Monday
June 24, 2002
10:46 p.m.

Today was such a hectic day. Kyle started summer school today and the transition went fairly smooth. Jim and I have been preparing him for this for almost three days now, so he seemed to be ready to go. Kyle was quite eager to see Gina and Karla (his teachers) today. He also got really excited when he saw Heather (his SLP) today. I am so happy that these people work so well with Kyle. I will never be able to express my gratitude toward them. Heather and I discussed Kyle’s Discrete Trial Training today. We were just discussing how much he has progressed since Jim and I discovered DTT. Before DTT, Kyle’s behavior was so bad and his communication skills were very poor. I was just tired of keeping him on his medications for his behavior. When he was on Risperdal, he stayed so lethargic and gained so much weight (Tierney, 2002). When he wasn’t on medications though, he bit people, kicked and hit, pulled hair, and went into screaming fits a lot. To be honest, I was ashamed and embarrassed to take him out in public. He was a walking time-bomb, Jim and I never knew when he was going to go off. I think that DTT has given Kyle the structure he needs to maintain routine and it has given Jim and I control, which we so desperately needed. We both agree that what’s most important is having Kyle’s behavior under control so that he may flourish in other areas of his being (e.g.--communication abilities, cognitive abilities, etc.). I think Heather even said today that it's important to have his behavior under control so that Kyle can be an active participant in therapy. With DTT we have seen such awesome results in his behavior and in his learning. This is what works for us and we are not alone in thinking it is a good technique.

Mary

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