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Programs offer resources to help children
Published November 30, 2009
Though parents who have children with developmental delays, including autism, might feel like they have nowhere to turn, there are resources available.
Two of these resources are BACH Early Childhood Intervention and the public school system. Both are just a phone call away.
John and Jennifer Cannan started their daughter’s therapy at Brazoria County Association for Citizens with Handicaps, or BACH, when Alisha was just 19 months old, Jennifer Cannan said. Alisha then was enrolled in public school at 3 to continue her therapy.
BACH occupational therapists taught Jennifer Cannan how to begin sensory integration therapy with Alisha, who showed severe developmental delays and later was diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum. The therapy attempts to stimulate the child so he or she will adjust to stimulation.
“That therapy is where we started seeing tremendous improvements,” Cannan said.
TOO MUCH TO HANDLE
Overstimulation of the senses is a common problem for children with autism. What seems normal to a child without the disorder is just too much for children with autism.
Alisha could not be set on the grass as a baby without screaming because of the overstimulation she was receiving, Cannan said.
Included at the BACH therapy room in Angleton is a plastic pool filled with rice. To a child with sensory issues, even seeing all of the different pieces of rice can be too much to handle, said Courtney Ward, occupational therapist at BACH.
When Alisha first began using a rice pool, even putting Alisha’s finger in the pool was horribly uncomfortable for her, Cannan said.
Two-year-old Sammie Martinez also works with a BACH occupational and speech therapist.
“His social skills are pretty delayed,” Ward said.
Ward uses a therapy called social cognitive interaction to help improve Sammie’s social skills. Ward’s job for the hour she spends with Sammie is to follow him around and get him to play with her.
“I want him to seek me out and play with me,” Ward said.
FINDING ASSISTANCE
To get help from BACH Early Childhood Intervention, parents need only make a phone call, said Jennifer Kennon, development assistant at BACH.
BACH employees will set up a time to come to the child’s home to evaluate him or her, Kennon said. A therapist and an early childhood intervention specialist usually talk to the parents about their concerns and ask them several questions, she said.
If staff believes the child is in need of intervention, they contact the child’s pediatrician and ask them to sign off on therapy for the child, Kennon said.
“There’s no other chance for them to catch up before they go to public school,” Kennon said.
Payment for early childhood intervention is based on income and sometimes is covered by insurance, she said.
“We will never turn a child down based on money,” Kennon said.
However, when the child reaches the age of 3, they no longer are eligible to get intervention from BACH. Instead, they can receive intervention from the public school system or they can pursue private therapy, she said.
Even if a child is older than 3 years old, BACH can give parents the information necessary to pursue help in the public school system, she said.
Sammie’s mother, Julie Martinez, is looking into different programs in the public school system.
Cannan made that decision years ago. Though the decision was tough to send her 3-year-old child to school, she knew paying for therapy would be next to impossible.
“The little girl that we put on that bus could not communicate,” Cannan said. “She could not communicate her wishes, her wants, she could not communicate her needs.”
Today, she can communicate, but only because of the many hours of therapy she has received from BACH, the local school district and her parents, Cannan said.
Schools have a mandate to do many programs that will help children with autism, said Teresa Petersen, mother of three children. Her 12-year-old son was diagnosed with autism when he was 4.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that all children receive free and appropriate education, she said. These programs should be used, she said.
It’s important to actively consider the future, Petersen said. After children with autism grow up, they need to be able to function in the community, she said.
Katlynn Lanham is a reporter for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0150.
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