Where Grayson Started
When Grayson started at Cornerstone on June 5, 2019, he was unable to make requests through any mode of communication but loved to smile at and engage in physical play with his therapists. He acquired some language through American Sign Language but often scrolled responses or overgeneralized new mands. Grayson had difficulty with discrimination and with attending to stimuli, making it difficult for him to acquire and retain receptive skills. Grayson found many self-help tasks to be aversive and did not yet demonstrate signs of toileting readiness. However, he quickly mastered several desensitization programs, such as hair cutting and nail clipping. His skills were in Level 1 of the VB-MAPP, with an overall score on the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment of 14 points at the time of his initial assessment.
How Grayson Improved
By the time Grayson graduated from Cornerstone, he was able to mand for his most preferred items with his Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device. Grayson also continued to gain social skills and was able to generalize these skills to his peers. In addition, Grayson attended a daily classroom group with his peers and could complete work stations independently. He was able to both discriminate between items from an array of four and find objects in the natural environment. Grayson’s ability to attend to stimuli dramatically improved. He was even able to scan an array of 10 pictures to complete matching programs. Grayson also became toilet trained and could independently complete many daily living skills, such as independently dressing and undressing himself and using a napkin to clean his face/hands during mealtimes. His overall score was 54 on the VB-MAPP Milestones Assessment when he transitioned from Cornerstone.
Everyone at Cornerstone is very proud of Grayson for working hard at Cornerstone each day to accomplish new skills and prepare himself to transition to school. Grayson is one of a kind, and he will be greatly missed. The staff at Grayson’s school are lucky to get to see Grayson’s smile each day. We know that Grayson will do great at school!
