Kindergarten with his peer group.  ABA Academy

changed the course of our son’s future, and that of

our family.

We were held captive because of our son’s negative

behavior. ABA therapy was the solution to changing

those patterns that were keeping him from

interacting safely with others. We are so thankful

we chose ABA Academy!”

When you look at me, you look at me…

It’s not just a stare;

You look at me to let me know,

Let me know that you’re there.

Your eyes are so bright they sparkle,

And your smile so full of hope;

Just a reminder that God is alive

And our struggles, we can cope.

Your 3 to 4 word sentences

Is how you let me know,

That although we have work to do,

You’re here to run the show.

You’re five today

So healthy, strong and tall.

My baby girl, oh baby girl

I love you most of all.

Today is a good day

As I hear you say,

“My name is Brooklyn,

And I am 5 today”.

For it was just one year ago

That I bought you a cake,

And you stared at it blankly,

Wow, that made my heart break.

But as you look at me today,

It’s not just a stare.

You look at me to let me know,

Let me know that you’re there.

I love you brookie.

—Fran

From the moment I spoke to the incredibly kind and supportive administrative staff, I knew that this was a special place.  The staff was sincerely engaged with each child and family that walked through the door.  Parents were welcome and encouraged to observe all aspects of their child’s therapy.  The open-door policy for parents reflects a deep insight into the unique relationship parents serve as caregivers of a child with autism.  We are the therapists at home and in the community.  Nancy Wagner empowers parents to learn and implement the behavior strategies that will help their child and their families cope with everyday life.

At the time we began therapy at the ABA Academy, our son had no pragmatic or functional language, no imitative behaviors and severe behaviors involving five or more significant tantrums per day.  At that point in our lives, I felt like we were victims of the wreckage of autism.  I saw entire days and weeks lost to my child’s disorder and associated behaviors.  I was lost in the confusion and pain of what seemed to be a treacherous landscape of emotional landmines surrounding our family.  It was in this state of desperation and with a large leap of faith that we began to make the weekly journey of 350 miles to the ABA Academy in Arlington, TX.

After 3 months of coming to the ABA Academy, my son had developed over 100 imitative behaviors and his pragmatic language was exploding.  I was quickly losing count of how many spontaneous incidents of language we were hearing each day.  The behaviors and general compliance had improved dramatically due to the behavior techniques used at the center and imitated, to the best of our ability, at home.  I learned how to structure our days around natural reinforcement and pair difficult activities and tasks with powerful incentive.  A whole world of possibilities opened up for us.

After 6 months of coming to the ABA Academy, I began to truly know my son.  As the therapists peeled back his behaviors, his thoughts, joys, interests and many strengths flooded to the surface.  For the very first time, I shared a connection with my son that felt reciprocal and mutually joyful.  He began doing things that I had despaired might never happen at the time of his diagnosis.  A child who at 3 ½ had never asked a question and did not even consistently respond to his own name, now had the language to ask questions, answer them and discuss a topic with amateur flexibility.  The verbal behavior program created for my son developed the foundation for his organization of language.  Through reinforcement of each word and skill, he rapidly developed a vocabulary that allowed him greater access to the outside world.  As he learned the words for new objects and actions, his interest in other topics and types of play increased exponentially.  The child who at 3 ½ could not clap his hands or wave, had learned the hand motions to several songs and could imitate most everything his therapists asked of him.  This led directly to play skills and to other realms of learning.  His play skills, specifically reinforced through ABA and a modified “floortime” approach, began to expand and allowed me to enter into this play.  Because I had been included in my child’s therapy, I was able to apply the concepts I learned each week into our daily lives and routine at home and in public.  The result was nothing short of miraculous.  My son’s personality and very soul seemed to blossom as we learned how to help him overcome his most difficult behaviors and provided reinforcement for learning foundational skills to engage the world around him.

None of this would have been possible without the unique skills, background and mind of Nancy Wagner, a true genius in the art of designing and applying behavior therapy.  Nancy is an expert in ABA, but she also incorporates functional academic skills as well as elements of other methodologies that she has found to be successful such as Floortime and Relationship Development Intervention.  Nancy is also a supremely gifted and intuitive therapist and is so dedicated to each and every child in her practice that she personally develops and tailors each program.  Incredibly, she also works with each child every week in order to monitor the program and the child’s progress or to demonstrate a new trial to another therapist.  I often watched in amazement as Nancy worked with my son late on a Friday afternoon, displaying as much sincere enthusiasm and energy as if he were her first client on Monday morning.  I have personally observed over one dozen Board Certified Behavior Analysts and half a dozen ABA centers in four different cities and two different states in the course of my son’s treatment.  Not one person or center has come close to providing the quality of therapy that we received at that ABA Academy from June 2009 – March 2010.

The therapists at the ABA Academy showed me that our days were not lost to autistic behaviors.  This was an incredible revelation to me as a mother.  Learning about the science of behavior, the power of reinforcement and the factors that influence behavior completely altered the way I perceived autism and its associated behaviors and symptoms.  Observing the skilled therapists at the center work with my son through his most difficult behaviors and teach him new skills gave me back hope in my son’s future.  By some miracle, the staff at the ABA Academy not only served my son with the requisite therapy and interventions, they also supported me in my role as a mother of a child with autism with exceeding compassion and kindness that was an immense support to me and our entire family.  They became like extended family, a place where we were welcomed and supported, where our son was growing and progressing, and we were learning how to heal him and our own hearts.

Since our first visit to the ABA Academy, I have watched my son grow from an obstinate, irrationally rigid, volatile child into a creative, expressive, cooperative, self-confident and joyful human being.  At the writing of this testimonial, he is on track to enter kindergarten in a general education setting and requires only minor supports in the classroom.  At home, we have had the joy of watching our son’s personality bloom and building a lasting relationship with him.  We know that there will continue to be challenges related to our his autism, but we have great hope for the future and given the tools we have learned are determined to peel back the obstacles that stand in the way of his leading a healthy, happy and meaningful life.

It is impossible to overstate the significance and impact the ABA Academy and Nancy Wagner have had on our lives.  Not only did our child make tremendous progress in that setting and overcome significant obstacles to experiencing a full life, I learned how to be the mother of a child with autism within the walls of that center.  We are eternally grateful to the extraordinary efforts, skill, dedication and compassion administered by the ABA Academy staff.  You are and will always be in our hearts and minds.  –Susie J

-Amy R.

Our unique preschool focuses on preparation for a mainstream classroom environment:

• Group skills such as circle, craft and snack time
• Transition between activities
• Interaction with teachers and peers
• Developmentally appropriate play skills
• Work toward independent participation
• Reduce fear and sensory barriers
• Christian curriculum

Our next session begins soon. Call Gisela at 817-277-8870 for information today!

Mission: To provide a safe and fun outdoor adventure day
for families of children with special needs by allowing
opportunities of discovery and shared experiences involving
the entire family.

Our 2011 date is to be announced….

The camp will provide counselors to guide us through this incredible experience.  Kids will have the freedom to explore and participate in exciting outdoor activities, both individually and with others in a team-building format.

You will be able to register online through the camp’s website at a later date. For planning purposes, here is the fee schedule:
$50 Family up to 5
$45 2 Adults, 1 Child
$40 1 Adult, 2 Children
$30 1 Adult, 1 Child

I was thrilled and a wave of sadness came over me as if mourning a feeling I am very familiar with. I think with autism, parents mourn the loss of speech, childhood, friends, birthdays, school events, independence, safety, and the loss of your child telling you what happened in school today even to answer a simple question of “where did that bruise come from?” And the guessing game of trying to figure out what is wrong when they are sick and did someone mistreat them in school that day. I felt sad because Sam could have been receiving the help he needed and has not received until now.

In just a few short hours of therapy at ABA Academy, under the talented hand of Nancy Wagner and her team of therapists, Sam is responding and making substantial leaps of progress like dressing himself (yea!), asking a for a drink – answering a question with a yes or no – pushing the shopping cart around the grocery store without any help – acquiring vocabulary bit by bit – gaining confidence and acquiring self-confidence. These things seem simple until you don’t have them. As a parent I live in torment of the future and what my child may encounter… my imagination can be brutal. To me the need for his continued therapy at ABA Academy is self-evident without going into tormenting detail of what his future would be without it.

–Paige