My Autism Journey Day 13-Paige started receiving ABA services in our home. I was so confused about what that all meant. We had an amazing behavioral therapist (Kristi) who told me to have some little snacks ready for Paige to work for. I think we used some cereal. She practiced compliance with her sitting when told, imitating her actions, imitating block structures. It was all very foreign to me, but I was soaking it all in. It didn’t seem like this was the biggest problem of hers, so I didn’t really understand why those were things we were working on. Well, compliance is what we all want at home and in school! It’s important for the child to learn to listen to trusted adults to keep them safe. Imitation is important because that is the beginning of education—seeing a teacher demonstrate art projects, actions in songs, and appropriate play with toys. It also includes looking around to see what other students are doing and then doing the same thing. This was the beginning of many years of home programs. We had received some funding from the KC Regional Center, but it wasn’t to the level of the recommended 40 hours per week. This was before insurance plans included paying for this. We got some extra help that we paid out of pocket. The people we brought in were only implementing the programs, not deciding what to implement, so their services were more affordable. We still didn’t take it up to 40 hours a week because it was prohibitively expensive and we had a busy life with three kids in the house and extracurricular activities for the two older kids. It was a circus!!! Kristi was with us for a short time and then