Progress Update

I woke up on Thursday morning with a little extra pep in my step.  Why, you wonder?

It was the day of Colin’s 6 month review at his ABA clinic!

We have seen SO MUCH progress at home, and I was excited to see it on paper in graph form.  (Yes, I’m a nerd.  #sorrynotsorry)

Guys, I was BLOWN AWAY!

Colin not only met most of his goals, he exceeded them:

One goal was for him to tact (label) 30 different items….he did 90.  He tripled the goal!

One goal was for him to identify an item in a field of 4 for 20 different item s…he has mastered 65.


Colin is talking so much lately, too.  He is jabbering all the time, and he has several perfect verbal productions (Mama, run, bus, bed, outside, Trolls, train, dog, Winnie, truck), but also soooo many super-close approximations (Play-Doh, strawberry, get me, train).  He is completing intraverbal statements (example: socks and shoes).  He is singing his ABC’s (my favorite part is LMNOP, he says, OOOO-P!). 

He is also READING.  We had no idea that he had letter-sound recognition until a couple of months ago, and he’s now reading some words like “truck” and “Elmo.”  He probably knows more too, I’m sure. 

He is definitely getting the hang of two-word phrases – he just used his device to say “open upstairs.” That’s where we keep the “extra” toys.  I swear that I’m hearing some phrases and sentences too.  He is still using his AAC device all the time, and its model is encouraging his spoken words. 

Just over a year ago, I wasn’t sure if this kind of progress was even possible for him.  He didn’t even sit in a chair then – how could he sit, attend, AND learn?

This is what Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) has done for him – it taught him how to learn.

This is what can happen when you individualize and work at the child’s level and teach in a way that he or she can learn. 

This is why I sing ABA’s praises – because it has changed the trajectory of my son’s life. 

This is why I share and advocate – because so many kids like Colin could benefit from this intervention..and they deserve to have access to it.