Jenni ‘JWoww’ Farley, 33, was emotional and proud in a video on Oct. 1, giving her followers an update on her three-year-old son, Greyson‘s, progress with an applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapist. Greyson was diagnosed with Autism one year ago, and since working with an ABA therapist has made huge improvements in his conversational and social skills. The Jersey Shore star, who shares her son and daughter, Meilani, 5, with ex Roger Matthews, took to her YouTube channel to document the emotional moments and discuss her experience trying to get Greyson, “the best of the best” when it came to medical care and resources for his social growth. “Since he started with We Care Autism ABA services, [it] has been one hell of an experience,” Jenni said in her video.
Prior to receiving therapy, Greyson was completely non-verbal and had a difficult time understanding words. But in the six months since he has been going through ABA, the toddler has grown so much as a result of rigorous therapy. “He used to have [ABA therapy for] two-to-three hours, three times a week, and he would also do speech and OT [occupational therapy] at a local hospital,” Jenni shared in the video. Over time, Greyson’s sessions became longer, even going 30 hours a week for ABA treatment. Jenni described the dramatic uptake in sessions as “a game-changer” for Greyson’s improvement. “Not only that, but Greyson goes to preschool three hours a day, five days a week and his ABA therapist Steph goes there for two hours a day with him to really help him transition into the everyday world with people and little kids his own age,” she continued.
The whole result has been an absolute blessing for Jenni and her little guy. “These guys changed my life and changed Greyson’s,” she added. “I am a huge believer in ABA therapy.” The video, which you can watch above, documented one of Greyson’s sessions with his therapist, Ashley. Throughout the session Greyson recited the alphabet, gave responses to prompts and questions and followed directions as he continued his therapy. Jenni was so proud of her son, reiterating for her followers that all of this progress happened in just a year!
As for future goals, Jenni has a few things in mind moving forward. “I feel like our next goal will be fully potty trained, [counting from] one through 20 on his own, maybe more.” But for now, she couldn’t be prouder of her son and the strides he has made. Before the end of the video, Jenni lovingly looked at her son, sitting on her lap and said, “I don’t know, I feel like you’re just taking over the world one day at a time.”
