After six months of going to BA sessions, I learned how to control Tanner's challenging behaviors in a clinical setting. Yay me! Unfortunately, life does not happen in a vacuum..or a clinic. Translating those skills into our home proved to be more of a challenge than I could imagine.
Tanner is a wonderful, energetic, creative, vocal autistic. There isn't a day I am not amazed by him or thankful for all the skills he has. All these wonderful attributes, however, translate into one very difficult little boy to manage. He wields his 96 pounds without a filter and uses physical persuasion as his primary method for attempting to obtain what he wants. In other words, he doesn't get his way - he hits and hard. With two smaller (though one is older) girls in the house, the safety of them and myself has become a growing concern and challenge.
CIIBS (Children's In-home Intensive Behavioral Support) is a program Tanner was approved for last October. It is designed to prevent children with challenging behaviors from being institutionalized. It is a state of Washington program whose funding is split with the federal government. Approved for 100 participants, the program began in 2009 and has yet to accept its full quota. The program can be extremely difficult for some to get into, but Tanner was a perfect candidate and was approved without a fight. Having this valuable program made available to us is life-changing. However, it comes with some unexpected challenges which I will discuss in my next installment.
