A Combination of ABA Therapy and ABLLS-R

Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) therapy can help children of all ages and if you think your child would benefit from this therapy your therapist can perform certain tests to find out more. The assessment of basic language and learning skills (ABLLS-R pronounced a-bulls) is the center piece to most Verbal Behavioral programs.

Before a therapist can go through ABA with your child they need to first understand what level of learning your child is at. This test isn’t meant to demean but can be upsetting for a parent to see their child is developmentally behind in any way. But remember, once the areas that need extra love and care have been identified it will be easier for everyone involved.

The ABBLS-R assesses 25 different domains allowing you to see precisely how your child is developing and where their strengths and weaknesses lie. It assesses visual performance, fine motor skills, language, the ability to follow instructions, group activities, math skills and more. Of course if your child is too young for some abilities, such as spelling and math, they are passed over until a later date. This test is performed every 6 months to get a detailed report on how your child is doing.

ABBLS-R helps to develop IEP or ISFP goals and objectives which are very important. IEP is individualized education program that states measurable goals for the child to achieve in a set time. ISFP is for younger children who are not yet in school and allow the parents to follow a plan without teachers.

It’s easy to skip ahead and assume your child has fully understood the step before, with an IEP plan. For example, you may want your child to potty train or clean up their toys but how can they do that when they can’t yet ask for something they need? ABA therapy will help your child reach these goals and ABBLS will help identify the correct goals.

ABA and an assessment combined are important because parents are intuitive and can read the body language of their children so well. For example, sometimes we see them looking at an object and know they need it, but forget that they haven’t actually asked for it. Or we ask them to perform a task such as putting something on the table – they put it down and we don’t realize they haven’t fully comprehended. As parents it’s hard to identify what our child truly understands and where they excel without a test like ABLLS.
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