Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone, I appreciate in advance your responses, I am just in a very hard place indeed, my son Giuseppe who I expected for 5 months has just seen a Pediatric Neurologist, who referred him to get an official diagnoses. She told me that there is no point in doing the MCHAT because of what I had told her, I had been following his behaviour for some while, the no eye contact, not responding to his name, he is 15 months and can only say "Mama" Me and my partner are separated, and I am a British guy living in Peru. I have my life here, my apartment, residence, and I was hoping to be able to live here but the recent news has made me think if I want to continue living here, because I am very skeptical of the support I can get, I found a few ABA providers, but I am not sure about their qualifications, I was thinking about making the move back home, or look for a better community for him to live in, somewhere that is safe, secure, with excellent care, schools, etc.
I don't know how possible it is to get a diagnoses this early in terms of what level he is at. Even though he doesn't make eye contact, doesn't respond to his name, he is still very intelligent, sometimes I watch him play, and he knows how things operate and works, but it feels like he is in a world of his own and doesn't want to interact. On the other hand some positive signs have been that when you put your hands out to pick him up he will instinctively do the same, and he responds around half the time to peek-a-boo
I wanted to know if early intervention was critical, or ABA, your thoughts on Autistic schooling, I have zero commitment here in Peru apart from materialistic things, which can easily be sold to fund the best possible plan for my son Giuseppe in whatever country we need to go to. preferably it would be better in Spanish, but I can really go anywhere to help him live a better life, I know that sadly when I am older and gone, it will be his responsibility and family around him that will continue to support him unless the ABA/intensive treatment is really effective
Just really feel very lost here in Peru, and looking for some advice
Thank you
I personally don’t think you need early intervention as such, just support so you can cater to his needs. ABA is well known for being quite abusive, so maybe try and find a possible alternative.
Hi there, sorry to hear things are tricky at the moment! We don't have any Peru specific advice but maybe you can find something interesting in the link I have posted below:
The following page contains a lot of helpful information about education for a child with an autism: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/education .This includes information regarding getting extra support for your child in their education setting.
You can search for schools in the UK that cater for children with an autism spectrum disorder on our Autism Services Directory, maybe reach out to them and see if they are kind enough to offer advice: https://www.autism.org.uk/directory
You may want to contact our Education Rights Service who provides information, support and advice on educational provision and entitlements. Please see the following link for further information: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/education-advice-line
Wishing you the best,
SarahMod