Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

I am a long time lurker and have received a lot of invaluable information from you all. I'm looking for more.

My son will be 3 in April is non-verbal (he does say mama, dada sometimes) and diagnosed PDD-NOS. He goes to school 3 days a week at Just Kids in Lindenhurst. He also has OT and speech 3Xs per week, and ABA 15 hours a week.

DH and I are in the process of choosing a school for September. I'm afraid we will make the wrong choice. We're looking at DDI in Huntington which I've heard is very ABA based. Is that a good choice for a non verbal child? (We're still hoping that he will speak)
We're also looking at Kramer and Just Kids but are they too lax on the ABA? (I know JK doesn't even technically do ABA). There's also Building Blocks which we didn't love last year when we visited it but we'd be willing to look again.

Is there a program that does a little of both - 1on1 ABA and 1on1 speech and maybe even some socialization?

I really want us to make the right choice for him the first time around. Any information, advice - good or bad, experience, etc would be very appreciated!!!! Sorry this is so long and thank you!!!

Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

i know many non-verbal kids who go to DDI in Huntington, and they are doing fabulous. DDI is very ABA driven. LV is a very good school for speech.

go and visit as many schools as you can. keep an open mind for ALL schools. if something doesnt feel right then dont second guess yourself.. say thank you and move on.

collaborative therapies did wonders for my DS. but he also got home services too.

what i liked about the collaborative therapies is its done in the classroom, so the child can continue working on what s/he was working on without loosing out on time.

1:1 in schools are basically like this.

say your child gets 30 min speech, and the speech room is about 2 min walk, right there you are only getting 26 min of 1:1 speech, if the therapist gets stopped int he hallway, another min or two is taken off the time. if your child doesnt transition easily, that is all accounted for in the 30 min time slot.

yes most therapists will give 5 minutes extra time for that, but sometimes 5 minutes just isnt enough time....

are you still getting 1:1 therapies at home after school?

we choose a collaborative program, and we still had therapies at home.

good luck with your decision, the honest truth is, you will never know if the school your child got into is the right choice until they are placed and some time has passed.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

I am not a parent, but I teach students with autism and trained in ABA, and I can say that the autism world is getting smaller-in a good way! My brother has autism and when he was little he went to an ABA program, but it was the old strict discrete-trial, table and chair ABA. It was a terrible fit for him and he hated it. As more research is done, ABA therapists and SLPs and other professionals are learning from other service providers, and finding ways to use aspects of each in their teaching and there is more balance. I go to speech workshops and ABA workshops, and TEACCH workshops, and floortime workshops and I take from all of it, as do most other people I know in the field. So the approach and the services are important, but I would stress finding people you like and who your son like and who make you feel comfortable and happy. All of those things are important, but its the person providing the services that will make the difference. All of the kids in my school get speech, but we have some providers who just get kids and can motivate them, and others who could spend 500 hours with a kid and not get anything. Trust your gut.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

DD is PDD-NOS and went to Kramer. We loved it so much that when she graduated, I got a job working there as a teacher's asst. for 2 years (no longer there).
Their ABA program is 1 hr. per day, 5 days per week. Also 1:1 speech, OT, PT.
If you want, you can FM me anytime!

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Posted by rsquared

I am not a parent, but I teach students with autism and trained in ABA, and I can say that the autism world is getting smaller-in a good way! My brother has autism and when he was little he went to an ABA program, but it was the old strict discrete-trial, table and chair ABA. It was a terrible fit for him and he hated it. As more research is done, ABA therapists and SLPs and other professionals are learning from other service providers, and finding ways to use aspects of each in their teaching and there is more balance. I go to speech workshops and ABA workshops, and TEACCH workshops, and floortime workshops and I take from all of it, as do most other people I know in the field. So the approach and the services are important, but I would stress finding people you like and who your son like and who make you feel comfortable and happy. All of those things are important, but its the person providing the services that will make the difference. All of the kids in my school get speech, but we have some providers who just get kids and can motivate them, and others who could spend 500 hours with a kid and not get anything. Trust your gut.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

DS is on the spectrum and was non verbal until the age of 3. I credit with ABA with giving him his words. He had speech beforehand all throughout EI and still gets it, speech gave him the sounds but I think ABA gave him the words. It also gave him the non-verbal communicative gestures he was lacking and couldn't pick up no matter how much EI he had had and the preK he was already in, like waving, nodding yes/no, pointing, etc.

That said like a pp said I think a nice combo of all different approaches is best.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

My DS is PDD and he attended Building Blocks. He started there at 27 months old with no words (just a few). He graduated there last June and he did absolutely amazing! He recieved ABA, speech, OT & PT.

My DD is in DDI Huntington. She is also doing wonderfully. She has Down Syndrome (3 years old), no speech yet, but, we're getting there.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

My son is 4, PPD, and attends DDI in Huntington. Best decision we ever made. He never received anything other than ABA in EI and was non-verbal until 3. Since starting DDI he has tons of words now and can ask for things (nothing great, but he now says I want snack, I want juice, etc.). He gets a speech consult once a month and his speech goals are written into his ABA plan. They work on it daily.

Feel free to FM me with any questions. We live in Port Jefferson and made the decision to send him all the way to the Huntington campus. They have integrated programs as well and now this year my son is in that up to 4-hours per day (the other two are in his regular autism class). It's been a wonderful experience.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Sorry about the above post. Hit enter to fast.


I picked DDI for my DD because she has Down Syndrome. DDI works with children of all diagnosis. It was very hard to leave BB. I was very comfortable there, but, now will say I have 100% adjusted to DDI and my DD has come a long way.

I can't choose one school over the other. My kids did (and are doing well) in BB and DDI.
The staff at both schools are amazing as well. Very easy to talk to and very caring about each individual child.

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Re: Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Help/advice needed (sorry - long)

Do you live in Lindenhurst? There is an ABA program in the school district, including a class specifically for non-verbal children.