Concerned Auntie

Hello all. I am the aunt of a very beautiful and absolutely amazing 9-year-old girl diagnosed with PDD. I am turning to you all for help because I am concerned that my niece is not in the appropriate setting to meet her needs and was hoping for some feedback and suggestions from those of you with more experience than me.

Rachel has very severe deficits in social relatedness, very poor social skills, smiles all the time even when something negative is going on, can't understand social cues at all (ie. doesn't know when other kids are making fun of her and refers to them as her "friends"), and often just doesn't seem to understand what's going on around her. other children don't like her and she has a very hard time making friends. Right now she attends a day treatment center for children with severe emotional problems where she gets therapy once a week for 30 minutes. In my opinion, Rachel doesn't have an emotional problem. She doesn't act out, is not oppositional, no tantrums, no mood issues, etc.

Any suggestions as to what kinds of services might be more helpful to address Rachel's extremely impaired social skills? i don't know enough about PDD, but I just don't feel like we're doing enough for her.

Re: Concerned Auntie

It breaks my heart when you said kids were making fun of her.

It sounds like she needs a social skills class.

Re: Concerned Auntie

Hi,
I actually work in the field, so perhaps I can lend some advice. I don't know a whole lot about your specific situation, however feeding exclusively off of what you said here I can tell you what I have seen in my experience working on Long Island.
First, I want to let you know that there are others out there like your niece. Deficits in social skills, coping mechanisms, and adaptive skills is very common among children diagnosed with PDD. There are lots of placements on Long Island both in school districts and in BOCES placements that focus on these areas (in addition to academics). You can typically find these placements for children on the autism spectrum. There are lots of placements for individuals with PDD or high functioning autism. (between age 10-14 depending on her IQ she may even be re-diagnosed with Aspergers). If you are concerned about her academic placement, you can ask the school district to set up a CSE meeting to re-evaluate her placement.
It also sounds like your niece may think these people are her friends because they are talking to her. To people on the spectrum, having someone make fun of you is better than being ignored, therefore negative attention is better than no attention at all.
hope any of this helps.

Message edited 3/8/2011 7:29:38 PM.