Our son, Brayden Michael Morath, was born December 4, 2013. Brayden was a healthy, happy baby meeting all milestones for the majority of the first year of his life. Around his first birthday, Brayden became sick with the flu and was due for his 1 year shots/vaccines, which included MMR, DTAP, Hepatitis B, and Varicella. Even though my husband, Ryan, and I were uneasy about giving Brayden this many shots at once, we allowed the vaccinations. We struggled as I believe all parents struggle when making a decision that can have a negative impact on the health of a child. The shots after all are expected and we had already been through a baby’s first stages of life, with Brayden’s older brother, Luke; why should it be any different?

Almost immediately, Ryan and I began to notice a fog that settled over Brayden. We started noticing different behaviors such as staring off into space and watching the television upside down. He stopped babbling/talking; everything stopped. In fact, it felt as though his progress was digressing. When Brayden was about 15 months old, we had visited his pediatrician. We were told that we would need to visit a specialist that could answer more in-depth questions about Brayden. As a mother, I knew something was not right. We were sent to a specialist that analyzed Brayden. While Brayden wouldn’t be officially labeled “autistic” until the age of 3, this is what we were up against. Brayden participated in Early Childhood Intervention (ECI), which we felt did not seem to help much. We were feeling lost as parents and unsure of what our child needed. We continued down this path until Brayden reached age 3, when he was then diagnosed with autism.

At this point, we had to decide what we were going to do about school. Our only choice was to place Brayden in the public school system. As time went on, we felt like progress wasn’t being made, even with incorporated therapies which were few and far between. The therapies Brayden was receiving were an hour away, 2 times a week. There was still no understanding of how to move forward with Brayden. We were desperate after realizing there is a lack of resources and people that are truly knowledgeable in the field of autism, especially working with a child that is non-verbal like Brayden. I felt like Brayden was placed in a daycare type situation rather than a school where he would learn and experience progress essential to human development.

After 3 years, we discovered Esmerelda Simpson, head of Amarillo Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Clinic. Mrs. Simpson recommended that we bring Brayden to the ABA clinic for an assessment. After the assessment, we were told Brayden was severe and the recommendation was for Brayden to attend full time, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. At the time, we lived 2 hours away from Amarillo with 2 other children at home, making it nearly impossible to meet this recommendation. Ryan and I made the decision to move to Amarillo so that Brayden could receive the help that he so desperately needed. Since the move, Brayden works with a team of 5 or 6 behavior specialists the entire time he is at the clinic. ABA therapy has been life been changing for Brayden and for our entire family. We believe that ABA therapy is crucial for children with autism because the public school system is not equipped or staffed to meet the challenges of children on all levels autism spectrum.

The ABA professionals immediately placed Brayden on a program that was specific to his needs. Since then, the team of specialists at the Amarillo ABA Clinic, along with Brayden’s family and friends have worked to help Brayden meet and exceed milestone goals. He is potty trained, eating a healthy diet, and working with a word system that helps him to communicate, since he is still non-verbal. The ABA specialists work with our family in our home setting and also in social settings, such as church. Because of the large spectrum children with autism, it is difficult for people in social settings to understand the needs of these children without some kind of training. The ABA specialists take time to work with us as a family so that we are integrating the same routines as Brayden experiences at the clinic. What we have learned about Brayden is that it is crucial for him as well as other autistic children to stay on a routine.

The behavior specialists at Amarillo ABA Clinic meet with us quarterly to go over Brayden’s progress and goals for success to consistently meet his needs and to stay on track moving forward. This has certainly changed my son’s quality of life and his future. We as a family have been blessed to have Brayden in a place that continues to work with him day in and day out to help him be able to function in society. We know without a doubt that without ABA that Brayden would not be experiencing the growth and development he is experiencing today. We are confident that Brayden will continue to meet developmental milestones and has a better chance of learning how to live independently in society with the structure of these therapies. Our hopes and prayers are that Brayden and other children with autism can continue to have the care from trained behavior specialists.

Ryan and Shay Morath