22 month old going to recieve ABA therapy

Babe, you are in such great shape. You have an early diagnosis and early intervention. I'm sure you will get fantastic advice from other moms, I just want to pipe up with enthusiastic support for you and your kid. This is so great for your kid! 

Hi!

Great choice! I think depends on the provider I was very hesitant but we LOVE ABA my son has improve a lot his executive function he is 3.5 and he is asking more and more questions.

I am not expecting recovery (since he is not sick), he is a very bright kid he is warm and has friends. ABA is helping him to be more conscious of his actions to use his words to express his feelings, desires and initiate play with his friend etc.

I don’t know what goals are expected at that age. Do you have your goals settled?

Thanks a lot for your response madfoot and Gemahc. Gemahc, my initial goal was to get the services started on time. I didn't wait for RCEB( didn't have a pleasant experience with them

I think it is absolutely AWESOME that you got such an early diagnosis!  Your ABA provider will help you come up with goals for your child and they will help to educate you, too, so you can continue to help him stretch and grow...the good (and bad!) news about being an ASD parent is that you are your child's main therapist!  Read as much as possible.  An excellent book to start with is An Early Start for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn by Rogers/Dawson/Vismara.

Also check out Autism Speaks' 100 Day Kit for Newly Diagnosed Families:

https://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-day-kit

We didn't end up doing ABA because it didn't seem to be the right fit for our now 5.5 year old who was diagnosed at age 3.  Instead we've been doing speech, social skills therapy and occupational therapy.

I'm guessing you might have Kaiser since you got such an early diagnosis and ABA hours; you should get them to give you speech (SLP) and OT, too...and if you don't have Kaiser, you should still try to get these incredibly important therapies.

Again, huge kudos to you and your child!

Wishing your family all my best.

I was exactly in your shoes two years ago! My daughter was diagnosed shortly after she turned two and I felt overwhelmed. We immediately started with speech therapy once per week and 30 hours of ABA therapy per week. It is tough accomodating so much therapy, and it can disrupt family life at times, but it is worth it. I will say that finding the right team is crucial. We switched ABA companies and therapists when we felt things weren’t working for our daughter. We are two years in, my daughter is now four, and we are happy with how things have progressed. My daughter has an awesome team of supportive therapists and she is thriving. She’s talking up a storm and her social skills have vastly improved. Results can vary, and ABA doesn’t work for every child/family, but it doesn’t hurt to try. Wishing you all the best!

I wrote a post similar to yours when our son was diagnosed with ASD at just a few month shy of 3 yo. 

We started with ABA through the East Bay Regional Center, and then at 3 he was assessed by school district.  They wanted to provide services in a contained special ed preschool that we felt wouldn’t work for our son. We fought them and we’re able to get them to pay for an ABA therapist to shadow him as an aide at his mainstream preschool (that he/we loved). This was one of the best decisions we ever made as it allowed him the opportunity to learn from and interact with “neurotypical” kids. 

He averaged around 25 hours per week of ABA until he started Kindergarden. It was very helpful, but we had to adjust to having people in our home.  Our son still receives ABA after school, although we are now considering tapering down.  

The other thing that made a big difference for our son is biomedical treatment.  I regret how resistant we were to this in the beginning, but I truly thought it was hocus pocus. That said, when we discovered that our son was having reactions to some foods (bright red cheeks, ears and meltdowns), his OT recommended that we see Dr Sanford Newmark at UCSF.  

The first thing Dr Newmark did was have us do an elimination diet, during which we found he reacted to several foods. We removed them and he improved overnight.  We’ve never looked back.  Here are some websites and books I wish we had known about when we started our journey:   

The Autism Revolution: Whole-Body Strategies for Making Life All It Can Be - Martha Herbert, MD, Harvard Medical School. 

Talk About Curing Autism 

https://tacanow.org/

The Myth of Autism: How a Misunderstood Epidemic Is Destroying Our Children, Expanded and Revised Edition, Michael J Goldberg, MD

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders, Kenneth Bock, MD 

Overcoming Autism:  Finding the Answers, Strategies, and Hope That Can Transform a Child's Life, Lynn Kern Koegel, PhD, UCSB 

These are controversial from a mainstream medical perspective to be sure, but you should read and decide for yourself.  Several of the books above are available on Audible so I could listen while I was doing other things.  

Fast forward to our son at 9 and 1/2 and he is now mainstreamed in public school and is doing well.  He still has issues, but as we address his underlying medical problems, he continues to improve.   Most importantly, he is a much happier kid. 

You have reason for hope, especially given how young your son is. Best of luck!