Make sure you keep a calendar to keep your scheduling straight. Oh, and another thing that everyone will tell you is to keep a binder with absolutely everything pertaining to your child in chronological order. Birth certificate copy on the bottom, most recent diagnosis/assessments/documents on top. Don't try to organize this in any other way but date order.

Scyllas... the master runaway kid catcher.

I hate to be discuraging but SSI was a nightmare for me where I'm at (Housont,TX) You should sign up but just keep an eye out. They sent me to a doctor (as in they sent me a letter saying my appt. was this date, BE THERE) and she tried to Rx my 4 yo son ridilin. The FDA website says in bold letters "do not give this drug to children under 6". We asked the Dr. for a mild seditive for events like weddings and funerals and this is what she gave us!!!! We just ended up droping SSI.  DHS is a joke here. I won't get into it cause it's very ugly. Go let them know about your daughter and see about getting a case #. You can refuse the services and they can't say much. I was just shocked at how bad it is here. I know it's not bad everywhere (prolly everywhere but here) Just be mindful and do some research before you let them guide you fully. Definately contact the police and fire department, they almost gave me and my wife a ticket for loosing our child (he's a runner). Most of the org's were just people wanting to tell their touching story about their kid, and not much about information on figuring kids out. It will be ok, but it won't be the same as everyone else.

Scyllas... the master runaway kid catcher.

How old is your daughter?

Hi! Have you had any luck getting any services for your daughter in the past month? It is tough in the beginning of a diagnosis because parents are isolated. People would inevitably say, "Have you contacted the Autism Society?" We found that sort of frustrating. I didn't want to be invited to a monthly pizza party or a meeting about how the last fundraiser did. I wanted a crash course in what to do next for my kid.

The first things I did after I got my son's diagnosis was find books on how to help my son--different types of therapies and teaching methods, that sort of thing. We have a local center in our county called the Regional Center (where I got the diagnosis) that has a mini-library of these types of books. The other thing I did was check with local universities to see if they had any research studies that I could participate in that would offer free therapy for my son. That ended up working out really well for me. Meanwhile, the agency that diagnosed my son provided (after a two month waiting period) many hours per week of therapy. I was able to ask those therapy professionals lots of questions and get referrals from them. Also, I made a big effort to network with local parents. I wanted to try to get the inside scoop on how to deal with local school districts (you know, what they offered and how they treated other parents). This worked out really well, too.

Make sure you keep a calendar to keep your scheduling straight. Oh, and another thing that everyone will tell you is to keep a binder with absolutely everything pertaining to your child in chronological order. Birth certificate copy on the bottom, most recent diagnosis/assessments/documents on top. Don't try to organize this in any other way but date order.

Let us know how you are doing!

Nicole

T-Maine

My first step was to find a case-worker.  Your local Dept of Health and Human Services should be able to direct you.  Let that person take the load off your shoulders.  That is what they are there to do.  Then they can help you step by step.  They are wonderful. 

My son is 6 and was diagnosed when he was 3 1/2.  I am still learning.