With my new day job, I spend a lot of time talking to new parents about Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Once parents get an autism diagnosis, their insurance will cover ABA therapy. My job is to explain to them what ABA is, why it will benefit them, and which ABA companies take their insurance. Research shows that ABA can make a difference in autism outcomes, so we want parents to do this.
But we never did it. Ian never had ABA in our home. He had some ABA at his elementary school, but he never had forty hours of therapy started at age two in our home like other families today. Twenty years ago, fewer families had that level of ABA support, especially kids like Ian, who didn’t have an autism label until age five.
We knew Ian had serious issues. He had trouble talking. He was sensitive. He could read before he could talk in full sentences. Even without a formal diagnosis, we knew he needed help, so we kinda gerry-rigged our own kind of DIY therapy.
Read more at The Great Leap, the autism newsletter
Apt. 11d 