A Break Down of Autism Behavioural Analysis (ABA) Therapy For Parents

ABA therapy is extremely essential to understand for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ADS) and their parents alike. Along with their therapist, your child will also require your constant encouragement and assistance throughout this process. Social skills are learned and improved with help of parent's involvement and support.  Let's find out how.  Why Is Behaviour Analysis Necessary For My Child?  In layman's terms, ABA can be defined as a therapy that is modeled on the science of an individual's behavior and learning. This therapy is necessary because it helps in finding out and breaking down how behavior works. You can comprehend the different ways in which learning takes place in our minds.  One can understand the consequences and the role that the environment plays in the behavior of an individual.…

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Therapy is helping me become better

I had therapy yesterday and I feel like I'm making progress. I'm the picture of imperfection and I'm the first to admit that but the last to forgive myself for it. This last year has been incredibly challenging for me and that came after the hardest six months of my life. Losing my last two grandparents was so hard and I hadn't yet found my footing when my marriage imploded for a second time. That began a journey I didn't ask to go one but it was something I had no control over. Ensuring the kids got through all this has been my number one priority and honestly, that came at my own expense. Then COVID hit and our lives were turned upside down once again, just like everyone else.…

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My kids cooked me dinner and I’m blown away

One of the things we've been working on during lockdown is life skills. I try to make the best use of all the time we have available to us and it's paying off. First of all, while Elliott and Emmett are both on the autism spectrum, they're incredibly high functioning. Aside from anxiety, SPD and ADHD, they do very well. The reason I point that out is because when I work on life skills, there's a difference between the way I approach the boys and the way I approach Gavin. They're two very different situations. For the last few weeks, Elliott and Emmett have been learning to cook. They never really showed much interest until recently and have picked it up very quickly. Elliott's big thing is scrambled eggs and…

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Finding something positive in the remote learning chaos

There are a million reasons why this school year is a nightmare for so many students and families. Parents are struggling to find balance and that included me. I don't see how kids are going to receive the quality education they both need and deserve. That being said, remote and distance learning are necessary evils, for lack of a better term. COVID19 is very dangerous and we're taking this on in order to keep our kids safe, while protecting our teachers and school staff. I get why everyone is frustrated because I'm frustrated, as are my kids. I understand the sacrifice that many parents have to make in order for this to even have a chance of working. I'm not independently wealthy by any stretch of the imagination and I…

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I’m really proud of what we accomplished today, even if others don’t get it

I've not talked about this much but I've started working out again. While I really, really want a treadmill, I'm making do with some free weights and a set of BowFlex kettlebells. There are some serious cardio exercises that can be done with kettlebells. Anyway, I was feeling pretty good today and so I suggested we go to our favorite outdoor location, Quail Hollow. We didn't have a whole lot of time because the boys had therapy but we got in a short hike. Elliott's eyes kill me here. He was goofing around and that's a positive thing. I mean the drive was longer than the hike but the boys got to take some awesome pictures and we found some cool little creatures along the way. We set out with…

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I taught my kids something today

We took on an impromptu project this afternoon. The screen door to the balcony off my bedroom was probably original to the house. The balcony is actually called a sleeper porch but we've never used it for that. It's just a nice place to sit in the spring and fall. Anyway, the screen was brittle and had large holes in it. A few months back, I had ordered replacement screen but I never got around to it. With the temps dropping down into the 40's at night, I like having the door open. I decided that I would show Elliott and Emmett how to replace a screen. Gavin was otherwise occupied and wasn't interested in helping until after I had finished. 😂 It took a little while because everything was…

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We kicked off our first full week of school

We just kicked off our first full week of school. As I've stated previously, we've chosen the remote learning model for a number of reasons. Today was largely a success because everyone got into their respective classes and did well. The boys seem to really be enjoying this experience better and I'm so happy with that. They love the face time with their teachers and friends. That's very positive and frankly, a huge relief. In other news. I've been thinking and I spoke with the kids today. Rebuilding my podcast studio has inspired me to make changes throughout the house, one room at a time. This has inspired me to work on the rest of the house It's important to me that we make the best of our current situation.…

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Okay, that’s a little over the top

The boys and I have been keeping things pretty low key today. One of the reasons for that is that Gavin's behaviors are way over the top. By over the top, I mean exaggerated. He's finding everything hilarious and is very loud and excitable. This is actually common with autistic kids but it's not super common for Gavin in particular. To be clear, he's not misbehaving in any way. He's just being a bit annoying to everyone around him. LOL That being said, it's still cool to see him in such a good mood. Gavin doesn't really have a sense of humor that most people will get and doesn't like making jokes. Today however, he's making all kinds of jokes and is goofing around. Despite it being a bit much,…

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