Annette’s Vignettes

Behind the Breakthroughs

Once a month Dr. Annette Nunez will do a segment entitled Annette’s Vignettes. During these episodes Dr. Nunez will share her experiences as therapist as well as her personal life situations. The realness of these vignettes are meant to be inspirational, tear jerking, and/or funny. They also tell a story of what really goes on Behind the Breakthroughs.

In this episode Dr. Nunez will talk about a vignette that involves freeways, jumping out of moving vehicles, cops, a parent threatening to call the cops, and almost missing a flight to Vegas. You will have to listen to the podcast for all the details.

IN THIS EPISODE:

- Each month we will be doing a segment called Annette’s Vignettes.

- These vignettes are situations that have happened with our clients during therapeutic sessions, or situations that have happened in our personal lives.

- During this segment we talk about what we go through as therapists and what we go through personally.

- This episode takes a deeper look into what happens “Behind the Breakthroughs.”

- The vignettes in these episodes will be inspirational, tear jerking, or funny.

- These vignettes will always end with mindshifts that you can learn from.

- In this episode Dr. Nunez shares about a client who tried to jump out of a moving vehicle on the freeway.

- This scenario happened during Dr. Nunez’s birthday month (July) and the day she saw this particular client she had plans to fly to Vegas.

- This scenario involves freeways, jumping out of moving vehicles, cops, a parent threatening to call the cops, and almost missing a flight to Vegas (you have to listen to the podcast for all the details)

- This vignette is an example of how life is better when you remain calm and find the humor in every situation that life throws at you.

- Many times life can be serious and bring you down… but if you can laugh about things, it makes life a whole lot easier.

- This vignette also teaches the importance of consistency.

- This client was having a HUGE tantrum and was refusing to go to summer camp.

- The night before Dr. Nunez saw this client and said to him, “If you are having trouble going to camp tomorrow morning, I will come over and help you go to camp.”

- To avoid giving an empty threat, Dr. Nunez went to the clients’s house to help him go to camp just hours before her Vegas flight.

- Consistency is important especially when parenting a child with autism.

- We don’t want to give empty threats to kids.

- When you as a parent/professional do not follow through, you reinforce negative behavior.

- Often times I see children will learn to tantrum in order to get their way because the adult will ultimately give in.

- Children need to understand that they can’t avoid everything in life by tantruming.

- The follow through is what matters for children.

- Diagnosis or not, kids need boundaries and need to learn them early on, because those are the skills they need for their future.

MINDSHITS (takeaways)

1. The first takeawy is that autism has no limits. It is important to really set the standards high for your child. They will not only meet these standards, but go far beyond them.
2. The importance of consistency and recognizing when you are giving empty threats to your child. Empty threats lead to reinforcing undesirable behaviors.
3. Remember self- care.
4. Keep calm in stressful situations and finding the humor in what life has to offer.