Where London Started
London and her family started their journey with Cornerstone in September of 2016. London, who was four-years-old at the time, had begun with 23.5 out of the potential 170 milestone points on the VB-MAPP. She had deficits across level one of the assessment, which correlates to the developmental age of a child from 0-18 months.
When London first began 1:1 therapy at Cornerstone, communication was a significant challenge for her. At that time, she communicated primarily through pulling people to what she wanted. London often tried to vocalize her needs, but due to her poor articulation skills those around her would have to watch her body language and anticipate her needs. London’s clinical team could tell that she was highly motivated to make friends and socially engage with others, but her interactions with peers had to be prompted.
London also required consistent prompting to complete daily living skills, including dressing, brushing her teeth, washing hands and the toileting routine from start to finish. London presented with aversions to wearing jeans, going to the dentist and trying new foods.
Within the developmental operant of tacting, London was unable to label any items upon request. In addition, London demonstrated challenges in the area of listener-responding, where she struggled to follow simple instructions, respond to her name when called and make direct eye contact. London’s focus was fleeting, and she could not attend to a toy or book for more than 10-20 seconds.
London had many self-stimulatory behaviors, which had set her apart from her peers in the developmental pre-school that she had been attending prior to Cornerstone. London would engage in consistent scripting, and she would perseverate on hoarding specific objects from home and the center. In addition to her self-stimulatory behaviors, London would engage in the maladaptive behaviors of non-compliance, elopement, tantrums, physical aggression and property destruction.
How London Has Improved
On August 2nd, 2019 London graduated from Cornerstone, completing all 170 milestones on the VB-MAPP assessment across levels one, two, and three!
In addition to these significant milestone gains, London completed multiple targets across a variety of areas within the Assessment of Functional Living Skills (AFLS), such as applied academics, basic communication, classroom mechanics, common knowledge, community knowledge, core academics, dressing, grooming, meals at school, routines and expectations, self-management, social awareness and manners, social skills, and technology. London went from struggling to attend to a toy or book for more than several seconds to working for a minimum of 15 minutes at a time with minimal reinforcement. London conquered her fear of going to the dentist, trying new foods and will fearlessly rock a new pair of jeans without hesitation! Behaviorally, London no longer engages in any types of aggression, tantrum, or property destruction.
London has developed self-management tools through her behavior intervention plan and daily reinforcement contingency contract by expressing her emotions or when she needs a break to combat her previous engagements in non-compliance, elopement, and other socially inappropriate behaviors. London grew to become a leader in the pre-school group modeling appropriate behavior and advanced language skills for her peers and has learned to develop friendships with those around her. Watching London’s fun, caring, driven and sassy personality emerge was truly one of the greatest parts of her journey here at Cornerstone. Once a child who became outwardly frustrated due to her inability to socially connect to others, became a social butterfly inviting other children around her to do the same. London is transitioning into 2ndgrade at a nearby elementary school with a love for learning (along with her love of Moana and Princess Tiana)!
“London touched many lives here at Cornerstone,” said Stephanie Dille-Huggins, MA, BCBA. “It was an honor and privilege to serve her and her amazing family.”
Cornerstone is confident that London will continue to grow and learn with success in the general education classroom setting! Congratulations London!
Click here to watch her success story on our youtube channel.
