So it has been a bit since we talked about Antonio and his progress with his new program. I have had a hard time behind the scenes with what happened, but I am confident and couldn’t be happier with the way things are playing out.
I have learned SO much from this new place he is at, and I think that’s the most important thing. If I am not learning, is he learning? If I can’t implement at home, is it even worth the money?
We don’t need to have weekly or bi-weekly meetings because it is THAT good. We communicate a lot, and we have progress reports every day and have an app to interact through. I also email with any questions or concerns.
Everyone has seen SO much of a difference since he started his new program it makes me so happy that I want to cry.
Here are a few quick things that we are mastering at his applied behavior analysis:
- Sign Language: We know about ten things now! We can communicate his wants and needs on a daily basis. It really DOES work!
- He Stops: We tell him STOP, and he actually does it. This behavior is huge because before I was worried that he couldn’t walk in parking lots without holding my hand. Now, I feel better.
- He Waits: We can count to make him wait. He understands, is patient, and gets whatever he asks for based on his sign language.
- He Waves Hi and Bye: We worked hard on this for so long his wave is SOO cute. It’s like a pinched hand.
- Imitate Sounds: We get in his face and make sounds, noises, and make funny faces to help get his verbalized vocals going. This accomplishment is super huge, and it has been amazing to see how involved he is.
- More Interaction: We can interact more with other kids and people. He can sit still for long periods of time, and enjoy a book or iPad together without getting distracted.
- He’s Independent: He carries his backpack and lunchbox now every day to school. This victory makes me so happy.
All of these things took so much time for us to master, but it was so worth it! All of these took some time to learn for him and myself but it is seamless now. We keep meeting our weekly goals and it is so incredible. Even though he isn’t talking it is such a relief knowing that we are making the progress that I hoped for, for so long.
The thing is that he doesn’t always need someone to say Antonio say Hi (wave). I can say Bye Antonio, and he knows to wave! I think that speaks volumes. These are all endless goals that we have been waiting for and wanting for literally months.
These might seem like they should have happened a long time ago because of his age, but this takes a lot of time with an autism kid. They think so different than other kids that it takes them a different way to learn.
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