by Shannon Penrod
I’m not terribly good and beginnings and endings. I like middles. Beginnings are bumpy and fraught with unexpected muck. Endings are messy and emotional. Today is an ending and I am definitely feeling messy and emotional. While I am writing this my son is in the next room having his last session with one of his ABA therapists. 5 1/2 years ago I remember hearing the word Autism in connection with my son and feeling like I was stepping off a cliff into a hole that had no bottom. It was a messy beginning to say the least. But, that was then and this is now. I’m sitting on the sofa crying because I can’t believe we actually did it. Somehow we managed to rearrange our lives to accommodate an army of trained therapists parading through our home, coaxing our child out inch by inch, hour by hour, year by year until we finally arrived here. Here is unbelievably good.
I remember the first time I ever drove to California. I couldn’t help but wonder at the tenacity of the first settlers who reached the Rocky Mountains and decided to scale them to get to the other side. For the first time I understood why places like Denver became cities. A whole lot of people looked at those mountains and decided it just wasn’t worth it. I always thought I would have been one of those people. Now, on the other side of the mountain I can’t help but look back and think, “Holy CRAP!!! Did we really just scale that?” We did. We really did.
For the last few weeks I’ve been watching this really amazing docu-series on the web, called “The A-Word”. It follows a family 
through their early days of diagnosis and getting ABA therapy. It’s amazing. I can’t stop talking about it. For me it’s like getting to relieve those early days without all the fear, without all the uncertainty. I’m watching the family adjust to the fact that their entire life has been picked up and shaken like a box of Legos, and I find myself crying – because I know how lucky they are. I don’t know if they know it yet, but I do. But they are at the beginning and we are at the end. The Alpha and the Omega of ABA therapy for Autism. Everyone should be so lucky.
I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that this journey has been life defining for me and my family. Can’t isn’t in our vocabulary anymore. Hope is something that has legs. Fear is just false evidence appearing real. Courage is a small child who doesn’t give up. Love is never giving up. Hard is meaningless and everything is possible.
So, what do you do to mark such a moment occasion? We already had the party, we already went to Disneyland so today we’re just going to be normal and go see the premiere of CARS 2. That’s what 8-year-old boys want to do on a Friday night; and starting today that’s who my son is, an 8-year-old boy, just like everyone else. It is our new Alpha.
wow!! what an inspirational post
wow!! what an inspirational post! we have been doing ABA for almost a year now and I feel very much in the beginning stage – fearful of the unknow! How many hours per week did you have ABA therapy? My son will start school next year.. was it difficult to incoporate school and ABA sessions? Also, did you follow a diet, such as CFGF.. if so, have you also stopped it?
Sarah, Thanks!
We did do GFCF. We still do GFCF and along the way we have instituted other dietary changes – I write all about that in other blog – http://www.autismdiet.wordpress.com, if you are interested. Right now we are going obsessively organic and I am adding in some fermented young coconut water and fermented vegetables into his diet and it a little unbelievable how good he is reacting. I actually think it’s having a great impact on his yeast issues which has been an ongoing issue. He just seems really focused.
As for ABA once he went to school, it was always an uphill battle, getting funding, working out the schedule, not having him burn out. etc. But we did a lot of play dates during therapy, and outings when ever we could and we had great therapists who made sure it was rewarding for him to do well.
I will tell you that this is an amazing year to start your ABA child in school. Do you know about Skills 4 America? http://www.skills4america.com I would really urge you to call your child’s school ASAP and ask them if they are signed up for it. It’s free for them for 2011 – It gives free training to the teachers and staff and access to the full curriculum from The Center for Autism and Related Disorders. The training is called CARD eLearning and if every teacher in America would do this while it’s free, our kids would have a much easier time in school. It’s web-based, self-directed and very easy to use. Talk to your school, they may already be doing it – but if they aren’t, they should.
Good luck to you and your child. You are on an amazing journey!
Thank you so much! I hope our journey has a similar ending to your journey!