Things I Wish I Knew In the Beginning

1. Get as much Speech Therapy as I could for my daughters, as often as I could get it.
2. Touch my children with autism as much as I could. I wish I knew to hold them around the middle with hand to skin touch. I would have stroked their cheeks and hands more. I would have given my children as much skin to skin contact as possible.
3. If you have insurance and can afford Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy, do it.
4. If you have Medicaid use it to get those same therapies.
5. Each state should have an entity that provides early intervention. In Louisiana it is called EarlySteps. Sometimes you can find it at the State Department of Education. Sometimes you can find it at the Department of Health and Hospitals. States provide some or all of the services free.
6. If your child is older than 3 check with your local department of education. They can provide specially designed instruction and all those therapies free.
7. Call your local United Way. Some United Ways provide monies for agencies to provide free services.
8. Contact your states Parent Training and Information Center to speak to other parents and ask about resources for therapy.
9. The Department of Health and Hospital in your state may have funds to help pay for therapies. It is sometimes located in the Office for Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health. In Louisiana it is in the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD).
10. Plan for your child, no matter how sever their disability, to have a job at better than minimum wage with benefits. A person needs a job to hang their day around.