Comments on: Hope Can Be Expensive

By: Regan

Regan — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:17:05 +0000

The best expenditures that we ever made were
Good assessments
Professional assistance developing a progressive curricula.
Training for ourselves in how to teach, task analyze, motivation, and behavior management.
A good OT who really understood motor skill mechanics.
SLP-CCC evaluation and consultations.
We could not afford to have lots of direct service on a professional basis, so professional input was more on a consultation basis and we implemented the hands-on.
A computer, high-speed connection, printer and laminator (for some specific reasons).
Computer software for Eleanor.
“How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons”–Zig Engelmann (<$20).
The Kaufman praxis kits–pricey but paid off in ways that I did not originally anticipate–to say I was originally skeptical is putting it mildly.
The PECS manual.

Like everyone else, I imagine, there’s a lot of dead-ends , false starts and past brain-storms around the house and donated elsewhere, but the above are the things that I personally don’t have any regrets about paying for. Your mileage might vary.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:08:34 +0000

@air purifiers, unfortunately, it does seem that a “natural lifestyle” comes with costs!

By: Fearless Females

Fearless Females — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:53:18 +0000

Air Purifiers:

Of course we do(have hope), that’s why we go to therapy so that our kids can achieve all that they can be … for instance, my daughter is non-verbal and she benefits for speech therapy and learning to use voice output devices so that she can be all that she can be… and happier and more confident and to achieve independence. And OT therapy has helped her manage her anxiety so that she feel more comfortable so that she can be all that she can be. We have all the hope in the world for our kids (that’s why we do what we can for them) and we want to help them where they need it most. Sometimes it’s not so black and white and simple.

My son has trouble relating to other kids, he hides when they come around, but social skills class have helped him overcome some of the shyness so that he can make friends—because I know he can, he just needs a little help and he appreciates it.

All parents have hope for their kids and help them where and when they need it. For some of us, it takes therapies to do it.

By: xtiluv

xtiluv — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:45:37 +0000

@ air purifiers- kind of ironic that you speak of hope being free while you offer us the opportunity to help our children by spending money on your products, which we then “hope” will work. Thanks for illustrating Kristina’s point so effectively.

By: air purifiers

air purifiers — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:25:51 +0000

What is all of this nonsense about hope being expensive. Hope is free. Dreams are free. You can’t buy love and you can’t buy ….a cure. But you can teach your child to aspire, hope, dream, and strive to achieve their goals.

Every time I go to Disneyland with the kids I think about Walt Disney. In his 50’s, divorced, single dad with the kids on the weekend. He went bankrupt a few times in his 30’s and 40’s with ideas that didn’t make it. He never gave up however. His dream was to make a place where he and his child could both have a good time. “When you wish upon a start”.. as the song goes, and the rest is history.

Having false hope in a man made product, service, or pharma drug is not hope in my opinion, it’s wishful thinking. You don’t have to have a dream or wish to have wishful thinking, all you need is a few bucks to try your hand at fate. True hope in my opinion is the result of an inner, righteous desire that results in actions which can lead to success or “good luck” if you will. I’m a big fan of hope, faith, and wishing for good results because I know that when one sets their mind to something and announces their righteous desire to the world, doors open and things happen to bring forth good results.

I hope that parents of autistic kids don’t give up hope that their child’s life will continue to show improvement. Not from purchased products or services, but perhaps from living a natural lifestyle and “getting back to basics”. Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. Just good food, air, water, exercise, and dreams for a better tomorrow.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:45:30 +0000

“Could he be doing better if I did alot more stuff? It’s always the burning question who’s answer seems so unobtainable.”

as Bonnie wrote—–that’s why hope can get so expensive, no?

By: sharon

sharon — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:18:32 +0000

Another one here with limited funds. In the early days, I used polaroids for flash cards. I think the kids could relate to see the actually item rather than a generic pic. Later, I used digital photos.

Sadly, we have to rely on the school to provide speech and OT.

In a way, having less money to spend has made it a little easier since there are fewer decisions to make.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:18:32 +0000

I had the incredible luck of having an older sister who is an OT, and who originally let us know that she saw signs in Casey before he was even 9 months old. So, I’ve taken advantage of a lot of her advice since she works with kids with Autism in her school system. Unfortunately, she lives a state away so that kinda is a bummer.
We also have tried many biomed things that never really helped as much as deep pressure, bike rides, swimming, the mini tramp and the big tramp, and just trying to keep him off the computer and tv as much as possible. I always kick myself for not taking him to outside therapies, but he does get some in school. Could he be doing better if I did alot more stuff? It’s always the burning question who’s answer seems so unobtainable.

By: Alli

Alli — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:50:27 +0000

thankfully we only bought that mini trampoline because Alec hated it.. we were doing rotations of brushing, joint compression and trampolining, he loved the brushing and joint compression but hates the jumping.

I’m in Australia, Western Australia to be precise and the state runs an early intervention program from ages 3-6, Alec usually only had at most 4 hours a week and we would work with the therapists and get homework from them to do. We did private speech for 3 years, this was only covered to $300 and at $75 a session once a week it was hard but we did without and I would do it again because it was what he needed. I always stress over it, have we done enough, whet alse could we do but I think with the EI, speech and OT we made amazing progress

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 04:27:24 +0000

We were on our way to buy a trampoline while living wit my in-laws (they have a huge backyard and frontyard, traversed only by the deer). Never got around to getting one and no place to put it in a condo parking lot, but maybe someday!