I just got done interviewing Kelsey, who is a single mom of two young boys, both diagnosed
with autism.
It was a great interview, it's going to be on MaryBarbera.com/3, which is my third podcast.
I just thought I would shoot a quick video blog to tell you some of her insights.
Hi, I'm Dr. Mary Barbera, autism mom, board certified behavior analyst, and bestselling
author.
I give you weekly video blogs to help you learn strategies to help you turn autism around,
so if you haven't subscribed to my YouTube channel, you can do that now.
As I said, I just got done interviewing Kelsey General who is ... has been in my online courses
and community.
She now serves as a community manager for my online community.
She has been with us for about two years, since her son Brentley was diagnosed with
autism, and she was on a mission to try to learn how to help him.
She, in the podcast, told us that when Brentley was young, he had severe problem behaviors
like banging on his head on hard surfaces, out in the community, she'd need a leash and
a harness.
She also had a new baby when he was 18 months old, and so, she was really trying to keep
both her babies safe and she was having a very difficult time.
She talked about how the week after the diagnosis of Brentley, she was in Alaska and she moved
back to Canada where she was from.
That's so many stressors all at the same time.
Then she had to wait some more, after she waited a year for that diagnosis, she had
to wait some more for therapy to start, for funding to be approved for three months.
Once funding was approved, she had to drive Brentley an hour each way for therapy.
Unfortunately, the clinic that he was going to had goals that were too high and too different
from what he needed, he wasn't learning.
They were trying to teach him things like colors and he didn't even know how to request
things or how to match or do imitation, some prerequisite skills.
He also was, like I said, banging his head on hard surfaces and just really exhibiting
dangerous behaviors.
Kelsey also, in the interview, shared with us that when she started to notice that her
younger son Lincoln might have a diagnosis or might have autism too, she put him on a
waiting list and that took a full year for him to be diagnosed as well.
Through my online courses in the beginning, and then she hired a behavior analyst and
a small team in her local area, she's been able to learn how to be her sons' best teacher
and the best advocate of them.
Since she's single, she needed to go back to work, so she went back to work as a behavior
interventionist, working with kids that are older than her sons with different needs.
She has a lot of insight about crossing that parent to professional, and she hopes to one
day become a behavior analyst as well, which I am sure she will do and I'm sure she'll
be great at that.
I think overall, it just shows us that parents can learn how to help their kids, and that
no matter where you're from in the world or where you're living or what kind of funding
you have or don't have, you can learn different strategies to really help make your situation
better.
Kelsey's a lot more hopeful now for the future for her kids and herself, and she's just putting
one foot in front of the other.
She knows that she's the captain of the ship and if everyone else disappears, she will
still be able to persevere and to help her boys.
Brentley and Lincoln are now doing well, they're four and a half and three years old.
Brentley no longer requires a harness or a leash, he's in canoes, sitting in the front,
leaning over, he's totally safe.
He's climbing mountains.
Both boys are talking.
Brentley's talking in short phrases and Lincoln is talking ... she said he went from not talking
at all to talking in like full sentences.
She definitely still has her hands full, but she's doing a great job, and she's a good
model to show us that autism can be turned around, can be helped, and no matter what
your kid's challenges are, there can be improvement.
It was a great interview.
If you'd like to hear the whole podcast, I would love it if you would go to MaryBarbera.com/3,
and there you can listen to my interview with Kelsey.
You may want to also listen to all the other podcasts that are available at the time that
this video blog airs.
I would really love it if you would subscribe to my podcast, share it, leave me a review
and a rating, and help me spread the word that we can help kids with autism.
The podcast is for both parents and professionals, and I hope you will love the information brought
to you on a weekly basis.
If you liked this video, leave me a comment here and share it.
I will see you right here next week.