This month, our spotlight story is all about Carson Connell, who’s been receiving services at our Glendale, Arizona location since March 2023.

Carson’s mom. Katrina Connell, explains Carson was developing normally as a baby, but then he started to regress. “I started noticing things which led me to schedule an appointment with his doctor. Carson was tested, and when he was 2 years old, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. When Carson was diagnosed, I was in California, serving as active duty in the military,” she said.

Carson started ABA and speech therapy a few times per week. When Katrina was transferred to Virginia, Carson continued these therapies and added occupational therapy.

“I was leaving the military and my fiancé and I were planning to move to Arizona. To prepare for the transition, I began to search for ABA service providers. I called a few places, but when I called Autism ETC, I felt like this was what Carson needed.”

Carson started on a part-time basis while also attending preschool. Katrina said she felt like trying to do both was hindering his progress. “Carson’s behaviors were his biggest challenge. Because he was unable to communicate verbally, he would hit, bite, and scream. It was difficult to understand and meet his needs.”

After 2-3 months, Carson started coming to Autism ETC on a full-time basis. “Over the course of the last year, I have seen a drastic change in Carson. At first, we used visuals and considered purchasing an AAC device to help him communicate. Now, he is able to talk in complete sentences. He can advocate for himself. He is flying through his goals, and is able to come home and tell me about his day. He is happy every day because he is excited to see his friends and the staff that work with him,” said Katrina.

When Carson started services, Katrina met regularly with his BCBA, Michelle Eaton. “She has been so supportive of me and Carson. Michelle listened to me and helped me feel valued and respected as a parent. We discussed the goals I wanted for Carson because I knew he had great potential.”

Katrina says she’s not sure where she and her family would be without the parent training offered by Autism ETC. “The staff take the time to explain things to me. If Carson has a bad day at home, I can talk to Michelle about it and explain what happened. The staff have given me the ability to cope and to learn how to teach him. It started with learning how to deal with his behaviors. Michelle has also helped Carson learn to work on various home skills. He brushes his teeth, he can take a shower by himself, he makes his bed. He even helps me make dinner. He has become a helper at home. He used to have a problem getting haircuts. At first, you could not even say ‘haircut’ in front of him. Now he lets me cut his hair. We are working toward getting him to go to a hair salon. Carson is also making progress with potty training.”

When asked about Carson’s future, Katrina replied, “We plan on Carson coming for one more year to Autism ETC, with the goal of him starting kindergarten in Fall, 2025. I know with the support from Michelle and his therapists, Carson will be successful as he moves into the future.”