We are so grateful for the opportunity to share what this family has to say about their experience with The P.L.A.Y. Project:
How old is your child? Would you mind sharing your child’s story?
My son Preston is 4 1/2. We first got involved in The P.L.A.Y. Project a year ago after he was evaluated for preschool and his teacher was concerned that his behavior was unusual for a child his age. Preston had always been interested in letters, numbers, and shapes and had been able to identify all his upper and lower case letters since just turning 2 years old. I always just thought he was extremely smart and very easily agitated. Autism really never crossed my mind because he was so loving, made normal eye contact with us and met all his milestones on time, including talking. It was only after researching about Asperger’s that I realized he could do all those things and be autistic too. Luckily we found out about The P.L.A.Y. Project right away and were able to get him the help he needed.
When did you participate in The P.L.A.Y. Project? What do you like best about the program?
My favorite part about The P.L.A.Y. Project is the simplicity of it. Once I learned how to communicate with my son in a way that engaged him at his level, the connection he has with us and other people has been astonishing. He went from a child who was perfectly content playing by himself all day if we’d let him, to a child who is constantly asking me “Mommy will you play with me?” I have seen him grow from a child who could only engage in a small play group for 5 minutes before going off to play by himself, to a child that now will be fully engaged while playing with his sister and a couple neighbor friends for hours at a time. I cannot believe what a difference a year in The P.L.A.Y. Project has made. He’s like a totally different kid.
How does The P.L.A.Y. Project differ from other interventions/therapies you’ve tried?
We really haven’t done any other therapies other than recently getting him started in OT. The problem I ran into initially was that because he was speaking, dressing himself, and using the bathroom by himself already, most programs told me he was too advanced for what they offered. The problem was he definitely still needed help. That’s one of the great things about The P.L.A.Y. Project. No matter what level your child is at, they teach you the skills you need to connect with them and how to help challenge them to reach the next level of their development. Another great thing is that once you learn those skills, there are countless opportunities to apply them each and every day. It’s not just something you sit down and do with your child for 2 hours in a day, it’s a completely different approach to communicating with your child that you can use all the time.
What advice do you have for other parents who have children with ASD?
My biggest advice is not to wait before getting help for your child. I feel so lucky to have been able to get my son involved in The P.L.A.Y. Project at such an early age and I can’t imagine where he’d be right now if we had waited for him to “outgrow it” and had lost out on all that time to help him.
What advice do you have for therapists, doctors, etc who work with children with ASD or other special needs?
To me the biggest thing to remember is that often times as parents, we feel like we have no idea if we’re doing enough for our child and there is a constant pressure we put on ourselves to make sure we are doing the right thing because the responsibly of helping our child ultimately fall on ourselves. Because of this we really need a lot of feedback and encouragement to assure us we’re on the right track.