My daughter has autism. She was diagnosed at the age of 2 and she is now 10 years old. The journey down this path of autism is not easy, but I have learned a lot along the way. Namely, there are many ways to help a child who has autism. Actually, it seems like there are countless ways. This makes sense because autism affects each child differently. My daughter has gone through various autism treatment programs. Currently, she is involved with an RDI (Relationship Development Intervention), horse riding therapy, and Autism Movement Therapy. She absolutely loves when we do Autism Movement Therapy together. In fact, all three of these types of therapies are quite complementary to each other. In a previous blog post, I wrote about how the founder of RDI, Steven Gutstein, and the founder of Autism Movement Therapy, Joanne Lara, have teamed up to continue helping children with autism. In honour of Autism Awareness Month, which takes place in April, Joanne Lara provides helpful and encouraging information about this issue.

A few days ago, my daughter went to the playground to enjoy some nice time outdoors. The winters here in northeastern Ontario are cold and snowy, so she was excited to spend time at the playground. The weather is not actually warm yet, but now that spring has arrived, our mindset is to enjoy outdoor time whenever possible. The park is very close to our home. In fact, I am able to watch her play from where we live. She proudly went to play and was having a nice time. Unfortunately, she came back home after about 10 minutes. She was crying and very upset. Some boys at the playground began making fun of her and the fact she has autism. When she returned home, she told me the boys had said a lot of negative words towards her, and even managed to put down the other family members too. One thing they kept telling her is that she is “dumb because she is special needs.” Yes, my daughter has autism, but she is not dumb…far from it actually. She is in grade 4 and her last report card had only A’s and B’s for grades. She has made a lot of progress since being diagnosed at the age of 2 and I thank God for her improvement. The boys who were making fun are in grade 2, so I know their understanding of autism is likely limited. Still, it was not right that they were making fun of my daughter and her family. I walked back to the playground with my daughter to talk with the boys. When we walked up, the boys ran off to try to hide from us. Then, the mom of one of the boys came up and told me “you’d better not yell at my son.” I worked hard and remained calm and told her I was not going to. She said “I’m just warning you.” I asked the boys what happened and got some information, but not all, of course. One of the boys apologized. However, the other two did not. At least I got to tell them that my daughter is not stupid, along with reminding them that their put downs are hurtful and not helpful. I know their attention span, especially on a spring day, is not long-lasting. Still, it was worthwhile to me to come back to the playground with my daughter. Not sure how much was accomplished, but I have keep at this both when it comes to helping my daughter and to educating and informing those who do not understand the “misunderstood child.”

Ever since my daughter was diagnosed with autism in 2001, I have researched and implemented various programs and treatments in an effort to help her. I am truly thankful that my daughter has improved greatly since being diagnosed with autism at the age of two. The two methods that have helped my daughter significantly are Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) and Autism Movement Therapy. With this in mind, I was really pleased to come across the following information:

Over the past 8 years, I have worked almost every day to help my daughter with issues related to her having autism. I am truly grateful because she has improved greatly since being diagnosed at the age of 2. Along the way, a variety of autism therapies have been tried. Three of the most effective have been RDI (Relationship Development Intervention), Autism Movement Therapy and horse riding therapy. I am going to write another blog post soon about a meeting between the leaders of RDI and Autism Movement Therapy. For now, I want to focus on Autism Movement Therapy. Simply put, my daughter loves this program. I do too.

My daughter has autism. She was diagnosed at the age of 2 and she is now 10. Over the years, I have learned a lot about many aspects of autism. I have learned so much over the past 8 years that as I type this, I realize how many steps have gone into the process of helping her. My daughter is blessed to have improved a great deal. She is in a regular grade 4 classroom. She has an aide, but the aide is not always in the classroom and basically is used only when needed. My daughter also receives speech services to help her with conversational and social skills. At home, we are working on programs that focus on perspective taking and the back and forth flow of communication. My daughter is currently in an RDI program, from which she has benefited enormously. Yes, there is still work to be done, but I am truly grateful for her improvement. I cannot put into words how truly thankful I am. As the mom of a special needs child, I have gone through so many emotions dealing with handling this type of situation. I have pushed for answers and I have not been afraid or embarrassed to advocate for her. I have come to know, and become friends with, other parents who have enormous determination to help their children. The following article, posted at TVOparents.com, outlines the role of parents in autism research. I hope you will find it informative and, even more so, motivational and inspirational.

My son is currently writing a paper for one of his classes at school. He is doing a good job overall, but there have been some complaints along the way. I have told him to continue working through all the challenges, because learning to handle adversity is hugely important to building inner strength and character. I don’t mind if people make mistakes along the way, as we all do at times. However, when people don’t take work through adversity or take responsibility for their mistakes, this is very bothersome to me. I have often told my children that the world does not revolve around them. I’ve shown them pictures of the Earth and pointed out that their faces do not appear on the axis on which the Earth rotates. I want them to realize they have a special place this world, and they know they will always have a special place in my heart as I love them dearly, but they must work through adversity and not expect everything to go their way each time. One of my favourite books of all time is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. He once said “Education comes from within; you get it by struggle and effort and thought. ”

My daughter was diagnosed with autism at the age of two. She is now nine years old. (10 years old as of October 2009.) Over the years, she has been through a few different therapy programs, including Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Pivot Response Training, horse riding therapy, along with bits and pieces of therapy I learned from various books and videos. Generally, I just keep working to help her and have implemented various programs to help depending on the situation. My daughter is currently involved in the Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) program and it is helping a great deal. Over the years, I have dealt with a lot of emotions and questions about her future. I have long realized how blessed she is because she has improved a great deal. She is fully verbal, is on track academically, and is able to handle most situations, although not all yet. I am currently working with her on the issues of perspective taking and the natural flow of conversations. As we have moved along the autism path for more than seven years, we’ve covered a lot along the way and we will continue doing so. I feel like my daughter has the pathways in her brain and she is building on these foundations, while connecting the pathways. Yes, it has taken time, but I am not complaining. I love her dearly and she is well worth the effort. I have met so many parents and children who are affected by autism and similar issues. I am blessed to have gained friends and received guidance along the way. In honour (honor) of those affected, here is an awesome song by Mark Leland: