Our five-year-old son has Asperger’s. The social and vestibular limitations associated with this diagnosis, in his case, are compounded by an acute emotional imbalance and a range of triggers that are difficult to identify and more difficult to address.
Since his initial meeting with Daniela, he has attained a psychological platform from which he has been able to successfully begin kindergarten in a positive and balanced state of mind. There is no question that for the most part, this is a result of Daniela’s work. And working with Daniela is all about results. POSITIVE results.
Daniela’s rapport with our son was immediate from their initial meeting. It was clear that she was exceptionally warm and charismatic and highly experienced in working with behaviorally challenged children. More significant, however, was the behavior plan that she incorporated for us. She gave us systems that our child loves working with (checklists for daily routines, rewards/behavior charts, and other visual charts that help organize our child and us, as parents). We were skeptical if our child would comply with these new tools but, instead, he is THRIVING as a result.
Prior to meeting Daniela a few months prior to starting kindergarten, our son had no internal map or sense of organization, in spite of our varied efforts to create a sense of order for him. We felt that his behavior would not sustain him in any school – however specialized – and we needed help to prepare him.
Daniela worked with our son individually to facilitate his transition into a new school environment and routine. She also instructed us as parents, and even our caregiver, separately on how to implement verbal cues and tools for him.