Help Holden - ABA Therapy Fund

Hi Friends! Thanks for visiting our page. In April of 2010, Holden was diagnosed with severe autism.  Thanks to early childhood interventions, private therapies, school and his wonderful family, he has made some amazing progress. Unfortunately, he is struggling significantly in kindergarten. In order to help Holden build a strong foundation, we have decided to consult with Behavior Care Specialists so he can received Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.

A private insurance plan just for Holden will cover a large portion of the costs, however, there are many additional costs that will be a struggle for our family to afford. This GoFundMe is to help offset the costs to give Holden the chance to receive this life changing therapy.

Here's some basic info on ABA:

Applied Behavior Analysis is the most common-and only proven- method used to treat Autism. ABA has been shown to be an effective means of intervention for both Autism Spectrum Disorders and other developmental disabilities. The ABA approach teaches social, motor, and verbal behaviors as well as reasoning skills. ABA teaches these skills through use of careful behavioral observation and positive reinforcement or prompting to teach each step of a skill. Generally, ABA involves extensive time spent in therapy (20-40 hours per week) and supervision by experienced clinical supervisors, Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and/or a Clinical Psychologist.

The primary goal of intervention is for children gain the skills necessary to learn in the natural environment alongside other children. Children progress through different phases of programming to accomplish this goal. Initial programming emphasizes skills such as imitation, requesting, following simple instructions, and acquiring verbal imitation. Programming advances to teach early abstract concepts and responses to questions (initially one-word answers). Further programming emphasizes talking in complete sentences, learning skills more quickly, and beginning to seek out more elaborate interactions with others. Programming develops to a level in which skills are eventually taught in a less formal format, more typical of everyday life. Questions typically require more than one response and more than one answer is possible. The child learns to balance leading play and cooperating with others. Finally, programming evolves to facilitate two of the most important factors in life: learning in a group and making friends.

Early intensive behavioral intervention has been proven to have the potential to produce great outcomes. With early intervention, up to 50% of children diagnosed with Autism, pervasive developmental disorders and related developmental disorders have been able to achieve normal educational and intellectual functioning by 7 years of age. These children have been mainstreamed into regular classrooms and have advanced successfully through the school system without additional assistance. They also can appear indistinguishable from their peers in measures of social and emotional functioning. For children who do not reach the level of typically-developing peers, their overall skill levels and quality of life is typically greatly improved through participation in Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention. (http://www.behaviorcarespecialists.com/methods.php)