In today’s New York Times, the article, “Dealing with the Financial Burden of Autism,” offers a look into the financial side of providing the best program for a child on the autism spectrum. Konrad’s article gives several practical suggestions for navigating the insurance obstacles while pushing for the best program for your child.
According to the article, direct medical and non-medical costs for a child with autism can cost between $67,000 and $72,000 a year. Parents already deal with the challenge of finding the right set of therapies to benefit their child since the treatments aren’t one size fits all. Since many therapies are given several hours a week, the cost adds up.
The article gives some practical advice for seeking financial reimbursement and assistance. The father highlighted in the story obtained financial assistance through a special part of the Medicaid program. He talked about planning therapy deliveries according to caps you might have in your insurance program, coordinating with services covered by the schools, and utilizing resources such as community chapters of the Autism Society of America or Autism Speaks for help with practical advice.
Let me know what has been helpful in your journey with trying to get services covered for your child with autism. Use the comments below.
I was talking to a mom the other day who has a child with a language disorder. She described a breatkthrough with her child that illustrates the importance of language and communication for a child.
This is a soft-spoken, loving mom who saw that her child was getting up from the dinner table before he even started. She asked him to return, he got upset, she asked him more firmly and he returned, crying. Finally he said, “Can you wipe off my meatball?” Wow, she realized that he didn’t like the sauce but couldn’t initially communicate that.
She reinforced his communication by saying, “Thanks for telling me what you needed, so I can help you.” Saying a simple phrase like that not only reinforces his using his words, but also tells why it is important, the cause-effect of the situation. “When you tell what is wrong, then I can help you.” Obviously this mom had no idea what was troubling her son when he didn’t want to sit at the dinner table. Sometimes we can infer what the problem is and model the words for our child to repeat and praise them, “I don’t want to eat the peas.”
It feels so good to communicate!
I am always looking for good stories that have a simple, fun story and clear illustrations to begin working on describing pictures, re-telling a story and answering questions about the content.
Some professionals who work with children with ASD asked me for book ideas so they can fill out their library of books to use with kids. I will be continuing to add to this list but here are some I have used recently (since September) that fit my critieria:
Popcorn by Asch
Queen of Halloween by Engelbreit
Autumn Leaf by Emerson
Halloween Mice by Roberts
Aaaarrgghh Spider by Monks
Red, Red, Red by Gorbachev
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
Bobo and the New Neighbor by Page
Max Cleans Up by Rosemary Wells
Timothy Goes to School by Wells
Before I can ask a child who is language delayed to do a picture walk, I introduce stories, modelling telling the story in different ways each time, so I am not encouraging repetitive language. After several readings and talking about the story, then I ask the child to “read” the story to me. I find that kids enjoy bringing a book to “read” to me and enjoy describing the pictures. When their language is limited I simply add on a word like “so” or “and” or “then” to prompt them to continue the sentence. I also use a gesture with my hand which is like the sign language for “want” meaning, give me more language. They learn that I love more language!
I try to share my challenges and successes in therapy so others can learn from them. As we know, as parents and therapists we have good days and bad days. A good day for me is when a child I am working with shows wonderful progress on his or her goals.
Yesterday I was working with a 4 year-old boy on the Autism spectrum. He is suddenly blossoming in his creative play. Just last summer he was starting to use a little representational person and talk for it following much modeling. During our session yesterday he took his shark (he loves sharks) and took it though nine scenarios, using props to illustrate his story. Our sharks got up and had breakfast (oatmeal and chocolate milk), went to the museum, the beach where we skipped stones in the water (threw Play-doh balls on the floor and counted our skips), piled into a bus and went to Taekwondo (that was a first for me—taking a busload of sharks to exercise!), took a bath, watched a big TV and went to bed in their sleeping bags and Play-doh blankets. Play-doh and simple wooden blocks were our props. As this little boy advances in his play skills, I pick up a block and say, “What is this?” and he incorporates it into play.
I am collaborating with his other therapists and with what goes on at his preschool. When the kids at school are using the block center for pirates, then we reinforce that play theme during therapy, expanding and giving him more ideas to relate at class.
What play ideas have you found helpful when working with higher level kids on the autism spectrum? Share in the comments below.
As a speech language therapist or parent of a child with language disorders, we want to expand our child’s play, while following their interests.
The other day, I was playing with a little boy with the Fisher Price barn. After getting out the animals, feeding them, playing in the mud, and putting the farmer down for a nap, I started to make some hay out of Play-doh to feed the animals. My little play partner began piling it up in a nest for the chicken. As it got higher and higher, I commented that it was tall. Then he said, “Beanstalk.” So, following his lead, we made a beanstalk that was tall and had the animals climb up to the top to greet the rooster on the roof.
Research shows that when you follow a child’s lead in play and talk about it, they take in more language. You as the parent can suggest a little change in the action, (like make some food for your people or animals) and then sit back and watch your child adapt the story to take in the food. If you child needs more modeling in play, go ahead, but step back when they can start to lead the play.
My search for Halloween books that are simple, funny and have lots of language to discuss brought me to two more books that might be helpful to you.
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler is a favorite as the skeleton goes through his day, waking up, taking a shower, brushing his teeth and polishing his bones, as his hiccups continue–hic, hic, hic. Each double page is so simple but there is plenty to talk about as his arm comes off while polishing or his jaw flies out as he brushes his teeth! Ghost helps out with several suggestions like drinking upside down and holding his breath. Finally, ghost reaches into his old trunk to get just the right thing to end the hiccups.
T. Rex Trick or Treats by Lois Grambling takes us through the tough process of T. Rex deciding on a Halloween costume. With lots of words in bold for pre-literacy such as EEK and SCARY, this book draws the kids into the story. The illustrations are cute, especially of his dream of being a bat or a black cat with whiskers taped to his nose!
I hope you all have your costumes picked out! Happy Halloween.
Recently, as I was looking on the internet for games to play with my kids on the autism spectrum, I came across autismgames.org, a wonderful site engineered by speech pathologist, Tahirih Bushey.
Her site and blog encourages parents and specialists to learn about how to use games to teach children on the autism spectrum. According to her website it includes:
- Games that will engage young children with ASD in play
- Videos of kids and families playing the games to model play and imitate
- Tips on how to make the play more fun and educational
I shared some of my favorite Halloween books last week and have used them when working with kids with typically developing language as well as those with auditory processing difficulties, and those on the autism spectrum. I had quite a fun time with Aaaarrgghh: Spider! with a little fellow on the autism spectrum that I wanted to share.
Our goals include being attentive to a book and answering wh-questions as well as building pretend play skills. It all came together with this goofy book about a spider campaigning to be the family pet! We started out with my wonderful collection of bugs, including spiders, a jar with a magnifying lid, Play-doh of course, and some little Fisher Price furniture and playground items.
We talked about the spiders, chose different ones to look at under the magnifying glass and then read the book. I pointed out the faces of the family and reactions to the spider’s attempts at winning them over. We copied surprised, scared and happy faces. Then we got out the Play-doh and made a web, stuck the flies and bugs in it for eating, and hung the spider down from the web to dangle over our dinner, as in the book. We copied the reactions of the family at the sight of a spider waving over our food.
Then, much to my delight, my little friend took off in his play. I was holding a fly and he had the spider when he hid the spider under a mound of Play-doh and started counting. I followed his lead of starting a game of hide and seek with our bugs! We took turns searching for each other’s bugs and he created two new spots for hiding–great flexible play. Then I got out my Play-doh oven as an option for a hiding place. After our bugs hid in it, he piled several bugs in and started to lift it up with sound effects. I asked what he was doing and he said, “It’s landing.” When I asked what is was (the oven), he said, “A plane.” Wow! That was an exciting step up in pretend play to assign a different use to an object than what is it intended for. He proceeded to fly his “plane” around the room on its way “to London” before it had to land so the bugs could go home.
Little steps like that make my day.
CNN reported a study published on Monday in the Journal of Pediatrics that found an increase in the number of children with autism and related disorders in the United States. The number is up to 1 percent of children from the age of 3 to 17.
The study is based on the results of the federal government’s 2007 national survey of children’s health, where parents were asked by telephone if a health care provider had ever told them their child had an autism spectrum disorder. In a follow-up question, parents were asked if their child was currently considered to have ASD. Nearly 40% of the respondents said no.
The question is whether the original diagnosis of ASD was accurate since the disorders are not considered curable. To that point though, as therapists we see children who receive massive hours of early intervention after a diagnosis of ASD, and years later they are “undiagnosed,” due to great improvement in their social and language skills.
The new statistics may be accurate and autism may be on the increase or maybe we are better diagnosticians. According to the CNN article,
“The researchers urged caution in interpreting the change, noting that an increase in diagnoses does not necessarily mean that more children have the disorder. It could simply reflect a heightened awareness of the disorder.”
In any case, heightened awareness is good if we can identify children with ASD early and get them the early intervention services they need to make maximum progress.
Halloween is a fun time of year for kids and an easy theme to introduce into therapy. Today I want to share a few books on that theme that are simple, yet fun and can be incorporated into a language or articulation lesson.
Last week I went to the home of my little friends on the autism spectrum. Books aren’t always his favorite activity and I try hard to find stories with simple, funny, stories linked to his experiences. First we popped popcorn in a pot with a glass lid. What fun to see the kernels pop and overflow, just like the story, Popcorn, by Frank Asch. We took pictures of the steps so we could order them later in re-telling our activity. Then we read the book and took advantage of all the opportunities to ask wh-questions relating to the pictures supporting the story, and describe the action, especially on the party page.
Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw begins with “As the Halloween moon rises, sheep are fixing up disguises.” These well costumed sheep go trick or treating through the farm and encounter some wolves on the way home. Good thing they are dressed up to scare their enemies and arrive home safely to eat their treats! Shaw’s clever series of sheep stories in rhyme are great for pre-literacy skills as well as articulation practice with the /sh/ sound.
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks is one of my favorites for the season. This tale is about a lovable, persistent spider who wants to be adopted as the family pet. It is a good story to talk about feelings and associated facial expressions of surprise, fear, happiness and excitement.
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell is another seasonal book that is a simple, concrete story about the experiences of going to the farm and picking apples and pumpkins, and returning home to carve the pumpkin and go trick or treating. This book could be used as a social story for children on the autism spectrum before a fall field trip, pumpkin carving or trick or treating.
If you work with children on the autism spectrum, please let me know what books have been interesting to your little clients. I would like to develop a list to share with other speech therapists and parents. You can comment below or e-mail me directly at sherry@playonwords.com. Thanks!
