Noah & Isabella’s Story

When our son was born, we were over the moon. He seemed to be a contented little boy.  It wasn’t until he started at nursery that we realised he wasn’t integrating well with the other children and was happier to be on his own.  Playing with repetitive, spinning, noisy and flashing toys. We all do blame ourselves and started panicking that he wouldn’t talk or walk. At 14 months we expected autism.  When we were seen by a doctor his symptoms were dismissed as him simply being a typical boy who was ‘lazy and a late starter’. After so many months of battling, by two years old Noah was formally diagnosed with autism and we were left devastated not knowing what to do to help him. We were put on a waiting list for a Good Beginnings course from the LA and while we found out there was not much support available we realised we need to put ourselves together to communicate with Noah and get him all the help we need.

The next two years felt like a rollercoaster. We sold some positions and gave up our second car to fund private clinic tests.  We hoped this would finally give us the answers that we needed and tell us how to treat Noah’s autism.  We searched far and wide for more information, trying anything we could find including trying oxygen chamber therapy and attending courses on brain development.  Absolutely determined not to let our own son down.  All of which were a disappointment. Eventually we found qualified people who could come to our home and use an evidence based therapy to work one-to-one with Noah. During this time our daughter is Isabella was born and in the years that followed our worst fears were realised when she was also diagnosed with autism.

During the next 3 years of therapy despite our setbacks we were so impressed with the therapists we found that visited our home to run the children’s programs.  Even then it became clear that no one intervention could address all the difficulties that my children had. Following some research, we discovered information about behaviour therapy specifically ABA on the internet. Our ABA therapist responded so effectively to the specific needs of our children working with their strong personalities.  By using a combination of ABA, Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational therapy, this multidisciplinary approach made such a positive difference to their development abilities to express themselves and the way they could interact with us their family and their wide community.

On our journey we had met and heard from other parents who have been given a similar diagnosis like us and could not find the help they needed.  While the search had left us exhausted, emotionally and financially we were determined to use our experience to help other families. We wanted to give others the opportunities we had less the stress and co-ordination of a home-based programme. When the opportunity to set up an early intervention centre with our team from home arose, we knew we had to grab it with both hands. In June 2015, with a lot of work and the input of our behaviour therapists who had helped Noah and Isabella we opened the doors to The Ark Centre Clinic. You may have already guessed by this point, but we chose the name The Ark as a reference to our first child Noah the original inspiration for the whole project. We have continued to learn so much since then, and I’m glad we can use that knowledge and experience to provide treatment and support to families going through a similar journey to us.

One of the main points of our own learning was the many different styles of delivering ABA. Something which we knew nothing about at the beginning of our journey. We also learnt how combining treatments in the right way can make such a meaningful and positive difference to a child’s progress. This is one of the reasons we are so passionate about The Ark Centre clinic. The multidisciplinary approach in a social environment which children can learn functional skills in the context of supported play continues to be so effective and rewarding for the children that join us. As well as the difference we’ve been able to make to other families lives being at the clinic the transformation in both Noah and Isabella has been astonishing.

Noah has already left The Ark Centre and attends an ABA school. He and is now a cheeky, loving 16-year-old boy who enjoys a range of activities and surprises us every day. While Isabella age 14, continues to receive outreach support from The Ark Centre team while attending a local school for children with moderate learning difficulties. She is a social, chatty and upbeat character who loves to make new friends and spend time with animals.

With all the difficulties our children face, not to mention all the ups and downs we deal with as parents. We are so proud of our two amazing children who make us laugh every day.