The arrival or our second child is only weeks away. It seems like it was such a short time ago that we were anticipating the arrival of our first child, who is now six years old. Little did we know of what our journey with him would be! It was like going to an unknown destination, and I have been thinking quite a bit recently about this story I once posted called "Welcome to Holland."
I do not regret that our journey with our son has been different. Holland is a nice place, after all, and he is so much more well than he once was. What I do regret occasionally is that I feel like I lost lots of time with him while he was little and not feeling so well. That is to say, our interactions were not what they could have been for quite a long time. He only appeared to be attached to me when he was little because he had serious separation anxieties. His dad and I were like extensions of him, and he did not call us mom and dad, or anything at all, for many years. We began to see a big turn around with him by the time he was 4. By that time he had been in the DAN! program for about 6 months and he had started ABA therapy.
Our second, yet to be born child is also a boy. I admit I have experienced some anxiety over this, (given that boys are so much more likely to have autism than girls are,) and in fact I really wanted a girl this time for that very reason. The thing about it is though, I have already been to Holland. Figuratively speaking, I already know some of the language, and I already have an itinerary, and I am already packed for the weather. If this second little boy is destined to have autism despite my best efforts to prevent it, he will feel better sooner, and both directly and indirectly he will learn many valuable things from his brother.
And so with that said, here is to the journey, and where ever it may lead us.
Showing posts with label ABA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ABA. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Pictures Don't Lie
These are snapshots I took of Eli's preschool pictures. In the first one he is barely 3, and in the second he is 4 and 1/2.
This one with the glass glare was taken early in 2008. Although not really smiling, he is looking in the general direction and seems to show curiosity on the photographer.
I was so shocked and pleasantly surprised to pull this packet out of Eli's backpack last week! What a difference! Here he is obviously engaged... what progress.
Biochemical therapy has made him so much more available for learning. His schooling, and life experiences, and activities with mom and dad have been more beneficial for his learning than ever. His academic progress has been phenomenal. (He can read many words.) But it is his social progress that makes me the most proud of all, and these pictures are a clear documentation of that.
This one with the glass glare was taken early in 2008. Although not really smiling, he is looking in the general direction and seems to show curiosity on the photographer.
I was so shocked and pleasantly surprised to pull this packet out of Eli's backpack last week! What a difference! Here he is obviously engaged... what progress.
Biochemical therapy has made him so much more available for learning. His schooling, and life experiences, and activities with mom and dad have been more beneficial for his learning than ever. His academic progress has been phenomenal. (He can read many words.) But it is his social progress that makes me the most proud of all, and these pictures are a clear documentation of that.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
DIR and ABA
We have been looking around to see what the best option available is for our son's education once he is done with his specialized preschool program. Should we stay here in the area we live now, the Clear Horizons Academy looks like a very promising option. We are going to go tour it soon and start the application process so our son can be on the waiting list.
www.clearhorizonsacademy.org
The exciting thing about this school is that it works on the DIR, or relationship based model. The preschool he will be starting next week is ABA model based. Although I can't remember what ABA stands for at the moment, I know that it works on a rewards system. Things are about routine and memorization. We believe that our son will make many gains with this model in this coming school year.
However, we have been considering for afterward the Clear Horizons Academy for it's relationship based program. Although the program he is in this year uses the DIR model to some extent, the idea of an educational program based on it is very interesting to us. The DIR model is child directed and it focuses on building in the children that kind of social addiction that most of us just seem to be born with. Example: With the DIR model you play, and that play is directed by the child. If the child is banging blocks together instead of stacking them, you bang blocks together. Eventually you are taking turns banging blocks and here we have communication circles opening and closing, and opening and closing.
There is a certain acquaintance of ours who tells us that there is a particular family in the area who flies the husband to California each week for work and the rest of the family stays here in Utah, all because of the Academy. I am thinking, if the school is that good, we are going to look into it.
www.clearhorizonsacademy.org
The exciting thing about this school is that it works on the DIR, or relationship based model. The preschool he will be starting next week is ABA model based. Although I can't remember what ABA stands for at the moment, I know that it works on a rewards system. Things are about routine and memorization. We believe that our son will make many gains with this model in this coming school year.
However, we have been considering for afterward the Clear Horizons Academy for it's relationship based program. Although the program he is in this year uses the DIR model to some extent, the idea of an educational program based on it is very interesting to us. The DIR model is child directed and it focuses on building in the children that kind of social addiction that most of us just seem to be born with. Example: With the DIR model you play, and that play is directed by the child. If the child is banging blocks together instead of stacking them, you bang blocks together. Eventually you are taking turns banging blocks and here we have communication circles opening and closing, and opening and closing.
There is a certain acquaintance of ours who tells us that there is a particular family in the area who flies the husband to California each week for work and the rest of the family stays here in Utah, all because of the Academy. I am thinking, if the school is that good, we are going to look into it.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Move
I haven't posted for awhile because of all the chaos of our recent move. It is all over though, and we are happy with our new place! The reason for our move was the autism preschool located in Orem, Utah, called Giant Steps. It is public, but it is funded by the Wasatch Mental Health Department. Translation: it is free and the program is cutting edge. The downside is that our son had to be on the waiting list for this program for 2 years. We had to be living in Utah County for him to attend, but that was OK because anything out of the county was just too far to commute for a one car family. So here we are! This program is totally worth the move and we are pumped! It is an ABA based program, (although they will use whatever method works for the individual,) and it is four days a week, with full school days!
Our last move was back at the end of December of last year when we moved north in order to complete hubby's education. That move was hard on Eli, as you would expect for a young one with autism. We had lots of uncooperative behavior, vocal outbursts, sleep disturbances, etc. He stopped being manageable with taking supplements for a while there, too, but we kept trying. Once we started getting the supplements down him again, things started getting better, and then he started school at the public school there, and things got even better. We have kept with the biochemical intervention for this whole year this last month and let me tell you how great he is doing! Eli now calls me "mom" and his dad "dad." His vocabulary is growing everyday. If he is looking for a favorite toy train he will say "Gordon go?" He tells me about things in his little shows he likes to watch. He is starting to have more and more of a social smile. This recent move has been such a switch from the one back in December! No regression at all.
Eli had some very kind little friends in our town we lived in up north who taught him so much about interaction, playing and friends. We miss all of you sweet little people! These are some pictures to show his friends how happy Eli is at the new place. There is a swing in the backyard that is cut from an old tire.
Our last move was back at the end of December of last year when we moved north in order to complete hubby's education. That move was hard on Eli, as you would expect for a young one with autism. We had lots of uncooperative behavior, vocal outbursts, sleep disturbances, etc. He stopped being manageable with taking supplements for a while there, too, but we kept trying. Once we started getting the supplements down him again, things started getting better, and then he started school at the public school there, and things got even better. We have kept with the biochemical intervention for this whole year this last month and let me tell you how great he is doing! Eli now calls me "mom" and his dad "dad." His vocabulary is growing everyday. If he is looking for a favorite toy train he will say "Gordon go?" He tells me about things in his little shows he likes to watch. He is starting to have more and more of a social smile. This recent move has been such a switch from the one back in December! No regression at all.
Eli had some very kind little friends in our town we lived in up north who taught him so much about interaction, playing and friends. We miss all of you sweet little people! These are some pictures to show his friends how happy Eli is at the new place. There is a swing in the backyard that is cut from an old tire.
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