6 years ago, Kelsey General’s oldest son, Brentley was diagnosed with autism at 25 months old. Not long after that, her youngest son Lincoln was diagnosed at 13 months old. If you want to hear all about their backstory and how they got started in our community, be sure to listen to last week’s episode where we recapped Kelsey’s original story on her two boys from episode 3 recorded in late 2018.
At the time of the first recording, Brentley and Lincoln were 3 and 5 years old, now they are 6 and 8. Brentley, who was suffering from repeated self-injurious head banging at the time, through one on one therapy with Kelsey using my techniques has been able to get the behavior down to zero. Kelsey reports that they have been 9 months, the longest time ever, without any major problem or self-injurious behavior. She credits this with working hard with him at table time, through homeschooling, and constantly teaching him new language. Kelsey previously struggled with taking her boys out into the community, which as a single mom is not an option. Just to go to the grocery store, Kelsey needed to use a harness and leash.
Now Kelsey and her two boys are out in the wild enjoying the outdoors as a family, skiing, hiking, kayaking, and really loving it! She mentions that from the get go, Lincoln’s signs and symptoms were very different from Brentley’s and she was able to start therapy using my techniques as early as 13 months, now Lincoln attends Grade 1 full time in a public setting with no aids or supports, functioning as a seemingly typical child.
3 years ago at the recording of her last update, Kelsey’s life was a rollercoaster and she was taking progress and future ideas day by day. I try to remind parents that for any family typical or non-typical, there is no crystal ball, ANYTHING can happen. You can hope but do not expect. Kelsey says her personality really jives with taking it day by day and she continues, however now she’s able to have hopes for the future. Because Lincoln functions very typically and thrives in his public setting, she has full hopes to see him progress independently to college, a career, and an independent living situation.
For Brentley, she has also seen so much progress. Brentley is capable of being in a public setting among typical children, he has significant self-care skills, and no intellectual disabilities. She hopes with continued support and progress to see Brentley live a semi-independent adult life. These hopes are made possible by the intensive work that Kelsey does every day to make sure she is teaching her boys with the right techniques and skills using the Turn Autism Around Approach.
As our community manager, a repeat podcast guest, and actively involved with the community and courses over the last 6 years, Kelsey has gained great insight. She shares a few of her lessons she’s learned along the way. Number one being, Don’t Automatically Trust Professionals. You are your child’s advocate and teacher for life, you know them best. Listen and learn from professionals but they don’t ALWAYS know best and it’s important to know that and advocate for the best for your child, even if that means doing it yourself.
Another lesson I loved is, Just Go Anyway, this goes right along with Kelsey’s lifestyle of exploring the outdoors. She learns a lot of skills she needs to work on with the boys but just taking them out with her. It may be hard, it may not go right but if you go anyway it might be better next time.
Kelsey shares a lot of great lessons and some of her favorite episodes as great resources for our community. Kelsey will be back next week for a third episode, this time to talk about our top 5 questions about table time. I know that’s going to be a great one! If you haven’t please make sure to leave a review wherever you listen to this podcast!
Kelsey is a single mom to two boys, living in BC, Canada. In 2016 her oldest son was diagnosed with autism at 25 months old. After learning he would not qualify for the support he needed, Kelsey began her journey of learning how to help him. Since then, Kelsey has continued her education in the field in order to provide her children and others in the community the direct intervention they needed. Now, Kelsey homeschools both her kids with support from a team of consulting professionals, while also working with other families providing behavior analytic services and parent coaching services. Kelsey and her boys enjoy spending their free time exploring and in nature hiking, biking, camping, and snowboarding. You can follow her adventures and learn more about getting children with autism outside safely on her Instagram page, www.instagram.com/littleadventurefamily.
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