whether you have concerns about your
child in autism or you've just learned
he or she is on the spectrum the
unanswered questions can cause a lot of
anxiety last night I've news for Jackson
5 we introduced you to two different
families and children dealing with
different levels of autism they really
wanted to share what they've learned and
the difficulties they faced in the hopes
of helping others joining us this
morning
pediatric specialists dr. David Childers
to help parents who are concerned about
autism or have a child that's been
diagnosed with you know what do you do
next so what is the biggest challenge is
it that feeling alone I don't know where
to turn for support I think it's a
combination of two things first there's
a fear among families that their child
is autistic if they manifest some kind
of behavioral abnormalities in reality
autism is not a behavior disorder it's
really a language and social disorder
where the social and language
progressions are not occurring in the
normal pattern so where is the first
step in trying to sort things out where
do you come for support I think if you
have a concern the first star is your
pediatrician they will do a screening
test screen tests are designed to not
miss kids who have a certain condition
therefore they will get a lot of kids
who do not have the condition which that
increases anxiety for a kid that is
under 3 years of age a no cost
evaluation is available through the
early intervention program early steps
in Florida or babies can't wait in
Georgia it's a mandatory program of no
cost evaluations within 45 days if a
child is above the age of 3 the school
system offers no cost evaluations within
60 days called child find and if the
child's determined eligible that child
can then be enrolled in the school
system and we're even receive intensive
supports another option for Florida
residents is the Center for autism and
related disabilities program it's a
statewide program with 7 autism centers
we have one here in Jacksonville at the
University of Florida and our mandate is
not to do any evaluations but to provide
services supports and trainings and if a
child is manifesting autistic-like
symptoms the family can receive services
even part of being diagnosed and we
offer no cost screenings for that if the
family is actually really concerned and
when you get to the point where you seek
the help of a therapist
or a specialist one of the things you
need to do to vet that person what are
the questions that you should be asking
so you get your child the best possible
care I think the first question you have
to ask is how and where the therapies
will be provided the science has shown
that going to a centre-back with the
therapist for 30 minutes once twice
three times a week doesn't have a lot of
value because the children will have
that kind of attention span and we're
not going to change the way the brain
works and that limited kind of an
exposure you're looking for a therapist
who understands that the primary role of
therapy for young children is to train
the caregiver usually the parent in the
natural environment for example early
intervention program early steps will go
into the home do the evaluation and then
provide the services in the home or the
childcare center so the therapist can
provide the therapy eight 10 12 15 times
a day in one and two minute increments
because what we're really trying to do
is change the way the brain is working
and firing and that takes intensive day
in and day out nonstop intervention so
what I'm hearing here is for the parent
to have realistic expectations and
capitalize on that you mentioned no-cost
screening and you have a number that
people can can access we do and I
provide to the to the producer it's nine
zero four six three three zero seven
five zero that's a University of Florida
Autism Center or the card Center and
your best advice for those parents of
autistic children who are just now
learning about the problem it's not an
autism diagnosis
it's a family diagnosis and the entire
family will be impacted by the diagnosis
we worry about the adult relationships
we worry about the individuals mental
health and and and stress we worry about
the other children losing their
childhood you have to look at this as a
family condition not as a condition
affecting one individual child it's all
about building a foundation and giving
each other support yes sir it is doctor
thank you very much