I’m Thankful For You: Our BCBA Kelly
(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Tiffanie Bashay and is part of Cooper’s, ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.)
This December I want to honor and thank our BCBA, Kelly Guyot. Kelly has been working with Anthony and our family since November 2015 and I am so thankful she is in our lives.
Our son Anthony is four years old, nonverbal and on the autistic spectrum. He has come a long way since his diagnosis two years ago! Anthony is an only child and he lives at home with his father, Richard and I. Richard is in the United States Public Health Service and works for the Food & Drug Administration. Richard mainly works regular business hours but has to travel every few weeks for work. I worked in Human Resources for nine years before I had Anthony.
I have been a stay-at-home mom for four years and this is the hardest job ever. I manage the household, scheduling, and Anthony’s paperwork. Anthony’s weekly schedule is Chesapeake Public Schools Special Education Pre-K program 3 hours/3 days; private ABA at home with Kelly for 11 hours; center based ABA 4 hours with Mea’Alofa Autism Support Center; and private speech and OT for 1 hour. For recreation he goes to The Little Gym for a sensory friendly class on Fridays for an hour and is in adaptive swim lessons on Sundays with Kelskids.
Anthony is full of energy. Anthony loves to be on the move (he is running across the living room now), his electronics, blocks, being tickled, jumping, letters, bubbles, etc to name a few. He is a stealth when getting a hold of a bottle of liquid. He LOVES bottles and we have not found a replacement for this multiple sensory item for him. He has always enjoyed watching his show Bubble Guppies and his favorite episode currently is number Episode 323: Gobble, gobble, Guppies with the Party Squirrel.
At first we were not getting eye contact, name acknowledgement, sitting, engagement with people, etc. Today, we are getting all of this in some form and awaiting functional speech. Anthony uses an IPad with Proloquo to communicate (working on picking up frequency).
I’m so thankful Kelly was put in our lives! She comes daily during the week and works with Anthony. She is a phone call or a text away if we need more guidance. She has gone to meet the speech therapists and Occupational Therapists that we have had. She really loves to work with children and it shows. We love Kelly and our so thankful for her.
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