Cullen's Team - Part 1

Bonnie and Lily are two of Cullen's ABA therapists. ABA has been shown to help kids make great gains in their development, and is highly individualized. I often say it's like Cullen has a tutor (or tutors, plural!). We recently received this summary concerning Bonnie and Lily's work with Cullen and thought we'd share it here...

Bonnie and Lily have had the privilege of working with Cullen for the past year as his ABA therapists. At the start of Cullen’s therapy his language was limited to one word and he had difficulty interacting with peers and adults. He was unable to show excitement using verbal or facial expressions. It is now easy to identify his excitement by his face, physical actions, and voice. In the past year, Cullen has acquired numerous skills including the beginnings of play skill imitation, the ability to communicate his wants and needs to others, academic skills such as identifying and labeling colors, letters, numbers, and responding to functional instructions.

Bonnie and Lily have enjoyed seeing Cullen succeed with difficult targets and interact with his peers. His improved ability to communicate his wants and needs and the development of his unique personality has by far been the most rewarding part of working with Cullen. It is exciting to see his progress and his increased interactions and it is an amazing feeling to know the impact that ABA and the staff at MASC have had on Cullen’s world.

The reference at the end is to Mea'Alofa Autism Support Center (MASC), which you can visit here.

Still Giving Thanks

Above: It looks like a picture of a pilgrim from the first Thanksgiving, but in actuality this is Cullen in a pilgrim costume. Pretty good disguise, huh?

Below: A tree in our yard, from about 2 weeks ago. The leaves are all on the ground now!



Yes, these pictures are belated and so is this Thanksgiving post. We are thankful, however, for many things... For Jesus Christ and the good news we call the gospel--that God was, is, and will be with us forever, and that in Jesus our sins are forgiven and we are declared sons and daughters of God. For a great son, and for many lessons learned as a family during our journey this past year. And for the chance to see Dr. Kenneth Bock just a few weeks ago--a new round of improvements seems to be taking place for Cullen...

By the way, we've posted a variety of videos on Facebook if you haven't been there recently.

Happy Thanksgiving!