A Life-Changing Therapy For Children With Autism At The Child Study Center

A Life-Changing Therapy For Children With Autism At The Child Study Center

[cars driving by] – What page?
– This! – Page 58. – If you need help, let me know. – I need help.
– You do? – We always knew Victoria was a special girl. She could count to 100 at age two. – But I’m ready for vacation! We were actually completely lost when Victoria was diagnosed with Autism so we found the Yale Medicine Child Study Center online. It seemed like that would be tough on Victoria but potentially could get some results. – Parenting is hard, but parenting a child with a disability is astronomically harder and providing parents with strategies that they can use is what empowers me everyday. I’m Pam Ventola, I’m a Clinical Psychologist and an Assistant Professor at Yale Medicine Child Study Center. In Autism, the primary areas of deficit are social interaction skills, language and communication skills. Victoria is a patient that I’ve worked with for just over a year now. She’s a bright, capable little girl, but she wasn’t motivated to engage with other people. Do you want to start with stickers or Go Fish? Let’s play Go Fish. What we offer at Yale Medicine is individualized treatment. Pivotal response treatment is abbreviated PRT. It’s a behavioral treatment to support language development and social interaction. Do you want the rod? – Yes.
– Sure. For each child we develop objectives, so very clearly defined behaviors that we want to improve. I got another green one! – I’ll dump the rest. – Victoria’s goals when we first started working with her included making eye contact with the person she was speaking to and also using her language to help her begin to engage in conversations. – What did you get?
– I got the bird. – A lot of the kids that we work with, Victoria included, love bubbles and we can use these bubbles to motivate the children to communicate with us. So the child would need to use their words… A lot of bubbles or just one bubble? – A lot. – And then I’d reinforce it by blowing the bubbles. – When Dr. Ventola and Victoria were working together you could see on Victoria’s face, ‘this is what I can do, this is something that I can say to get what I want and be motivated.’ – [Victoria] Did you get a sun? – No, but I got something else that I think you really like. – [Victoria] Balloon? – Your favorite.
[Victoria laughs] – This is great, I like how you’re prompting her. – For all of our sessions Victoria’s parents observed or were interacting with Victoria with us. – [Dad] Wait a second, no your face is better. Ready? Alright, close your eyes. – I definitely felt hopeful. I watched this and I thought, my kid really isn’t that different than any other kid, she just needed different tools. – [Victoria] Just close your eyes, mommy. [Laughs] – [Dad] It required a great deal of commitment from us to take home the things that Dr. Ventola was teaching us in that setting. – 31. – What pieces do you need Victoria?
– Out of… The reaction was an amazing transition from where she was to where she is today. We were nervous going into this kindergarten year. Where would she be in relation to her peers? – Victoria and Sammy, can you put that away? – As soon as we got her on school grounds and we saw her engaging with the children at the school, we knew that she had that confidence and she had the ability to communicate and do what she needed to do to excel at school. She now has skills that we never thought would be possible so it was a big change for us and for her. – When you are going through this process you wonder if, is there something I’m doing wrong as a parent, do I not know how to help my kid? And I think we just learned how to be confident. It teaches you how to believe in yourself as a parent with a kid with special needs.

For more information on the Child Study Center or #YaleMedicine, visit: https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/diagnosing-autism.

Making eye contact, understanding big words and interacting socially were tough for 5-year-old Victoria Udal. Born on the autism spectrum, she struggled to keep up with her peers. Her parents turned to the Yale Medicine Child Study Center for help. Pamela Ventola, PhD, one of the center’s autism experts, suggested that Victoria would benefit from pivotal response training (PRT)–a type of play-based therapy that helps children on the spectrum develop language, behavioral and social skills. Now, one year later, Victoria’s parents say she has completely transformed. In this short documentary, Ventola and the family reflect on the power of PRT and celebrate Victoria’s entrance into mainstream kindergarten.