Our insurance won't cover aba therapy even with the diagnosis. 😞 we can barely afford the one hour a week for speech therapy. He def has the oral motor issues, and he was also diagnosed with specific motor function disorder (or something like that) by an OT. And it all sounds terrible on paper, but everyone in my family thinks he's a completely normal six year old. 🙄

Sadly, he can not recite verses. I gave up months ago bc it just wasn’t happening. He can’t even recite the alphabet, or sing the alphabet song even though I’ve sang it to him literally every single day since he was a toddler.

I need help picking curriculum for my just-turned 6 yo son. I know this is a classical forum, but im definitely not limiting suggestions to classical if something better fits him. 😊 I’ve stressed over this boy for years, and I feel like I need to get a plan and put it in motion. Quick history: last year I had him evaluated by a psychologist and after spending literally five minutes with my boy he said, “all the questionnaires you filled out point to autism, the speech and language evaluations point to autism, and the vb-mapp done at the autism center points to autism. But this boy is too social to have autism.” So, I needed to get a second opinion, but instead I’m just trying to get him what he needs. I purchased the ablls and am also reading Teaching Children with Learning and Behavioral Problems. So I’m hoping to put an educational plan in place to teach all the skills he needs, but I also need a program or curriculum to guide me. He is good at math. He picked up addition facts on his own just by doing a rod and staff workbook. He seems to be beyond k math, but I don’t know if I should focus strictly on phonics/reading, or if I should also be working on math at his pace. My main need right now (i think) is which reading program to buy. He knows most of his letter sounds, but it isn’t super quick recall like it should be. He really has to think about most of them for a few seconds. He is a visual learner, and probably needs hands-on/movement type of stuff. It’s hard to get him to sit still for five minutes (unless he’s playing Minecraft 🙄). So, I guess my question is what reading and math programs will work for a possible HFA/adhd struggling learner? And I’d really love to throw in something fun like science, history, or bible. I want to feel like we’re “doing school” instead of me just showing him a few flashcards and asking what sound the letter makes.

I’m following the Keto diet. I’ve lost 17 pounds since May 6th. It’s the only time I’ve stayed on a diet more than three hours. Lol. I’m not sure if it’s the diet, or the fact that I realized just how much weight I’d gained. I stay below 15 carbs and 1200 calories most days. Breakfast consists of bulletproof coffee. The only way I stray from the plan is with my Diet Coke.

I made an appointment for Thursday with our pediatrician. They said she won't diagnosis, but she'll do her evaluation/screening and then refer me to someone. So, I need to prepare to go into her office with just the right symptoms, stories, and reports for her to take me seriously. Any tips on how to "present my case"? Should I just hand this list over: Developmentally: no waving, babbling, or imitation Speech: speech sound disorder, didn't speak until he was 2 and a few months Language: vbmapp showed"deficits requesting help, information using wh questions, and requesting things requiring a yes or no response. Requesting info using wh questions was non existent... Deficits being able to talk and hold a conversation with peers. Didn't not speak to his peers during play or at the table, and when a child would talk to him he would not respond... Deficits listing multiple items in a class, describing locations, and answering questions related to a sequence of events." Problems with time concepts, always talks loud, chews on his shirts and fingers. Hyperactive IQ test while in the low-average range showed an 11-point discrepancy between verbal and nonverbal. CELF-5 showed below average scores in word structure, word class, and pragmatics profile. Conners early childhood BEH-parent form showed very elevated social functioning and atypical behaviors. Childhood rating scale-2 indicated "mild autism spectrum disorder", primary concerns in emotional response and relating to people.

After reading old posts here and other blogs and such, I was trying to figure out why people always wait years before getting started. I guess wanting the diagnosis before the child starts improving makes sense. I had never really thought about that.

My insurance doesn't cover ABA therapy, and I hear there's a 10,000 person wait list for the waivers available. And state Medicaid is dependent on household income, so we wouldn't qualify. So I'd rather start now and just pay for it so he can get the help he needs.

The ABA therapist told me I should at least ask for a copy of the ADOS screening sheet. To see what he marked off and such. He said he can't believe the evaluation report was barely two pages long. Tomorrow morning I'm going to call and get a copy of the actual test and then make an appointment with my ped to refer me to someone for second opinion. But for now the therapist is getting back with me for a time to schedule the ablls. Our goal is for him to perform the assessment and then teach me to teach my son in the least amount of visits necessary. At least until someone else is paying! He said the vb-mapp clearly indicates my son has deficits. If it walks like a duck... Did I mention the CELF results? He scored below average in the subtests word structure, word class, and pragmatics profile. For whatever that's worth. She also noticed and added goals for answering WH questions. We start language therapy Thursday.

The behavioral therapist is board certified that came to my house today to discuss ABA. The one that did the evaluation was a psychologist. Wait. The ped can diagnosis autism?! Mind blown. I didn't even talk to the ped bc we never see her and I just thought she'd refer me to a psychologist.

Yes I'm getting more upset each day I schedule appointments knowing that insurance won't cover them bc I have no diagnosis. Yet the reason I'm making the appointments is bc HE recommended them for my son--social skills, speech, language!! I may call him up and see if he'll reconsider testing again. ?? That will be cheaper than starting over. Or do I need to cut my losses with him?

I'm not done reading your response, but I want to quickly say before I forget again...he sent me home after the first appointment with three separate questionnaires that I mailed in. He said in his final report that those questionnaires actually TESTED POSITIVE (or however he said it) for mild autism!! Yet, bc in five minutes of observation my son was social he determined him to not have autism.

He is actually a BCBA. I'm just getting used to all the letters. Lol. He said he has extensive training with the vbmapp and ablls.