ASD - Early intervention

[DamnedRose]

DS has just had an appointment with neurodisability 6 months after being referred and is now waiting for an autism assessment which we’ve been advised will be around a 12 month wait, they did say at his appointment they expect he will get a diagnosis.

Everything I’ve read about autism talks about how important early intervention is but I’m struggling to find exactly what the interventions should be. Are there any therapies or services we should be accessing now while we wait for the assessment?

The main areas he struggles with are communication and social difficulties. He doesn’t seem struggle with any behavioural or sensory difficulties at the moment.

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How old is he? What was it that made you think he may have ASD?

He is 2 and a half. He never babbled as a baby and didn’t say any words before he was two, he can now say lots of words but he just uses these to label things rather than communicate his wants. He’s has really poor eye contact and hardly ever responds to his name, he also flaps his hands when excited. He loves ordering letters and numbers but doesn’t really do any imaginative play and isn’t interested in other children at all, he has recently started tolerating them less.

Starting this early is great, especially if there is signs. My DS was referred for Portage at this age and the worker was amazing, brought his development on so much using an individual development plan. We talked every week and she helped with everything, including speech, toileting, meal times etc...

Hello!

I think but I'm not sure that early interventions are the extra support like play therapy and speech and language therapy from being super young rather than waiting till they start school and have to start the whole diagnosis process then.

Things like high rise trainers and boots can help reduce tiptoe walking from being little

Knowing not to tell him off when he's stimming (flapping) and just letting him get on with it.

Supporting him through meltdowns rather than treating them like temper tantrums

Recognising what sensory difficulties he has and supporting him through that and just loads of story telling and playing on the floor

Mumsnet was a huge support to me when my boy was going through the diagnosis support and he's just started his second year at mainstream school, it's going great.

Means you can also access the asn clubs local to you like swimming and gymnastics, that really helped my little one with mortar skills

I would start by modelling play alongside him - don’t try to get him to copy you. Things like pretend play with teddies / dolls eg feeding them, singing to them, reading stories to them. Keep it short - 2 minutes at most.
Flapping - known as stimming - is very common and just his way to communicate.
Introduce picture cards to signify things he may want - cup, plate, bed, keep language to the minimum. Eg ‘Joe drink ? (using his name first) accompanied by a picture of his cup. Use actual photos of the items he has. He may not ‘get’ that any cup picture means the same thing.
Routines may be important. Plus articulating what you’re doing. ‘Joe, Bed time”. Does he have a play tent? They can be useful for children to escape to when things get too much. Also some ear defenders.