Early Intervention (EI) was a huge struggle for Greyson in the beginning. We had 2 therapists, one DI (Developmental Interventionist) and one OT (Occupational Therapist). Our OT was fantastic, she had so much experience and I felt super comfortable with her and Greyson.She became a huge support for me when I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning, as Autism was very new to me. Anytime we had therapy, and we talked, she lit this fire in me that I really needed at the time cause that’s how I got through, that’s where a lot of my motivation came from, along with always wanting to help Greyson the best I could.
The DI we had I thought was great for a while, until there were things I didn’t agree with. Greyson was 18 months at this time, and she would say things like he looks to me too much for comfort, etc… I thought to myself this doesn’t seem right, he’s still a baby, he doesn’t even understand what you’re doing. I believed her though since she was the professional and I figured she knew best. After I started backing up that’s when Greyson’s behavior changed. He started screaming more and getting louder and just having a really tough time in every area all of a sudden. She would make him sit there and watch her color, he would try and grab the crayon, and she would say not yet, you watch me color. But all of that was minor compared to what came next. She then started to strap him in his highchair. During this time I didn’t know that wasn’t allowed. Again, she was supposedly the professional.
A few sessions went by about 2-3 times after this started she reached out to Early Intervention and told them what she was doing all on her own. EI told her it’s not allowed, they said we are natural family therapy, meaning if they walk in and Greyson is Playing with something, then that’s what they will do. They are not to be strapped down whatsoever. She in turn told them she has been doing this since the 80s and will not be told how to do her job. they insistenly took her off our case. Right after that she then told the she wanted the card and hat back that she gave Greyson for his birthday. Now that I could not believe, how could you take a gift off a child that you gave something to. Mind you I bought toys for her students to use brand new because she was also a kindergarten teacher and said the kids didn’t have a lot. I never asked for the money for these things, that was something I wanted to do for the children. That week when she came to pick her stuff up I put it outside, and Greyson and I left the house till she came and went. I didn’t want to see her at all or even want the confrontation.
We then got a new DI, who was absolutely fantastic. Greyson really took to him and that’s all that mattered, plus he was a man and had the strength to throw Greyson around, which he loves. EI was a huge struggle for Greyson after that, he no longer could handle even the slightest demands, he had no receptive language whatsoever and simply did not want to work. Greyson would constantly escort them to the door so they would leave. We pretty much had to start all over from the beginning . That was probably the hardest and most discouraging thing to go through. We worked so hard, however starting over, we were really able to build and teach Greyson more in the end. Greyson was aging out in a few months so we took it a little easier for him, until we couldn’t really couldn’t do much, that’s when our ABA journey started.
