Reddit mentions of Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think (A Merloyd Lawrence Book)

I don't know if you saw my post in your previous thread. My son was enrolled in Early Intervention and started Occupational Therapy at 10 months and was in Speech by 15 months. Because he was in Occupational Therapy and the system so early, they were able to put in a referral for a developmental pediatrician at 15 months, he was diagnosed at 17 months, and received ABA therapy starting 18 months. At 17 months, he had a risk score of 16/20 on the MCHAT. Now, at almost 2, he can understand pointing and 80% or so of words, has a vocabulary of 60 or so words, and has a MCHAT risk score of 3/20.

Tell the EI person everything you notice, no matter how tiny. My son was cleared by EI the first time I asked for an exam at 6 months. The next time around, I pointed out how he'd always turn away when I played close up games like patty cake. That small observation caused the EI person to use a more detailed test, which enabled him to enroll at 10 months.

Start testing her receptive language (that's how much she understands). Some speech therapists will be reluctant to take a patient so young. I was able to get speech at 15 months because I had done numerous tests and knew that he had no receptive language. For example, I'd ask him if he wanted a banana (he loved them) from behind him and observe no reaction. Show him the banana, and he'd get very excited.

I was devastated when my son was diagnosed with autism, but it was because I didn't understand autism. Since his diagnosis, we've realized that I have a brother with autism and my brother is amazing. Seriously, he's a really great guy. Autism is not something that needs to be cured or removed from your daughter if she is autistic. If she is, she can have a great life with her autism, not in spite of it. She is still the amazing child you have always loved.

Go get An Early Start for Your Child with Autism from the library. If your child is autistic, it's a great start. If not, the games aren't going to hurt. I also really like Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think. Again, the games are such that, in the worst case scenario, you might have extra fun with your daughter. :)

Feel free to PM me with any questions or concerns.

This sounds like my son at that age, who was also middle of the spectrum. the developmental pediatrician recommended Floortime for us, which is an approach that was developed by Stanley Greenspan (child psychiatrist) together with Serena Wieder (I think psychologist). Sadly, Dr. Greenspan has passed away. However, I found those books and materials helpful, and we also received some help from trained Floortime therapists in our area.

Here is a youtube video of Dr. Greenspan helping a family: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vApghedypFc. That same channel has a whole bunch of videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/greenspanfloortime/videos

Here are some things you can check out in that direction, if you are interested:

1. one of his books ("engaging autism") on amazon, it has a bit of a preview you can look at: https://www.amazon.com/Engaging-Autism-Floortime-Approach-Communicate/dp/0738210943. same book on google books has a preview, not sure if it's the same preview! https://books.google.com/books?id=6MkBAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&dq=%22engaging+autism%22%5D%5D&source=bl&ots=Kifx6vM8fg&sig=odVVaeTq0bBI68Ak3IKNThnE3SM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh76X-mKjWAhWBOSYKHYOsBDkQ6AEIMjAC#v=onepage&q=%22engaging%20autism%22%5D%5D&f=false
   
   
2. some materials from the florida department of health about implementing the approach: http://www.floridahealth.gov/alternatesites/cms-kids/providers/early_steps/training/documents/floor_time.pdf
   
   
3. a short 2-pager from one of the organizations that implements the approach: https://www.stanleygreenspan.com/swf/The%20DIR%20Floortime%20Model.pdf
   
   In addition, this book here changed my life in terms of altering my outlook and helping me think more positively -- the authors are parents and doctors, and the mom-doctor is a neurologist, in fact -- there are some concrete helps in here -- a lot of the material is better for when your kid is older, maybe, because a lot of it is about helping them at school, but it helped me to shift my focus in a more positive direction, and just gave me a good framework for understanding things: https://www.amazon.com/Mislabeled-Child-Solutions-Childrens-Challenges/dp/1401308996/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505513398&sr=1-1&keywords=the+mislabled+child
   
   Finally, I recommend this book, which can help you understand the sensory issues: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Sync-Child-Recognizing-Processing/dp/0399531653/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1505513523&sr=1-1&keywords=the+out+of+sync+child.
   
   And then get this one: https://www.amazon.com/Out-Sync-Child-Has-Revised/dp/0399532714/ref=pd_sim_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7NP2KCQY50ZRWTC9JQA0, which will help you design activities around the sensory issues.
   
   I stopped here because I didn't want to overwhelm you, but let me know if you want more recommendations, more info, or more shared experience. happy to help, just let me know. feel free to pm me also. my kid is now 10.

Engaging Autism is fantastic. Even if your school doesn't use a floortime approach, it's still extremely helpful in providing strategies. https://www.amazon.com/Engaging-Autism-Floortime-Approach-Communicate/dp/0738210943