Our hope for Mautis is that he is given the chance to live a healthy and happy life. We want the best for our child and try our best to remain free from setting any limitations on Mautis.
If Mautis wants to go to college then he can go to college! We were directed to a helpful organization and will continue to check it out as time unfolds:
AHEADD (Achieving in Higher Education with Autism/Developmental Disabilities) which supports autistic college students with their social and academic needs.
Who knows what the future holds for Mautis!
We try to provide the extra support Mautis needs and the public school system has helped in this effort as a mandated law that at the age of 3 children have the right to free public education. This is how we went about testing Mautis and receiving external support. We luckily had all of our children learning sign language at an early age, before being able to speak, and this has helped Mautis tremendously in his communication development.
Since I do not wish to blog about our personal expenses I will share quotes and studies pertaining to this financial issue:
"Treatment is extremely expensive. Direct medical and nonmedical costs can add up to as much as $72,000 a year for someone with an extreme case of the disorder, and even $67,000 a year for those on the lower end of the spectrum, according to a study from the Harvard School of Public Health."
“It can cost $3.2 million to take care of an autistic person over the course of his or her lifetime”
“Unless we attack this like a national health crisis, we’re going to have a huge economic crisis on our hands.”
By the time we factor in medical appointments, medications, therapy treatments (occupational and ABA), special child care services and camps, our family does indeed pay expensive bills in order to help our child fully function to his greatest potential. Fortunately we do have insurance coverage for some financial aspects, yet we often do get denied and try our best to appeal those denials.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Development
I prefer to say, "Mautis has autism" instead of "Mautis is autistic".
Autism should not label or define him, yes it is apart of who he is but it is not who he is.
But of course Mautis is a little different than most kids his age. He is in his early years of elementary school at a local public school that I continue to find myself impressed with. Mautis has a full time aide and is fully included in the general education classroom as a special needs student. The school personnel and community have proved themselves friendly and supportive.
As a mother I want the best for my child. As a mother with a child that has autism, I find myself always looking out for the best in which my child can receive and in turn give back. I became aware of a need that his school could implement called The Peer Buddy Program. Aside from peers being aware, understanding, appropriately communicating, including and respecting other peers with differences from themselves, this particular program promotes academic and social support by peers:
Autism should not label or define him, yes it is apart of who he is but it is not who he is.
But of course Mautis is a little different than most kids his age. He is in his early years of elementary school at a local public school that I continue to find myself impressed with. Mautis has a full time aide and is fully included in the general education classroom as a special needs student. The school personnel and community have proved themselves friendly and supportive.
As a mother I want the best for my child. As a mother with a child that has autism, I find myself always looking out for the best in which my child can receive and in turn give back. I became aware of a need that his school could implement called The Peer Buddy Program. Aside from peers being aware, understanding, appropriately communicating, including and respecting other peers with differences from themselves, this particular program promotes academic and social support by peers:
(a) helping them acquire skills needed to succeed in the general education environment and
(b) adapting the environment to be more welcoming and accommodating to individual differences and needs.
This was implemented at the elementary school as a low maintenance program where basic training is involved and interestingly the school anti-bullying policy was modified after this program became implanted.
Mautis is a very bright child and does well on his schoolwork, he just has trouble producing and receiving communication. His full time aide helps Mautis remain on a consistent schedule and and adhere to a structured environment. Often she has to remind him of appropriate classroom behavior but so do other children his age need similar behavioral reminders.
Since Mautis is physically similar to his peers and does not present any physical special needs, often times people who are unaware that he has autism mistake him for a child that should communicate and respond as someone his age should. This is why I have an information card with Mautis in case there is ever a severe misunderstanding with someone that is not aware of autism or that he has autism. There are various kinds but here is one I've used:
My child
My child
I feel blessed to be the parent of our unique, irreplaceable and wonderfully made child.
Let's be honest, of course when I found out that my child was diagnosed with autism I was concerned. Concerned, for what "autism" would mean. Concerned if my family and I were prepared for a child with special needs, and potentially severe special needs. One of the main reassurances I had during this time of shock and grief was knowing that we were not alone. Not only do we have a loving and supportive community, but there is help and numerous resources available.
(We love our therapist!)
One resource we took advantage of quickly was ABA therapy which was recommended by our pediatrician. ABA stands for Applied Behavioral Analysis and has continued to prove successful for many people with autism. It is a harmless therapy and study shows that often times the younger a child with autism begins treatments the higher functioning s/he becomes.
We found it a comfortable experience for Mautis to start therapy at home where he was familiar with his surroundings and where we as a family could listen and watch from afar. This proved to be helpful as the rest of us were able to watch Mautis' positive and energetic therapist model appropriate responses and interactions with Mautis.
One aspect of ABA is distinguishing the right environment and behavior Mautis responds well to. A structured and organized setting/schedule/routine are a vital aspect to the environment in which people with autism do better in, and seem to remain more emotionally consistent.
In regards to a specific form of positive behavioral reinforcement that Mautis responds well to are various stimuli involved activities and even basic problem solving activities he enjoys like completing puzzles.
Additionally, Mautis is very intrigued by music and musical instruments, just as a lot of people with autism are, so he responds positively to a reward based system during therapy where if he completes a task correctly there is an instant musical reward he experiences. So for Mautis, the chance to play on a drum set or guitar are enticing tools to utilize as behavioral rewards.
One resource we took advantage of quickly was ABA therapy which was recommended by our pediatrician. ABA stands for Applied Behavioral Analysis and has continued to prove successful for many people with autism. It is a harmless therapy and study shows that often times the younger a child with autism begins treatments the higher functioning s/he becomes.
We found it a comfortable experience for Mautis to start therapy at home where he was familiar with his surroundings and where we as a family could listen and watch from afar. This proved to be helpful as the rest of us were able to watch Mautis' positive and energetic therapist model appropriate responses and interactions with Mautis.
One aspect of ABA is distinguishing the right environment and behavior Mautis responds well to. A structured and organized setting/schedule/routine are a vital aspect to the environment in which people with autism do better in, and seem to remain more emotionally consistent.
In regards to a specific form of positive behavioral reinforcement that Mautis responds well to are various stimuli involved activities and even basic problem solving activities he enjoys like completing puzzles.
Additionally, Mautis is very intrigued by music and musical instruments, just as a lot of people with autism are, so he responds positively to a reward based system during therapy where if he completes a task correctly there is an instant musical reward he experiences. So for Mautis, the chance to play on a drum set or guitar are enticing tools to utilize as behavioral rewards.
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