María Serrano-López Ph.D
Autism, Asperger and other Developmental and Cognitive delays Consultant
Serving children with developmental delays and their families: Autism, Asperger, Learning and Cognitive Delays as well as Gifted
Custom-tailored interventions for children within the Autism spectrum and with other developmental delays
The first thing I do when I am with a child, while assessing the developmental stage he is in, is to look beyond the diagnosis. The child in front of me is a small person with the ability to keep going in the face of obstacles and to find his true place in the world.
My interventions are child-centered that aim at helping the child communicate more effectively, increase empathy, help with the reading of nonverbal cues, increase attention span, foster independence and join and self-motivated play, reduce compulsive rituals and routines and learn academic and social skills among others.
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I have experience with children with autism and with children with all kinds of developmental problems including children with various syndromes and genetic diseases that have prevented a typical connection and socialization development. Most of these children have significant autistic traits and cognitive problems as well as learning disabilities and behavior problems beyond traditional behavioral interventions.
Among the syndromes there have been kids who suffer
1-Various epileptic syndromes (West syndrome and Lennox Gastau)
2-Children with emotional problems due to different types of physical and emotional abuse at an early age
3- Phelan-McDermid Syndrome and
4- Severe Sensory Processing Disorders, among others.
5- Fragil X
The key is to get the child on the developmental "train" to promote cognitive and socio-emotional functions of the initial developmental stages. I emphasize socio-affective development because it motivates or drives human behavior. Childrens social-emotional development influences all other areas of development: Cognitive, motor, and language development are all greatly affected by how a child feels about himself and how he is able to express ideas and emotions. They also influence how the young child’s brain develops. By emphasizing affect, bonding and socialization one generates intrinsic and enduring behavioral changes.
