2. Necessary Elements

A Comprehensive Program

Speech Therapy Some things were obvious. The need for speech therapy was one of them. Katie wanted to communicate and to relate. She would make words for us using a movable alphabet and then say "and if we change..." to encourage us to remove and replace some of the letters to make new words, which she would invariably read correctly. She memorized the sign language alphabet after seeing it on a Barney tape twice and tried to use that too. She would bring us her magnadoodle and say "want to write some words?" Those words quickly grew into sentences as we began to realize how well she could read. From sentences we moved on to stories, where we would leave words out and allow her to fill in the blanks. She could even answer simple questions if they were presented to her in writing. 

Occupational Therapy Other things were not so clear, at least in the beginning. Sometimes Katie's tantrums seemed to result from her inability to communicate effectively when she wanted to. As Katie's language skills improved, the number of tantrums she had in a given day decreased as well. They didn't disappear, however. About two months after she began speech therapy, I happened to mention Katie's aversion to certain sounds and her extremely limited diet to the mother of one of her classmates at the Montessori school. This lovely lady, as it turned out, was an occupational therapist and through her we were introduced to Sensory Integration. 

Floor Time This is the informal name for Stanley Greenspan's developmental / relationship-based approach to intervention. It was recommended to us by Katie's pediatrician in May, 1998 when we told him we had discovered Katie's hyperlexia. Floor Time is the big umbrella, the context in which all of Katie's other therapies are given. Her speech pathologist attended Dr. Greenspan's workshop in Arlington, Virginia in 1999. Her occupational therapist is also very familiar with and supportive of Greenspan's methods. No one rides the Asperger's Express without a ticket stamped "Floor Time Friendly." Visit Special Ed Watchdog to learn about "Celebrate the Children," a Floor Time - based special education program at the Decker school in Mt. Arlington, New Jersey.

Fast ForWord Katie is scheduled to begin the Fast ForWord program in the summer of 2000. Its purpose is to improve her ability to process information which comes through her ears. Presently, Katie understands material presented visually (especially text) much better than she understands information given verbally. Her success in the Montessori environment is due in part to the multisensory approach to learning that is used. Some common educational settings place more value on a child's ability to sit still and listen quietly (passive learning) than they place on learning itself. No wonder they like Lovaas so much. His "sitting in the chair" lessons must be irresistible. We view Katie's visual learning style as an individual difference, not really a deficit, but we feel her ability to understand abstract concepts would benefit from an improvement in her auditory processing skills. Our Links page will lead you to more information on Fast ForWord. April 2000 update: After reevaluating Katie's language skills, her speech pathologist felt that Katie had made enough progress in the areas typically helped by Fast ForWord to make the program unnecessary. Instead, we have chosen the Lindamood-Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing program, which is described below.

Lindamood-Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing  Visualizing and Verbalizing is one of the Lindamood-Bell programs and is appropriate for children like Katie, who often memorize the elements in a story while still failing to appreciate the "big picture." Katie began this program in May, 2000. Dr. Serena Weider, co-author of The Child With Special Needs, suggested Visualizing and Verbalizing for Katie as an alternative to Fast ForWord, which she no longer needed. The Lindamood-Bell web site can be accessed from our Links page.

Medication Katie currently receives 7.5 milligrams of Prozac per day. She is more flexible, less defensive, less agitated and definitely less perseverative since the medication was introduced.

Dietary Interventions Katie takes Kirkman Labs Super Nu-Thera Vitamin supplements daily. We have found her moods to be much more stable since introducing this B Vitamin/Magnesium supplement. Not every child who takes Super Nu-Thera will show improvement, but Katie did. You can read about all of Kirkman's products at their web site, which is listed on our Links page. They are also extremely nice people and very helpful when contacted by phone.

Other Stuff Social Skills are extremely difficult for Katie, especially since she wants friends so badly but needs practice making them. She attends a summer program at the speech / language clinic we patronize which addresses these skills head on in a wonderful setting. We always see major gains in Katie's ability to socialize during and after this program. A provision for social skills training is included in her current IEP, but to date we have not been able to find a satisfactory group for her to join. She enjoys her ballet class very much. All of the children in it are typical and only the teacher is aware of Katie's disability. Her Montessori school is extremely helpful to us. Her teacher is well aware that one of Katie's most pressing needs lies in the social arena and she always looks for ways to facilitate relationships between Katie and her peers.

Next, What Will Go Wrong

Back to Defining Goals

Back to Weighing the Options

Back to Our Intervention Program

Try It Our Way Visit our e-store to see some of the Necessary Elements of Katie's Floor Time program, including our recommended reading list for parents.