Therapies for Autism (medications, therapy, insurance, child)

[allnaturalkiki]

What are some special things you are doing to help your children who have autism become a more self -sufficient adult who could venture out in the world. Besides the school services (speech, ot, and ABA).
My sister and I are always researching but there isn't much to show it actually works or to know if the reviews are true. Between the special diets, special clothes, special massages it can be overwhelming. What extra things do you do for your children that you feel are working? Or extra therapies you do and classes ect?

[germaine2626]

Obviously different things may work for different children. Or a program may work very well for a child when they are three or four but not when they are teenagers. Or a program may work well if the parents follow through on home therapy or the parenting aspect of the program but it may completely fail if they do not follow through.

Before you "try something new" I would recommend that you discuss it with professionals who know your child well, their special education teacher, their therapists and their pediatrician.

I am a retired early childhood special education teacher. About 15 years ago there was a new program in my area for autism that involved some type of auditory programming/therapy. The parents of one of my students was interested in this program but it cost perhaps $3,000 for several in-depth, intensive sessions and was not covered by insurance. Both the child's speech therapist & I felt that, while this program may help some children with autism he clearly did not appear to fit the criteria where he would benefit. The speech therapist explained to the parents that the program was designed for children with specific speech & language needs/characteristics and their child did not have those specific needs.

Well, the parents disagreed with the therapist, put their child on the waiting list, borrowed the money from the grandparents and had the child do the therapy. And, nothing changed for the child. The parents became very, very out spoken about this program and told everybody, especially people in the local autism support groups, that it was a scam and a fraud.

Sadly, this may have meant that children who actually met the criteria and who could have benefited from this therapy did not get the therapy because of how vehemently those parents insisted that it was a worthless therapy.


The autism spectrum is so wide, and the children so varied that what does amazing things for one child may do absolutely nothing for a different child and may even cause regression in a third child. I have had children in my classroom with autism with IQs that are so low they can not even be accurately measured and others with IQs well into the gifted range. I have worked with students, with autism, who were completely non-verbal, barely able to feed themselves at age four and had students, with autism, who were also four, reading at the fourth grade level.

While it is great to get ideas from other parents please investigate & evaluate how that program/therapy/diet/whatever would work for your specific child.

So. I strongly recommend that before you try someone new, especially "amazing, miracle cures" or new medications or supplements or strict programs, please discuss them with the people who know your child and their skills the best.

Good luck to you.

[photobuff42]

You can read about different therapies here:

"Front Matter | Educating Children with Autism | The National Academies Press

This book covers many different therapies for children with autism and the research basis for each one.

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by germaine2626

Obviously different things may work for different children. Or a program may work very well for a child when they are three or four but not when they are teenagers. Or a program may work well if the parents follow through on home therapy or the parenting aspect of the program but it may completely fail if they do not follow through.

Before you "try something new" I would recommend that you discuss it with professionals who know your child well, their special education teacher, their therapists and their pediatrician.

I am a retired early childhood special education teacher. About 15 years ago there was a new program in my area for autism that involved some type of auditory programming/therapy. The parents of one of my students was interested in this program but it cost perhaps $3,000 for several in-depth, intensive sessions and was not covered by insurance. Both the child's speech therapist & I felt that, while this program may help some children with autism he clearly did not appear to fit the criteria where he would benefit. The speech therapist explained to the parents that the program was designed for children with specific speech & language needs/characteristics and their child did not have those specific needs.

Well, the parents disagreed with the therapist, put their child on the waiting list, borrowed the money from the grandparents and had the child do the therapy. And, nothing changed for the child. The parents became very, very out spoken about this program and told everybody, especially people in the local autism support groups, that it was a scam and a fraud.

Sadly, this may have meant that children who actually met the criteria and who could have benefited from this therapy did not get the therapy because of how vehemently those parents insisted that it was a worthless therapy.


The autism spectrum is so wide, and the children so varied that what does amazing things for one child may do absolutely nothing for a different child and may even cause regression in a third child. I have had children in my classroom with autism with IQs that are so low they can not even be accurately measured and others with IQs well into the gifted range. I have worked with students, with autism, who were completely non-verbal, barely able to feed themselves at age four and had students, with autism, who were also four, reading at the fourth grade level.

While it is great to get ideas from other parents please investigate & evaluate how that program/therapy/diet/whatever would work for your specific child.

So. I strongly recommend that before you try someone new, especially "amazing, miracle cures" or new medications or supplements or strict programs, please discuss them with the people who know your child and their skills the best.

Good luck to you.

Excellent advice!! No two children/adults with autism are alike!

--Grandmother of a 13 year-old grandson with autism

[hrr299]

Has anyone heard of flotation tanks as therapeutic for those on the spectrum? Instinctively, because of the magnesium sulfate "soak" and also the possible mitigation of symptoms related to excessive external stimuli, I feel like it would be beneficial. Has anyone tried the tanks for therapy? What accommodations would be necessary for it to be successful?