DS had his assessment last week. It'll be a month til we get the official "verdict" but both the SALT and paediatrician agreed there were issues with his social communication and his understanding of emotions and imaginative play. He has, in their words, "a lot of ability" and was generally good at following the SALT's instructions but his verbal and non-verbal language are often mismatched, and his comprehension is also behind his vocabulary.
DH and I are both acutely aware this is a such a crucial time for intervention (DS is about to turn 3) and want to do ABA. But now we are trying to work out what we can do (within our current work situation) and if it's enough.
I work four days a week, as does DH. We have a NT 20 month DD (who DS really does engage with brilliantly). We could probably, at a stretch, have DD in nursery five days a week and have DS on his own at home on our days "off" (Mondays and Fridays) for an ABA programme.
DS is happily settled in a daycare nursery who've been great and are currently applying for DS to have one-to-one sessions (two one-hour blocks per nursery day) with his favourite carer, a girl he's bonded with hugely and vice versa.
If we did two full days a week of ABA (and hopefully paid for DS's nursery carer to have some ABA training too), plus did ABA work on our own at weekends, is that likely to be enough to make a real difference? And how many people would need to be involved in the at-home sessions? Would just one parent and a tutor be enough? I guess I don't know much about the realities of ABA but stuff about 40 hours a week and employing what sounds like a whole team sounds so scary (and impossibly expensive).
If anyone has any thoughts that'd be brilliant.