A Las Vegas family was losing hope their son would ever be able to speak but with a few weeks of impressive work in therapy, things have completely changed for the Bernard family.
Thomas Bernard is a three-and-a-half-year-old who was diagnosed with autism about six months ago. Up until about three weeks ago, Thomas was completely non-verbal.
Thomas's mom noticed he wasn't meeting key learning marks around his first birthday.
"But everyone kept saying oh you know boys talk later so you're probably fine but then he turned two and he still wasn't talking."
After being told Thomas was on the autism spectrum, they started him with ABA therapy through Tandem Therapy Services.
A therapist comes to the home six times a week for three to six hours each time.
"And he likes it!" said Thomas's mom. "He doesn't get bored."
Just three weeks ago, Thomas was non-verbal. Now he knows about 20 words. His family is hopefully.
"I'm not completely surprised that he's doing so well," said Dr. Chris Holcomb. "He's a very smart little guy but he's pretty amazing at how quickly he is in fact learning."
"I'm just excited and texting our family members like, he did this today!" said Lauren Bernard. "It's good. Once you start to see the progress you're like oh my gosh, he's gonna have the best life, he's special."
Dr. Chris Holcomb says if your toddler is not responding to his or her name and isn't saying any words by their first birthday, bring them in to be evaluated. He says the sooner they can start therapy, the better.
