Our child was diagnosed with autism and she has received ABA therapy at Pacific Learning Center since February.

Before starting the ABA therapy, she used to go to one of local international preschools in Tokyo. She also used to do training with a speech therapist once a week. Though she had some chances to be with some typical children at the preschool for totally two years, her speaking skill was not improved more than we though it would be. She didn’t seem to show her interests to play with other children in her class very much there.

The changes we could see in her since she started some therapies at Pacific Leaning Center.

We can see her trying to communicate with others using some functional words though she has just started the ABA therapy.

• Before having ABA therapy, she usually ran to the bathroom saying ‘toilet’ without seeking attention. Now she will request to use the toilet while gaining attention and waiting for a response.
• She said ‘mama’ to me for the first time after having 2 months ABA therapy. I usually helped her with saying ‘mama’ to me when I saw her trying to get some attention from me.
• She says ‘it hurt’ when she gets hurt. She can also show me what part of her body hurts her. She had never told me when she got hurt. When I asked her what hurt her, she seemed like she didn’t even understand the meaning of the question.
• She could button only the ones on her pajamas before. She can button some smaller ones well.

I’ve found that it is possible for children with autism could be improved if they had taught properly. It is very important for each one of them to get level appropriate therapies. I don’t know how much parents would be happy to have early intervention and well planned treatment system for young children with autism. I strongly hope that parents will get better financial support system in a near future.

My daughter will continue ABA therapy for learning many skills to have happy life in a society in a future.