ABA Therapy

Aba therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis) is a term many have heard but do not understand. When our son was diagnosed with autism we had friends who said that aba was the best thing they did for their autistic children. I had my doubts, but decided to give it a try.

Unfortunately, many people do not have the luxury of utilizing this service for their children. Many insurance companies will  cover speech and occupational therapy, but not aba. Here is a great website that gives information on opportunities for scholarships and other ways to fund programs for people on the autism spectrum.  http://autism.lifetips.com/cat/66418/funding-for-autism-treatments-and-therapies/index.html.

We went through a few therapists before we found the right one. Please do not give up on aba therapy if you do not think the therapist is a good fit for your child. Also, don't be afraid to speak up and find the therapist that works! We went through two before we found the right one. The first one seemed to play more than anything else and we didn't feel our son was getting anything from it. The second one seemed to enjoy pushing our son's buttons just to try to "solve" his tantrums. I did not like that at all. Finally, we found someone who was a mix of both of the previous therapists. She pushed Rhys just far enough so he would learn. He didn't always like it, but it was good for him.

He started when he was three years old (1 and a half years ago). The improvement was AMAZING. He was saying, at most, five words when we started. Within six months his vocabulary was flourishing! Our friends had mentioned the same type of improvement, but I thought it was too good to be true. To my amazement, that was just the beginning. He is now in preschool and knows more than some of his peers. He talks non stop and is just so smart. He was always smart... we just had to get it out of him.

ABA therapy may not be for everyone, but I am definitely glad we gave it a try. I encourage everyone to learn more about it and see if it may be right for your family.


http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/treatment/applied-behavior-analysis-aba

What's your Problem?

I saw this picture and all I could think was "problem?"

I can't speak for anyone else, but I do not see autism as a problem. Sure, it creates obstacles and challenges that most others won't face in the same way, but it is not a problem. When I found out my son was diagnosed with autism I did not think to myself, " oh no, not another problem." In fact, it didn't change much in our home. My husband and I were determined to educate ourselves about autism, but that was about the only change that occurred. In a lot of ways I love that my baby is autistic. Please don't take that the wrong way. I would never wish the challenges he will go through in life on anyone. That being said, I love all of the unique qualities that autism brings out in him that make him the wonderful child he is. He listens better than our other children and stays out of trouble more often. He can entertain himself and says the cutest things. He is my youngest child and has "grown up" at a slower pace allowing me to enjoy every step a little longer. In so many ways autism has been a blessing. I hope that we as a whole can work together to prevent, or find a cure, for autism in the future for all children and adults. For now, when there's nothing we can do but embrace it, that's exactly what I am going to do as a mother.

Get out of my room!

Recently my husband and I decided to take a few minutes a week and spend some extra time (one-on-one) with our children. We have three kids, so I thought this would be good for us. So, we picked a day for each child and they get to spend some time with us. They also get to pick what we do during that time.

Last night was Rhys' turn. I knew he wouldn't really understand what we were doing, but I thought he'd enjoy the time with us. I was wrong! You don't mess with an autistic child's schedule! When the other children were getting ready for bed, we tried to explain to him that he can stay up and spend some time with mom and dad. He looked terribly confused and said "No".

We saw this happening, in a way, but we always try to push Rhys outside of his box a bit. I think that's good for him. So, I go upstairs and start getting him ready for bed. The husband and I decide to try to read him a book while he's in bed or something. We sat on his bed with him and he doesn't like this. He keeps telling us to get out of his room and to move. He just didn't understand why we were there. We just kind of laughed and decided to let him be.

I'm sure there is some way that Rhys will enjoy time with us. We are just going to have to be creative. He loves to be outdoors, so maybe we could go outside. He can't say no to that! There is something that breaks a mom's heart when her baby tells her to leave him alone. This is something a lot of parents of an autistic child go through. I get sad for a minute, but I realize there are moments when he wants to sit and cuddle with me throughout the day. Those are our moments and I will never take them for granted.

Potty Training

It has been a struggle to potty train Rhys. He is now five and we are still struggling with this. It took maybe a week to potty train my other children so this is new for me. We have come a long way though.

In the beginning Rhys was afraid to go in the bathroom to use the potty. It probably took him from age 3 to 4 to get used to sitting on the toilet. At school they really started pushing him to use the potty this year. From what I've heard, he goes when they take him. He only does number 1, no number 2 yet. At home, he will reluctantly go when we take him.

I know he knows what he is supposed to do. He is very smart. He is also very stubborn and seems to be giving us a hard time because he just doesn't want to go to the potty. I have tried putting him in "big boy undies", giving him rewards like a skittle, and letting him sit and read his favorite books. Nothing seems to help for more than a few days.

I would like to get to the point where he can tell me he needs to go instead of me taking him every hour or so. There have been exciting moments where he will just get up and go by himself out of nowhere just to have it all go back to the beginning the next day. He starts kindergarten next year and I really hope to make some huge improvements over the summer. Please let me know your tips! Thanks.

Walk for Autism

My family went to the autism walk that was in our area yesterday! Each year the turn out gets better and better. It was really cold here yesterday, but we still had friends that woke up early and walked with us. They played upbeat music to help wake..er I mean pump us up! We probably walked around the track up to ten times when the kids were burnt out and wanted to see the jump houses they had set up for them. There were booths with all sorts of autism related information. My son's aba therapist was there sharing information on how therapy helps children on the spectrum. They had popcorn and snowcones (which should have been hot chocolate!) there for all to enjoy. In the words of one of my friends, it felt like the paparazzi was there. We had so many photos of us taken it was crazy! It was great to see our community come out and raise awareness for autism. This disorder is so puzzling and hopefully one day we'll figure it out!

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