How to teach a child with Autism or PDD

My son was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 2 years and 3 months. A month later he was on intensive one-on-one home-based therapy. By five, he was in a regular mainstream school, totally indistinguishable from his peers. I soon found there was very little software available to teach children with Autism. This document outlines the information on Autism I have acquired over the years and the computer software I used to aid my son's recovery. It is important to understand that without any Autism therapy or intervention, a child with Autism or PDD will absorb far less information and knowledge from the environment than a typical child. A typical child will start to talk at 1.5 to 2 years with almost no help from his parents or siblings. He will then acquire around 6 new words a day and will have a vocabulary of an amazing 10,000 words before the age of seven. A child with Autism may become verbal much later and have poor language and social skills if he is not given speech and behavior therapy. At least initially, a child with Autism must be given a strong knowledge base i.e. he must be taught speech, language and age-appropriate behavior. Starting work with your child If you even suspect your child has Autism or ASD, you must begin work with him immediately. Do not waste vital time waiting for a formal Autism diagnosis. I met one mother who waited six months for a formal Autism diagnosis before beginning any treatment. Imagine how much she could have taught her child in that time. You will find out for yourself that most doctors know very little about Autism and will simply recommend speech therapy, special education or an early intervention center. The worst thing some doctors will do to a parent is to take away hope. You will acquire more information on Autism from other parents of children with Autism than you would from any general practitioner. As you work with your child and see the results, you will soon find other parents of newly-diagnosed children with Autism coming to you for advice. Start working with your child now, even if it means just trying to communicate with him through play. This time will never ever be wasted.

Denial Many parents will simply not believe their child has an Autistic disorder and will not even seek a diagnosis. Too often, they ignore the clear signs of Autism in their child and somehow hope he will improve on his own. They often wait until it is too late to start work with their child. Autism diagnosis Although an early Autism or ASD diagnosis for this potentially devastating disorder is critical, children with Autism rarely receive a diagnosis before the age of 3 or 4 years. There are no outward physical differences between Autistic kids and typical children - in fact most children with Autism are very good-looking. The only differences are behavioral. Autistic kids will exhibit at least some of the following: Poor speech and language skills Inappropriate play eg. child may continuously spin the wheels of a toy car rather than push it May line up toys or other objects Trouble interacting with others Poor eye contact Walking on toes Hand flapping Tendency to have narrowly focused and odd interests Not asking for things in the same way as other children Failure to show objects to others Failure to orient to one's name being called Failure to engage in reciprocal play where there is a back-and-forth between two people Failure to copy others' motor movements May not use pointing to direct another person's attention May resist social touch such as hugging Autism spectrum A child with Autism can be anywhere in the broad Autism 'spectrum'. At the upper end, the child could appear almost normal and have few autistic traits. He may perhaps be the quiet child in the classroom with few or no friends and a couple of quirky habits. He may not even be diagnosed having Autism until much later in life. At the lower end of the Autism spectrum, the child would be termed low-functioning, have poor speech and language and would require much more intensive Autism therapy. No matter where a child is in the Autism spectrum, he can and must be helped.

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