Treatment

Feeding a young child can be a very exciting and highly gratifying time in a caregiver’s life. As a mother of two, some of my favorite memories are the quiet moments of breastfeeding my babies and later watching them grow into little adult eaters! I’m sure we can all recall the first time we offered a bite of solid food to our little ones. What excitement and thrill we experienced watching them succeed at this important milestone. My time helping families and children with feeding difficulties tells a much different story.  When the process goes awry and children begin to refuse to eat or drink, it can create some of the most stressful experiences at home.  Eating is such a basic biologic need for all of us, and when this need presents differently in our little ones, it can be quite scary.

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The Big Three.

Discussions regarding sleeping, eating and toileting are among the most common in the autism spectrum treatment community. It is no surprise as to why this occurs, as these three functions are imperative to survival and impact our daily lives in countless ways; for example, hunger, fatigue, and physical discomfort are unpleasant, hinder our ability to positively interact with the world, decrease our tolerance for stress, and when chronically present, can negatively impact overall quality-of-life.

If you are a parent of a child with an autism spectrum disorder, you have likely faced challenges in at least one of these three areas. Over the next three weeks, we will provide information regarding methods for tackling these highly-important, and at times exceedingly difficult, tasks. Today we will start with sleep. Read full post »

I’ll start by saying that the tips in this post can be applied universally, whether or not your child is affected by an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, low sensory thresholds in kids on the spectrum can certainly affect your child’s willingness to take medications. Plus, some of these things really do taste bad, so it’s good to have some tricks in mind.  Read full post »

We hope our series on autism treatments has been helpful in sorting through the realm of possibilities for your child.

In wrapping up, whether you are considering discrete trial training, diet modifications, or social skills training, here are some questions to ask yourself and/or a professional you trust:

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Many times when families see me, they ask what therapies they should try for their child. Unfortunately, there is no absolutely prescribed therapy or set of therapies for any child on the autism spectrum. Wouldn’t it be great if an easy roadmap to therapy existed in the dizzying world of therapy for children with autism? Wouldn’t it be great if the answers for how to treat a child (or adult) with autism were as easy as using an antibiotic for strep throat? Unfortunately children with autism spectrum disorders are so varied and their symptoms and problems are so diverse that choosing a single or many therapies is daunting.  Read full post »