Jim's Autism Blog: IS THE ABA THERAPY PAYING OFF?

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Hi everyone and thanks for visiting our blog. My wife and I created this blog to chronicle our experience while raising a son with Asperger's syndrome. Since our son was diagnosed with an ASD at age 5, we've had a lot of questions. Lucky for us we have a great support network in place. And our blog gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned with our readers. We hope you find our blog informative and interesting. Thanks again for visiting.

"It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential." Dr Hans Asperger 1906-1980

Tuesday 23 July 2013

IS THE ABA THERAPY PAYING OFF?

The local water park.

It's been a couple months since my wife and I began taking the ABA sessions, and since we began implementing some of the strategies we learned, Jacob has been going against the grain more than ever. So much so, that it's been difficult to gauge whether or not the training has actually done any good at all.

That is until a couple weeks ago when I renewed our family pass for the local rec centre. July has been crazy hot and a daily trip to the pool has definitely helped us stay cool. But last year, before the training, I'd have to call before going to make sure that,

1. The pool was actually open.

2. The pool wasn't too busy.

3. The vending machine that sells chocolate bars was working.

Because if any of these three things weren't right, than neither was Jacob and a blow up was almost guaranteed to occur. In the past if the pool was unexpectedly closed, Jacob would lose his mind, even if I offered to go to the splash pad that's only a few blocks away. But I can say with confidence that those behaviours seem to be a thing of the past. When given proper warning well in advance, Jacob can quickly regulate his emotions and for the most part remain calm.

Before the ABA training, Jacob would get mad if the pool was too loud, which it often is because of all the summer camps using the pool. And he would get mad if a young child were to splash him and get him wet, which as we all know, should never happen when swimming. And if he was unable to get a chocolate bar from the vending machine, he'd gripe about it all the way home and even be mad later.

Now if he gets splashed or a child yells near him, he'll just look at the child and maybe growl or do a whole body shake to express his displeasure. To those non familiar with autism this behaviour can surely look strange, but to me it's a huge step in Jacob gaining control of his thoughts and feelings.

It too gives us hope that one day when Jacob is older, that when these things occur, instead of showing and sign that it upsets him, he'll just quietly reflect on how he feels and let it go. Because like I tell Jacob each time before we hit the pool, "If you go swimming, you're bound to get wet."