Recently, in my home daycare, I watched a situation unfold that was very difficult, to some of you, it will sound so familiar.
A family brought to me a beautiful baby boy. He was sweet, healthy and had an easy going personality, that is… until he was given the m.m.r. vaccine. After that point I watched this child change. He was totally unpredictable in his temperament, he could not concentrate to play, his speech came very late, and he spoke as if he had a hearing problem which, when tested did not exist.
The mother whose heart was breaking, was determined to convince herself and the rest of us that nothing was wrong, but as he grew, it became more and more apparent.
Fortunately, this was not my first experience with this and as a Christian I began to pray for wisdom and strength for this family.
There is a list of vitamins and supplements that I found while praying for a situation in my own family years before that I have shared with many parents and with amazing results. I tried to tell this mom about it but she promised me that her son was fine and would not need it. I thought of quitting as things became more difficult, but worried what would happen to him if he were placed possibly in the hands of someone who might not care about his future.
As I pondered quit or don’t quit, a horrible event was reported in our local news.
A foster family was arrested for the tragic death of a boy in their care who was not much older than the one I was working with and whose temperament sounded so similar. Quitting was no longer an option and I will address that situation in another post later this month.
I needed answers and quickly
as this child would have sudden unprovoked outbursts of rage that could not be reasoned with and now he was getting old enough to hurt himself and others. When in a rage, which could happen even as a result of getting his way, he would sit in time out, but would scream seemingly forever. He would be playing one minute and out of nowhere just pick up a toy (and usually a large one like an entire play kitchen) and fire it across the room at the other children who were not fighting with him, ignoring him, or using anything that he deemed to be his and his alone.
Let me take a minute to say that if you are reading this and have never dealt with this, don’t even try to make assumptions. One of the most unfortunate things for the parents that are working to help their children through this, is the critisicizm and uninformed suggestions of those who don’t have a clue!
This story has a great outcome, it was worked through with many break-throughs. The first one came with music, it didn’t fix everything, but it did take the edge off the situation enough to work for more. I began to play calm music at a fairly loud volume almost all day, not too loud to talk in a calm voice, but almost. I turned the T.V. off completely at all playtime and only used calm programs at limited times. I played music while the children napped and rested and also if we were in the car.
I have found out since that music has been the key in many situations like this both in listening and in participation. Some of what I found is as follows…..
“There are many benefits to using music on an individual lesson. Music provides the structural regularity that children with autism need. Within that structure it is possible to expand that child’s repertoire of functioning.”
http://www.autismtoday.com/musicspectrum.htm
People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties with communication, behavior and/or social interaction. Music therapy uses music and its elements to enable people to communicate and to express their feelings. In this way music therapy addresses some of the core problems of people with ASD.
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004381.html
Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Music Therapy is the unique application of music to enhance personal lives by creating positive changes in human behavior. It is an allied health profession utilizing music as a tool to encourage development in social/ emotional, cognitive/learning, and perceptual-motor areas. Music Therapy has a wide variety of functions with the exceptional child, adolescent and adult in medical, institutional and educational settings. Music is effective because it is a nonverbal form of communication, it is a natural reinforcer, it is immediate in time and provides motivation for practicing nonmusical skills. Most importantly, it is a successful medium because almost everyone responds positively to at least some kind of music.
http://www.autism.org/music.html
I tried several types of music, but found that all music did not produce the same effect,
even though calm sounding. I found music from one particular artist that had the most amazing results, in fact the parents who came to pick up their children started to ask for it. I contacted the musician who made it and he agreed to make a C.D. for children but the music on it was written for adults, so in using it I found that it helped me keep smiling as well. I am sharing it with you, I hope it helps your day be calm, so you can be at ease to love your family more.
http://hiddenstreamsproductions.com/
I will share the other things that have worked including the vitamin break through in my upcoming posts this month. My compassion and support is to all who are loving a child through to the victory in this battle.
If I have found things that help. I know that others have too . The point of this blog is for us to share our information. Do you or someone you know have ways that you have found to be effective in coping with Autism? Do you think that the general public really understands this challenge for families?
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