A Quickie but a Goodie!
Howdy all,
This week’s tip as the subject says is a quickie, but a goodie 
Have you ever noticed that after your child has been jumping on the trampoline, swimming, swinging, playing chasings or basically just moving around that they are a lot more talkative and chatty, or if your child is not talking yet that they are playing around with their vocalisations more?
Well there is a reason for this…
Movement stimulates the language areas of the brain.
This is one of the BIG reasons why I incorporate a lot of movement activities into my therapy sessions with the kids. In fact, with one of my clients, Max, I used to carry out his entire session on a platform swing! This is simply a swing with a large flat base.
We used the swing with Max because:
- He enjoyed it, so it was very motivating for him
- The back and forth movement of the swing was very calming and organising for his nervous system which helped get him into a good state for learning during the session.
- The movement stimulated the language areas of his brain.
So very quickly the swing became an important part of our sessions and a critical element for maximising the productivity of our therapy time! Consequently it also helped Max learn at a much faster pace!
BUT I’m not suggesting that you rush out and get a platform swing!
Because that is not the point of this week’s tip…
As I often say, every child with autism or aspergers is so unique and needs strategies and therapy techniques that are going to work best for them. So while the swing worked well for Max, it may not be an effective strategy for another child.
What I really want you to take away from this week’s tip is that…
Understanding your own child’s unique nervous system is so crucial for selecting and carrying out an effective treatment plan for them.
Just because something worked for another family or is very popular or has a slick marketing brochure does not mean that it will be an effective intervention for your child!
Over the years I have heard stories from many of my clients of how they spent months or in some unfortunate cases even years trying different treatments and therapies with little or no measurable progress.
But trust me, when you get it right (or even close to right) you’ll definitely know it!
Your child will absolutely love what they are doing and the leaps and bounds they make with their development will knock your socks off!
So just some more food for thought. 
Please share your story
Have you had an experience with a program or intervention that for whatever reason was not as effective as you had first hoped? If so, please share your story with us below. You will really be helping other families understand the importance of knowing their child and discovering the most effective intervention for them.
If you would like more help learning about all of the individual characteristics of your child’s autism so you can feel empowered and confident to make the best decisions for their treatment, then please take a look at our Home Training Program.
Till next week!
Monique
My daughter of 8 was diagnosed by a brain terapist with Autism/Asperger. We decided to use alternative treatment prior to conventional treatment. She was treated with a Scio machine, and he prescribed a very good multivitamin, gabba and dmae which increases brain acetylcholine levels.
She is a different child!
Hello Monique,
What a wonderful concept conducting a session on a platform swing!
I just wanted to share that our son Henry had 6 months of speech therapy and we saw No results at all.
I feel it is because his therapist did not develop a connection with him and unlike yourself seemed very unwilling to treat Henry as an individual with his own needs so stuck to a one size fits all method of teaching.
Henry is a sensory seeker so expecting him to sit and attend for 45 minutes with hindsight was really alot to ask of a two year old non verbal child
I have found giving him his sensory input as a diet through out the day has helped tremendously and he actually seeks the movement alot less than he use to.
Now he has moved onto visual stimuli so we have found ways to introduce that and it has helped with his self stimulatory behaviour by providing the input in more interesting fun ways.
His communication generally has improved greatly and his vocalisations have progressed from groaning to distinguishable babble he even takes turns with me when I echo back to him what he is saying :0)
I have found your folder and dvds very helpful and it is great you remain in touch with extra ideas you truly are wonderful at what you do and I hope that more therapists take on ideas such as yours in the future people need to recognise that Autism really is a spectrum disorder.
Wishing you and all the families the very best.
Jenny (Henry’s Mum)
Hi Monique,
I took my 2 year old son to our local Health Clinic for speech therapy sessions on around 4 occassions. The last was disastrous and the speech therapist, who is actually a lovely lady, kept telling me that I really need to be accessing a Professional Body like Building Blocks because in her words “they are not really trained to work with children with Autism”. I finally got accepted into the Home based programme with Building Blocks for speech therapy and have another lovely young lady who has just come straight out of a clinic environment. How ironic is that? I guess we will have to wait and see what progress is made before making the decision to enrol for another term. I guess the bottom line is don’t just assume that the professionals working with your child are experts in the field of Autism. I am finding more and more that because of the new Facsia funding that many Austim providers are putting on lots of new staff to meet demand and these new staff may not have had much training/experience on dealing with children with Autism. Ask lots of questions about what experience they have had and then make your own assessment at the end of your term. Just because parents are not paying out of their own pocket for the Facsia funded schemes doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be shopping around for the best value and service provider the Facsia funding can provide. Good luck!