My "experience" with autism began almost a year ago when my little boy received his official diagnosis. I processed all of it the only way I knew how - to dive right in and start spreading awareness, learning as much as I could about autism, and engaging with the autism community. I gathered up my close family and friends and invited them to join us for the Autism Speaks Walk in honor of Gunnar (Gunny Bunny).
Gunnar's journey with ABA Therapy began last fall. For anyone who is not familiar, ABA Therapy is a the gold standard (although not a one size fits all) in teh Behavioral and Mental Health Inustry as far as "treatment" goes for individuals clinically diagnosed as being on the ASD spectrum. I hate using words like "treatment" and "diagnosis," but for lack of better terminology, that's what I will use. ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis and is basically a positive reinforcement based therapy. The BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) gets to know the child, what really makes them tick, what motivates them and what triggers them. With this information, they are able to tailor an amazing treatment plan for each child based on his or her level of functioning in order to help increase those positive and "desired" behaviors and help decrease those negative or "undesirable" behaviors. When you work on these desired behaviors and increase the confidence of the child and help move them outside of their comfort zone, noticeable changes really start to take place. Less tantrums, more functional communication, eye contact, desired interactions with others, and the list goes on. We have noticed so much progress with Gunnar just in the past 8 months alone. This is why I have become so passionate about raising awareness about autism, ABA Therapy, and neurodiversity in general. We NEED more research. We NEED more BCBA's. we NEED more Developmental Pediatricians. We NEED more Behavior Technicians (the true frontline workers who are with your child 1 on 1 every single day building and bonding and maintaining that rapport in order to help them reach their goals - they do not get enough praise and recognition.) And it all starts with grass roots awareness and passion. Conversations with other parents and people in the autism community. I have met several adults now (who were diagnosed later in life) who have come up to me and told me how there was no help, no therapy, no diagnosis and they just felt "weird" and "different" their entire life - their parents never took them to restaurants, the zoo, various outings, because they did not want to "deal with it." This breaks my heart. Neurodiverse individuals have amazingly limitless potential and it is OUR job - the community, their support system, their advocates - it is OUR job to help them realize and reach that potential. As long as autism continues to become a more common "diagnosis," we must continue to push to find answers and ways to help integrate our nuerodiverse friends, co-workers, children, etc. into the world that is not necessarily "designed" for them. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. For more information on Autism in general, please continue to read on below.
-Krysten (Mother to an amazing Autistic angel of a son, and advocate of neurodiversity) :)
Today, over 70 million children and adults are affected by autism. Each of them, have unique strengths, challenges and potential. Autism Speaks will be there for them. You and I can be too.
It’s only through the dedicated support of people like us that Autism Speaks can continue their vital mission work. Each year, the Autism Speaks Autism Response Team makes direct contact with tens of thousands of individuals looking for advice or guidance and more than one million people access their free nationwide autism services and resources. They continue to partner and support research to improve the lives of people with autism by investing in science that will allow more personalized treatments and therapies. You can find out even more about where your fundraising dollars go at autismspeaks.org/our-work.
Please join me by donating to help me reach my fundraising goal. Together, we have the power to enhance the lives of people with autism and make a meaningful difference. Thanks so much for your support!
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