As we wrap up Season 1 YouTube Therapy, we are interviewing members of the FabuFam and FabuArmy. We are excited to dive deep into a discussion regarding their mental health and how each of them has used their hobbies to overcome the many obstacles faced daily.
Today we welcome FabuArmy NOOB and will be discussing in greater detail ADHD. Through open discussion we hope to, educate, inspire and empower others facing the same or similar struggles.
As we wrap up Season 1 YouTube Therapy, we are interviewing members of the FabuFam and FabuArmy. We are excited to dive deep into a discussion regarding their mental health and how each of them has used their hobbies to overcome the many obstacles faced daily.
Today we welcome FabuFam ARROW and will be discussing in greater detail Asperger Syndrome. Through open discussion we hope to, educate, inspire and empower others facing the same or similar struggles.
As we wrap up Season 1 YouTube Therapy, we are interviewing members of the FabuFam and FabuArmy. We are excited to dive deep into a discussion regarding their mental health and how each of them has used their hobbies to overcome the many obstacles faced daily.
Today we welcome FabuFam LexxTv and will be discussing in greater detail DEPRESSION. Through open discussion we hope to, educate, inspire and empower others facing the same or similar struggles.
Within ten months, we had more positive results than all of 2 years of conventional therapy. This was enough validation for us that we had made the right decision as a family for Fabu by dedicating our full attention and time to her. At this point, Fabu was in 2nd grade and showing improvement not only in academics but also socially. She was not yet reading at grade level. Still, her teachers on numerous occasions commented that Fabu was more willing to participate in class and was even chosen to read in front of the whole school a report she had written about Aphrodite.
We were so proud of her accomplishments...
Fabu had not been exposed to gaming on multiple platforms such as Xbox and VR. VR gaming had just come out, and Fabu wanted to play VR games often. These were not only fun for her but all of us as a family.
Our strategy was to expose her to a variety of gaming choices besides pc games like Minecraft and Roblox and app games like plants vs. zombies. We knew that eventually, she would pick the games that she was most comfortable with or piqued her interest the most...
Fabu enjoyed playing Minecraft, Roblox, and other games at that time. We began noticing she was losing attention quicker than we expected. We were hoping she would continue as engaged and motivated to play as she was with Pokémon Go previously. So, we decided at this point to switch up the content again. We put gaming on pause and returned to something she was familiar with and had done before… unboxings. However, this time she was unboxing gaming equipment. We planned to challenge her and take her out of her comfort zone, so she would have the freedom to continue to express herself as she did during gaming and IRL.
We took advantage of having bought a new Xbox, the Oculus Rift, and a new tablet for her to unbox. A new tool used with these videos, which was unique, was to research the item being unboxed and talk about it in her own words. This is something which she currently does until today with each unboxing video. This strategy worked, and the results obtained were exceptional...
We now transitioned to gaming therapy after the Pokémon Go burnout.
At this point, Fabu was reading under grade level. Reading was something that we wanted to include in the new therapeutic content.
We were on the hunt for a game that she liked to play, which would have all of the factors we were looking for. We started with Plants vs. Zombies, which Fabu played on her tablet. This was a game she liked and played often.
Quickly we moved onto Roblox because it had different mini-games that held her interest. We were looking for one that had more reading involved but did not find one on Roblox.
The good thing about Roblox was that it had a big community, and this was when Fabu started playing online with others. She was not in direct communication with anyone, but she liked playing with others even though she was not talking directly to them...
We got together with our sponsors Turtle Beach & ROCCAT to thank all of you for supporting our FabuRocks Podcast.
Season 1 - YouTube Therapy
Episode 11 - Pokémon Go Burnout
NEW Winner each week!
Enter Here 👉🏽 https://faburockspodcast.com.
We spent way too much time on Pokémon Go and knew that Fabu would lose interest at one point or another.
Fabu is young, and with ADHD, her attention on something does not last long.
Her interest in Pokémon Go lasted longer than we ever expected.
We knew that her therapy needed to evolve into something new. By this point, we had done DIY, unboxing toys, IRL, Pokémon Go, and learned different things along the way.
DIY was great for Fabu to explain what she was doing; toy unboxing was a success; going to different fun locations and exciting; IRL helped her develop her social skills more than anticipated...
Pokémon Go came out, and we were hooked immediately!!
What we loved the most about this game was that it brought grandparents, parents, and kids out playing the same game. We also loved that we discovered new places, beaches, and parks we had never been to before. Most weekends were spent hanging out with other Pokémon Go trainers and participating in raid events, which helped Fabu be more social...
We got together with our sponsors Turtle Beach & ROCCAT to thank all of you for supporting our FabuRocks Podcast.
Season 1 - YouTube Therapy
NEW Winner each week!
Enter Here 👉🏽 https://faburockspodcast.com.
After doing DIY gummy videos and toy unboxing, we knew the secret to continue obtaining positive results, and having Fabu engaged and excited was to switch up the content. We decided to explore IRL videos using positive reinforcement and fun family activities.
Fabu loved to be outdoors and was open to participating more when she was entertained...
🚨 FabuRocks Podcast Giveaway Week 8 🚨
We got together with our sponsors Turtle Beach & ROCCAT to thank all of you for supporting our FabuRocks Podcast Season 1 YouTube Therapy.
Episode 8 OMG people are watching us
NEW Winner each week!
Enter Here 👉🏽 https://faburockspodcast.com
At this point, we had around 15 videos posted on YouTube between the DIY gummies and the toy unboxings. We had believed that having a YouTube channel would be a fantastic way of having an archive where we could see Fabu’s progress throughout time. Her YouTube channel was also a way for family and friends to see her improvement. We soon noticed that random people were following the channel and also making comments on the videos posted. Fabu was the first one to notice that we had reached 100 followers on YouTube.
We were so surprised that our content was being watched and people commenting, but nobody knew what we were doing. Their comments were based on the actual content of the video.
We were not ready to openly speak about Fabu’s speech delay, ADHD, and learning disabilities. Fabu was even less prepared, and we did not want to take away from the positive results we were obtaining.
We knew that with the positive results we were obtaining, we would want to speak with other parents going through the same issues so that we could help. However, at that time, it was too soon, and we were not prepared.
Look at us now; it only took us four years.
So, we now have the equipment and software and are ready to take it to the next level!!
Quickly we found that making DIY gummy videos was taking us too much time. We ended up more stressed than ever before. Fabu would start off very motivated to help but soon would lose interest and leave us making the gummy while she went off to watch TV or play.
The good news was that we were still getting good results but needed to make some changes.
By this point, we knew that the recipe for therapeutic success was creating the YouTube videos, not so much the actual content of the video.
So, we started to look for what content would be next.
We asked Fabu for other things that interested her and what she would like to do for her following videos. At that time, Fabu watched several channels that did toy unboxing videos and excitedly told us that she wanted to do it herself. We watched several of these videos and decided to take a trip to ToysRus. Yes, ToysRUs was still open at that time. We discovered many adorable new collectible toys like the Shopkins, Unicornios, Twozies, Squinkies dew drops, and so many others. What we found the most interesting was that each of the little toys had a specific name. We believed that her ability to pronounce each of the little toys' names would be an excellent therapeutic tool for her to practice and find fun and engaging.
To keep Fabu engaged, we decided to switch up filming from home and go out to a new location.
We knew that recording at home sometimes ended with us being frustrated due to the long hours. We wanted to improve the mood by making it fun and going to different places like the park and Chuck e cheese.
This was when we started making toy unboxing videos.
🚨 FabuRocks Podcast Giveaway Week 6 🚨
We got together with our sponsors Turtle Beach & ROCCAT to thank all of you for supporting our FabuRocks Podcast Season 1 YouTube Therapy.
Episode 6 Getting the Right Software
NEW Winner each week!
Enter Here 👉🏽 https://faburockspodcast.com
We now have all the equipment we needed to start, but we missed the software required to edit videos and create graphics for videos and thumbnails properly. Let’s not forget, our background has nothing to do with graphic design or videography, and we could not afford to pay someone to edit the videos and make the thumbnail art for us. We ended up doing what we did best… go to YouTube and find videos to educate ourselves on the best video editing and graphic designing software available.
Our research determined that Sony Vega and Adobe Premier were the best and most complete programs to use. FabuDad ended up choosing Sony Vega as it was the more user-friendly of them.
For creating thumbnail art, FabuDad found he liked using Photoshop and PicMonkey the best. He liked how PicMonkey, although not as sophisticated as Photoshop, was very user-friendly and allowed us to make art quickly.
Little did we know that making and rendering 4k videos were too large for YouTube and needed to be compressed. We needed to find a program that would compress those videos, which you don’t need now.
Even though we did not know how to do anything, our level of determination was high, and this helped us get through the tons of tutorials that taught us how to do things, so we were able to accomplish our goal. The bottom line is if we can do it, so can you.
After making tough family decisions, we decided we were more than all in.
We now needed to equip ourselves with the proper equipment. After much research, we quickly found out we had less than the basics. You may ask, what are the basics? Well, we had a cheap camera (HD camera), a couple of offices all in one PC and a lot of enthusiasm!
After watching several channels about making YouTube videos for beginners, we quickly learned that we were in desperate need of a bunch of equipment we had no clue about. We needed a better quality camera, lights (who knew our home lights would not be enough), a microphone, a recorder (to record the audio from the microphone), a green screen if you want to be more creative, and new a computer that would allow us to edit and render a video on time properly. Can you believe our all-in-one office PC took 21 hours to render a 6 min video? Talk about frustrating.
Some of the strategies we took to get the items we needed was:
Our home office, little by little, became a mini recording studio.
After 6 gummy videos, we found that making YouTube videos was no joke! They were taking a really long time from start to finish; between setting things up, filming, editing, rendering, and uploading so Fabu could see herself later, each video was taking way more time and energy than we ever imagined.
However, the results were great. Fabu was even more engaged with each new video we made.
We knew we were getting closer to making some tough family decisions quickly! The amount of time and effort was taking a toll on us in our daily life. We were scared to fail because we were not putting in the amount of time needed to succeed. We needed more time, more time to overall get the results we wanted.
FabuMom – At that time, I worked in the social services field and started preparing to open a targeted case management company here in Miami. This was taking up a lot of my time and resources to achieve this goal.
FabuDad – At that time, he had a private lending company that provided business loans to Hispanic companies in Miami.
As a family, we were doing well, going on vacations for at least 4 x years. We had many plans and goals which had nothing to do with making YouTube videos.
We knew, though, that we needed to make some drastic decisions if we were going to have a shot at having great success with Fabu’s therapy.
So, we did what every family does. We had a family meeting over dinner and discussed the best decision for Fabu, knowing that each of us needed to compromise.
Filming, editing, rendering, and uploading was what was taking the most time. Not to mention all the time it took preparing to film. There were not enough hours in a day for FabuDad to successfully run a private lending business and do all of what we were doing at home with Fabu. We just needed more time. It was decided for FabuMom to stop pursuing the Case Management agency's opening as we knew that focusing on opening and building a second business would take all the time away from helping Fabu. She instead found a job that allowed her to work from home, giving her more flexibility and time to dedicate to Fabu. FabuDad would, for liability reasons, close down the business and dedicate his time to helping Fabu.
We knew these hard decisions needed to be made to help Fabu successfully, but we also knew that our lifestyle would change completely moving forward from that moment. No more vacations and bootstrapping mode were enabled.
We were certain that the best investment we were making was investing in our daughter and her future.
After having a rough first day of shooting and not knowing if it was a humungous fail, it was time to look at the footage we had. FabuDad had never edited a video in his life. After many tutorials which taught him everything from intro to outro, transitions, overlays, lower thirds, and everything needed for a video to look good, his goal was to create something as cool and fun as what Fabu was already watching on other channels. He wanted her to feel proud and happy with the results when she saw herself, hoping this would encourage her to make videos. Not know if this would be the first and only video he would edit after the semi-chaotic first day of shooting.
FabuDad took several days to edit the first video on our home PC, not a PC designed for editing. He struggled with rendering the 4k video, so he did as best as he could cut it to the final render. A 6 min and 42-sec video took nearly all day to render. Needless to say, FabuDad was beyond frustrated but remain hopeful and somehow proud of what we had just done.
The moment arrived to premiere our first video. We left early from work that day and picked up Fabu from school, rushing home to watch the video. We sat down as a family to watch our first video together. We were excited and afraid to watch at the same time. We were unsure of our results. Unsure of our method and if we had to find alternative methods which would work. Nevertheless, we were hopeful and determined to help Fabu no matter what.
FabuMom’s reaction – After watching the video, I absolutely loved it. I was impressed with the quality of the work. I could not believe FabuDad could make a video so well put together from all the filming we had done. All the scene transitions looked so cool, and how he incorporated the snapchats for dramatic purpose. I laughed, seeing myself stirring the gummies remembering how Fabu had totally left us alone in the whole gummy-making process. The bloopers were so funny. I loved how the bloopers highlighted Fabu’s fun personality, and you could tell how much fun she was having while filming.
FabuDad’s reaction – As I went through all the raw footage, I found that Fabu was unable to say many things correctly and often unable to put more than 2 words together. This made the editing process that much harder. My goal was to make a 5-minute video, but I did not think I could do it by editing one word here and there. I quickly noticed that we had plenty of what we called “bloopers” of her goofing around and not saying things correctly. I decided to add those bloopers because, in reality, it was just her being herself and having fun. My goal was for Fabu to feel it was a funny and entertaining video enough for her to want to continue doing it again.
Fabu loved the video as well. We noticed that as she watched, she was correcting herself. She could say words and phrases after seeing herself in the video that she had been previously unable to. We could not believe what we were seeing and hearing. Right before our eyes, she could pronounce, remember and correctly repeat what she was watching.
The AHA moment realized that the therapy was never in the video's filming; it was in reality after creating the video, her watching herself and then being able to repeat what she had said without skipping a beat correctly.
Who would have thought the bloopers would be the main factor in Fabu’s therapy. This is where all her mistakes were highlighted and being presented funnily. Fabu knew and recognized how to say whatever she had previously been unable to correct.
Overall, we felt happy and more hopeful than ever now, knowing that we had a bigger success than we ever expected. We fully embraced doing more late-night gummies for the sake of Fabu’s progress.
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