Autism Associates.ca [Testimonials]

Testimonials

Our son, Larry, recently completed the Davis Autism Approach with Dr. Cathy Dodge Smith. The program has taken a lot of time and commitment on everyone's part: Cathy, Larry, myself, my husband, and also that of supportive friends. As a result of this, Larry has grown enormously in his understanding of how the world works and is grasping how other people think.

Larry is able to explain his wants and feelings better. Now others are starting to see the intelligence that resides in him. We look forward to future work with the Davis methods in reading and math that will open that potential to Larry's fullest.

E. R., Larry's mother

I have seen what I regard as remarkable changes in Mary's behavior over the time she has been working with Cathy. Some of her ideas about my behavior have been insightful, especially while she has been working with Cathy. Mary is still in the growth process after completing the Davis Autism Approach, and we are all deeply grateful for the changes Cathy has helped Mary achieve.

J. C., Mary's mother

Colin's Story

The first few years at school were a challenge. My son would simply explode when there was any pressure on him to do academic work, especially reading and writing. His inability to cope with the school system from a very early age led us to all sorts of professionals. Most were unhelpful and stated that the only hope for my son was medication. Unwilling to consider medication for a 5-year-old, I kept searching for answers that would help. Through possibly divine intervention a friend gave me the book, The Explosive Child, by Ross Greene, and our first glimmer of hope appeared. Finding a way to work with my son so that he could calm down enough to talk to was the first step on the right path. 

We would work on reading at home, and I kept noticing that he struggled with the same words over and over again. Words like 'with', 'what', 'which', and even 'the' on more than one occasion. I would have thought after reading them 200 times he would have them down pat, but no, he looked at the word as if it was new and filled with 100 letters and incomprehensible. I thought that this sounded more like dyslexia than anything else that had been mentioned, and so I "googled" dyslexia and was led to dyslexiacorrection.ca. It seemed too easy, but I was willing to donate my left kidney for a way to help my son, so this hardly seemed strenuous at all.  The website led me to Cathy and my son started working with her when he was in Grade 2.

Due to his very low frustration tolerance, Cathy was unable to complete the Davis Dyslexia Correction program with him and we switched him to the Autism program. It explains concepts such as ‘change', ‘emotion', and ‘relationship'. Basic concepts that we don't define for our children yet expect them to understand. It started the ball rolling in my sons' thoughts as he began to contemplate the world in a different way. 

Last year we added osteopathic treatment and private tutoring to our repertoire of things. I think the combination of all four approaches, and the lack of medication is helping my son adapt and do well in both the classroom and outside it. He is now in Grade 4 and I am seeing a remarkable change in him. He is more interested in learning, he is fitting in socially more and his ability to deal with society has increased hugely.

I honestly do not think we would be achieving the success we have so far without Cathy and the Davis Autism Approach program. It has played a huge part in teaching my son to interact within socially defined ways with his environment.  While I recognise that the road ahead is long, I know that we are on the right path, and that change happens in its time and one cannot rush development. I am so proud of my boy and how hard he works at things that come so easily to so many children.

S.M., Colin's mother

Davis Autism Approach® is a trademark of Ronald D. Davis. Commercial use of this trademark to identify educational, instructional, or therapeutic services requires licensing by the trademark owner. For more information go to www.davisautism.com