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Transition 18yrs+

Noah’s story

Growing up and dealing with the different situations life throws can be challenging, especially if you are growing up with autism. An ABA programme focused on behaviour support helps Noah experience the world,.

After his father suffered a serious medical event, Noah’s family needed some additional help. Noah has epilepsy and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). He is a happy, joyful 18 year old who enjoys life and has grown up within a strong family unit of Mum, Dad and a younger sibling. During Dad’s recovery, and working closely with their social worker, the family approached Beam to provide an Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) programme for Noah.

“He really looks forward to each Beam session. And, for us having an extended team we trust to match our own strategies whilst also offering us support on new techniques is invaluable.”

“We have always worked as a team when parenting both our children,” says Dad. “For Noah anyone we bring into the team needs to work collaborative with us and other members such as his tutors. This consistency helps Noah and reduces the times he can exhibit explosive behaviour.” Noah likes to follow predetermined routines, finds some noises and smells overwhelming and can become anxious when expected activities are altered.

ABA sessions were arranged on weekends and after college during the week. In the evening sessions the programme focused on developing skills to help in the home and to increase independence. At the weekends Noah did what he loved most, being out and about. “These sessions were an opportunity to manage behaviour in a social setting, and also to encourage Noah to be less rigid about the way he accesses places he knows, with the aim of building his confidence so that he feels less anxiety or anger,” explains his supervisor.

Six months into the programme, Dad has recovered well and Noah is happily engaging with the ABA programme. The frequency of challenging behaviour has dropped significantly from up to six times within a two week period to a single episode in the same timeframe. During home sessions Noah has been focusing on helping prepare food, doing errands for himself and his parents and being independent in his daily routines. During weekend trips, the team go to new places and vary the experience of those he has already visited.

“Often we take the long-way-around as Noah enjoys the journey itself and we plan different routes and to see different things. He is now self-monitoring his behaviour and involved in planning what we will do in a session and where we might go,” ends his supervisor. “The team have opened up Noah’s world,” says Dad. “He really looks forward to each Beam session. And, for us having an extended team we trust to match our own strategies whilst also offering us support on new techniques is invaluable.”