Holly Vick is the mother of five children, including her youngest, twin boys who have autism.
They are 17 now, but were diagnosed as toddlers, so Holly has been navigating services for many years and brings a long-term parent perspective on growth, challenges and progress.
Jordache Starr, Chief Clinical Officer at Affinity Autism Services, began working with Holly's boys as a behavior technician when they were just three years old.
She connected with the family years later after she became a BCBA in 2017.
We talked with Holly and Jordache about ABA or Applied Behavior Analysis therapy that has helped the boys.
ABA helps individuals with autism learn important life skills such as communication, social interaction, and independence by breaking those skills into small, teachable steps.
Holly says ABA Therapy helped her sons achieve their goals. " It's very personalized, so even with my boys being identical twins, they were working on different goals. They're their own person, and it gives us parents tools to manage our daily lives and continue the routine between clinic services and at home," she says.
Holly's advice to other parents of children of autism is to be patient and celebrate life's little wins. She describes the journey as a roller coaster where you'll have hard times, but you'll back up again.
As a clinician, Jordache says autism awareness means working together to ensure individuals with autism have access to quality care, meaningful opportunities, and a path towards independence.
"To me, it means making sure individuals with autism and their families feel seen, supported, and given every opportunity to succeed," says Jordache.
You can learn more at affinityautism.com.
