More sensitive to sounds and control issues popping up

[Natta1980]

Hello


My son has recently started Kindergarten and seems to be more sensitive to sounds
He was diagnosed PDD-NOS a year ago, school does not recognize a diagnosis and has him under "developmental delay" category since he is very "borderline" and while some specialists see ASD in him, others do not. He does have IEP, and teacher's assistant helping him through transition period. He is in regular kindergarten room, will be pulled out for a "social group" twice a week, and for speech therapy as well. Speech will be primarily in his classroom.

Since he started half-day Kindergarten, he seems to be more sensitive to noise (he went to daycare before, full-time). While most of the time he is doing well, today he had a few "small meltdowns" (noise-related), but was able to gain control of himself pretty quickly.

I wonder if OT will be helpful - Kindergarten teached suggested we do eval at school....we were planning to do some private as well.  Can you please offer your expertise on OT? Thing is, his sensory issues come and go, a couple of years ago he would have a meltdown when he got paint on his hands, now he does it on purpose, same with mud, sand, what have you

He also seems to have more "control issues" lately. (Insists on doing something specific and will not compromise).  Could it be a transition thing?

Thank you in advance for your help

[Natta1980]

Speech therapist and OT who are working with my son advised us against ABA in its pure form; they beleive that he does have the skills necessary for learning (imitation, play skills, etc), he has problems with compliance and seeks negative attention a lot. They do not view ABA approaches as suitable for him.....

I know there are programs in ABA that adress compliance, but both OT and Speech therapist beleived that it may very well make him more defiant and less willing to learn


We did have ABA therapist come to our house, she did some training with us, but she sis not beleive he needs one-on-one therapy......

So are you saying that OT is completely innefective?


Thank you

[Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Even if there’s some disagreement on the particular diagnosis, you are on the right track. No matter what the diagnosis is, the particular difficulties your son experiences can be addressed and early intervention can be very effective. Speech therapy and exposure and practice in social interactions can be extremely helpful. As your son ages and learns and grows, new problems will crop up along the way as they will with any child. OT can be effective for improving coordination and gross and fine motor skills. If your child finds certain types of sensation aversive, systematically exposing him to those sensations may be effective. Unfortunately, there are many approaches to teaching and providing therapy to individuals with autism-like disorders that have not been shown to be effective or have been shown to be ineffective. Sensory integration is a relatively popular approach to treatment that the weight of the evidence suggests is ineffective.

The best advice I can give you is to identify the particular things you’d like to see your son working on, and monitor his progress on those things. Identify a behavior analyst in your area who has experience working with children like your son and work with him or her on a plan for your son. Finding a good behavior analyst who works well with you and your son can be enormously helpful and this person should also be able to help you consume the scientific literature on treatments and guide you toward approaches that are supported by science.