Child Newly Diagnosed with Autism

This brief introduction is an important overview for the parent when a child is diagnosed with autism. It provides suggestions for next steps for your child.

You have entered an new world with your family - AUTISM.

Having a child with special needs require focus and diligence.

It is important to focus on the three core components of managing your life after the diagnosis. Think of these three areas like a stool - without one leg the stool will fall over.

Traditional Therapies

  • Traditional therapies are the intensive early interventions provided to help the child:
    • Minimize behaviors
    • Enable learning
    • Set and achieve goals and objectives
  • These therapies include:
    • One-on-one therapies such as applied behavioral analysis (ABA), Floortime, RDI and others
    • Speech therapy
    • Occupational (OT) or physical (PT) therapies
    • Social skills
  • Read more info on traditional therapies under "Behavior" in the column to the left.

Biomedical Therapies

  • Treating children with autism with only one therapy either biomedical - or - traditional therapies is not enough. You need to focus on both.
  • Biomedical therapies include:
    • Testing for genetic disorders and baseline testing
    • Testing and treating for other problems besides autism
    • See "Medical" in the column to the left for more information.
  • Biomedical therapies take the longest to yield results but diligent effort, research and persistence will pay off.
  • There is a high percentage of autistic individuals that have medical conditions besides autism. These conditions need attention and treatment.
    • It is important to never let the excuse that "your child has autism" be the reason for NOT TREATING a medical issue that requires treatment.
  • Remember: Autism is treatable via biomedical interventions. There are a lot of choices.

Keeping Family Healthy

  • One of the most devastating events to happen to a family is the diagnosis of a special needs child.
  • Many families focus on the needs of the child while neglecting other children, spouse and family members.
    • Even though time is precious - paying attention to these other relationships is key.
    • Managing health of care takers is also important. Do not neglect your own health needs while caring for a special needs child.
    • It is important to investigate local support groups for family and marriage counselors in your area
  • The divorce rate the U.S. is high enough - but odds increase when you have a special needs child. It is your job to buck these odds and whenever possible stay married.
    • An important note is that special needs children do better in a two-parent family.
  • Keeping family healthy is an important part of the stool and should not be ignored.

Where to Start?

  • Our web site has information on all the legs of the stool including Traditional Therapies and Biomedical therapies.
  • Get an independent assessment and diagnosis of your child's unique needs.
    • Assessments outside your regional center, early intervention agency or school districts are important.
  • Look into early intervention in your area and get on wait lists if necessary.
    • The "wait-and-see" approach can be devastating and not recommended.
    • Children who receive intensive early intervention have a better prognosis for the future.
  • Be, stay, live organized or die by paperwork
    • Manage medical records, assessments and other important data in binders. Have these organized and ready to go for appointments.
    • Manage and update two "to-do" lists
    • Short - 2-3 items accomplishable in 1-2 weeks. Keep this visible for everyday review and pushing these items forward. This list contains the most important action items to get done the fastest.
    • Long - This is a very long list. This list includes all the things you have heard of, want to look into, etc. This list is put in a drawer and only used when you pull from when the short list is done.
      Warning - looking at this list regularly can make you irritable!

Bringing it Together

  • Without the three legs of the stool being maintained - the stool with fall over. It is important to maintain all legs of the stool during your autism journey including:
    • Traditional therapies,
    • Biomedical therapies and
    • Keeping the family healthy.
  • Find professional resources in your area from either:
  • Get involved in a support group in your area.
    • The best advice I have ever received has been from a family. It is important to get connected in your community.