AboutValerie Herskowitz Expertise I am an autism expert and speech pathologist (for over 30 years). I am also the parent of a child with autism. I can answer any question on autism dealing with communication, education, behavior and diet. I cannot answer questions that are medical in nature or are dealing with medications.
Experience I have run a therapy center for individuals with autism since 1981. I lecture all over the country. I also teach classes on autism on line.
Organizations American Speech and Hearing Association,
Autism Society of America,
President of the National Autism Registry,
Vice President of the Association for Developmentally Disabled Adults and Adolescents.
Publications Autism Society of America's national publication (September 2008).
Advance Magazine,
South Florida Parenting,
Spectrum Magazine,
I am the author of: Autism and Computers: Maximizing Independence Through Technology (available:www.valerieherskowitz.com)
Education/Credentials I have a masters degree in speech pathology
Awards and Honors I won a Stevie Award in 2004: Lifetime Achievement Award for my work with individuals with autism. My therapy center won, Judge's Choice Award Best Center in South Florida by South Florida Parenting magazine 2005.
Question Hello Valerie, I have a 5yr old girl who, after just a single appointment with the doctor was diagonised with high function autism. She then suggested Floortime therapy and we also attended a few sessions to get the idea about it, but after a few sessions my child didn't like it as she would cry most of the time and made excuses about wanting to go to the toilet. So we stopped it. This was about 1 1/2 yrs back. On asking about any altenative, we couldn't get much help. Even on asking about the GFCF diet, the doctor just said "up to you". This phrase along with "never mind" is a very very common phrase used in this part of south east Asia, where we are right now. We also asked if we could have a speech therapy to which we were told that since our child cannot stay still in a chair, it's impossible to have speech therapy. We knew we were being mislead. So we completely stopped going to the hospital as it was also getting to be vey expensive. At home I dug deeper into the internet to find resources to help my child. Things are getting better in terms of speech, and interactions, but recently, it has been about a couple of weeks, my child has become very short tempered. A few days back she had her birthday, and she had been wanting the Ariel toy so, the day of her birthday, when we gave her the toy she seemed happy at first, but after a while she started crying for about an hour. She opened Ariel's hair and made her look so untidy.Even though I tried everything, I failed to know why she cried. It's the same thing other times too. If I buy her a book or any small toy, she says "throw it" and she does so, but after a while we can see her taking it out from the dustbin and then she is okay. She is attending a mainstream kindergarten for 3 hrs in the morning. She enjoys being with friends but regarding her written work in school, she has started making her work very very untidy, she used to write her numbers very well now she's started adding little snails to the ends of the numbers making her work look really bad!!! She is very attatched to her class teacher who has been on medical leave for two weeks. I was just wondering if this could be the reason for her short temper. She'll be back next week and just hoping things will get better then. However, I would really like to know what you think and how I can help my child when she has her temper tantrums. Even as much as when she doesn't get to press the floor number in the elevator, she gets wild. Please help. Thank you so much.
Mrs. GRT
Answer Dear Mrs. GRT
I feel your pain-I really do as I have a child with severe behavioral problems which really impede his ability to learn, so I truly understand.
Unfortunately, autism is not just a learning disorder. It impacts the child in many ways. Short tempers are common place. They often come on easily because she is getting frustrated easily. They also like routine and everything the same. Changes are not easy for them, so possibly the teacher's absence is having an effect on her. However, I would be misleading you to say that once the teacher returns that she will be fine. No she won't-there will be other things that will frustrate her or cause her to feel uncomfortable and she will cry and have tantrums. That is the reality.
Because your child frustrates easily and has temper tantrums as a result, you will want to be sure to include a lot of sensory-based activities into her day. Have you heard of a sensory diet? It doesn't have to do with her foods-it relates to certain sensory input activities that you do with her every two hours. Let me know if you are interested to learn more. If so, you can learn in two ways: do you have an OT near you that can teach you (I don't know where in Asia that you live)? Or I can teach you via a consultation that I can do over the Internet (I work with families around the globe.)So let me know if you need some help!
Valerie Herskowitz, MA CCC-SLP
www.valerieherskowitz.com
Author of: Autism and Computers: Maximizing Independence Through Technology
