Autism Case Study: From Confusion and Despair, to Hope and Change
2.5-year-old child no longer banging her head or having tantrums all the time.
12:23am and Alisa is staring at the blue-white glow of her computer screen, scouring Google for answers. Why is my 2.5 year old losing skills? Losing vocabulary? Banging her head on the wall? Hitting, kicking, biting and pinching everyone? What happened to my sweet little Molly?
Alisa and her husband Malek had experienced the last 6 months in a slow motion nightmare. Little Molly wouldn’t respond when spoken to… only communicated using single words….. broke down crying daily… spun in circles… flicked her hands… swiped everything off of any table she could find.
Alisa and Malek didn’t understand what was going on.
They turned to different doctors until they finally got the diagnosis: autism spectrum disorder
Alisa and Malek lost sleep over Molly’s condition.
Malek’s response was to wait and see what would happen. Alisa’s response was to immediately seek therapy. Thankfully, Malek accepted Alisa’s decision and they enrolled Molly in Early Intervention with Positive Pathways.
The Day Everything Changed
Taylour, a Positive Pathways Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA) arrived at Alisa and Malek’s house in March, 2019. She observed how Molly interacted (or didn’t interact) with her environment. She spoke with the parents, asking them about Molly’s emotions, communication, and behavior.
Soon, Taylour had a plan in place to help Molly make progress. The plan included:
- Building a strong and positive relationship with Molly
- Naturally helping Molly turn her existing interests into functional skills and play abilities
- Gently introducing new activities to interest and stimulate Molly’s mind
- Guiding Molly to use words instead of tantrums to ask for what she wanted
- Helping Molly to stop head-banging by finding other strategies to channel emotions in a more positive way
As of this writing, six months later, the results have been very fast. Molly almost never tantrums anymore. She isn’t head-banging either. Molly has learned new vocabulary, acquired new play skills, and started interacting positively with her sibling.
Most importantly, Molly is smiling more.
Hope for the Family
Alisa and Malek are so relieved by the positive changes in Molly’s life. They are learning to communicate with her effectively, and they have grown closer as a couple since uniting around the shared goal of participating in the therapy process for Molly.
Alisa and Malek see a much brighter future for Molly and the whole family.
The Secret to Molly’s Success
So, what was it that helped Molly grow so much in six months? How did she end up on a trajectory to live a much fuller and happier life?
One element is seeing each child as a holistic individual with their own strengths, areas of growth, and ways of communicating.
But the most important factor that helped Molly is the fact that her parents took action and got the help they needed.
They appreciated that the longer you wait to get help, the longer it takes to help your child. They decided that they didn’t want to stall or delay or look into it “someday.”
Now look where Molly is.
There’s Hope for Every Child
Imagine train tracks that stretch all the way to the horizon. If you alter the course of those train tracks just a couple of degrees, they will end up miles away from where they point now.
ABA therapy is about helping your child change direction now, so they end up at a totally different destination in the future.
By helping children with autism learn the communication, social, and life skills they need, we can help them live more independently for the rest of their lives.
There is hope for every child.
Now It’s Your Turn
Would you like to get help for your child? Our team of highly experienced professionals have many decades of combined experience helping kids with autism.
We can look at ways to address whatever is on your mind, including:
- Signs of autism
- Helping you set up a diagnostic evaluation
- Toileting issues
- Temper tantrums
- Social skills issues
- Difficulty performing routines
- Communication deficits
- Self-injurious behavior
- Eating difficulties
- Academic challenges
- And more…
Here’s What to do Next
At the top of this page, there is a form you’ll need to fill out. After you submit the form, you’ll be asked to pick a time to schedule your session: