ABA

One of the great things for our family about my job at Microsoft is the benefits package.  The health insurance is a high deductible plan, but once you meet the deductible everything is covered.  This year we met the deductible by the end of the 2nd week of January.  And of special importance for Middle Son, there is a benefit for ABA therapy (although unlike the health plan, it does have a 10% copay).

It took a while to get the written referrals, sort through various service providers, etc.  We selected an agency that does lots of work with older kids and works on the entire family system rather than simply doing discrete trial work with the child.  

We have a program manager who we are meeting with, and in a few weeks Middle's behavior tech (the term they use for the person who actually works with the child) will start one on one work with him.

Middle hasn't had this kind of therapy since before the Mother of my Children and I got divorced almost 7 years ago.  It wasn't particularly effective for him at the time.  In some ways at that time he was almost a feral child.  When I look back at some of my oldest posts it's amazing how far he has come.  Living with me, in a household that is much more structured and orderly made a big difference for him.  The first nanny I hired did a tremendous job--she's the one who got him toilet training.  My Beloved Wife is fantastic with him, she's gotten him to do things I couldn't get him to do.

I hope and think that the ABA therapy will be much more effective now than it was in the past.