Thoughtful Minds Academy

As I was pre- warned to be selective about ABA therapist because if one is strictly following ABA's book, the therapy session is expected to be robotic and ineffective for some ASDs.

I am glad that we met Mr Samuel whom has been professional trained in ABA and is flexible enough to adjust his approach to suit the needs for Joe. 

 

With puberty kicking in, I have seen so much of challenging behavior in Joe. Fortunately, John is equipped with not only hands on experiences dealing with teenagers and youth with ASD, he is passionate about helping them to progress and to live their life with dignity. 

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Some of the proud moments I wish to highlight are:

1. Food program

Joe has been a picky eater whom has stopped eating rice for 7 years and only left with chicken, potatoes and pumpkin as his staple food. John started a food program for Joe. Within less than 8 therapy hours, he started eating rice. As he progresses, he started trying other food like bread, pizza, spaghetti, noodles etc which results in our family meal time enjoyable and stressless for everyone. 

2. Cutting hair 

Due to his intolerant to hair cutting, I stopped taking him for hair cut since he was 5 years old. I have resorted to be a night barber to cut his hair within 30 min when he falls asleep. Most of the time, it took several days to complete cutting his hair and the cycle repeated every few months as his hair grew long, failing of which, he would be irritated by his eczema. 

John started his hair cutting program with Joe using scissor, just like all his previous therapists whom have tried for months but not successful. John suggested to try hair shaver, despite our objection as Joe was traumatized by the equipment, John insisted to give it a try. Within 4 therapy hours, John has managed to cut Joe's hair completely. 

3. Cutting nails

Similar to hair cutting, I could only cut Joe's nail when he was sleeping and this weekly night nails cutting activity was crucial failing of which, Joe would started scratching his skin and most of the time I need to use medication to help reducing his eczema. 

Within 4 therapy hours, Joe's nails was able to be cut when he is awake. John continues working with Joe now to teach him to cut his own nails. 

Education is a partnership between educator and family. John is willing to spend time listening to us and understand our needs then custom made his approaches to suit Joe's needs and keep adjusting his approaches as he thinks suit. This is crucial for any therapy sessions to be effective and beneficial.

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