Ask Dr. Doreen - ABA Vs. School - Verbal Skills - Anxiety

In this episode of Ask Dr. Doreen, our favorite Psychologist and BCBA-D Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh is back to answer questions that viewers have written in! Watch as our host Shannon Penrod and Dr. Doreen discuss ABA vs School, some potentially triggering situations when dealing with family or the school system and much more. Don't miss the useful advice!

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3:26 We want to start ABA for my kid but is this ok to miss school? Schools ends at 3pm and my kid is so tired by that time. Moreover, my kid goes to a public school and I don't know how much they work with him. It's like a black hole.

9:29 My daughter is seven and autistic, partially verbal. During high stress situations she goes mute. Anyway, she went to my sister's house all happy on Friday. It was a whole family get together, I had to run and deliver some packages, I was gone for like half an hour. Anyway, when I got back, she was in different clothes and very clearly upset. I asked what happened and my sister told me she wet herself after she couldn't have a chocolate pop. Now, here's the thing with my girl; she would never wet herself purposefully. She has extreme anxiety surrounding her toileting, to the point of therapy. I don't know what this anxiety is caused by, but it's severe. She was clearly very distressed, so I just took her home. In the car she broke down sobbing but was unable to tell me what happened. As soon as we got home, she took herself upstairs and put a pull up on (pull ups being accessible for her is a recommendation, so she has more control over herself) and has been super cuddly since. She hasn't been using her AAV devices or signing at all. She has two therapists and she's due to see them both in the next week to see if they'll be able to help me understand what happened. Family have been awful. My sister, mainly, who is still claiming that she was being a brat and is doing this all for attention. I've since told every family member they will not be seeing her or me until the truth has been told. Am I the butthead here? I am the dad in this situation.

17:40 My son (8) only uses his verbal skills to mand for things and answer very very simple questions like How are you doing? and He answers: I am fine. But how can I help him to start a conversation?

25:05 We are in Canada unfortunately the government does not provide Speech therapy for kids more than very limited few sessions. How can we as parents help a child like 8 years old with Speech? 30:37 Good morning. my son is almost 4 and has good language. He's not going to school yet and he's not doing peer play. I'm giving ABA therapy at home. How do I produce peer play?

35:25 My Family hates me for my Autism and exploited me for my Autism and bad mouth me...My nephew is 6 and have Autism and they treat him bad for it.

41:20 They don't slow down their brain to understand sometimes and because we are literally thinking . We need people to listen more. I think it's time to stand tall and be who we are.

43:04 This may be triggering. I'm a father to a lovely 17-year-old daughter named Cameron. She was diagnosed with level 2 autism (mid functioning). She is nonverbal and uses her phone's text to speech. She's a junior in high school this year and she functions at a 7th grade level. Her teacher who I will call Mr. Smith started working at Cam's school last year during Cam's sophomore year. I was concerned about the mention of him in every sentence being typed out on her phone. Recently I found out that Mr. Smith has been giving Cam 11th grade level work simply because he believes since she is in 11th grade, she can do it. He's been restraining Cam, strapping her to the seat and sometimes tying up her arms and strapping them to her lap so she can't flap them around or jump since she does that a lot. Mr. Smith threatened to call Cam's wrestling coach and basketball coach to take her out of her sports. This makes my blood boil.

50:47 My oldest is autistic and has been diagnosed with separation anxiety and demand avoidance. It seems to us that he is in a constant state of "fight or flight" sometimes even if we are just snuggling on the couch (snuggling with someone while reading a book or playing a board game is like his idea of heaven). My wife has a background in special ed, we believe very strongly in respecting children as people, in playfulness, setting limits with warmth and compassion, etc. Some of the behavioral approaches that have been recommended to us seem antithetical to those values or seem impossible to implement outside of a very controlled therapeutic environment (which a home is not). HELP