William

Dear Sarah,

There had been a time prior to my William’s diagnosis when I had a strong suspicion that he was on the spectrum of autism. Even when his pediatrician disagreed, and when people said that I was wrong and “wishing ill upon my child”, it was still so obvious to me.  These moments haunt me, because I knew and know my child the best,.  Athough I knew my son to be ‘autistic’, at that point, I wasn’t sure what to do with that knowledge. I took to a ‘love conquers all’ plan of approach.  After recieving his diagnosis it became clear that there were very few options available for us.  As speech therapy was prooving to be ineffective and his behaviors were seeming to spiral out of control, it became more and more evident that i could not love him into recovery.  That was close to the time when we had heard about the clinc. Will started at the clinic last April. Since then there have been so many behavioral improvements.

By The time he had started at the clinic his vocabulary had dwindled into less than five words, that weren’t even clear.  I hung on to those so tightly, fearing they would soon disappear, as others had.  I didn’t know that I would ever really hear his voice. Now, less than a year later, he is on a straight verbal incline. Prompted, he will echo or make an attempt with every word I say. On his own he is requesting things constantly also. Initially Will’s progress had appeared to be limited. Leaving him was an emotional time, mainly because of his discomfort, and adverse reaction.  He had a long adjustment period.  Less than a year later,  Melissa, his therapist has said there are days that he doesn’t want to leave to come home.  He is very happy to see her every morning, and transitions in with a smile. I feel very happy to have her working with us. She helps me with any questions or concerns, and gives me a better understanding of aba therapy. Our time with the clinic has taught me that tough love is more instrumental in recovery.  Will is learning many new social skills, and more appropriate ways of play in addition to language.  I am learning  the best way to handle his inappropriate behaviors, as well as how to reward him for his good ones  We look forward to his continuing success at the clinic.

Sincerely,

Christina Altman