Celebrating Neurodiversity
July 2021
These are success stories from some of our clinics.
Embracing the idea of celebration thanks to the power of “Do this.”
As one Caravel team member explains, “This story always sticks with me.” It was thanks to the power of “Do this” (learning to imitate) that one child was able to celebrate his birthday for the first time. Initially, the boy had a hard time imitating others or following directions, which limited participation in school and other family activities. The family worked hard on teaching him to imitate actions when they said, “Do this” or “Copy me.” The boy learned this concept, and soon thereafter he celebrated his birthday for the first time because they could now show him what he needed to do to enjoy the occasion.
A committed journey that turned humming into words and the foundations of communication.
One of our children did not have vocal speech, although she would frequently hum songs. As with others who are at this stage, she used an AAC device to communicate and could use it to request things and comment on her environment. Although she communicated well with her AAC device, there could be barriers (e.g., if the volume wasn’t loud enough to be heard in different environments or if the AAC battery dies). The team slowly began shaping the humming vocalizations via some of her regular sounds. This client worked very hard on making individual phonemes consistently, and then on blending the two phonemes together. For example putting “Sh” and “Oo” together to say “shoe”. Through this challenging process she learned to vocally say “mom”, “dada”, “yeah”, “no”, and “potty”. Then she could call other family members and familiar people by name. She eventually learned to say other words that were important to her like “slime”, “crayon” and “paper”. Initial teaching of the phonemes and words took years, however, she then started picking up new words in months!
Starting Tae Kwon Do and Cub Scouts and participating independently!
An early intervention child started with a comprehensive therapy program focused on requesting, identifying familiar items, and following instructions. When he later graduated from ABA therapy, he was able participate in Tae Kwon Do and Cub Scouts without adult assistance. He could play games and learn new things – like kick ball – along with his same-aged peers.
Understanding and managing emotions.
The focus for one child was working on labeling feelings and emotions and understanding how to cope with disappointment. With time, he was able to progress, and he told his parents that he felt the anger come in, that he wanted to hit but didn’t, and that he felt his anger go out through his mouth.
Opening doors to socialization and interaction.
One child was having a hard time socializing and responding to greetings from others. Caravel’s therapy team had been working to teach him how to respond and how to initiate greetings with others. Before long, he walked into one of the therapy rooms and not only greeted the behavior technician, but also greeted the other client child who was there. His parents reported that he’s since continued his progress is now greeting others when they are with him during family outings.
A child who quickly started learning to use her words.
One child who began therapy without any vocalizations that were not self-stimulatory in nature. After just a short time in therapy, she has started to mand for items and activities. Not just while she’s working with her therapy team but with her parents as well!
Conquering fears and sharing his story.
For the last two years, one young child has been trying to have a BM in the toilet. He was so scared that he didn’t even want to try. Then, finally, he had a BM in the toilet. He was so proud of himself that he walked around the center telling others about his success!
Learning how to cope with the factors caused discomfort.
I had a child who struggled with certain sounds in his house, he would hold his ears and hum and look very uncomfortable. He would sometimes scream and cry if the sounds were too much some days. Then one day a sound that used to make him very dysregulated was occurring and he decided on his own to go to a room where he couldn’t hear it! I was so proud of him for taking charge and doing something that made him feel better all on his own. Something as small as just moving away from something that bothered you was a huge achievement for him!
Our clients are amazing!
Note: the examples above are based on real stories and represent the types of triumphs we see every day in our work across our many centers.
