Early intervention choices and impact
What early intervention did you settle on and how is it going for the child and you? How do you think it has impacted your child, you and your family?
S-Am
We have settled on ABA and OT for now. So far to figure things out and see what is working and not working itself took us some time. There has been so much confusion for us with regard to what to do. He is one person but there are so many different opinions. We are spending money and time and we expect it to be worth it. We have shelled out a lot of money so far and it has impacted our family that way.
P-M
Occupational therapy, Speech therapy and Applied Behavioral Analysis is what we settled on. I think they have all helped us in knowing how to manage him. We are in a better place from where we started.
Y-An
We settled on OT, Speech initially as he was not talking. Speech therapy was good there maybe but I don’t think it worked for An. We are taking ABA after the doctor’s suggestion in India now. That has definitely left an impact on the family. My husband is managing alone and the 3 of us are here at my parents’ place. It’s a lot of stress for the both of us as parents, but we have hope. Other than that I think as a family now we have become more understanding of each other and we see more positivity. My husband has become more patient now, I feel. An is more settled now because of the interventions we have done so far. An’s sister also shares a good bond with him and takes care of him whenever necessary. She was confused initially as to why An is behaving a certain way. But once we explained, she understood him. For her also, shifting to India was a major shift as the schooling systems are very different and she is getting accustomed.
J-S
After a point we felt like we were taking too many treatments and they were hard on our pockets too. So we stuck with Behavior therapy. S was 7 years old by then. After coming to the ABA center, we have been here for the past 1.5 years now. This is going well. S has become manageable and that is a huge blessing to our family. I feel hopeful as it looks like I am on the right path.
Choosing the interventions
What factors influenced you to settle on this early intervention?
S-Am
Some factors I took into consideration before settling on one are:
- If it’s working or not working
- Occupational therapy - we realized he requires to relax/ calm down physically due to his hyperactive nature
- Speech therapy - we took it because he wasn’t talking.
- ABA - doctor suggested that it will improve sitting tolerance and that it will prepare him for school.
P-M
Google knowledge. Whatever google suggested and I read, we took blindly.
Y-An
OT we had to take as he was hyperactive. Speech therapy, we took it because he wasn’t talking. ABA we are taking after the doctor's suggestion. Now I realize that for speech sessions to work, he should be having sitting tolerance and attention.
J-S
I came to each therapy through suggestions. What has helped me settle here is that I see progress and when I look back I see that the therapists work with dedication and the session timings are longer here. In most centers each session is only for 45 minutes and it goes in settling down itself. There is not much learning happening. How much my child is learning is also a factor I have looked into.