Hello,
I am new andhave been reading alot about other situations, does anyone have an HFA child?
If so I would like to hear some of your stories.

Thanks,
Natalie

By Tink on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 02:08 am:

Hi, Natalie. My name is Cori and I'm also from CA. I also have a 5 year old son with high-functioning autism. Where in CA are you? My son was diagnosed 2 years ago this month and we are flabbergasted at the progress he has made. He is in an ABA-based therapy program 37.5 hours each week. I don't know what you would like to know but if you post any questions I'll answer anything I can. I love to talk to other moms about this so be prepared for a long-winded answer!

By Gammiejoan on Wednesday, June 23, 2004 - 10:04 am:

Hi, Natalie. High functioning autism has been mentioned as a possibility with my grandson or perhaps Aspergers. I posted about him earlier this morning, but you can find out more if you go back to some of my old posts on this "Parenting of Special Needs Children" site.

By Daniel on Saturday, June 26, 2004 - 09:55 pm:

Hi Cori
I live in Corona. Where are you? I am pleased to hear your son is doing great, isnt that such a great feeling? My son has achieved so much since school/therapy gives me so much hope. My question was I m having a real problem with his behaviors sticking out his tongue(for anything and everything/happy or sad) and hitting have you had to deal with this I would appreciate any in put or advice?

Thanks
Natalie

By Tink on Sunday, June 27, 2004 - 01:39 am:

Hi Natalie. I'm in Modesto. I haven't dealt with the tongue sticking out, but my first suggestion is setting a timer for 10 minutes, and, if he doesn't do it in that length of time, he gets a smiley face on a grid of 5. Repeat every 10 minutes until the board is full and then he gets a treat. Trip to the park, bike ride, choice of videos or computer game, whatever. This is just an example. I don't know how often your son is doing this but it could be intervals of 1/2 an hour or all day. This would work for the hitting problem also. The other suggestion would be a minor consequence if he does it, like tv off or a short time out, 2 or 3 minutes. If you do time-outs there is a great book called S.O.S. for Parents that makes it very workable. We used the time-out method for my son's minor hitting behavoir and he hates it. So...it works really well. I don't know what type of therapy your son is in, mine is in ABA, and this may not coincide with your beliefs. If not, no harm but the token system is a great visual aid in positive reinforcment. Let me know if you've already tried these and I'll dig up some more ideas. Good Luck and keep us updated.

By Daniel on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 09:41 am:

Hi Cori

I have been using your suggestions and so far so good not perfect but he seems to be grasping the idea. He does not like his favorite Thomas the Train taken away. My son is in a program like ABA but it is more teaching the child and the parent. My son is switching schools and I am going to see if I can get ABA through the school. Now they think he might also be ADHD (like autism his not enough). The token system meaning token economy?
We are trying this now.

Thanks
Natalie

By Tink on Wednesday, June 30, 2004 - 12:24 pm:

I'm glad to hear that some of the ideas are helping. My dh is diagnosed with adult ADD so I keep waiting for one of my kids to start showing symptoms and I pray Seth isn't the one to have it. It seems like so many of these kids just develop one problem on top of another.
The token system is where he is given a symbol (for Seth, they are pictures of Rescue Heroes with a little Velcro that sticks to his board) that symbolize each time period that passes. That way he sees what he has gotten through and how close he is to reaching his reward. He gets one for each 10 minute segment he gets through without "shutting down." He doesn't tantrum, he just pouts and refuses to do his drills. We try to focus on the positive as much as possible i.e. rewards for not doing it instead of consequences when he does. It took some major adjusting mentally for me to focus this way. Keep me updated.

By Daniel on Tuesday, July 6, 2004 - 08:13 pm:

I know what you mean about adjusting mentally sometimes it amazes me how we can change according to each circumstance. I spent the holiday with friends and everyone was around a fire pit and we were off to the side and I over heard a woman say how rude we were to be off by ourselves. little does she know Daniel was fixated by the fire and I was not going to let him burn himself, I told my husband this is the reason why its so hard for me to be around new people but any how the look of guilt on her face was enough when I mentioned he was autistic and too interested in the fire to sit near it,ha! ha!
Daniel has been doing well on not sticking his tongue out his reward is a new Thomas the train character and he also has been taking out in aggression with socker boppers he loves them. Take Care,
Natalie