NUAP vs. Partners?

I know there are a few of you whose children have attended the Northern Utah Autism Program (NUAP). Is there anyone who has gone to Partners? We're trying to figure out which is the best option for our son, Tanner. He's been accepted to both so now we have the difficult task of choosing where to send him. It sounds like the main differences between the two programs (which are right next door to each other in the same building) are that NUAP uses Attending programs while Partners is based on Applied Behavioral Analysis, and that Partners is a model school so other educators come in to observe.

If any of you have any suggestions/preferences, we'd love to hear what you have to say. If you have personal experiences to share, please do. Or, if you've heard things from others about either of these programs, we'd love to hear them too.

This Email was sent to me and I thought of all of you.

Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.



Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."



"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.

"Yuck" says her daughter.

"How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"

"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"

"Mom, those are all yucky!"



To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! "



God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!



God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.

Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.


Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance..

So what are you Ladies waiting for??? Get up and Dance!

PECS

I don't mean to sound needy...But that I am! Does anyone own the "Boardmaker" software? I have a lot of PECS pics so far, but I have some questions before I make the $300 plunge!

Autism

It's been so long since I posted on here!!! I hope all is well with all of you moms!!

I think Autism is over-running my life right now. My son Trevor, who just turned 8 last week, has been struggling for a few months now and I think I have just been a tad overwhelmed. Between him and then our youngest Josh (and his list of issues) I have been extremely busy.

One of our biggest problems I am dealing with is doing homework with Trevor. He puts up a huge fight to even get him sitting down. Then he complains its too hard, too much, too late... ect. When he does finally start doing it, he is very careless and just writes whatever down to say he did it. We know he can do math pretty good, so it is sooo frustrating for us to have to constantly correct him and tell him to focus and do it right.

We have him seeing a therapist through Weber Human Services and we are in the process of getting a Med evaluation done with Dr. Christiansen... the psychologist who diagnosed him with the NUAP. The meds he is on now are not helping and we need something to counteract his hyper activity. He daydreams a lot and it also causes problems in school.

So... does anyone have any advice on what to do about the homework problem? Have you done something that does or does not work? Any suggestions are much appreciated!!!

Parenthood

If you haven't seen this show yet, it's well worth a shot.  One of the storylines follows two parents learning their son has Aspergers and the process they go through.  I watched this episode today... this 2 minute scene made me bawl like a baby.  Anyone else ever felt like this?

Tanner's Been Diagnosed

We met with the program director at NUAP (Northern Utah Autism Program) yesterday along with the child psychiatrist, Dr. Karen Christiansen. After meeting with them and them observing Tanner, they've pretty much diagnosed Tanner to have PDD-NOS, just like we thought. Dr. Christiansen said he can also be considered Highly Functioning Autistic and that he has some Asperger's characteristics. As he continues to get more language, he will probably show those traits more and more, but he will never be considered as having Asperger's just because one of the criteria for that is that there is no language delay, and that's one of Tanner's greatest struggles.

You can read my husband's post about it here.

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing...the finality of having a diagnosis. Not that it changes anything, really. Oh well, I'm sure that as things sink in a little more I'll be better able to process everything.

USDB Deaf Preschool- Ogden

Does anybody else have a child attending the preschool at Utah School for the Deaf (Ogden campus)? I have some questions that can't be addressed with the staff.

Learning Disorders

We've finally started making headway on ways to help Jaylee at school.  They've finally narrowed down her learning disabilities.  She has Auditory Processing Disorder and Visual Processing Disorder.  Both are brain dysfunctions, most likely due to the brain damage she received the first few years of her life.  We're still learning about them... but basically APD means she can't process what she's hearing correctly.. and AVP means her actual site is fine, but her brain doesn't SEE what her eyes do... therefore, not processing it.  It's starting to make a lot of sense why she has an aversion to reading, math, reading stories aloud with me, etc.  

One interesting sidenote, they said with AVP you generally rely on one side of your brain and when you try to access the other side your brain goes all wiggy.  We've noticed it with math, especially following left to right. If a math problem is horizontal Jaylee doesn't struggle AS much... but you put the same math problem in front of her vertically and she has a complete meltdown.  They said that the combination of VPD and APD creates a really rough environment for learning in school.... generally the children check out because their brain is over-stimluated, working overtime trying just to make sense of what they are hearing AND seeing.  Which means she exhibits signs of ADHD.  Interesting, eh?  They don't think she has ADHD afterall, but that once she can hone in on coping strategies in the classroom a lot of her behavior issues will decrease.  Interesting.

I guess there are a lot of disorders/layers within VPD and APD, but at least know they know what they are dealing with we can start to make modifications in the classroom or get her specific therapy to help her along.  Do any of you know anything about either of these disorders?