. And I will read and look at the sites!

 

I understand! My son would live on pizza and pasta alone if he could... The unfortunate thing is that a lot of our children's behavioral issues are due to what they eat - to which they are, on some level, either allergic or which contribute to a "leaky gut", releasing toxins into their blood stream and across the brain/blood barrier... The kids crave the food that exacerbates their symptoms! And many of these kids will ONLy eat these foods... I have heard and read many testimonies of how eventually the kids come around and actually enjoy the foods that help make them well.

It was very encouraging to me to think there could actually be recovery for him. :)

[Laurie4b]

The OT's will know which diagnosis to use to get reimbursement. It's all one ball of wax, but it's typical, for instance, for a kid with SPD to have "coordination disorder" and they code for that, and then treat it all. Since it's all intertwined, it's all on the up and up.

[Holly IN]

According to HSLDA this is Michingan's law on homeschooling.

 

http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=MI

 

Hopefully this works.

 

Holly

[Becki in IN]

Well, we were lucky. Our insurance pays for 25 visits of OT a year. School OT does pencil and paper types of activities not what is needed for SPD.

[buttacol]

Stanley Greenspan's The Special needs Child.

[Pam H]

I've considered diet--but he's such a picky eater. Maybe we'll have to do it anyway! Thank for the information. And I will read and look at the sites!

 

 

My 4yo ds was dx with PDD-NOS last year. His biggest problem was his language. He was completely non-verbal. We found a great ST and now he is communicating very well. He had an OT eval a couple of weeks ago. He has SPD too.

 

The only OT in our area is affiliated with the local school, so when he is school age, I'm going to get him OT through the school.

 

My ds eats corndogs, poptarts, pancakes, tomatoes and grapes. The only thing he will drink is gatorade. He will surprise me ocassionally and eat his whole dinner - not very often.

 

For now, I don't know what to do next. I've considered getting biomedical testing done. It would be nice to know if he is low on certain nutrients or high in metals. It would be such a great thing if all I needed to do was drop a few drops of a mineral in his juice. He had the biggest jump in language growth when I finally got him to drink some vitamins!

[JFSinIL]

I will post this again:

http://www.amazon.com/Autism-Its-Medical-Management-Professionals/dp/1843108348/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210161720&sr=8-1

It is the link to the just out book by noted pediatric neuro Michael Chez, includes

info on what testing to do, what is a rip-off, etc. Scroll down and read the first review (no, not by me - someone beat me to it!). Buy this book - in the long run it will save you much time and money!:001_smile: