Applied Behaviour Analysis has empowered individuals and their families to develop skills needed to live an inclusive, independent, and fulfilling life. Check out some of those inspiring stories!
View More Videos from Stephanie on ONTABA’s YouTube Channel.
Stephanie B
Stephanie Beatty is a high school teacher in York Region. As an educator who has worked with special needs students, she could tell her baby boy Tucker James – TJ – was not progressing quite as fast as his peers. She suspected he might be autistic.
“At around the age of 18 months we first noticed that TJ was falling short of the published schedules of development,” explains Stephanie. “He was pretty much nonverbal at that age. Our family doctor wanted us to watch and wait. He was hesitant to make any sort of referral but knowing the importance of early identification and intervention I sought out a local children’s treatment network to get a speech language assessment.
View More Videos from Giselle’s on ONTABA’s YouTube Channel.
Giselle Romanino
Giselle Romanino has worked long and hard to support her son Jacob in his journey with autism. He was diagnosed with a developmental delay when he wasn’t meeting his milestones as an infant and finally diagnosed with autism at the age of five.
“The diagnosis was bittersweet,” Giselle laughs. “I was still in denial when I got the diagnosis. It was hard to deal with it because I didn’t know what to do.”
View More Videos from Virigina on ONTABA’s YouTube Channel.
Virginia Mazzone
Watching her son Anthony put on winter gloves by himself for the first time was an emotional moment for Virginia Mazzone-Ahou.
“It was amazing to see him walk down the stairs, go to the door, pick up his shoes, put them on, grab his jacket, put it on, and then put on his winter gloves,” says Virginia. “He did it all without any prompting, without being told, and without any assistance. Literally the day before he was still needing help to do it all. One day everything just clicked, but it was thanks to hours of teaching and learning at ABA therapy.”
View More Videos from Alina on ONTABA’s YouTube Channel.
Alina Cameron
Living in Slate River, just west of Thunder Bay, Alex and Alina Cameron reside in an area where it’s common to come across bears and cougars. Understandably, they always have their daughters Elizabeth, Fiona and Isabelle close to them whenever they’re outside. Fiona, their six-year-old, has autism and requires constant supervision to keep her safe…
Leah Kocmarek
Leah Kocmarek wanted her son Owen to be able to learn to say ‘no’ – to be able to say ‘stop’. Leah wanted this for Owen to help him advocate for himself to keep him safe…
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Brittany
The theme song to Mission Impossible would be pumping inside Brittany Taylor’s head every time she had to take her son Kendrick into a crowded store.
“Kendrick could not cope with certain sounds and it was always a mad dash to go to somewhere like Walmart for groceries,” explains Brittany. “It would be sensory overload for him, which would lead to him hurting himself and eventually an ugly public meltdown.”
Angela Brandt
Long before Angela Brandt became President of the Ontario Autism Coalition, some 16 years ago, she was a first-time mother taking in the diagnosis that her baby boy Misha was autistic.
“It was devastating,” remembers Angela. “The psychologist gave Misha a diagnosis of severe autism and told me that he may never speak. She told me that he may never be potty trained. And worst of all, the final thing she said was he may never recognize me as his mother.”
Karen & Jordan Fasulo
Suicide is a terrifying thought for any parent who has a child struggling with mental health.
It was a startling conversation about suicide that prompted Karen Fasulo into action when her daughter Jordan told her at 12 years old that she was worried that she may take her own life one day.
