Therapists are great, but ...
With the explosion of autism diagnoses, there has been an explosion in the number of autism therapists and experts available. There are autism therapists and experts for virtually every part of the body and every conceivable type of intervention. To name just a few -
- Vision therapists
- Hearing therapists
- Social Skills Therapists
- Psychological Therapists with a special focus on autism
- Sensory Integration therapists
- Experts on the gut and autism
- Experts on the brain and autism
- Experts on motor development and autism
- Experts on autistic infants, autistic kids, autistic teens, and autistic adults
- Play therapists
- Life skills therapists
- Behavior therapists
- Dynamic thinking therapists
- Autism and Nutrition experts
- Autism and Education experts
- Speech therapists
- Drama, dance, music and art therapists
The list goes on and on. Each expert, therapist, teacher and coach has his own niche. And each, being an expert, therapist, teacher or coach, fulls fully justified in charge $100+ per hour. In some cases, the costs go up and up to more than $300 per hour.
And yet.
I've found that the therapeutic title, while impressive, has little to do with the ability of an given individual to work with kids, or even to get positive results. In fact, it's my own opinion that talent, more than training or study, is the key to helping an autistic child develop to his or her potential.
I've met 16 year olds with more innate therapeutic ability than 50 year old Ph.Ds. I've discovered ordinary music teachers, camp counselors, YMCA swim instructors and paraprofessionals who provided far more for my child than top-rated psychologists, developmental pediatricians or therapists. And of course many, many parents provide the lion's share of therapy for their children with autism - from sensory integration activities to play therapy to social skills programs.
Of course, it helps to have background and training. It can't be a bad thing to have years of experience under your belt. And there are some top therapists in all fields - ABA, play therapy, social skills, and so forth - who are truly talented individuals. But when I see that my son gets more from an hour with a high school junior than he does from six weeks with a highly-touted trained professional, I have to wonder - do we really need autism therapists?
Comments
Once science has fully determined the causes of autism spectrum disorders and has fully determined what can and cannot be done to treat these disorders, then these experts will be fully justified in charging high fees for their expertise. But science is only now beginning to specify the genes and the mechanisms behind autism. So those experts aren't necessarily as expert as they may claim. So the proof is in the pudding -- if your son improves with a non-expert, go with him or her. That would be my advice. At the same time, experts with experience and training do know something and maybe should be consulted (with caution). How's that for an answer?
I've had the same experience with therapists that you seem to have. I spent 6 months teaching TSS's and BSC's how to work with my son then dropped that and told everyone wraparound agencies are like used car salesmen. In all that time my son only advanced when I worked on him and he didn't benefit at all from the services he got.
And I met countless TSS's that while they were trained to work with kids with autism, it was like none of the training stuck and they would do everything wrong time and again. I had one that while I and her bosses told her to speak to my son in a calm voice she always spoke in a cheerleaders tone, overstimulating him to the point where he would be catatonic after dealing with her.
So all someone has to say to me is they are an expert in autism and they've lost my respect. I know I can dismiss anything they say from that point on and to just keep my son away from them.
My son does benefit from speech therapists and the occasional OT and PT but "autism" specialists, just sounds like "used car salesman" to me - what a racket.
It's the passion the person brings to the table. Money is an extra benefit.
I can fully understand your questioning all the expertise fields within treating autism. We have a 5 year old son with autism. We have had many therapists.
We had a physical therapist who's only therapy was to take my son out to the street and ride a scooter. We want to teach him to never want to go out in the street!!!! When my wife protested, he continued his therapy methods. We no longer had him over.
Then there is the speech therapist who would spend her hour trying to get my son to make the Mmmmmm sound, which was the only sound he was making. She was not invited back after continually doing the same treatment.
After reading all the information about autism, it was easy to determine that I have always been on the spectrum and that the medical community had no idea, of spectrum disorders 33 years ago.
Just keep looking for people who do make a connection with your autistic child. My son just finished his 3rd school, and he comes home every day smelling of perfume from all the loving he gets!!! I just hope he continues to come home smelling like he does.
Jim
I could have written this.
We´ve spend one year asking people who offer paid support, coaching, therapies and such, what kind of education they had about autism.
Which was an interesting question, because there was hardly a proper course on autism available in my country.
It was nice to see some stopped offering their "expertise".
Some parents of autistic children stopped offering their therapies, because they became aware that even non-working therapies have a serious impact on a chil
The different therapists reflect different aspects of asds, and half of what u list are for comorbidities. ASD has nothing to do with one's gut, for example, though the comorbitites may exacerbate the symptoms (and yes, my son does have GI issues, so I take him to a GI doctor - not an asd therapist)
I, too, like many people with ASD and as a parent of children with ASD, have found specific therapists don't work. The "science' of it just hasn't been researched for long enough for anybody to know anything. I did get a therapist (counselor trained in ABA)for my youngest son when he started having temper tantrums. He was six and never had them before and the school was concerned. So, not to deny my son any opportunity for help, I got him one. Brandon did like the therapist. As you may guess, it
My son looks forward to the "therapists" (young girls carrying out someone else's plan) coming over and giving him love and attention a few hours/day. I don't have to pay for this, the school district does. One very likeable girl in particular motivates him to do things I cannot; she plays really well with him. I don't know for certain if it is really helping him but it doesn't hurt and gives me a break.
Navi - your choice to go to a GI professional makes absolute sense.
There are plenty of people, though, who believe that GI issues and autism are not separate issues but are actually part of the same overall problem. That is - they believe that vaccines cause gut issues which cause inflammation which causes autism.
And, as I'm sure you know, there are plenty of people out there presenting themselves as specialists in the "autistic gut," "autistic nutrition," and so forth.
These folks
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