Where Mustafa Started
Mustafa began attending Cornerstone Autism Center on January 5, 2015. Upon arrival, he had a significant fear of unfamiliar adults and would spend hours engaging in tantrums and noncompliance. He would often elope as well to gain access to things that he wanted and to escape situations that he found undesirable. After becoming familiar and well paired with his two therapists, he was able to start progressing through the VB-MAPP assessment. A stranger desensitization program was initially implemented to help with generalization. Mustafa worked primarily within the Level 1 of the VB-MAPP when he started at Cornerstone. Mustafa’s greatest areas of deficit fell within his conversation skills, ability to mand for items or activities, echoics, and labeling items.
How Mustafa Improved
Mustafa made significant leaps during the summer and fall of 2015, mastering out of most milestones within Level 1 and 2 of the VBMAPP. Mustafa started showing interest in his peers by initiating conversation and social engagement with them. His spontaneous language significantly improved as well. Mustafa worked on a vacuum desensitization program, which later allowed his mother to vacuum their home without Mustafa engaging in tantrums and self-stimulatory behaviors. During the spring of 2017, Mustafa started reading in Headsprout, working on his counting skills, and writing letters and numbers. Mustafa started attending a part-day program at a local elementary, and he thrived! His teacher reported that Mustafa was more advanced academically than his same aged peers. Mustafa graduated on January 26, 2018. We will miss his contagious smile, but we are so proud of all of his accomplishments!
