TheBanyanTree: I was a shadow...

[Pam North]

This was so awesome to read Sach!!!  I have goose-bumps and tears in my
eyes!!!  Chelsea is quite the young lady... *of course!* you should be
proud!!!!  And please pass my pride along to her as well!!!

You done good mom!!!  :-)

Pam


On 1/22/06, Sachet <sachet at alltel.net> wrote:
>
> My daughter, Chelsea (19), has asked me to come to work and shadow her
> for the last few months. She's worked part-time as an Applied Behavior
> Analysis tutor since last May while going to college. Our schedules
> finally meshed on Friday and she told me arrive at 11:45am so that I
> could shadow the last fifteen minutes of one session and thirty minutes
> of the next before I had to leave for a 1pm appointment of my own.
>
> Each tutoring session is between one tutor and one student for an hour
> and a half. When I arrived I found her in a corner of one of the rooms
> with 9 year old "David". He was sitting in a chair with his shoes and
> socks off and she was on her knees beside him.  About every 30 seconds
> she would take his socks, put them in his hands and calmly tell him to
> put his socks on. Between prompts she turned to greet me and told me
> that she'd been in a stand-off with David for 45 minutes. Which sounds
> bad, but is actually pretty good, because a few months ago, David and
> one of the male tutors were in a stand-off for four and a half hours. I
> was hoping that this wasn't going to be one of those days, but
> fortunately David has made great progress in so many areas of his life.
> He's highly intelligent and very strong-willed, so some days he can
> still be quite a challenge if he chooses not to be cooperative over
> things that he's already mastered. You have to have a sense of humor. I
> turned away for a mere second to glance around the room and the next
> thing I know David is running through the door, down the hall and
> Chelsea is giving chase. She calmly returned him to the chair and
> repeated the prompts. After one more minor tussle, David finally
> complied by putting on one sock. Wow, the praise reigned down and he
> smiled. With more prompting he put on the other sock and then his shoes.
> Lots more praise and he was then encouraged to choose something from his
> PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) book. His book is
> jam-packed with pictures since is ability to communicate via his PECS
> book has escalated in the past few months. It took him 8 months to learn
> to use one picture and he now has over 100 in his book. He flipped
> through it so fast, chose one and off we went outside for a ride in the
> wagon. After a few more exchanges it was time for lunch. My respect for
> my daughter grew even greater as I watched how she interacted with him
> and his eager responses.
>
>
> http://abcofnc.org/
>
> If you click on the link, then on "news" and scroll down to "Ricky" you
> will see a picture of an adorable 7 year old boy. I got to meet him
> Friday since he was the student for the 2nd session. Chelsea adores him
> and she wanted to make sure that I got to meet her favorite student. For
> the first seven years of his life he has never been able to speak. Two
> months ago he formed his first word and continues to add more to his
> list each week. On Friday, he said my name! I was so excited!!!! We all
> cheered for him. This is just one small example of the happiness that
> you FEEL pervading every corner of the center.
>
> As I leaning against the wall, watching Chelsea and Ricky, another tutor
> and 3 year old Heather walked by. Heather stopped, looked up at me and
> smiled. When I bent down to bring my face to her level, she climbed up
> in my lap and laid her head on my shoulder. I melted as I hugged her
> close. Chelsea told me she doesn't usually do that. I felt about ten
> feet tall.
>
> Some of Chelsea's friends and family think that her job must be terribly
> depressing when actually it's the exact opposite. Yes, the children are
> autistic and yes, we all wish they could talk, laugh and communicate at
> a "normal" level. But the center is filled with such busy happiness that
> there is no time to be sad nor the slightest inclination. Every
> accomplishment, no matter how minute, is fulsomely praised, toys that
> stimulate communication are everywhere and every single child is
> learning to communicate in new ways that bring blessed relief,
> much-needed encouragement and indescribable joy to their families.
>
> I now have a much deeper appreciation and respect for what my daughter
> does at her job.
>
>
> ...Sachet
>
>
>
>