Early Intervention - how much is too much?

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My 2 year old sons have autism. They have been in EI since they were 9 months old (preemies, torticollis) were diagnosed with ASD last summer/early fall. They were getting 9 hours a week of EI and we felt that they needed more. They now go to a 1:1 ABA school 15 hours a week, plus the 9 hours of EI. 24 hours each a week. Am I killing them? They seem to handle it ok. I have no idea if I'm overdoing it or not.

I just have this awful feeling that time is running out and that I have to do everything I possibly can when they are "young" or a window is going to close on them.

Not sure where I'm going on this. I'm new here and I am just looking for people who might understand.

Thanks.

No, you have tons of time...your son is only 2 years old. Most children now a days don't get diagnosed until they're school age. A lot of people my age are only finding out now that they have AS and either have to try and go through the challenge of seeking out a diagnosis now or not doing anything professionally about it. There's nothing more you should really do since your son is only 2 years old and he's already in early intervention, you don't want to overwhelm him. Just make sure that you're on the same page as his teacher.

It sounds like your sons are more profoundly effected than mine is so I can't say that I know exactly what you are going through. Research does seem to indicate that the more time spent in early intervention when they are young, the more neural pathways are developed that may not get developed without intervention. I guess the best thing I could offer is that you are probably the best judge of how they are doing. Regardless of the number of hours spent in therapy, do they seem happy or stressed? Do they resist participating in some of the activities or with any particular people? If you think you see signs that they are stressed or unhappy you could cut back and see if fewer hours makes a difference. While research may say intense early intervention is good, I would think that only goes so far if the child is showing signs that he is being pushed too hard. On the other hand, if the boys seem to be doing fine, then keep it up.

I think you have to trust your instincts; every child and every situation will be unique. If you see an increase in meltdowns or withdrawal, something is wrong. If they are progressing and seem to be thriving, despite a few signs of stress or normal set backs, then things are probably as they should be.

Little ones, especially those with ASD, do need time to explore the world in their own time and own way but early intervention is also proven to make huge differences. It all depends.

What makes you ask? I think the reason will be a good indicator of what your instincts are telling you.

We just bumped up the ABA from 2 to 3 hours this week. I haven't seen any ill effects yet.

My gut says that my kids don't have time to be kids. Then I realize that they don't seem to know how without all this therapy.

How effected by ASD symptoms are they? What are thet getting therapy for, exactly?

Well only you'd know how your children are faring. Do they seem well adjusted and content? If so then maybe the program is working out for you. Do they seem to be getting overwhelmed with constant meltdowns? Then maybe you should cut back on some of the hours on early intervention. Personally I wouldn't focus too much on early intervention as your child is only 2 years old, yes having it is good but you want your toddlers to be able to be a toddler as well. I must say that it is extremely rare that children get diagnosed with AS that young. You do have plenty of time.

What kind of things do you do in early intervention for your child? I'm just curious because I have my ECE and I've worked with children with disabilities in the past.

I think it also depends on how it is broken up during the week. The preschool teacher who works with my 3yo son at home can hold is attention for max 2.5 hours. That's 2.5 hours of 1:1 teaching. When he is done, he is hungry and wants to take a nap afterwards. However, once he is up from his nap, he is ready again. We can play turn taking games, color,read etc for another 2-3 hours.

I do also give him lots of time to play and run around and burn some energy off.

as long as he has SOME play time I wouldnt mess with it. As kids get older the CUT services even if they are clearly needed (see post about high expectations and cutting services). I have the train of thought that more is better, and what you can do on a day your child seems burnt, it simply ask the therapist to leave early, or talk to them the remainder of the time.

ABA can focus on play, you can take the therapy outside and they can play ball, swings, bike, etc...

good luck!

Most of the time they are happy little guys. They are both very tired on the drive home - they often fall asleep in the car. They are at school 2 or 3 hours a day. Then they come home and have 2 hours of therapy. The "work" day ends at 4 and the rest of the day is when My daughter and I get to play with them.

Treysar, they're lucky. Don't feel guilty, the only thing you have to do is keep an eye on them to avoid to stress them.

I've always found the recommended amounts of early intervention to be too much. When kids are doing it 40+ hours a week, I wonder where the time can be found in the day for them to just relax and be themselves. When do they go to the park? How do they even cram meals into there? But the amount of hours you're doing isn't as extreme, and if they seem to handle it well then that's great. I agree with the other posters that it really has to do with the individual temperament of your children. My son couldn't cope with that many hours of strict intervention.
But don't worry about this idea that you have to cram all the learning you can into them in the next couple of years or else there's no hope, even kids who don't receive intervention improve, and early intervention helps but it doesn't help as much as some would like to think. Do as much as is comfortable for everyone and that will be the perfect amount. Try not to pressure yourself to fix everything and just enjoy what is. I sometimes go into this fixing mode and it really doesn't send a good message to my child. Sometimes we spend so much time trying to improve the situation, as if one day it will be all better if we just work hard enough, but that day will never come, don't wear yourself down or beat yourself up too much.

Research shows that 20-30 hours a week gets the best results. Over that they're too overloaded to learn well, under that is too seldom to have much impact.

Research also shows that you need at least 4 or 5 years difference in age at starting therapy before you notice any difference in outcome. So don't panic too much about the early intervention thing - as long as they're under 5, it doesn't matter what age they start treatment.