I have a wonderful son, who also happens to have Autism, ADD and ODD...

Funny story about the lovely pic there - looks like we're happy, meanwhile just a half hour later I was dragging my son in full meltdown mode out from the back of Disneyland, needing to cross the water from Tom Sawyer Island to the other side and make our way through scores of people to the front of the park - him screaming the entire way because he could not spend all day turning the turnstile round and round...like I said, I'M A MOM JUST LIKE YOU...and while my son is now 18, that was him at age 6--anxious, perseverative, oppositional, unable to focus, and constantly having meltdowns. 

 

SOUND FAMILIAR???  My son received, since age 1, occupational therapy, speech therapy, feeding therapy, physical therapy, special ed, and parent training (for me).  He did not talk until 5 and then he just had echolalia for almost two straight years (repeating everything we said).  He did not look at me since birth, nor call my name, he could not grasp things, could not walk, not talk or gesture--but if you met him now, you would never know it! He used to bike himself back and forth 20 minutes each way every day to typical HS which he attended without an aide, in a HS Engineering Academy--he graduated in June 2021, now has a part time job he drives himself to every day, had a girlfriend of over 2 years plus many friends, and is now a licensed pilot, on his way to becoming a commercial pilot!  I was a teacher/tutor before I had him, but my MS in Elementary Ed did not prepare me for real life with an ASD/ADD/ODD child!  Parent trainers taught me well--behavior therapy was not paid for back then by insurance so I had to learn to help him on my own--and I had a library of books on how to help my son before I even went back to school to earn a Continuing Ed degree in Applied Behavioral Analysis, worked 5yrs as a behavioral therapist/supervisor, and became a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst, in Nov 2020).

 

ALONG THE WAY, I've been tutoring children/adults with learning delays due to ASD/ADHD/DS/ODD & more, so I now have 25+ years experience, including homeschooling my own son for 5th grade.  I also have 5+yrs experience as a behavioral therapist and  have my BCBA certification so I can do behavioral therapy including ABA Parent Training, working 1:1 with families.  Additionally, I am a UCLA PEERS(R) Certified Teen, Telehealth and Young Adult Social Skills provider.  I have worked educationally and behaviorally with ages 2 up to 72, as I am also currently the sole behavioral consultant to a set of 3 residential group homes for adults with all kinds of needs (ASD, DS, Schizophrenia, mood disorders and other disabilities), working behaviorally with residents and training 20+ staff.  I seem to be able to work with children, teens and adults whom other teachers/therapists could not help--and I LOVE IT!  It is my passion and a great privilege to be able to help not just these children/young adults, but also  their families (via ABA Parent Training), as EVERYONE is happier when our children move ahead and succeed...If you'd like to hear more, or wish to tell me YOUR story so I can begin helping YOUR child or young adult... Contact me now for a FREE 1hr CONSULTATION!