Family Stories
The Farris Family
My son David, now age 8, was diagnosed with autism at age 4. I knew very early on that something was not right. He did not speak any words by age 2, not even mommy or daddy (which was so very heartbreaking). I also have a brother who probably has autism (although at that time, the early 60’s, they did not have that diagnosis), so I recognized some of the traits my brother exhibited in my son and knew something was not quite right. My husband and I then sought out special education and David started PPI at 2 _ and stayed in special education until he was 4. He did well in special education, but the greatest thing that ever happened for us is when we met Nicole Beurkens.
We started out with Nicole when David was about 4. At first it was camp for children with autism as well as some Occupational Therapy, but when David turned 6 Nicole introduced us to a new program called RDI® which she said would not just teach David scripted ways of interacting with people etc., but would treat the actual core deficits of his autism. We jumped at the chance. I finally had hope that David would grow up and be able to live “normally” and not have to struggle as my brother has all of his life.
We have been in the RDI® program for almost 3 years. When he started the program, he was a very impulsive little guy, very busy, talkative, and rarely would stop to listen or actually interact with us or anyone else. I must admit at times it was very disconcerting being talked at by my son all of the time and longed for an actual one on one shared interaction.
Within the first 6 months of RDI® Rae (my husband) and I noticed definite changes in David. For one, he started to reference us more (look toward us) to see our reactions to things, such as something funny on T.V. or to something he may have made etc. He actually wanted to share his experience with us. It actually got to the point where he would take my face and make me look to where he was looking. Well, this was something David had never done before; needless to say we were so thrilled and became more convinced we were on the right path.
After that, David started making gradual changes. He began to notice things around him. Before, he was in his own little world and seemed to go in a straight line, but over the past 3 years he has become more aware of others, where they are physically (such as their personal space) and he actually showed interest in what they are doing. Over the past 2 years, he has become more aware of the give and take in relationships, and this shows in his interaction with his peers. Now David has made an actual friend and he is learning to listen to his friend and respond appropriately. He even worries about pleasing his friend, which is something he never worried about 2 years ago. Even more amazing, he has become very sensitive to my feelings and becomes very upset if Mommy is out of sorts.
I also believe that RDI® has helped develop David’s innate sense of humor. He loves to make people laugh and is such a clown. Again, before RDI® David was very self-absorbed, but gradually he has become aware of his effect on people.
Another thing that we have noticed is that David’s level of frustration has decreased over this time. Before he had such a low threshold that if things didn’t go his way he would throw a tantrum, now we can work on a project, make mistakes and the majority of the time he remains calm and at times we even laugh at our mistakes together.
I cannot impress enough on people how much hope this program has given to our family. It has been miraculous for us and I often say that I have no idea what we would do without the support of RDI®, Nicole, and the rest of the team at Horizons.
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