How many of you have done (private) therapy for your LD kid?

[Wendi]

We are looking into an intensive, multidisciplinary therapy for ds11. His neuropsychologist highly recommends it. He has a language disorder (mostly expressive, but some receptive) and processing problems. He has SID. He is gifted. He has OCD, which is thankfully completely under control with supplements. He will be having an EEG soon to check for absence seizures. Whew! A lot going on with this kid!

 

I'm just wondering how many of you have sought treatment. I know things have changed a lot since I majored in learning disabilities in college; back then, the emphasis was on tailoring a student's work to fit his needs, and teaching him/her coping skills. Now, there are therapies which seem to actually retrain the brain to work more effectively.

 

Any experience?

 

Wendi

[Mom0012]

My son's main struggle at this point is with his expressive language. He used to have real difficulty with receptive language as well, but that is the area that therapy has helped him the most.

 

I don't know what therapy you are looking at, but my son has done lots of different things. He's done private speech, OT, 6 weeks at Lindamood Bell, Neuronet, social skills classes and Auditory Integration Training. We've gotten mixed results. Lindamood Bell, Neuronet, the social skills classes and OT were the big winners for him. Neuronet is probably the most along the lines of what you are talking about. The provider always spoke about changing the brain.

 

My stepdaughter did the NILD program for 2 years and made progress, but not enough to justify continuing. She was older when she did the program though and I have since heard that it is more successful for younger children.

 

I definitely feel that the therapies have helped quite a bit and were very worthwhile, but my son still has learning disabilities. I have come to realize that no therapy is going to change that.

 

Lisa

[hsmamainva]

For my oldest son, who has high functioning autism, we did vision therapy ($2,000 for 10 weeks) but it worked wonders!! His reading skills improved at least 2 to 3 grade levels in 10 weeks (he had terrible tracking problems. They said that his visual tracking skills - following the words with his eyes when he reads - were at a 4 year old level when we started therapy last summer (and he was 13!)

 

For my youngest, who has autism, we did OT for 5 months (at $75 a week) and speech therapy for 6 months (at $55 a week). Both helped her immensely!! Her sensory system was completely out of whack when we started OT! We couldn't take her out in public, and now we can take her anywhere without upsetting her. Her speech improved from 2-3 word sentences, to 5-8 word sentences and she can now answer 'what' and 'where' questions.

 

For the past year, she's been getting speech and OT through the public school system. The OT isn't as "good" as private OT (it's academic vs sensory based) but her speech therapy has been top notch! And it's free! (We were really hurting, trying to pay for all that therapy -- we were paying for the therapy for both kids at the same time!) -- also, I only have to drive my daughter to the local elementary school for her therapy, whereas her private therapy was an hour's drive, each way.

 

So, for my kids, it has been well worth it!

[SheilaZ]

My 7 year old had private OT for 4 years and private speech therapy for 3 and half years.

His older brother had private OT for 2 years, PT for 6 months, and private speech for 3 years.

Both have speech therapy through the school system currently because their speech issues are almost resolved

[dtsmamtj]

Our son has been in private speech therapy to help with his APD twice a month (insurance will help). We also use a balance board doing coordinating exercises. We also supplement his school work with reinforcing activities (critical thinking, vocabulary, comprehension, Earobics, etc.) to help with his weak areas due to the APD. Our current speech therapist wants to use his schoolwork instead of creating unrelated exercises. HTH

 

T

[sandellie4]

We have three of our children in speech tx, private, and it has probably been the strongest therapy that we've tried for them. It's helped not only in the mechanics of things, but also helped in interpretation of figures of speech, humor, and just being in a group. We discovered with one of our other children that oral-motor work was an important component for us. Some of the SLPs we interviewed pooh-poohed oral motor, but we just happened to choose one that is really strong in that area, and we were surprised at how helpful the exercises are -- partly because it helps me work at home with the wee ones. Sandy

[Quiver0f10]

We are doing private OT, ST and will be doing VT soon. The university where my son is getting ST is also helping him wih his reading issues.

[Rod Everson]

For my oldest son, who has high functioning autism, we did vision therapy ($2,000 for 10 weeks) but it worked wonders!! His reading skills improved at least 2 to 3 grade levels in 10 weeks (he had terrible tracking problems. They said that his visual tracking skills - following the words with his eyes when he reads - were at a 4 year old level when we started therapy last summer (and he was 13!)

 

So, for my kids, it has been well worth it!

 

Thanks for posting this about your experience with vision therapy and autism. This is the one that I think most parents miss, probably because the other professions (speech, medical, OT, etc.) usually omit mention of it, and because the vision issues addressed by vision therapy can be quite difficult to detect by a parent, or even by the child himself. Yet, I think we will find that a significant percentage of children diagnosed with autism or Asperger's have undiagnosed vision problems.

 

My experience is with kids struggling to learn to read, not with autism. However, I note that "dyslexia" runs in families, as apparently does autism, and I've also found after extensive questioning of the parents of struggling readers that vision issues also run in the family. I now believe they're all related, so just as I advise parents of a struggling reader to get a vision exam by a developmental optometrist, I would also advise parents of an autistic child to do the same. A poorly functioning visual system can create a lot of problems for a child. Note though that the family optometrist is unlikely to make the diagnosis. A lot of kids with vision issues requiring vision therapy have been told that their eyes are "just fine" by their family OD. And, indeed, they were, if all that was being assessed was visual acuity and eye health.

 

Here's a part of my website that goes into vision issues in some depth. OnTrack Reading - The Vision Piece

 

Hope this helps,

 

Rod Everson

[Laurie4b]

We've done private OT, and are now doing both OT and VT. It's very expensive. The OT helped tremendously; he became a different kid. Haven't seen results from VT yet, but we haven't been doing it too long. After the VT, we'll proceed to Learning Rx if it still seems needed.

[Kathy in MD]

My ds had private ST, OT and VT, partially paid by insurance, at the same time. All 3 were essential for him to be able to function socially and academically within a semi-normal range. We followed therapy with The Listening Program (minimal effect) and BrainSkills, the no longer available home-based version of PACE and Learning Rx. BrainSkills worked on training the brain how to utilyze the new imput my ds's repaired senses were sending it. I highly recomend it's sister programs.

 

One therapy I wish I had pursued now that my ds is a teenager was a drama/playacting course to help children release frustrations and learn how to respond appropriately.

[tonygirl]

I have 4 out of my 5 kids inprivite therapy speech and OT