[/color][/size][/font]Hey, I'm new to this site.
I am so embarrassed to say this, but, I am a tutor working with an ABA company (we do in-home therapy). I have many questions for you all. I read about your general views on the behaviorism aspect of ABA. How do you feel about Discreet Trial Training? Or PECS? or RDI? I realize that ABA seeks to conform, and I had never seen it as such a bad thing. I am realizing more and more that ABA stresses kids out sometimes, but I think it can give them an espected method by which to learn new skills and express them in a testable way, so a new skill can be introduced. I really want to hear what you have to say about ABA. I personally don't like ABA much, but if a compassionate person is working with the child, it changes the program so much more. Please help me to understand why you believe the way you do. Thanks!!
I never investigated ABA since it seemed to be just for elementary school-aged kids (Hope was dxed at 13), but we did use RDI informally with our daughter (her social worker went over some of the exercises with her using a book aimed at Aspie teens (Dr. Gutstein). The latter was sort of successful I guess. We did about 7 exercises in all if I recall. The role playing was probably the most effective....
The premise for ABA, though, seemed to me to be that using it intensively would cure autism, which I feel is bogus. Once an autie, forever an autie imo. And what is wrong with that? You wonder what ABA would be like if parents said "Listen we want to smooth the edges a little with our kids, not change them wholesale".
Then when I looked at all the cds, books, professional opinions, conferences, that you were supposed to sign on for (to do it ideally according to the website), well, my bullshit meter went off rather loudly, my intuition kicked in and I said to myself, Hope will be fine without this huge cottage industry, thank you very much!
Here is the most compelling sentence you wrote: "I personally don't like ABA much, but if a compassionate person is working with the child, it changes the program so much more." Yes, that is exactly what I have found- that kids respond to love and acceptance- love is what moves mountains for everyone.
Hope doesn't go to a magnet school, just a very ordinary school academically, but the love and concern her teachers show her, the accommodations they make for her to help her have made all the difference. I am also indebted to friends' children who have taken a special interest in Hope over the years, also.
With a little luck I think Hope's self esteem will make its way into adulthood intact.
Admittedly I'm not an expert on the subject, but my personal view from what I've read so far is that ABA is only a problem when aversives are used, or when it is used to discourage harmless but unusual behaviour.
I haven't seen any problems with non-aversive uses of ABA. This doesn't mean there aren't any, just that I've never seen them specifically mentioned.
ABA is not a bad idea. It is the practice as applied to individuals ill equipped to benefit that makes it so dangerous. If the child's system you are working with is developed enough to get what is being presented then you are fortunate. I was not one of those children. For me ABA was literal torture. It raised my anxiety to overwhelming. It resulted in my fighting just to maintain a sense of me as a being. I had a loving teacher once too. For what it is worth she did ABA. I took pleasure in her even if the activity was torture.
Hrick
*Mike is a individual with severe sensory integrative dysfunction. Mike's message is that Lovaas styled discreet trial ABA should not be utilized with these children.
While I don't have direct experience with behavior modification, at least not as part of any formal program, there are specific things that I do know about, which I can comment on.
It is not wise to change an autistic's A) eye contact B) stimming C) focused interests
Probably some more examples, but these things are crucial to the way an autistic processes stuff and functions, and even for people who can manage non-autistic styles of dealing with things, it is usually untenable, and I bet always less efficient.
I do, however, think it is useful to teach some practical skills, like brushing teeth and (eventually) fixing food and stuff like that. But the technique, that's what is to be looked at. I am not too familiar with the techniques of ABA, which is why I won't comment directly on ABA, and why I don't have an opinion formed about ABA in general, just specific things and ways ABA has been used for (such as with aversives).
Of course, it is very important also to realize that not everybody is going to be able to perform such "simple" tasks, and certainly not to perform them according to any timetable of how quick they "should" be developing skills, and the answer is definitely not to intensify training, not for autistics.
We need, for anything that is stressful, to have frequent breaks, time to be alone, or just relax in whatever way we relax. Playtime where the kid is allowed to play in whatever way they like, with whatever playthings are available. And if that means just sitting and staring at a wall, then that counts, because that's how the individual is choosing to use their freetime. When I was young, if anyone ever told me specifications as to "how" I was to play, I hated it. It's not play when it's being dictated.
And of course, we may not always show stress in obvious ways until we go into shutdown. And some behaviors, which are frequently mistaken as being always signs of stress, such as rocking, are not always signs of stress. I do this (and other stims) just as often when I am feeling neutral or positive as when I am stressed or in negative emotion. I think of stimming as an effective regulator of emotions and movement and other types of thought - whichever directions these may be.
Perhaps there should be a "time-out" signal - a phrase, a gesture, a picture, a card, whatever works. That way, when the child feels too overwhelmed and needs to take a break, then they have that option. If they are taking advantage of this option very frequently, then it may be that the activity or its presentation (or possibly both) should be modified to better suit the individual. This way, therapy really is being designed to the individual's needs, rather than assuming that because the therapy is regarded as effective that it should work for any given person.
From what I've seen, PECS seems like a good idea but I would have serious reservations about the type of ABA where a child has to spend 40 or so hours a week in intensive training.
Apart from all the stress, I worry about the effects on the rest of the family who are likely to feel neglected and possibly resentful. It isn't going to cure the autism either so unless there were huge improvements, I don't think it ultimately would be worth all the financial and time sacrifices or risking the child being severely traumatised.
Definitely the number of hours is an issue. I have no idea how I could keep attention for that long in a week, and I'm 18, let alone when I was 5. (I ran it through the calculator and 40 hr/week is an average of about 5.7 hours per day, including weekends.)
Finances are another big thing. I imagine that, if it put a financial strain on those wealthy families featured in Autism Everyday, imagine for lower-middle class families trying to pay so much - I imagine the stress it would put on the household would be a negative influence.
(I grew up with my parents always in debt - about plumbing, though, not therapy). When I was taken to the emergency room when I had a seizure, I felt so guilty of the strain it put on our finances (that is, once I understood that families get stuck with emergency bills, even though we didn't call for an ambulance - the school did). Luckily, we were the poor family at my junior high, and the money they'd been fundraising actually went to us, and helped us pay the bill.
Hey, everybody,
thanks so much for taking the time to let me know your thoughts on ABA. I would like you to know that the company I work for is funded through a local regional center (County/State program) so the families are not directly responsible for any payment. The same funds allocated for ABA, i imagine, would go to respite care and in home OT and speech therapy. In this area (SoCal) the government pays those bills if you know which hoops to jump through. I don't think I could live with myself if the families I worked for were billed. Also, I remind the parents that my company works for them, and at no point should they ever let us do something they are not comfortable with.
I did once work with a 2 year old for 20 hours a week. That was when I first started this job. Looking back, that was really hard for him. It was a 2 hour session in the morning and a 2 hour session in the afternoon. We actually did "work" for about 1 hour each session, though, because he would get breaks to play and "PEC" for snacks and toys, and at that time he didn't go to Pre-K. But I often think about how hard it is for the kids to work after school. I couldn't imagine having to do that after work everyday.
Also, I would like you all to know I have never used aversives (unless time-out counts), and am not allowed to even acknowledge bad behavior-we use extinction for negative behaviors. So if my client throws a lego at my face, I don't respond (except to go in to the other room and count to 10).
Thanks so much for your input. I will consider it everytime I work with my little friends.
Yeah. All throughout school, from kindergarten to now in high school, I am usually way too exhausted after school to do anything but sit or lie down, usually with the TV on. After a couple of hours, and eating dinner, then I can try to work on homework and stuff.
When I was in elementary school, my parents tried to get me to do homework right away, or after only a half hour of sitting to unwind, and I would throw tantrums and run around the house for four or five hours, and not get any work done. I got some more time to relax, and I got my homework done much more quickly, and without so much of a fight.
Not to be rude but, some of you really need to do some research before making comments about something you know very little about. Self-management training is ths ultimate step in ABA, providing autonomy to the individual in that he/she can now encourage behavior in the absence of an outside agent. Its about choice. Its about bringing the methods of science to help with thier problems. ABA is based of the laws of behavior. You don't question the laws of physics do you? Of course their are people in the field who are not as caring as they should be and people who use negative reinforcement and averse methods but, its no reason to blame ABA unfortuantly that happens no matter what school of thought your teaching. Bottom line, ABA works, thousands of published reasearch studies have documented the efectivness of ABA across a wide range of populations, interventionists,settings, and behaviors. If you don't believe me look it up