Cutting-Edge Therapies for Autism

Cutting-Edge Therapies for Autism

Parents of children coping with autism spectrum disorders may feel like they face more questions than answers. While little is truly understood of autism, many parents rely on behavioral therapies to improve their child s quality of life and encourage independence. First in what will be an annually updated handbook, Ken Siri and Tony Lyons delve into cutting-edge, hands-on therapies that go beyond the diet-behavior connection, nutrition supplements, and medical treatment.

Readers of Cutting-Edge Therapies for Autism, 2010 2011 will come away with a wealth of meaningful knowledge and coping mechanisms to employ: Learn how animal-assisted therapy such as horseback-riding advances developmental growth; art therapy such as finger-painting encourages self-expression; and floor-time play therapy such as puzzle-solving teaches turn-taking and environmental awareness. Social skills therapies, speech and language therapies, and even music therapy are also explored in this volume.

A Dynavox Autism Success Story

The following is from a mom per my request for Dynavox and Autism Success Stories. We are getting more out of the Dynavox daily and have been using it to play games as a family. It is truly a great tool, but a lot of work.

My daughter got her Dynavox V about three years ago this coming May. I have to agree that programming it is a lot of work. We have four people assisting us with using the device and programming it. We have our SLP, our Dynavox consultant/trainer, our daughter's aide and me....mom. I've spent up to nine hours in one day just on programming. It has been very useful in many situations like going on vacation, going to the doctors office, going to the dentist and/or orthodontist. She uses it to tell me what she did at school today and what she worked on for the day. We also use it for helping her to remember all the steps with setting the table, ordering at restaurants, grocery shopping and using a list, using the ATM machine, and many many other things. She uses it to play games as well...solitaire is one of her favorite games. We are always thinking of more way to use it.

However, I think the biggest drawback is it's portability. It's very heavy and isn't easy to lug around school all day. It's not real practical during PE because of it's size and weight. My biggest recommendation would be for Dynavox to find ways to improve the size and weight of the device to improve it's portability. It would also be nice if the black carrying case had a built in pouch for the white dynavox pen.

Anyway, I could write a lot more but just wanted to give a little feedback on our experience with the device.