Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

DS entered the EI program at 16 months due to his low receptive skills and no speech. He is 20 months old now and I had him evaluated yesterday by a Dev. Psychologist because of some concerns I had. The Dr just called to tell me that he is going with a provisional diagnosis of PDD-NOS and he recommeneds getting DS started with an ABA program of 3 hours a day. I want to cry. I want to be strong for my son but I want to hide in bed and just cry. The Dr. told me to be optimistic and that 38-40% of t those children diagnosis lose that diganosis and that he is very optimistic because DS has many great skills but stilll...I dont know what I am looking for....I guess I am hoping someone here can give me a mini pep talk....words of encouragement...experiences with the ABA program....anything? I feel like someone just sucked the life out of me

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

20 months old is very young.

My son was diagnosed with PDD at 17 months, the doctor told us to do ABA also. I chose not to. I did however ask for his ED services to be increased to 5X60, and speech to 3X45, through EI.

The doctor(s) did not do ANY type of testing on my son to make this diagnosis. They just did it without really knowing for sure that he was on the spectrum.

I asked for a psych eval from EI, they gave him an ADOS (twice) both times he tested not on the spectrum.

We continued with regular therapy, not ABA, and he did amazing. He started with a 3 SD cognitive delay, receptive language delay, and expressive language delay at 16 months old. Today he's 4.7 and entering general ed kindergarten in the fall, discharged from services. (although I plan on getting him more speech for his lisp through my insurance)

Who knows if he was ever really on the spectrum or not. I would guess not, but at this point it doesn't really matter. Now they consider him typical, whatever that means. It's all just words, and he's still the same boy he always was.

He's still a hyper kid, he's still pretty easily distracted, but for the most part he's doing great. Better than I ever thought possible.

So, I guess I would recommend getting a second opinion, and have faith. Whatever choice you make, however it turns out, it will be ok, and things DO get better with time!

Hang in there!

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

ABA is used for PDD children. It's a "type" of approach on how to teach children. A lot of it we already see in "regular" parenting style of teaching.

ABA is more "structured" than other form of learning. But usually children with PDD need the structure of ABA.

DS has had ABA since he is 19 months. His preschool is a true ABA program.

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

It's overwhelming at first, no doubt.

DS got a PDD-NOS diagnosis at around age 2. It was not a clear cut case, but we accepted it because it was clear he needed more services than what he was getting. He started ABA right away and I found that to be overwhelming too. I had therapists in and out of my house 5 times a week, and in daycare 6 times a week. Scheduling makeup sessions and working with several people's schedules was tough, since DH and I both work FT, but we made it work, since we truly believed it would help him. He also started a half day school program and then went to full day last fall. I truly believe that all the services have helped him and have no regrets about accepting everything that was offered. ABA has been great for him and he has had some great teachers. One of the things ABA and special ed has helped us with is getting him to do things at home that we weren't able to get him to do, like try new foods, drink out of a cup, brush his teeth, start learning basic dressing skills. The teachers were able to have success with him in school or sessions, and then we were able to carry things over at home.

My DS is 3 now and while I do believe he is most likely on the spectrum, we have seen great progress with him. I am optimistic that he will keep improving. At this point, I don't spend too much time thinking about the diagnosis, but instead try to focus more on what we need to do to help him. It will be challenging, and believe me, I have had my share of tears over this, but the best thing you can do for him is get educated and be an advocate for him.

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

ABA is an absolutley AMAZING program!
My DS was diagnosed later (he was almost 3). He was very borderline and we FINALLY got an answer!

He's been in school and recieving ABA since Nov. 2009 and He's come a LONG way!

This coming Sept, he'll continue ABA services 3 days a week at his Developmental School and 2 days a week, he's going to a Typical Pre-K with a SEIT because the staff/team feel he *may* be ready for a typical setting!

If you have any questions at all, do not hesitiate to FM!

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

Posted by Domino

DS entered the EI program at 16 months due to his low receptive skills and no speech. He is 20 months old now and I had him evaluated yesterday by a Dev. Psychologist because of some concerns I had. The Dr just called to tell me that he is going with a provisional diagnosis of PDD-NOS and he recommeneds getting DS started with an ABA program of 3 hours a day. I want to cry. I want to be strong for my son but I want to hide in bed and just cry. The Dr. told me to be optimistic and that 38-40% of t those children diagnosis lose that diganosis and that he is very optimistic because DS has many great skills but stilll...I dont know what I am looking for....I guess I am hoping someone here can give me a mini pep talk....words of encouragement...experiences with the ABA program....anything? I feel like someone just sucked the life out of me

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

I'm an ABA teacher. What I can tell you is my students who have had ABA from very young are much more likely to be moved to a less restrictive than those who did not have it so young. It's great that he's so little and can get intense therapy now. You did the right thing by getting him evaluated. ABA is a great teaching method for children with autism and he will most likely be very successful.

If you have any ABA specific questions...please feel free to ask!

Laura

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

I think its great you got him started so early. He will do amazing! I am an ABA therapist, feel free to FM me with any questions.

Re: Provisinal PDD-NOS diagnosis - ABA Program

We recently got this diagnosis too,though DS is 3.5. I keep wishing I pushed EI to look into some issues sooner, but they did not, I didn't push, and now I have to just think about what we can do and not what might have been. I think it's great that your DC will start services so early. There is so much brain development happening, he will pick up a lot from any therapy. ABA is so well regarded and has worked wonders for so many children, I think you will see a lot of progress.

I totally understand that you want your child to do the same things as others his age, and he will. The therapy will only help, though I know it seems like a lot. All I can suggest is to take things a day at a time and see what happens. It's hard, very hard to accept that your child needs help, but you are doing the best thing in the world for him. FM if you need to, we're just moving down this road too.