He is the second child in the family. He was a full-term baby with normal delivery with a birth weight of 2.5 kg. There was no delay in his developmental milestones till 2.6 years, but his communication skills and language production were affected. I was very disappointed since he is 4 years old. One day I searched for the best autism centre in India and I came to know about Jewel Autism Centre, Kottayam.
When I came to the centre a detailed assessment from departments of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Developmental Education was conducted and the professionals counseled regarding my child’s condition. I realized the importance of talking therapy. From February onwards therapy was started. From the beginning itself, great service was provided by Jewel Autism Centre. My main concern was to break his imaginary world and improve body awareness.
His occupational therapy sessions were taken by Miss. Betty. She was open to suggestions and gave valuable comments which I highly appreciate of her as a therapist.
CLINICAL FINDING AND OBSERVATION BY THERAPIST
The child was attending Occupational therapy for 5 days a week for 1 hr. In the initial stage, I started to establish trust and rapport with the child. While talking therapy, I noticed that he is not paying attention to me even for any instruction or reinforcement. To clear the doubt I asked two of the stranger to give instruction and I noticed the same behavior. After which I communicated with the parents and I came to know more issues of the child. Then I concluded that he is in an imaginary world and has reduced functional play with toys. So, to deal with this issue I introduced play therapy to the child such as hide and seek, pica a boo, running games, positive reinforcement, and group play with other children.
A detailed home program was given for the child. With continuous therapy sessions, I started to notice significant improvements in the child. His body awareness and environmental awareness were improved and he started to play with toys and other children of his age. Group therapy also helped him to mingle with children of the same age. Through intense therapy from all three departments, he was gradually brought to a normal life.