Davin and Kairon’s Story

 

Where Davin Started

When Davin began therapy at Cornerstone in August of 2014, he was five years old and had minimal communication skills. At that time, he only scored 16.5 out of 170 on the VB-MAPP during his initial assessment. It was difficult for Davin to make spontaneous requests and consistently label items.

Davin also struggled with daily living skills, including dressing, hair washing, toothbrushing, feeding, and haircuts. When Davin started at Cornerstone, he engaged in various behaviors, including elopement, tantrums, and head banging. Davin has always been passionate and excited to talk about his favorite video game and movie characters.

How Davin Improved

By the time Davin graduated from Cornerstone, he had completed every target on the VBMAPP and begun several school readiness targets in the last few years. In Davin’s eight years at Cornerstone, he has mastered 8,519 targets! A few more special skills Davin has learned include engaging in back and forth conversations with others, writing detailed paragraphs, learning long division and multiplication, and learning how to make lasting friendships.

Davin worked through some complex, challenging behaviors over the years and has had fantastic behavior-free days earning all of his plus signs on his report cards. We’ll miss him teaching us about his favorite video games like Cookie Run and Plants Versus Zombies, talking about Terrance the Angry bird, and laughing about the goofiest things.

Where Kairon Started

When Kai started at Cornerstone in July of 2017, he was three years old and had minimal communication skills. When he began at Cornerstone, he used 5 -10 word approximations to communicate his basic needs. In the beginning, Kairon only scored 15 points on the VB MAPP and now scores 142.5 points.

When Kai started at Cornerstone, he could not consistently respond to his name and was not toilet trained. Kairon also regularly sought out sensory input and engaged in frequent repetitive behaviors. Kairon was quiet and enjoyed playing by himself when he started. 

How Kairon Improved

He has mastered 4,610 fantastic targets!! Kairon has indeed grown so much in the past few years. Kai has learned to communicate clearly with others and has become a friend to many clients in his classroom. He has also worked so hard on the Headsprout reading program, learning how to write, how to count, how to complete math problems, and how to have great days while in a classroom setting. Everyone will miss his giggles, epic games of chase and hide and seek, and his smile around the center.

Alicia Ferre, BCBA