ABA in home questions

I recently learned my DS has autism and qualifies for in home ABA therapy. He is 2. I like the idea of the therapy occurring in our home but I have a few questions:

Will I be expected to be present at all or most of the sessions?

I am a SAHM with a second child. How can I do activities with my other child outside the home if I am having therapists in and out of my house all week long?

Has anyone's child had an improved diagnosis after ABA (eg ASD to non ASD or autism to PDD NOS)?

Would it be a good idea to enroll my DS in a mainstream preschool in addition to ABA? I want him to have the social interaction with other kids but am afraid he might not be safe at a mainstream preschool because he has no sense of danger and requires more supervision than most kids his age.

What are some good ways to get him social interaction with his peers when he will be in therapy 20 hours per week?

Thanks in advance for answering whatever er questions you can.

Message edited 8/9/2012 3:54:38 AM.

Re: ABA in home questions

try to schedule your therapies when you know you will be home, in the early AM or later in the PM, this way you can get out and still do your things in the mid afternoon. 20 hours is a good amount, but if you schedule it right, it won't interrupt your day.

you will not be expected to be involved in all the therapies, but you are expected to be home or have another adult at home during the time of therapies

sometimes therapists will meet you places, park, friends homes (within your home area)

my child went from low functioning to moderate/high functioning, and i have never heard of a child loosing a DX all together, but that happens when they get older in some children.

does your 2 year old have typical friends? if so plan a lot of playdates at your home.

i woud not recommend mainstream pre-school, the teachers usually are not trained to handle an ASD child. you can hire a 1:1 aid and send him.

*****

AJ was DX at 15 months old. at that age he already had a huge group of typical friends, so when we had to schedule 40 hours of therapy we did a lot of HUGE play dates... i had up to 15 kids at my house at times with a therapist here.

my DD was born 8 months after his DX so i didn't really deal with the whole sibling thing, but by then DS was in in school 3 times a week, so i got those hours to spend with her.

take it one day at a time, it will all fall into place. just make sure you keep his typical friends, they will play a key role as he gets older.

FM me if you want to just talk...

Re: ABA in home questions

My now 4 yr. old was dx at 22 months w/ PDD-NOS. He got 15 hrs. a week and it did take up my day. 1 teacher came in the am, then he napped and the other came in the afternoon. As time went on we did outings for socialization- (library programs, parks-etc.,) In the beginning no because it took awhile for him to get use to the routine. As far as ABA went he did fantastic, when they started he had maybe 2 words and within months his lanaguage bursted. Some kids pick up really fast and others it takes longer. Give it time, once you develop a relationship with the teachers you'll make it work. GL!

Re: ABA in home questions

It's all very overwhelming in the beginning. My DS was in daycare when he was diagnosed, so some of his ABA sessions were at daycare and some were at home when he was in EI. It was kind of the best of both worlds because at daycare, he was around typical kids during ABA at daycare, where the teachers could bring typical playmates over to play and he could learn more appropriate play skills. We also have eating issues, so getting ABA at daycare was a big help with that.

At home, I was usually in another room when the therapists came. You do get into a routine and work around when the therapists are there. We did see big improvements with ABA and it helped him a lot, but it was taxing on us until he started preschool.

Good luck - it will work out

Re: ABA in home questions

This site was a godsend to me. I received some great advice from everyone here. The best advice I can can give is to make sure they work around YOUR schedule. I have DS' ABA sessions for the most part back to back. I did not want to be stuck in the house all day so most of his sessions are from 8:30-10:00 and then 10:00-11:30. I will. tell you that I received opposition to this but I INSISTED. This way my afternoons are free. I also have a session at 7:30am on Saturday mornings. It is early enough that it doesnt interfere with plans. Another thing to know is that if it is your DC's plan that social skills with his peers needs to be improved, PUSH for a mommy and me social integration class. They WILL add it and you wont have to pay. I do not sit in on most sessions with DS but you do need to be around (i.e. you cant leave them alone and leave the house). However, wherever you go, they can go. I actually encourage it as it helps your DC to generalize skills to the natural environment. Go to the store. Go to the park. Go on playdates. Go to the library.

As far as improving goes, DS (PDD-NOS) has come so far in the past year. When we started last August (22 months old) DS had no words, very poor cognitive skills, inconsistant eye contact, etc.). He is a completely different kid now. If you didnt really know him you'd think he was typical. I was told there is hope that he could lose his diagnosis. I was also told that PDD-NOS may not be the right diagnosis either. He's so young, but it was better to get him the services with the diagnosis rather than wait.

Any questions, please feel free to ask or FM me

Message edited 8/9/2012 9:48:04 PM.