Has anyone else had to use ABA and what did it entail?

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Joined: 18 May 2011
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27 Oct 2011, 3:44 pm

Why was ABA recommended, exactly? Are there specific behaviors to be targeted for extinction? Are there other behaviors that are to be learned by the child?

ABA sounds like a waste of time to me. Sounds mostly like something to get children to act a certain way. Sounds stressful for the children. Much better to find out how the child's brain and mind works, then develop learning strategies or compensatory techniques based on those.

claudia
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27 Oct 2011, 4:18 pm

nostromo wrote:

This is a timely thread revival. I was just taking some time yesterday to reflect on the fact I had asked my (non verbal, classic Autism) son to pick up a piece of pear that he had dropped on the ground and put it on the table. And I pointed to where on the table to put it and he followed my distal point. Both of these things seem (to me) to be near miraculous, taught to him through the ABA programme. My son will be 5 next month and we have been doing it since he was about 3 yrs 4 months. He does about 12-15 hours a week.

But it was only in the last few months that I have seen a direct correlation between the money, time and effort spent and practical skills developed. All that time spent doing what we refer to as his 'Homework' appeared to me to bring little or no obvious practical benefits although I knew he was achieving things in the programme.

But I guess he was developing a foundation to build on, learning to be accessible..for learning at first. Participating with the teacher..sitting through sessions..doing what is requested of him. Learning to 'look', learning to have joint attention. Learning to match objects and all the many little tasks they do.

Miracles don't exist, it's due to education you gave him

nostromo
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27 Oct 2011, 4:31 pm

Nice to see you Claudia
And yeah, its awesome to be able to say 'James, pick up those chips you dropped' or 'Bring me the bowl' and have him do it. To have him listen is just amazing!

jstriding
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27 Oct 2011, 4:33 pm

I've been very much inspired by how much effort my little boy puts forth every day to do things other little boys take for granted: use verbal communication to ask for what he wants, get his mouth to produce sounds that I understand as speech: I feel like I'm being taught a lesson in perseverance every day by my 4 year old and I'm grateful.

SC_2010
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27 Oct 2011, 6:17 pm

btbnnyr wrote:

ABA is not all about making behaviors extinct. Most of it is based around giving the child the tools they will need to be happy, independent people. Learning how to effectively communicate is important. Learning how to read emotions of others, and regulate and understand your own is also important. It sounds like you have not had positive experiences with ABA in the past, but many children have greatly benefited from it. Autistic children learn well by breaking down tasks into small pieces, learning it and linking it together. You said "find out how the child's brain works," and that is precisely what ABA therapists do. If certain techniques don't work, there are a multitude of other ABA options.

pumpkimuffin
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29 Oct 2011, 12:39 pm

They explained it to us at our first appointment that its similar to dog training. I found it to be a joke really, and most of whats taught are just common things we do at home anyway. We stopped therapy for now.I can see where it would be useful for some though.

DW_a_mom
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29 Oct 2011, 1:05 pm

SC_2010 wrote:

btbnnyr wrote:

I'm getting the impression the therapy has really evolved. At the start, I would have agreed with the above poster, it sounded like dog training, and I found the youTube videos of sessions disturbing, but something has changed. The GOOD therapists are managing something more, because we are now hearing from the recipients of the therapy how good it has been for them.

I have a very high functioning son, doing super well and moving off all therapies and supports, but there are issues I am starting to see as possible reasons to try ABA. It would have to be what he wants, he is 14, but just the fact that I'm intrigued shows how much it has evolved.

_________________
Mom to an amazing young adult AS son, plus an also amazing non-AS daughter. Most likely part of the "Broader Autism Phenotype" (some traits).

momsparky
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29 Oct 2011, 5:32 pm

I think, in part (and with a caveat - we went looking for ABA and wound up not using the whole system) that it's because the analysis is emphasized, rather than the behavior-change part.

What we did use from ABA that was intensely useful for us was one step called a "Functional Behavioral Analysis." Every time my son had any kind of breakdown of the sort we were trying to avoid, we had to fill out a chart that listed the antecedents to the behavior (what happened before) the behavior itself, and what happpened after the behavior (I think, technically, this is called a "Descriptive FBA.") Keep in mind that the "behavior" we were trying to reduce were violent meltdowns, so it isn't as though we were in any way planning to limit my son's ability to be himself - he didn't want to melt down, either. I have since used this system to figure out some of my own behavior/emotions etc.

As we filled out the chart, patterns started to emerge that really helped us understand our son a lot better. We were able to make better decisions about how to provide him scaffolding, now we are able to remind him of things that are stressors before they happen so he can be prepared, and we've almost eliminated the meltdowns entirely.

I am sure there is more to ABA than just this step, but this part was invaluable for us.

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