Parent Training Makes a world of Difference

OBA Parent - Melissa Vardon

This month Melissa, a parent here at OBA, shares with us her experience as a parent at OBA and the parent training she has participated in at our school

Becoming part of the Oak Bridge Academy family has been nothing short of life-changing for my son and has positively changed his trajectory of success for his future. Prior to OBA, we did our best to navigate the public school system and cobble together therapy, social skills, and extra activities when we could. When OBA opened its doors in 2018, we were first in line and have never looked back.
The OBA program is a holistic program that values academics and social skills and psychological flexibility. All three have been essential to helping our son be successful. One of the unique features of OBA is the emphasis that the school places on partnership with parents. Parents benefit from constant communication and the OBA staff helps us to understand and implement the strategies that will help our kids.  

As you might guess, parenting a child on the autism spectrum can be a roller coaster! The lows can be awfully low… but those high moments can be pretty amazing. One piece of advice I can offer to experience more ups than downs is to take advantage of parent training opportunities to help you manage on this roller coaster ride – aka having a kid with autism.
At Oak Bridge Academy, parent training has been a game-changer. Parent training has given me a deeper understanding of autism, its characteristics, and its impact on behaviour and development. This has been an important foundation to allow me to customize my approach to meet my son’s needs to improve communication, learning, and social interaction.

OBA parent workshops provide a ton of practical, easy-to-implement strategies to promote positive behaviours and reduce challenging ones. Being on the same page at home and at school and using consistent strategies at all times is crucial and can mean the difference between a calm, happy day or a meltdown filled with stress. Specific tools and tips are shared including ideas for visual supports, meaningful reinforcement techniques and strategies to improve psychological flexibility.  
​
Finding a supportive, no-judgement group of parents who have all “been there” and know what each other is going through has done wonders to build a sense of community and shared experience.  Just knowing that you are not alone is comforting and listening to other parents share ideas is also a great way to add to your tool kit.

​Oak Bridge Academy parent training courses have been worth their weight in gold and my thanks go out to the talented, compassionate, and knowledgeable therapists for guiding parents through the many ups and downs for those of us with kids on the spectrum. The future is brighter for my son thanks to you!

​Melissa Vardon - OBA Parent