By: lanora king

“moving the needle” is good way to describe moving forward. i would like to see that along with the a.b.a the professionals understand what causes the meltdowns. as with my daughter i had to understand why she would get upset. why she would put knots on her head from hitting her head on the wall. learn her every sound to understand her. no sign language would work as she would not look at you or let you touch her hands or touch you in any way. she would not point or show what she wanted. she is 22 and has changed so much through the years. i can tell you that understanding her made a huge difference in the way she reacts everyday. like if i am too busy to understand she wants something she gets really angry. i have learned to talk her out of her screaming fits by telling her to take some deep breaths and she comes out of it. nobody taught me this. i had to learn by instinct and wish i could sit with some of the children for a day and help their family understand what they are trying to say and what they like and how to get them to show they understand when you talk to them or about them. my daughter lights up her eyes and her smile is amazing when i get what she wants. singing to her has been therapy in another way. i thought my daughter was lost forever but i can see there is a individual with emotions and wants to talk so bad to say what she wants. she cannot talk but she is humming to me and she gets me and her dad to sing with her and laughs when we repeat her. sometimes will pick up where we stop. amazing! i love my daughter and she has taught me so much.