This active little guy is Brookson. When he was only 18 months old he was struggling with painful social anxiety and wasn’t talking much at all. He didn’t even point at things and he really got upset if he had to go anywhere with his family. He was even anxious about having people come to his home.
The Kids Who Count team began by coming to the family’s home once a week and helping Brookson feel comfortable interacting with them. At first, it was challenging to help him acknowledge Katie, the Kids Who Count Autism Services Specialist, and Koaly, the Kids Who Count Child Development Specialist. In the beginning, Brookson would hide or go in a different room when they came. But after working with him and helping him start to communicate by signing, he would get so excited for their visits.
“We could always tell how much the Kids Who Count team truly wanted to help and we knew that they truly cared for Brookson and our family. They cared about our needs,” Brookson’s mother, Arrianne, said. “We absolutely loved both Katie and Koaly and are so so very grateful for all they have done for Brookson and our family!”
Now he absolutely loves it when people come over to their house. “He actually goes to the door when they knock and acknowledges their presence in our home,” Arrianne said. “He is fine now to go to others’ homes as well and does great when we leave him.”
Now Brookson’s parents are much more confident and they know how to help Brookson improve his speech and communication.
“We are on a great path to continue to help Brookson improve and learn and have been exposed to so many great resources for him and for us as well,” Arrianne, said.
Although Brookson is still mostly non-verbal, he has come so far in the last year and a half. He is babbling much more than he ever did before and is learning to sign. Instead of whining and getting upset, he now makes a “ba” sound when he wants more of something.
“It is amazing to look at where Brookson was when we first signed him up at Kids Who Count and now that he has graduated from the program and moved on to pre-kindergarten,” Arianne said. “He has so much more personality and WANTS to be in the room with everyone else!”
“We couldn’t have done all that we have without this program! We are so very grateful for everything!”
We are looking forward to helping more kids like Brookson. Kids who count is expanding its services to include applied behavior analysis (ABA) services for children with autism spectrum disorder, as well as those struggling with behavioral deficits. Call us at 801.423.3000 for more information.
