Hi

Our darling boy has been Dx with ASD PDD-NOS. He will be 3yo in 4 weeks. It is a shock even though we have thought something was a little different for a while.

I have been trawling the internet looking for sessions that may help in his development and wanted to ask others what they did to get started.

I know that the Aut Vic Centre in Bundoora has a huuuge wait list but are there other centres/clinics in Melb that offer group sessions like those offered at Bundoora?

ASD playgroups would you recommend these? does this help in the social side of things? is playconnect better than MyTime?

Early Days did you do this course? would you recommend it?

was the info session run by Aut Vic informative?

did the GF/DF diet work for your child?

Toilet training? does it take longer in ASD kids?

Did you go to family counselling after the dx?

Many thanks for reading - please feel free to PM me if you have specific info

Thanks

I can't help you as we're just going through the diagnosis process atm but I wanted to say that it's great that you've got a diagnosis so early and can now act on it. From what I've seen of older kids with ASDs, the earlier it's picked up, the better the outcome.

We have had some success with a change of diet though.

thanks for the reply
what have you changed in their diets?

I’m really sorry to hear about the dx, it’s a really hard thing to come to terms with even if you already know there is ‘something’ different. My little man has dx of PDD-Nos too.

I’m not in Vic so can’t help with any of the centres there sorry. Just make sure you call around and get an idea of what services different places are offering and for how much. We started out seeing a speechie and OT in a private practice and it was costing us $300 for a hour each week. We’re now going through our state ASD centre and my little man has a place each Monday from 9am to 2.45pm and we pay around $600 each year out of pocket from the funding. The help that he gets at EI is amazing, he loves going and we’ve seen huge changes in the 6 months he’s been going there.

We haven’t done and ASD playgroup yet but only because we’ve been so busy. It’s something I want to do though because I never took him when he was little, I knew from very early on that it would be hard for him (and me!) so we never went. I know though that you don’t have to go to the one that’s closest to you, work in with what’s the best day for you.

We do MyTime every week and I love it, so did the kids! They have tea, coffee and biscuits, a facilitator to run the group and one of the IAs to play with the kids (our group is small so we only have one IA but bigger groups have more). I runs for two hours and ours is pretty unstructured, we’re in the same room as the kids but the IA looks after the kids to give the mums and dads a break and more importantly to network! Sometimes they have specialists come in and chat about things like sensory issues, language, toileting etc but most of the time it’s just chatting with the group leader. Most of the time we don’t even chat about ASD, yesterday we spent most of the time swapping renovation horror stories LOL. It’s a great venue to connect with other parents and find out what therapies they are doing, and to make new friends too!

I haven’t done any Early Days sessions yet, apparently the sensory one is really good!

We haven’t done any special diets since the dx but have been following Failsafe guidelines for quite a while.

Toilet Training doesn’t necessarily take longer but there can be different issues that need special tactics! Where are you guys at with it? We started TTing at 2 ½ and it took over 18 months for him to really get it and it’s only been in the last few months that he hasn’t had accidents.

We didn’t do any counselling. I was seeing a psych due to PND and spoke to them about it as that was during the dx process.

Something else to consider… my little man does a couple of days in an ASD room at a regular daycare centre. They use the same tools, activities, systems as our EI centre, a lot of the staff are also the same too and it’s a great extension to his EI. We’ve only just started but he loves it and has settled in really well so far, he’s at the same centre as his little sister too.

Some advice I’d probably offer to do be kind to yourself and to understand that it might take some time to come to terms with the dx, it will probably have a huge impact on your life and it can be really overwhelming. I still have those days where I just want to bury my head in the sand and wish it all away. For me after the dx it was all I could see, everything with my little boy I saw through ASD glasses, that was a few months and then I was able to move on and just see him again.

I’m happy to help with as much info as you need, it’s so much to take in and even though the dx process is a lot to take it I know I found it even harder afterwards trying to make sure that I was doing what was best for my little man!

Claire, how far down the track are you? Is it for both the boys or just one?

Just in case I've used any funny ones or for anyone else who's reading and wants to know.

OT – Occupational Therapist
EI – Early Intervention
IA – Intervention Assistant

I havent got time to do a long response right now but look into (they have a website) Sensationalkids.com.au

Awesome, awesome awesome centre. OT, Speech, Psychology, social skills groups, information sessions, courses. Nothing is too much!!