Today Chris and I had our first homework assignment. We had to watch a video by Sally Rogers called “Can we identify and treat autism in infancy?” on UC Davis Mind Institute videos. It is free on iTunesU, for anyone that is interested.

It was a presentation on how the brain looks with children that have autism, explained how early signs can be detected and how their intervention program has greatly helped children with developmental delays and autism improve.

We will be using the Early Start Denver Model, ESDM, for Killian’s therapy. Here is a better explanation of ESDM from the UC Davis website.

What is the ESDM?

At the heart of the ESDM is the empirical knowledge-base of infant-toddler learning and development and the effects of early autism. ESDM intervention is provided in the home by trained therapists and parents during natural play and daily routines. ESDM is a relationship-based intervention, and involves the parents and familes; An Early Start for your Child with Autism, is a parent’s guide to using everyday activities to help kids connect, communicate, and learn. The aim of ESDM is to increase the rates of the development in all domains for children with ASD as it simultaneously aims to decrease the symptoms of autism. In particular, this intervention focuses on boosting children’s social-emotional, cognitive, and language, as development in these domains is particularly affected by autism. ESDM also uses a data based approach and empirically supported teaching practices that have been found effective from research in applied behavior analysis. ESDM fuses behavioral, relationship-based, and a developmental, play-based approach into an integrated whole that is completely individualized and yet standardized.

After seeing the results at the end of the presentation, I can’t tell you how excited I am to get started! I am so hopeful and I know that with the help of therapy and professionals I will be able to help my boy! God is good! So grateful for the opportunity to be here in Bangkok and be a stay at home mom during this very critical time in my sons development.