AS SEEN ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

A child didn’t realize the importance of having a filter about the appearance of others. One day he was in the grocery store with his mom when he noticed someone larger than he was and blurted out how “big” the man was.

Mom came to us retelling this occurrence.

In his upcoming sessions our clinic staff worked on recognizing things that are and are not appropriate things to say about others. The next week while at school this kiddo noticed some of his peers bullying a little girl in his class.

He bravely walked up to this group of kids and stood up for her, telling his peers “that’s not nice!”  We are so proud of his courage and kindness!

A kiddo has a very difficult time with eating. When he first started services he would not eat his provided meals, would only eat a few preferred snacks intermittently, and would refuse to come to the table. His parents could not get him to eat breakfast in the morning before coming to therapy.

A feeding protocol was established during his therapy sessions and we systematically got him to sit and eat lunch at the table during lunch and snack times. This patient recently started in-home services and the meal program was implemented during sessions in the home.

Within a month, he took his first independent bite at home at the dining table. We taught mom to replicate the procedure and now he is reliably taking bites at the table with edible and tangible reinforcement.

A child is non-vocal verbal and relies on their device to communicate. Unfortunately, it appeared to family members and therapists that what they were selecting on the device was not always what they were motivated for. Also, the child would select icons without even attending to the device.

To help, we presented preferred items and activities close to the patient and if they grabbed for the item showing interest, we would then present the device and prompt them to select the correct item. The item was then given to them immediately.

After two weeks, this patient is now independently selecting items that they are motivated to choose and actually attending to the device. They are now paying a lot of attention to the device and activities that they are engaging in. Family members and therapists can see that the child is smiling more and attending closely to the environment around them.

It is amazing how functional communication can really boost a person’s quality of life. Way to go Team Therapy and Beyond! It’s so great to be part of an organization that makes such a positive impact on patients and their families.

One story revolves around a kiddo with whom we have been building an appropriate replacement behavior of folded hands to help reduce less appropriate behaviors. We want to make sure there are as few barriers to learning and socialization as possible!

We have consistently needed to use a verbal and gestural prompt of “fold your hands” until this week! When the patient began to engage in the problem behavior, they self-corrected and said “fold your hands” 100% on their own!

A child started with us a short time ago, coming to us with limited communication, scrolling and absent social skills. Siblings would attempt to initiate play but were met with either elopes or non-response.

With the intensity of ABA and her other provider (language therapy), this child has bloomed!

Mom was elated with her daughter’s progress and sent us this note:

“Good evening! I wanted to share this footage with you both. This is at least what I was able to capture on camera as it was taking place shortly after we arrived home from ABA today. Frankly, my daughter has not engaged her sibling this way since she was about 10 – 12 months old. This – is – HUGE! Another testament to the diligence from you both.”

When we found out our 2.5 yr old had Autism Spectrum Disorder, it was a little overwhelming and emotional. Then we met our BCBA from Therapy and Beyond and our daily therapist after that… and things got a lot easier.

It was amazing to see the growth in my daughter with our almost daily ABA time.

Not only that, I was floored by how caring and supportive those in the company were of her and of my family. Truly, they want what is best and I have always felt welcomed and a part of the process with my daughter.

We even incorporated specific time for her to work on relating to her sister, which was much needed for our family. I see them care deeply and are able to competently support my family and my child in the process.

I don’t know where we would be without Therapy and Beyond.

Our son is doing much better at relating to his peers. He is much better at tolerating things that used to really anger him. They have helped us with potty training. His speech has improved greatly as well.

We love getting to team up with them to help our son learn more skills. The parent meetings are very insightful. Hearing that he is doing better playing with other kids has been great. We will stay with them as long as possible. We love the staff and they really care about the clients.

The therapists, front office staff, everyone is so caring and amazing. Our son loves going to therapy and smiles when he walks in the door.

They all go above and beyond to help and do so in such a positive way. We couldn’t have asked for a better center.

The communication! Knowing what he is working on, what he is mastering and what he will be working on next is something that is important to us. We are always in the loop and getting updates on his progress.

They are always asking if we have questions or concerns and if there is something we would like them to work on with him as well. Just wonderful!

A child’s family expressed how much ABA has changed their sons life. They said that before ABA, he was often angry and did not want to interact with anyone in his family.

Now, he loves playing with his brother, engages with his parents, and is an active member of his family. His mom says that ABA has given him joy.

One of our kiddos has always been known to struggle with social interactions. He would avoid them at all costs and would often engage in several maladaptive behaviors when asked to interact with both peers and staff members. Empathy goals were among the most difficult.

This child has grown significantly over the past several months!

He has been engaging with peers and independently choosing to join in on activities with them, as well as invite them to join him. A month or so ago, he was played with a younger kiddo. They were passing a ball back and forth to each other. At one point, he accidentally threw the ball too hard. It hit the younger kiddo and he fell down and began to cry. Without any prompts, he immediately ran over to him and asked if he was alright.

This was HUGE! In the past, this patient wouldn’t ask if others were okay even when prompted. He has made SO much progress, and this has allowed him to make some really awesome and genuine connections with his peers.

We have a kiddo who had limited communication skills for the longest time. Within the last few days he has started independently pointing to where he wants to go while making vocalizations!

A huge step in the right direction since previously we had no sounds! His mom is super excited and can’t wait to see what progress we will continue to make.

We have been working on “small talk” conversational skills with one of our teenage patients. His dad told us that he is approaching familiar people at church to greet them, shake their hand, and ask how their weekend was.

He will also answer simple questions about the events of his weekend when asked!

He tends to struggle with articulation and voice volume, but he is engaging in these types of conversations at an appropriate volume to be heard and with clear articulation.

A kiddo in OKC with a history of rigidity participated in a novel experience recently.

He attended his first school field trip and spontaneously asked for his headphones instead of in avoidance behaviors that he did when they were first introduced. He also had a great time at this trip.

A child previously would not give eye contact when he started. When I walked out to take temperatures, he looked at me from the window and waved.

This was very exciting! Mom was thrilled.

Mom tells us that her kiddo now comes out of his room to spend time with the family. He also says, “Hi”, to his dad when he gets home from work.

Teachers are also reporting a decrease in maladaptive behaviors and increase in attending to lessons. Mom reports he talks about specific peers he plays with at the clinic.

He also will go to bed with no problem behaviors. Mom also says there is a decrease at home for negative self talk. 

I would just like to share how grateful I am for Therapy and Beyond. Our lives have changed tremendously since beginning this program.

My son has made so many improvements and we are no longer alone in this journey.

All of the staff are patient, knowledgeable, professional, and much more. Thanks for making a difference every day!

One of my young patients who uses AAC and has a very limited amount of vocal language (about 5 clear one-word request) just said his first sentence and told him mom very clearly “I love you” this morning!!!

She cried, I cried, it was amazing!

Very grateful to his amazing team for fostering his language and our incredible prompt trained speech team who has been working so hard on shaping his vocal speech.

We have a kiddo who, at intake, the parents reported the doctor’s told the parents they would never be able to communicate.

After less than 6 months of ABA therapy, he is communicating vocally using complete sentences!

When I came back to the clinic from maternity leave, I was placed on a kiddo’s team. He was verbal but very little and what did come out seemed like more gibberish than anything.

We worked really hard at sounds and even making his approximations clearer. About a month ago, this young boy and I were walking down my clinic’s hallway and he began to tact the numbers placed on the doors and didn’t move to the next one until I acknowledged what his was doing!

It was a true “WOW” moment for me.