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Try This Tuesday #41: Choosing Therapies
Welcome to this week's Try This Tuesday. For details on how to participate, please check out the welcome post.
Since the beginning of the year, I have been suggesting topics each week, sort of a take-it-or-leave-it writing prompt, but this week I left it open-ended. For now, I am going to leave it that way, although I welcome any topic suggestions you may have – just leave a comment or drop me a line at trish[at]anotherpieceofthepuzzle[dot]com.
As I looked back over what I wrote last week about Supplemental Therapies, I started thinking about how we determine what to try and when and for how long. I came up with a few things that are at the top of the list for us.
Our Guiding Principles
Be systematic. As I began learning about biomedical treatments, one of the statements I heard over and over was to just start one thing at a time, otherwise you won't know what works and what doesn't. I have applied that to everything we have done over the last few years, partly for that reason and also because our schedule and pocketbook can only tolerate so much at one time.
Prioritize. Another thing that helped me as I was trying to learn everything there was to know and make the absolute best decision about which direction to go was a fellow mom who told me to think about what I most wanted to see change at that moment and then look at what would be most likely to make a difference in that area.
Relax. We've heard it over and over, and it is so true: life is a marathon, not a sprint. We don't have to fix everything by next Thursday, and it's not possible anyway. In fact, scheduled breaks can be a good thing as we allow all the work that's been done to sink in a bit.
It's nice to realize that it hasn't been as hodgepodge as it sometimes felt while we were in the midst of things.
I'm curious, with so many different options out there, how do you decide what therapies to pursue for your child? Do you agree with these or think there are other considerations that are more important?
Please join in and share the creative solutions YOU have found to your own challenges, or feel free to post your own challenge for input from others. I would also love to feature some of our readers here, so please let me know if you would consider sharing any of your tips in a future Try This Tuesday!
As the host of Try This Tuesday, Trish shares some of the solutions she has found to make life easier and invites you to do the same. You can also find her blogging at Another Piece of the Puzzle and Autism Interrupted.
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Comments on Try This Tuesday #41: Choosing Therapies »
rickismom @ 12:47 am
Good points; definately true!
MaddyM @ 8:29 am
We have tried [just about] everything over the years.
To keep it fresh I'll just comment on one thing.
I always instinctively felt that if they / one only eat three things then this is not healthy. I thought that so many of the underlying issues were caused by a poor and unhealthy diet but the GF and other special diets were just hopeless as he wouldn't budge an inch.
We stuck with the 'slow' desensitization method.
Now, he eats a full diet [although he doesn't enjoy it particularly] although he's healthier he is still just as skinny and he's still just as autistic.
Best wishes
Trish @ 9:34 am
Thanks, rickismom!
Maddy, I totally agree with you on the unhealthy diet issue. Someone can be on a special diet but still eat mostly junk food, which isn't really very helpful.
The way I see it, special diets are about avoiding things that bother a child's system, but a healthy diet is about making sure they are getting the nutrients they need, so I think people have to consider both issues separately.
Territory Mom @ 12:46 pm
We did the Wilbarger protocol which really helped. There are days when I want to try everything then there are days where I leave it in God's hands.
Do I need to detox him? Would a hyperbaric chamber help?
A friend who is the mother of an adult child with autism told me I'm trying to fix something that was never broken.
To-Do Tuesday - Week Twelve — Another Piece of the Puzzle @ 1:58 pm
[...] down to finish it up after Michael goes to bed on Monday night! This week I am talking about choosing therapies, as a follow-up to last week's post about supplemental [...]