This month's Junior has a section on developmental problems. So far only read the section on autism.
Anyway under "what can parents do" it says mentions SALT, art therapy and cranial osteopathy. No mention of PECS or ABA or Son Rise or anything like that. It mentions diet but only in terms of hyperactivity.
It then goes onto say "If she (sic) has difficulty speaking give her the words she needs "oh so you want a chocolate biscuit?" Don't give the biscuit until the child has made some effort to use the words rather than merely pointing and screaming."
what???? which planet? "merely pointing" blimey if my son could "merely point" easily life would be heck of a lot easier here. And as for waiting for him to speak- he'd put his head through the window!!!! dear oh dear oh dear.
It then goes onto say
"autistic children often benefit from a changed environment. A holiday by the seaside, a ride on a train or a drive in the country can encourage an autistic child to talk more and communicate more freely"
OK at this point I fell off my chair laughing.
In some bizarre twist of reality it also goes onto say "with help, many autistic children can learn to cope with their problems, they can live independently, get jobs and so forth". Well I;m all for positive thinking but really? (There is a seperate section for AS by the way- I haven't read it yet- haven't dared!)
It also says that you shouldn't out an autistic child in nursery and you shouldn't try to get anyone else to help. "The consensus is that its easier for mothers to do the work themselves, rather than spend huge amounts of time trying to put together packages of care for a problematic child. In addition, it can be almost impossible to arrange help for an older child, who may be difficult, given to tantrums and not yet potty trained".
No mention of what happens when the mother has a nervous breakdown then! Seriously have these people spent 5 minutes in the company of an autistic child? The older children are too difficult to look after but the mother is expected to do it 24/7.
Oh hilarious. I''m off to read the rest. Respond and I'll email the responses to the editor. Honestly!