Six Months Post AIT: Progress still being made

Sensi's occupational therapist commented on how well she was doing on their latest endeavor and how much she though the AIT helped her over the past 6 months.  Then my husband asked in passing the other day if we were going to do another round of AIT this summer for Sensi.

image via: http://www.familyachievement.com/Services/spec_therapy/ait.htm

I haven't thought about Sensi's AIT in a couple of months. She has been making progress, but as I said in  4 month post AIT, it is harder to tell what is part of her regular developmental progress and what is from the AIT.
There is a study that proposes that it doesn't really matter which therapy you do for your ASD child, as long as you are actively putting in the hours of having them participate in therapy. At least that is what I take from reading it.  It says specifically " Of those four variables [age, number of hours per week, number of months of treatment, and total hours of treatment,] only the number of months of treatment was significantly related to amount of gain in language, cognitive, and social–emotional functioning across the treatment period." We have put in the hours each month with her various therapies, and we are seeing results.

image via: http://www.thegrid.org.uk/learning/sen/research/goodpractice/casestudies/progression_guidance.shtml

I checked in with Sensi's teacher and she reported that they are in the process of mainstreaming Sensi into the regular education class for the whole morning, not just writing or morning meeting. Who would have thought that she would be able to spend the whole morning in a regular classroom, even with supports? Her school is amazing, but I know that she is less sensitive to some sensory input than she was. Another one of her teachers was saying that she is also participating in gym now, not just playing with a balloon in the a corner of the gym or twirling a hula hoop, but actually participating in the class. 

image via: http://www.activity-mom.com/2012/10/sequencing-cards-printable.html

I know that we are hearing much more spontaneous speech. I have Sensi drawing pictures and telling me the stories. She actually has taken to writing comic strip style social stories of her own. The sequencing we were working so hard on last summer is starting to really take hold.
She is still a jumper and a figeter, but she is less likely to have a melt down as she was last year. She listens to directions and follows them more readily. Just this last weekend she was playing with the garlic cloves I had out for a recipe. She started to peel the garlic and I said" Oh, you are peeling the garlic for me, make sure to put the peels in the bowl on the counter." It helped to point to the bowl while I was saying it, but she did a great job of peeling the garlic and keeping the skins off the counter and the floor. I don't know if she would have checked in to the directions or stayed with the task if I would have given directions before.

image via: http://www.pdd.co.uk/blog/2011/11/consumer-electronics-and-the-future-of-engaging-the-senses-an-ergonomists-perspective/

I asked her speech therapist what she thought of her progress after AIT and she replied:  "It is difficult to determine what progress is due to.  As much as I wish we could tell with 100%, I just can't.  I do think from my observations that the AIT perhaps helped [Sensi] organize her environment and better cope with stimulation in that environment.  When she is better organized and emotions are more regulated, she is better able to access her language skills and allows us to work on gaining new language skills and that is always a great thing."

image via: http://www.theplaydoctors.co.uk/Pages/January13Newsletter.aspx

Was AIT like how it was portrayed in Sound of a Miracle? Not for us, but the progress we have made in the last 6 months makes me think that it was worth it. I recently talked with the AIT therapist and discussed a second round of AIT therapy for Sensi this upcoming summer. We considered iLs and I looked into some other therapies and I think since we could see a significant improvement after the AIT for Sensi after last summer, we will do it again this summer.



Resources:
 Luiselli JK, Cannon BM, Ellis JT, Sisson RW. Home-based behavioral intervention for young children with autism/pervasive developmental disorder. Autism. 2000;4:426–438. [Ref list]

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2943764/