This is about a year and a half old, but I find interesting its comparison of ABA to DIR. It seems that DIR is less focused on making kids act normal and more on getting them to relate to others and communicate. Other than the article, though, I haven't heard much of anything on DIR.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/articl...-1,00.html
Think I've hear Kristina Chew at Autism Vox mention Floortime alot.
They don't accept stimming. The kids are told "hands down" if they flap. Is that they "don't smile", "don't laugh" when a kid is happy?
They don't accept stimming. The kids are told "hands down" if they flap. Is that they "don't smile", "don't laugh" when a kid is happy?
That was when they talked about ABA I think, and not the DIR.
Another therapy that is discussed on my other group is RDI http://rdiconnect. com/ which stands for Relationship Development Intervention. I added a space after the . I"m not sure if I needed to.
Also, when my son was first diagnosed I was told by quite a few "professionals" not to let my son stim. They told me it created negative pathways in the brain.
They are talking complete bullshite! If you stop an autistic from stimming, it makes them very nervous and unhappy. If you get rid of one stim, another will take its place.
They told me it created negative pathways in the brain.
Any activity that someone performs on a regular basis creates stronger pathways in the brain relating to that activity. However, stimming is hardly a negative activity. It seems most professionals and parents regard ANY autistic trait no matter how harmless as something that must be eliminated at all costs.
Sorry for the duplicate
I do triple all the time.
They do that during ABA. I know when my son sucks his thumb or twirls his hair they say "hands down" actually I think they say "quiet hands". I was wondering why he was angry when my other son sucked his thumb - he kept screaming and pulling his brothers thumb out of his mouth. I thought it was weird and thought ABA sure enough they told me he cant do that during ABA so it must have set him to see his brother doing it or something .
They don't accept stimming. The kids are told "hands down" if they flap. Is that they "don't smile", "don't laugh" when a kid is happy?
Aspies have a very highly developed sense of fair play so your boy probably thought why should his brother be allowed to suck his thumb when he can't.
I'd say that he should be allowed to suck his thumb and twirl his hair if he wants to. ABA mightn't be a very good idea if they are going to stress him out so much.
So did these kids raised in a "Skinner Box" turn out strange?
When I was six, five minutes felt like an hour. In elementary school (and up to high school until this year) I would miss months of school because I got burnt out so much. I don't know how kids who spend 5+ hours a day in a program like ABA can handle it without massive tantrums afterward. That was usually the case when I went to my elementary school, and I was pretty free to not interact, participate.
At least in elementary school the vast majority of the time I wasn't paying attention to the task, and would do my own thing. But I still would run around the house and fight with my sisters and a good portion of my self-injury at that time was because there was so much energy and frustration from the school day, and that was how I used it at first.
I remember when I went to first grade in '97 at a new school and a new place that they were worried about the fact I wouldn't talk to people in class and about my concentration problems, as I would usually not do what I was told to do and sort beads instead. Turns out a lot of my not paying attention to instructions was because I wasn't understanding them. It still amazes me that it wasn't until 3 or 4 years later I finally went through the process of being diagnosed.
About distractions: I remember when I was in first grade and my dad started coming to my classes to help me. I'm not familiar with these formal types of programs, so I'm not sure on what a day was like. I remember when my dad would sit at a chair to the side of the room, I wouldn't be able to focus on the stuff I was supposed to do, but when he would sit next to my chair and help me along, that I was much more focused at doing the tasks, as I could get help from him when I didn't understand, and his presence wasn't for me a novelty.
"The ritualistic behavior that is characteristic of autism is strongly suppressed. "Hands down," says a teacher to a child who begins to flap. "We're not a culture that accepts that," says Taylor. "Fifty percent of the battle is addressing behavior to look good.""
I'd much rather my son was happy and flapping than a miserable wee robot who kept his hands still and trotted out standard phrases that had been drummed into him relentlessly for 40 hours a week. What kind of childhood is that? What a terrible school!
The other school sounded much more joyful - making things fun for the kids and letting them share small triumphs and activities with each other. And I noticed it was about 2/3 of the cost of the ABA school, although still expensive!
Yes, these were pretty much my thoughts. I mean, what's so horrible about adjusting the current culture to be more accepting of harmless behaviors? It would've been considered psychiatric blasphemy 100 years ago to suggest adjusting the culture to accept gay people (not that we've been wholly successful, but things are a lot better than they used to be, and it is no longer a psychiatrically blasphemous idea).
Another thing I liked about the other school was that they gave a kid something to fidget with - much more effective than "Don't do that."
Yeah, that just makes me cringe. Lucky, my dad was not given dire predictions about me and encouraged me to be an individual, that people who can't stand that aren't worth listening to. Anyone who would get distressed over that and claim that it means "not doing anything" to help kids has seriously distorted the issues.