Applied Behavior Analysis
By ibecarly
@ibecarly (4)
United States
October 16, 2008 10:12pm CST
Hi all. I'm here to talk about Applied Behavior Analysis, specifically (but not limited) for children with Autism. I have a double BA in Psychology and Applied Behavior Science, and am currently getting my Masters in Early Childhood Special Education. I hope one day to get my PhD in ABA.
Please let me know if any of you have any questions! I am NOT licensed to give you advice but am more than willing to clear some things up if you have any questions about a past, current, or potential ABA question.
I love helping others and have an extreme passion for ABA and children with developmental disabilities.
1 person likes this
2 responses
@andnowtheres2 (47)
• United States
8 Nov 08
ABA is a very demanding therapy for some autistic children and in my personal opinion it shouldnt be used to all children because some kids cannot handle the demands that ABA involves. My daughter has been in ABA for 4 1/2 yrs and really we havent noticed anything but her behavior getting worse. It puts alot of stress on a child.
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
10 Nov 08
ABA is a mixture of psychological & educational techniques that are utilized based upon the needs of each individual child. Applied Behavior Analysis is the use of behavioral methods to measure behavior, teach functional skills, and evaluate progress. I strongly feel that ABA helps & you might see the child's behavior change, but it's all about the ups & downs. It could take many more years of ABA to see the progress you want. It takes work.
ABA techniques have been proven in many studies as the leading proven treatment &
method of choice on treating individuals with autism spectrum disorder at any level. So if your not seeing any progress at all, maybe its time to try another ABA system? Maybe your daughter clashes with the ABA teacher?
Good luck with things!
@Foxxee (3651)
• United States
25 Oct 08
Do you work with Autistic children?
What kind of therapy would you suggest for a parent of an Autistic child who is mute. No communication at all. Doesn't point or anything. The child hummms, laughs, smiles, but doesn't communicate.
& what if this child doesn't respond with PEC cards or sign language? What other way can a parent work with their child who is Autistic with communication skills?
Have you ever worked with a Autistic child who is mute, but is also the happiest, lovable child there can be?
We always hear that Autistic kids are violent & so on, I don't agree with that.
What are your views?
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
25 Oct 08
I don't have a degree in this stuff but I work with autistic/MR adults. Most of them are mute. Some point, very few do. PEX cards have limited use with the adults...may be because they are very knew.
Most of the adults do use and or understand sign, it takes them a long time to make the connection between the sign and the item. We use sign and PEX, for example, we will give the person a picture of a cookie, use the sign for cookie and when they hand us the card, we say good asking for cookie and we use hand over hand and teach them to sign cookie and give them the cookie. After several weeks, they may attempt to sign for the cookie on their own or give us the pic of the cookie on their own and they get the bit of cookie. We also verbalize cookie, we have found that some will give us the sign but do not associate the sign with item. They will not pick out the correct picture when asked to pick one out for the cookie, but will start using the sign.
It is what works best with each individual. Several of our guys use boxes that they press icons to actually talk for them, but they are slow, limited and I am sure expensive.
The key is repetition and patience and never give up...they can and will continue to learn as long as people put in the effort to teach them...though it takes time and baby steps are always a reason to celebrate.
