MR/DD is all they can offer

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I called about getting speech therapy for my son, who has a mild PDD-NOS diagnosis. He's two next month. And they told me that their only services are through MR/DD. They explained some of it. They seem extremely ill-equipped to handle this. Clueless. So I'm on my own.

Did I mention I HATE IT HERE!! !?

If anyone has any suggestions, helpful hints, things that worked in the home, etc., please let me know.

I have some experience with facilitating speech in young children. Maybe I can give you some ideas as far as things you can do at home.

And you may want to look into signing if he is having trouble communicating. I have children in my care who have signed and they have all done very well.

What troubles is he having with his speech?

We just started teaching him sign language, and he seems to be willing to use it. So far (since we started at Halloween) he can sign "candy", lol, and "up". He understands the signs for eat, up, down, hungry, socks, shoes, pants, shirt and hug. We have a DVD (Signing Time) on it's way.

His speech is delayed. He's turning two next month and he basically hasn't progressed since he turned one. He has about 7 words. Very very recently, within the past week or two, he has begun to show interest in words more. Up until now, there has been no imitation (he smiles or ignores you if you tell him "Say cat!" or the like) and he has never imitated tone. We just want to get him communicating so he isn't so terribly frustrated. I'm hoping now that he has interest, it will work better.

Now he sits in front of his Baby Einstein show and when they say "BOAT", he will babble something fairly close in length to the word boat...though it sounds nothing like boat and is not said in the same tone as the narrator said it. But it's progress, and I'm excited about it!

I remember your post about that. Sorry, the brain is on overload lately.

I have found that the children who sign to start picking up words earlier than the others. It was once debated that signing may cause toddlers to talk later, but the opposite seems to be true.

You should be excited! It seems that when they do take off, they do it with leaps and bounds. My youngest son talked late and now I just can't seem to get him to take a breath.

Geez, I had no inkling about autism or speech delay when my son was 2. You have a headstart. We were doing Baby Einstein (back then it was Einstein, Mozart, Bach, and Van Gogh), watching Teletubbies together. That's a key thing with toddlers. They can't be left in front of the screen without adult supervision/participation. We used the Teletubbies for learning grammar, sentence usage and exercise. We then reinforced the format in real life by pointing and saying. (for example, "see the tall tree" "Big hug!" "What's that?") We also had the Baby Einstein flash cards, though we didn't test or teach. They lay around as toys. I also had a cd to listen to. Granted, this was before the (Baby Einstein) company was sold to Disney and it was a different product at the time.

We had a lot of music in the house too. Bach is baby friendly.

This is what we did before and just after Pop was diagnosed (at 2 1/2). Later, I drew cartoons, aka social stories.

We have a head start only because our daughter (4) was recently diagnosed with autism, so the signs were more apparent this time.

His comprehension of words is fine, he just won't speak. He does love books, and I can't put him to bed without reading at least three

Yeah, my son still loves to be read to at 7 years old. They say that is really good too. for lots of reasons.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Sid :O)

Hi!
I was doing some internet research on the OT exercises my son has to do and I found that the section I was reading mentioned Vestibular exercises to help with speech. ( sorry I cant recall what site I was on)
My son has to do vestibular exercises for auditory processing,balance etc..
It may be worth your while looking up the info yourself or looking into an OT.
My son spoke very very young prior to him speaking one of his fav things was a folder my mum made. She drew flash cards of just about everything, eg,grapes, bath, drink, shoes,nose etc.. she also wrote the words for each card and had them with each picture. She would show my son then imitate if she could each card then ask him to copy, or ask him where is?? he would point to the card eventually he started to copy her.
J was an early talker, however I have been told he speaks with an American accent (We are Australian)
My neice's son was dx with pdd-nos very young she used a similar system with her non-speaking son only he would give her the card when he wanted what was on it. She would thank him then slowly read the card to him. He has been talking now for several years. He is in 2nd grade reading at grade 5 level.
Hope all this helps.

I'm not sure PDD-NOS is a very good diagnosis. It would be better to have something more concrete such as Aspergers or HFA. Some NT kids (especially little boys) don't speak well until at least four but this idea of Baby Einstein and similar programmes is an excellent one, as is reading stories to the children.

Most children love being read to (it was a nightly ritual in our house) even when they have started school.

Thank goodness they saw sense and diagnosed "autism". I think PDD-NOS as a a diagnosis should only be used very occasionally, when there is a clearly atypical presentation that doesn't fit at all with Asperger's, HFA, or any other main autism diagnosis. I also feel it is often used as a bit of a cop-out diagnosis.

I have grown up and grown old with AS. I have an AS kid. I am beginning to think that Hans Asperger did't know what he was talking about, and that basically the entire DSM is the wrong book to use (except as a coding manual) and that we don't know a thing about AS. One of these days, I suppose, we will, but meanwhile, I know it's not always easy to live with a kid whose AS, but sometimes they grow up to be brilliant. Strange, but brilliant.

Just thinking.

Btdt

many people feel that PDD-NOS is only a dx you get if you're "not enough" of another dx. i really feel that there is a rather large spectrum within most disabilities....that you can have a certain dx, and not fit every single criteria

As a student of psychology and a recovered sufferer of ED-NOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified) and can attest to the fact that NOS is not just a wastebasket category. I had both anorexia AND bulimia, so I did not fit a clear diagnosis of one or the other. I was actually sicker than either single one, damaging myself in multiple ways. NOS simply means a person has multiple symptoms that meet criteria, they just don't fit neatly into a specific one. (Aspies get obsessed with things, for a time, mine was counting all things food related including calories and weight.)

Now, some people who don't know much about PDD-NOS may think it means less, but I know better. I think educational institutions are getting better about it.