Fueding Brothers

Those of you who are familiar with therapies for autism then God bless you because you are probably facing the same problems I'm facing in this life.

I am currently dealing with a couple feuding brothers from that family of Autism Therapy. Older Bro Aba is stating since he is older he is much wiser and that he is changing with time and adapting despite what his younger brother, Rdi, says. Aba says that many autistic children have and still are being cured, rehabilitated, or recovered from autism because of him. While Rdi says Aba only helps children deal with static situations such as the classroom environment where 1+1=2 and where there are rules with right or wrong answers. But what do they do to try and make a friend or to make a decision when there is no right or wrong answer?

So as you can see I've invited both these feuding brother therapies into my home and let them have full reign with my children. Boy, it is sure hard to keep track of ABA time and RDI time. During ABA time I have to take the feathery language out and make simple request or demands (imperative statements...for my fellow RDIians). I have to keep my expressions and tone neutral unless I'm reinforcing Jaden's correct choice or playing during play time.

But in RDI land I have to kill those imperative statements (commands) and use declarative statements. Now my dear friends this change from ABA , Superman, to RDI, Clark Kent, is killing me. I often find myself saying "Doh!!!" Every time it is time to eat. ABA superman personality takes over and tells the kiddies "Eat!" Instead of using my RDI Clark Kent voice to tell them "You look like you are hungry. Those gluten free pancakes sure look delicious. Yum Yum!!!"

My little sunshine on two legs gets all RDI and she loves when I do crazy facial expressions to communicate. She thinks it is more of a circus show rather than a way to communicate. I still love her anyway. It is a good thing I don't have to video tape it...right now anyway. I could be blackmailed...and badly. I'd do anything to keep it off You tube.

Jaden gets both. He gets the 35-40 hours of ABA a week and during his down time I'm telling him about the birds outside, the pack of dogs that live next door, and about the national budget deficit. He mostly likes to hear about the popcorn popping on the apricot tree or about the wheels on the bus go round and round.

But I have to say ABA has helped Jaden immensely. He has gone from not saying a word 2 1/2 months ago to saying a couple sentences. His tantrums have decreased and he is more able to communicate simple needs. He still has a ways to go but despite what RDI says ABA has helped him. But I will be doing RDI with him as I go along. One thing I love about RDI is that there is no 'window' of time to teach your autistic child. So we may end up stopping ABA after a couple years but I can continue RDI as long as I need to.

Brinn is starting to talk and says all the words Jaden uses frequently. She is making a lot of progress and is starting to be more social.

One thing I love about having these two is watching them play with each other. It warms my sad heart at times to know that they will always have a friend.