Initial steps and considerations
What initial steps did you take after diagnosis? What were the alternatives you considered? How did it work out?
S-Am
One of the doctors suggested group therapy at a rehab center and we went ahead and enrolled him there. He went for group sessions for 1 year, but there were no changes. We consulted with the doctor again and he suggested we go for one to one sessions. When AM was 3.5 years old he started one to one sessions and would attend group sessions as well. They also recommended medication for him to sleep as he was not sleeping at all. We gave him the medication, but since I saw that he was not sleeping, I stopped it myself. The group and one to one sessions went on for a year but we were not satisfied as we were still confused. There was no clarity about why we are doing what we are doing. There was no transparency at the center also. When he was 4.5 years old we started ABA sessions. That is again from parents’ suggestions. In the last 1.5 years I have an idea and I am able to see what is being done to Am. We see that it is working too.
Alternatives, we gave him homeopathy medicines for his sleep when he was 2.5 years old as suggested by a doctor. We stopped when he started to sleep at night. We didn’t want him to become dependent on medicines as Am loves medicines because of its sweet taste. In our house, we lock medicines in the locker like we lock up gold because of this.
P-M
We took the therapy they suggested at NIMHANS once every 3 months for half an hour each session. He was also given medicines for his hyperactiveness. We were not satisfied and on the lookout for help about knowing what is to be done. During one such instance when my husband who is working as a driver expressed our concern to one of the doctors he was driving for, they suggested a rehab center. There they started him on OT, ST and infant sessions. After 2-3 months speech therapy sessions stopped, and also he was doing well. So they suggested we take him to school now. At school they found him to be too hyper and having low sitting tolerance. Now we were looking for options that offered school and therapy and I understood we needed ABA for working on his sitting tolerance. When I was searching on these bases, the ABA Center SCA popped up. So we have started ABA here now.
Y-An
In the Spanish system, they don’t want to label or do any therapy until the child is above 3 years. So only after the diagnosis at 3.5 years, we started speech and OT where An would have 1 session of each every week. He attended this for about a year and when we came to India for vacation, we met a developmental pediatrician and from her suggestion to try ABA for a year or so, my children and I have moved to India now. Alternatives I didn’t consider as much as there are only so many options available back in Spain. They have sensory integration therapy, then there is speech and occupational therapy. We considered homeopathy after one of our relatives who is a homeopathic doctor suggested, but we are yet to discuss and take that forward.
J-S
Since we didn’t take it seriously the first time, we right away started S with school. After the 2nd consultation is when we started him on therapies. They suggested we take Speech, OT and Behavior therapy. We found a center closer to our house for behavior therapy and started therapy there. We found other places for Speech and OT too. We tried Homeopathy because my husband’s friend suggested for S’s aggressiveness. We stopped in a few months time as there were no changes. We also tried Ayurveda Panchakarma treatment for 8 months. We found that also useless. It was time consuming and also costly. We tried allopathy medicines for his behaviors. It showed results. That’s when we stopped Ayurveda. S was also attending school with a shadow teacher and a caretaker. After a teacher suggested this center for ABA, we have stayed here as we are seeing a lot of progress in S now.
Editor's note: While some of the parents mention alternatives, we do not endorse any of them. Many of the alternatives that parents try are not evidence based. Some can be outright dangerous. Please see the guide section on caution about cures for a detailed discussion of alternative approaches and why one should be cautious about them.