Hello Family and Friends,
We wanted to give you an update on what's going on with Leelo.
You all know that Leelo is an adorable, affectionate, funny little guy.
You may also have noticed that his language skills are pretty behind, and that
behaviorally, in some ways (but not all) he can be "in his own world"
or behave like a child younger than his 2 1/2 years. We'd noticed these things
too. After a few months of evaluations, it turns out that these delays are a
bit more serious than we thought, and need some special attention.
Leelo is facing a set of developmental challenges often referred to as
ASD, or Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is believed that these problems are
neurological in origin - possibly genetic - but research is still being done to
determine the cause or causes. They call it a spectrum disorder because there
are a wide range of possible developmental problems, and each child may
manifest them differently. You can read more about ASD here:
http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=autismcharacteristics
Fortunately, Leelo appears to be on the "high" end of the
spectrum, which is very encouraging. The prognosis for kids like Leelo has improved
dramatically over the past few years, with some promising language and
behavioral therapy programs helping a fair number of children making a complete
recovery. So, we are starting an intensive home-based behavior and language
therapy program to address his needs.
This therapy, called A.B.A. (Applied Behavior Analysis), consists of
several hours per week of one-on-one sessions with a therapist who will help
Leelo refine the sort of language and behavioral skills that other children
pick up naturally. There are many other types of therapies available for kids
like Leelo, but not one other has the sound methodology and proven track record
of A.B.A. (sometimes also called Lovaas Therapy after its UCLA founder).
Although of course there are no guarantees that Leelo will catch up
completely with his peers, as the proud parents of an incredible and
intelligent little boy we are hoping that Leelo will achieve the best possible
results and attend a regular kindergarten or first grade class. After just a
few sessions he is picking up language and appropriate behaviors like a dog
picks up fleas, so we are optimistic.
Not to get all Oprah on you, but the next few years are going to be
challenging; knowing that we're doing everything possible to help Leelo will make
it worthwhile. This doesn't mean that we're all going to be on house arrest,
but our home will certainly be a busier place for the next while, and we won't
be as social during weekdays (although we will be hosting weekly playgroups so
that Leelo can hang out with age-appropriate language models).
If you want to read more about what we're trying to achieve, we
heartily recommend "Let Me Hear Your Voice" by Catherine Maurice. It
describes the process that resulted in her two kids' complete recovery, using
A.B.A. You can order it through Amazon.com. We also have copies to loan to
local folks.
If you have any questions, feel free to call or write. It's probably
easier for us to respond to email, if you don't mind.
Latest Iz and Leelo update is available now at:
http://www.leelorosenberg.com/pat.html
=Squid, Seymour, Isobel, & Leelo