Hello
all I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend! My weekends are a time to relax
and recuperate for the next work week and I also enjoy being lazy. My job takes
up so much of my time and energy during the week I have little or no time to
write on the blog, but I wanted to write about something today that is near and
dear to my heart. I’ve spoken about my job before but for those who don’t
follow the blog; I currently work for an agency that assists with services for
adults and children with disabilities. I have met so many amazing and beautiful
people in the span of my career and this is why the topic today is so close to
my heart. April being Autism Awareness month I wanted to speak about Autism
Spectrum Disorder in children.
I
wrote a whole blog post about Autism Spectrum disorder symptoms and diagnosis
but then I erased it all and I decided to write from the heart. If you want to
know about symptoms and diagnosis you can visit Autism Speaks. Today I want to
write about the Hope I have experienced working with children with Autism.
So
here it goes, I landed my first real job fresh out of college. I applied at so
many places and I hoped to just get a call back. When I did get a call back I interviewed
and to my luck I got the job. I was like OMG I’m a true adult now and I’m gonna
be so awesome at my new job. I must admit I knew nothing about applied behavior
analysis and what it all entailed but I was just happy to be on board. I showed
up to work for the first day and I was excited to learn I’d be working with
really young children from 3 years old to 5 years. It seemed easy enough right?
Well to my surprise a 3 year old can have a strong will and a sort of grit to
them. Needless to say I was more than tired after my first week of work spending
all day with 3 year olds and running after my own 10 month old at home. After
my first week of on the job training trying to understand ABA therapy: positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, extinction, and punishment which was a
lot to take in, I was on my own as an individual trainer. We would rotate children
in the class room and every week I’d have a different little one to train. I
was honestly skeptical at first thinking this stuff is never gonna work. I mean
really how many times can I hold up a pieces of candy and ask a kid to stack
blocks before I physically have to take their hands and stack the blocks for
them. It seemed like they would never get it, How could they?
Training
goals seem easy enough but when someone is holding your favorite snack in front
of you and asking you to perform a task you cannot understand; you’re going to
at some point get frustrated. When I say I was beat up by 3 year olds I am not
over exaggerating. Days seemed long and tiring and I don’t know if I was more
tired or they were. And then one day out of nowhere a small window would open
up and then it happened. We would move from the first step to the next and on
to a new goal and new training. This small being this little child who never
looked me in my eyes, never smiled at me, never even acknowledged me would one
day just get it. I remember working a training goal of speaking the word Marshmallow;
we would start with holding the marshmallow up and then repeating “Say Ma ma
ma, Marsh, Marsh, Marshmallow”. Then again repeat the command “say Ma Ma Ma” all
while holding the fluffy white snack in the air. And then one of my little ones
said it! I held the marshmallow in the air spoke the command and had time to
say one “ma” before he yelled out “Marshmallow”…. He said it in a way like
Dammit give me the Marshmallow already! I jump so quickly out of my seat I startled
him (which is not the correct way to give a positive reinforcement). I then
handed him the whole bag of Marshmallows I was so excited (also not correct but
oh well). He smiled I mean he smiled like the clouds had opened up and God had
shine down on him. Not a big achievement right? Well yes!! Because you see this
little boy was 4 years old and had never spoken a word. Never. Marshmallow
could have well been his first word; his first spoken word at four years old
and I was there to see it, to hear it, or better yet to teach him it. Little by
little these kids they were getting it.
They
were soaking it all in while learning through Applied Behavior Analysis. I was
learning as well; learning about reinforcements and most importantly patience
and persistence. If you worked the training right and held on with hope one day
they would get it and show you hey listen I’m here! I’m here and I’m listening
and I may not look at you or hug you but I can hear you and I Can learn. I am
not disabled I’m more then capable to do what you are asking it will just take
time and patience. When I left this job I cried, and I mean a lot. I had taken
away so many wonderful moments that at one point I had seen these kids as my
own. My own little amazing beings. A year later I checked in on that little boy
and was so happy to learn that he was speaking whole sentences with humor (who
would have known he was so funny). lol His parents were so grateful for the school
and the ABA training he had received because they were able to hear their child’s
voice. So much so that now they wish he’d be quiet once and a while. Ha ha.
Small
achievements like this for a child living with Autism is like scaling a mountain.
I was happy to have teaching ABA to children with Autism as my first job. It
taught me more than I could have ever imagined. My hopes is that parents who
have a small child diagnosed with Autism will see the light at the end of the
tunnel and know that I feel how tired and worried you are, but keep the hope.
Stay persistent and most importantly have patience.
For Assistance with
services in the Texas area: Call
2-1-1 or visit 211texas.org for statewide programs & services. Or Call ECI: 1-800-628-5115
for info about birth to 3 years.
Thanks
for stopping by Lovelies...
Photos by: De Anna Pittari
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