(5 days later.....)
So, I had planned on dedicating an entire post to Nicholas' new ABA program, but time has gotten away from me this summer, so I will try to touch on some of the highlights of his program. He started in June with an awesome therapist. I cannot say enough about this place, and how well he's responded. For those who know very little about ABA, I suggest you Google it for more information because I don't think I could do it
justice by explaining it in my blog in this limited time frame I have. However, in a very, very tiny nutshell, it is all about rewarding positive behaviors, and ignoring negative behaviors. Programs are tailored to each child, and the goal for Nicholas is to encourage and facilitate communication. The "work" is done at a small toddler-sized table, where they use things that motivate Nicholas specifically (in his case, his IPad with music videos, DVDs of Yo-Gabba Gabba, or containers of pudding.) The goal is to teach him how to request these items using sign language, or whatever works for him, and also to complete certain specific tasks when asked (for example, 'hand me the shoe,' or DO THIS: and a behavior will be modeled for him to mimic.) It is so simple that it's complicated....anyway, like I said, if you really are interested, you can even watch youtube videos of therapy in action. I may actually post a few of Nicholas on my blog when I figure out how. Anyway......(7 days later....ugh....)
Day One, I was leery. This kid will not sit still at a table for three seconds, I'm thinking. Given that this is the whole foundation of the therapy, I had concerns that his would be our stopping point before we even got started. We have to buckle him in to any seat he sits in (like for meals and school activities) in order to force him to stay there long enough to complete the activity, whether it be lunch, or circle time in the classroom. Fast forward 6 weeks, and Nicholas is not only sitting in the chair, but coming to the table voluntarily and sitting appropriately for as long as required to complete whatever the given activity. He has now accomplished several of the goals that were set for him, including sitting at the table (duh), stacking rings on a peg (an activity usually reserved for around age 12- 18 months, but he would not even PICK THE RINGS UP before we started,) and....(drum roll please) signing for when he wants to watch a movie!!! This is huge in and of itself, but also because he has an aversion to putting his hands together, and the sign for "movie" is basically rubbing your flat palms together. When they first started this with him, I was thinking, never in a million years will this be the first sign he learns.....but guess who proved Mommy wrong!!!???
There are so many other things to note that could take me all day, which include better focus, more eye contact, initiation of interaction, etc etc. Let's be clear....he still has a MOUNTAIN of obstacles to overcome, and a lot of things to achieve, but this is the first time in almost three years of various therapies that I have actually felt that there is hope for him to really begin to move past some of the limitations of Autism, particularly with regard to his communication skills. Along with that, we have secured a fantastic speech pathologist who visits our home once a week. He does not use ABA teaching methods, but instead is focusing on teaching Nicholas functional communication skills using his new IPad. I cannot even begin to say how impressed I am at how quickly Nicholas has "taken" to the IPad. When first introduced to it, he was not really using his pointer finger consistently to make choices or otherwise. However, now, he will not only point to which game/video/etc he wants to watch, he also is beginning to explore navigating through the applications himself and can even play several of the spelling and matching games with little or no assistance. He absolutely LOVES it, and I can barely tear him away from it at times. (Though, Avery manages to do this from time to time on her own!!) While it functions as a learning tool for him, it also has become a favorite pastime of his to watch One Direction (yes, the boy band....don't ask...) videos, among other Top-40 artists (whose music must be mommy approved!) on his new little device. This has actually made dinners out easier, because he will generally eat pretty easily as long as he's distracted with a video, or "movie" as we now refer to them since this is the sign that he has learned. Yippee!
The bottom line is that much progress has been made, and I am excited for Nicholas to not only continue his ABA program, but also increase the time that he will be spending there beginning next week from only 4 hours a week to almost 12 hours a week! He will have quite the schedule, attending pre-school in the morning, and therapy in the afternoon. He will, for all intents and purposes, be gone until 4pm with the exception of a brief hour that I will have with him at lunch. I feel sad and excited about this at the same time. I can't believe how fast it's happening, and I'll miss seeing my little man during the day. However, this will give me peace of mind that he is getting what he needs in order to continue learning and progressing, and will allow me to spend some quality time with Avery and Brody which will be time dedicated ONLY to them. In one sense, it will "normalize" my parenting experience. I will not be constantly dragging all three kids around to therapy waiting rooms every other day. I will be able to do activities with the younger ones that were never an option because we were always getting ready to leave to go somewhere, or already somewhere other than home. I have to admit, I'm excited at the prospect.
We shall see how Nicholas holds up to his new schedule, but I have every confidence that he will do superbly! AND, as an added bonus, maybe his sleeping will improve!?!?! Further, maybe my mental state will improve. Actually, it already has. I'm so glad that we've made this choice for him, and just hope that the progress continues steadily!!
That's all for now, and thanks for reading our story. Oh, and I did just figure out how to add a video of Nicholas' ABA therapy. (CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH) It's a long one, but even if you watch only the first few minutes, you can get an idea of how this intervention works (and if you are super interested, then you have about a 15 minute video clip to watch because I don't have time to figure out how to edit and shorten this at he moment.) Just keep in mind when watching, that when we started this, he had none of the skills shown in the video (placing puzzle pieces, stacking rings, etc) and this was only about 6 weeks prior to when this video was taken. Can't wait to see what else he shows us!! Thanks for reading and watching!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iio8650l3x92q9p/8VZMKpCCRF/9.14.MOV
justice by explaining it in my blog in this limited time frame I have. However, in a very, very tiny nutshell, it is all about rewarding positive behaviors, and ignoring negative behaviors. Programs are tailored to each child, and the goal for Nicholas is to encourage and facilitate communication. The "work" is done at a small toddler-sized table, where they use things that motivate Nicholas specifically (in his case, his IPad with music videos, DVDs of Yo-Gabba Gabba, or containers of pudding.) The goal is to teach him how to request these items using sign language, or whatever works for him, and also to complete certain specific tasks when asked (for example, 'hand me the shoe,' or DO THIS: and a behavior will be modeled for him to mimic.) It is so simple that it's complicated....anyway, like I said, if you really are interested, you can even watch youtube videos of therapy in action. I may actually post a few of Nicholas on my blog when I figure out how. Anyway......(7 days later....ugh....)
Day One, I was leery. This kid will not sit still at a table for three seconds, I'm thinking. Given that this is the whole foundation of the therapy, I had concerns that his would be our stopping point before we even got started. We have to buckle him in to any seat he sits in (like for meals and school activities) in order to force him to stay there long enough to complete the activity, whether it be lunch, or circle time in the classroom. Fast forward 6 weeks, and Nicholas is not only sitting in the chair, but coming to the table voluntarily and sitting appropriately for as long as required to complete whatever the given activity. He has now accomplished several of the goals that were set for him, including sitting at the table (duh), stacking rings on a peg (an activity usually reserved for around age 12- 18 months, but he would not even PICK THE RINGS UP before we started,) and....(drum roll please) signing for when he wants to watch a movie!!! This is huge in and of itself, but also because he has an aversion to putting his hands together, and the sign for "movie" is basically rubbing your flat palms together. When they first started this with him, I was thinking, never in a million years will this be the first sign he learns.....but guess who proved Mommy wrong!!!???
There are so many other things to note that could take me all day, which include better focus, more eye contact, initiation of interaction, etc etc. Let's be clear....he still has a MOUNTAIN of obstacles to overcome, and a lot of things to achieve, but this is the first time in almost three years of various therapies that I have actually felt that there is hope for him to really begin to move past some of the limitations of Autism, particularly with regard to his communication skills. Along with that, we have secured a fantastic speech pathologist who visits our home once a week. He does not use ABA teaching methods, but instead is focusing on teaching Nicholas functional communication skills using his new IPad. I cannot even begin to say how impressed I am at how quickly Nicholas has "taken" to the IPad. When first introduced to it, he was not really using his pointer finger consistently to make choices or otherwise. However, now, he will not only point to which game/video/etc he wants to watch, he also is beginning to explore navigating through the applications himself and can even play several of the spelling and matching games with little or no assistance. He absolutely LOVES it, and I can barely tear him away from it at times. (Though, Avery manages to do this from time to time on her own!!) While it functions as a learning tool for him, it also has become a favorite pastime of his to watch One Direction (yes, the boy band....don't ask...) videos, among other Top-40 artists (whose music must be mommy approved!) on his new little device. This has actually made dinners out easier, because he will generally eat pretty easily as long as he's distracted with a video, or "movie" as we now refer to them since this is the sign that he has learned. Yippee!
The bottom line is that much progress has been made, and I am excited for Nicholas to not only continue his ABA program, but also increase the time that he will be spending there beginning next week from only 4 hours a week to almost 12 hours a week! He will have quite the schedule, attending pre-school in the morning, and therapy in the afternoon. He will, for all intents and purposes, be gone until 4pm with the exception of a brief hour that I will have with him at lunch. I feel sad and excited about this at the same time. I can't believe how fast it's happening, and I'll miss seeing my little man during the day. However, this will give me peace of mind that he is getting what he needs in order to continue learning and progressing, and will allow me to spend some quality time with Avery and Brody which will be time dedicated ONLY to them. In one sense, it will "normalize" my parenting experience. I will not be constantly dragging all three kids around to therapy waiting rooms every other day. I will be able to do activities with the younger ones that were never an option because we were always getting ready to leave to go somewhere, or already somewhere other than home. I have to admit, I'm excited at the prospect.
We shall see how Nicholas holds up to his new schedule, but I have every confidence that he will do superbly! AND, as an added bonus, maybe his sleeping will improve!?!?! Further, maybe my mental state will improve. Actually, it already has. I'm so glad that we've made this choice for him, and just hope that the progress continues steadily!!
That's all for now, and thanks for reading our story. Oh, and I did just figure out how to add a video of Nicholas' ABA therapy. (CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH) It's a long one, but even if you watch only the first few minutes, you can get an idea of how this intervention works (and if you are super interested, then you have about a 15 minute video clip to watch because I don't have time to figure out how to edit and shorten this at he moment.) Just keep in mind when watching, that when we started this, he had none of the skills shown in the video (placing puzzle pieces, stacking rings, etc) and this was only about 6 weeks prior to when this video was taken. Can't wait to see what else he shows us!! Thanks for reading and watching!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/iio8650l3x92q9p/8VZMKpCCRF/9.14.MOV
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