2018 Is Going to Be An Amazing Year

Hayden has made so much headway recently and we're excited to share!

Progress at ABA Therapy

Hayden's ABA therapist says that 'the things that he has needed help with lately are following directions right away and not interrupting others when they are talking. These are pretty small! He has been on top of managing his own frustration and anger and with verbalizing how he feels. The times that he has needed more help with these things have been pretty few and far between. What I notice the most is that small things (ex: not being able to tie his shoes) set him off and if anything else happens immediately following this small frustration, he has a bit more difficulty bouncing back. Again, though, this is not very often at all. He has made so much progress.'


Progress on Goals At School

Hayden's school reported that he is not behind academically. He is on track to pass the ISTEP again this year. He is in a regular classroom with some special education assistance. He no longer has a 1:1 aide full time.

Fleeing Goal - This was to decrease the amount of times Hayden leaves the classroom in frustration from 3 incidents per quarter to one or no incidents. Hayden has been able to decrease the number of times he flees to an average on 1 time per quarter. When Hayden flees the classroom, he either flees right outside his classroom door, or goes to the Resource Room.

Expressing Frustration - This goal was to continue to increase his stamina to self-regulate his frustration (refrain from yelling out, throwing his glasses, throwing his pencil, breaking his pencil, throwing his supplies), by displaying appropriate responses or using his strategies at least 80% of the recorded incidents. In the 2nd 9 weeks of school Hayden displayed 6 incidents that involved a verbal outburst and physical aggression where he slammed doors or threw objects. Of those recorded 6 incidents he did not use his strategies initially, but staff was able to provide a place to calm down, give sensory input, and regain compliance by completing some work in the Resource Room and then returning to class. 6 incidents in a 9 weeks is a great reduction in these incidents: in the 4th quarter of the 2017 school year, for example, Hayden displayed 50 incidents! This is a huge change for the better!

Working hard on his science fair project

Progress at Home

We have seen a huge reduction in aggression, self injury and property destruction at home. In fact lately they're almost non-existent. Hayden had a wonderful break and and great transition back into school afterward. There were no behaviors the first day back which is amazing for after a long break. He has been adorable interacting with his baby brother and cousin, showing so much interest in them.

We have noticed some amazing things from him in the last few weeks as far as initiating conversations, being flexible, using restraint when he's upset, and vocalizing his needs. Last week at the doctor I was saying how the combo of ABA and medical therapies has really helped Hayden. The doctor said she felt like the medical therapies played a huge role but that she was biased (she was joking a little.) Hayden was on his iPad but was apparently listening and said, "But Centrality helps me!" I said yes, I know, we are just saying both are helpful. He said, "But I don't want to stop Centrality, I have so many friends there!" We assured him that we don't want to stop Centrality. But I thought it was interesting that he was listening along, because a year ago he may not have, and that he verbalized how important Centrality was to him.

ATEC Score

My dream for Hayden is that he is able to live as typical a life as possible. This means to be as independent as he can in social situations and with self care, with no aggression or self injury, and doing well in school and future employment. 

One way for parents to measure progress is through the ATEC (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist.) I have shared this link on this blog in the past if you want to check it out. The ATEC is not a diagnostic tool but one to allow comparison of scores over time, thereby comparing growth or regression based on various interventions.

 

Hayden's first ATEC score before beginning treatments in 2010 was 102 (out of 180). His score last week was a 20! We are so very close to Recovery for Hayden and we're all (including Hayden) super excited about his progress. 

More information on the ATEC can be found here: www.autism.com/ind_atec_report 

To take the ATEC, visit www.autism.com/ind_atec. 

Personal Growth

I'm excited to share a story with you in a future blog post. Stay tuned!

We can't wait to see what else 2018 has in store for Hayden. Thank you for your continued support!