FEATURED FAMILY
Meet the Milton-Harrison Fa m i l y BY KENDRA ROGERS, MS - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Like Mariah, Isla is an animal lover. This mutual love of animals has resulted in quite the menagerie at the Milton-Harrison house!
M
ariah Milton-Harrison is the mother to three wonderful children who have all been diagnosed with autism. She suspects her late husband may have had autism as well. The two of them dreamt of opening a center to address the need for autism services in underserved communities. In addition to being a mom and the owner of Budding Behavior Therapy, Mariah is also a year from completing her Ph.D. in organizational leadership at OU. This, in addition to her degree in behavior analysis, will help her continue to run the Budding Behavior Therapy Center and help it become a haven for families in need of autism services. When she isn’t studying, running the center, or momming, Mariah loves caring for and being around animals of all kinds. Some of her favorite activities with her kids are taking walks, bike rides, and eating at restaurants. They also love chilling on the couch and watching silly TikTok videos. Kaiden is Mariah’s oldest. He is a fun-loving seven-year-old. At twoand-a-half, Kaiden was diagnosed with autism when Mariah noticed a speech regression and
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January 2024
stimming. Stimming is a repeated body movement like hand flapping that some people with autism do when they are excited, overwhelmed, nervous, or scared. Kaiden was later diagnosed with ADHD as well. Sometimes, the community refers to the combined diagnosis of autism and ADHD as “auDHD”. Kaiden started therapies including speech, OT, and ABA right away. When he went to kindergarten, he continued services in school and outside of school. Mariah has seen improvements in his speech, and he now speaks in complete sentences. Kaiden can communicate his likes, dislikes, and needs very well. He even holds conversations well. She attributes his progress to the early attention and therapies he received. Kaiden graduated from outside speech, OT, and ABA just before kindergarten because he had progressed so much! Kaiden loves cars and music, so Lightning McQueen is perfect for him. He also likes racing video games and dance parties to loud music. One of Kaiden’s favorite things, other than Lightning McQueen, is being a big brother. He can be a little bossy to his sisters at times, Mariah shared, but he is a sweet, kind, caregiver who loves being a big brother. Maleiya is the middle child and oldest girl! She is now five years old. She was diagnosed at just 18 months, only about a year after Kaiden. Mariah knew
