Where Riley Started
When Riley started with Cornerstone in October 2018, he struggled with clearly communicating his wants and needs. He would often resort to screaming and whining when items and activities were not available or were being used by other peers, to escape from demands that were placed, and when female peers joined or engaged in the same activity that he was engaging in (e.g., swings). When he first started at Cornerstone, Riley engaged in tantrum behavior 11.85 times per day, on average. Socially, he had difficulty making eye contact while speaking to others, didn’t initiate interactions with peers, and needed a lot of prompting from his therapist to have conversations. He also needed a lot of assistance with daily living and self-help skills. Riley had difficulty staying calm when changes to his routine would occur. His skills were very splintered, meaning that while he displayed various skills in all three levels of the VB-MAPP, he had gaps in his skills across each operant, especially in the areas of tacting and social skills.
How Riley Improved
By the time Riley graduated from Cornerstone, his language and independence with self-help skills have flourished! As Riley’s language and ability to communicate his wants and needs increased, his instances of tantrums decreased substantially to an average of 0.66 instances per day when he graduated. Riley was able to hold conversations independently with his peers, including making eye contact, acknowledging a peer’s response, answering questions and asking follow-up questions. When asked before his graduation what his friends liked about Riley, they said he was nice and funny. While at Cornerstone, Riley learned how to complete a lot of different self-help and daily living skills independently, including tying his shoes, folding and putting away laundry, emptying the dishwasher, and his favorite activity, dusting. Riley even started asking to help with chores at home! He mastered the ability to stay calm when unexpected changes to his routine occurred and would communicate his concerns or opinions about the changes appropriately. When he graduated from Cornerstone, Riley had achieved all 170 milestones in the VB-MAPP.
“We are so proud of Riley and all he has accomplished while at Cornerstone. We know he will go on to do great things!” said Arielle Lofgren, Riley’s BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst).
