Finding The Right Therapist

Before your child starts Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) therapy there may be many things you need to know about ABA and your therapist. ABA therapy can increase your child’s learning abilities which helps in all areas of their life, so it’s important to find the right therapist.

But what questions can parents ask to get the right results?

What are your qualifications?

A good response would be – somebody with a BA in fields pertaining to psychology and child care, and a certificate in ABA.

What experience do you have? Can you refer me to other parents you have worked with?

A good therapist for your child is one who has worked with Autistic children before. You can discover a lot by calling other parents who have worked with the therapist.

What happens during an ABA session?

A therapist who is re-assuring, kind, and takes time to explain how a session will be for your child is a good therapist. This will also tell you what your child is likely to go through and allow you to agree with their methods.

How many hours per week will my child need to be in therapy?

It’s good to know this so you can build your schedule around therapy.

How often can you update me on my child’s progress?

It’s important to know if ABA is working well for your child and as parents sometimes we can be impatient. A therapist knows how well ABA is working for your child and can give frequent updates to help you feel settled in your child’s progress.

Can you work with my child’s school?

Having a therapist who can keep your Autistic child’s teachers up to date on methods to help your child is a bonus.

Do you provide training or support for family, so that ABA can continue from home?

Children whose parents continue ABA at home succeed more often.

For more information, visit our website at www.buildingblockresolutions.com

ABA Training for Parents

 Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is a fantastic therapy for an Autistic child, as it helps to achieve something called generalization. This is when a child is able to perform actions in all areas of their lives. If you’ve ever seen your child use certain words, or perform certain tasks at school but not at home (or the opposite) ABA therapy can help!

But to do this we as parents need to be heavily involved. Research has shown that parents who are involved with their child’s ABA therapy are more likely to succeed. ABA therapy is labor intensive and takes a whole team, a parent who has a big say in this team is able to co-ordinate more efficiently – after all you see your child in all areas of their life.

A child whose parent isn’t deeply involved with ABA therapy, or don’t understand the goals and outcomes the therapist is looking for, may find that their child is only able to perform certain actions around the therapist. This can be frustrating, and can even knock our self-esteem as parents. We want to feel a sense of control and be able to teach our own children, ABA therapy not only gives you an active role to play but helps you feel as if you are helping your child in ways you couldn’t before.

There are many organizations that provide ABA training for parents, including some online schools. Getting as much information about ABA therapy, from schooling, to online, to your own therapist will help your child reach the goals that you want them to achieve. 

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Introducing Incidental Teaching to ABA Therapy

  Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy is a fun activity that teaches your child how to engage in the world, learn basic and complex language, skills and behavior.  There are many types of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), the Lovaas Method is one type and we have discussed Discrete Trial Training (DTT) that the Lovaas method uses. But another type of play for your child during ABA is called Incidental teaching.

Incidental teaching is when an environment is created for the child that motivates them to learn about the world around them. This means putting objects out of reach but still in sight, in a room set up to encourage your child to ask for the things they want. Instead of the therapist initiating engagement, as with (DTT), the therapist will wait for the child to mention the object or talk about it. The therapist then prompts the child to talk about the object or ask for the object.

You can do this at home too. If you place your childs favorite toy somewhere they can see it but can’t reach it and then your child points or approaches the toy, you could say the word of the toy as a prompt. For example, ‘teddy’ and wait to see if the child asks for the teddy. If they child asks for the teddy you can hand them the toy.

This sounds so simple because it is something we as parents do a lot, and something you see over and over with non-autistic children. But we know Autistic children have a hard time initializing conversation. However, it is because Autistic children struggle in this area that this therapy works. It not only encourages language but helps your child engage with their environment, which motivates them in the future by practicing engagement, and consequences of engagement.

As time goes on the therapist will fade out all prompts until the child is able to approach the object and ask for it when they see it, or perhaps without even seeing the object in question.  This can also be used to teach reading, create complex conversations and teach propositions (on, in, under).

This therapy is a fun, exciting way for a child to learn about the world around them in an exciting, gentle environment.

For more information, visit our website at www.buildingblockresolutions.com.

Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy And Discrete Trial Training

One type of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy is called the Loovas Method; the most heavily researched therapy for Autism which demonstrates some of the best outcomes. If your child has been diagnosed with Autism at a young age and you’re thinking about ABA therapy, then your child could be on the road to success.

As a parent we worry about the legitimacy of all therapies, how they will help our child, and what exactly goes on inside the therapist’s room. The Loovas Method relies heavily on Discrete Trial Training (DTT) and some incidental teaching.

What is DTT?

Discrete trial training is when a skill is broken down into steps instead of being taught as a whole. For example, when teaching shapes, the therapist would give two shapes and ask ‘which is the circle?’. Once the child can point out different shapes, then they would teach the child to say the shapes. Each skill is taught slowly, easing your child into the learning process without overwhelming them.

There are 5 steps to DTT

1.     The Antecedent (when the therapist sets up the question, perhaps by showing two shapes)

2.     The Prompt (where the therapists asks a question, or performs an action to get a response)

3.     The Response (where the child responds)

4.     The Consequence (for either a correct response, or incorrect response)

5.     The Pause (where the therapist allows it to sink in)

A Further Explanation of the Prompt

There are three types of prompts, an independent, a partial and a full gesture. This means that your child will either be: fully shown what to do, half shown, or not be shown at all. A therapist will generally start with a full prompt and begin to fade this until it becomes independent.

A Further Explanation of the Consequence

It’s scary as parents when we hear the word consequence, and we ask ourselves if it means punishment. This shouldn’t be the case with a qualified ABA therapist. A consequence only means something that happens after a response. If the child performs correctly they are showered with praise. But if the child cannot perform the task (which will happen sometimes) they are simply corrected and shown the right response.

The Loovas Method is just one school of ABA therapy, a therapy that can change the life of an Autistic child. Children who have completed this therapy have gone on to achieve a normal intellectual and educational functioning by the time they are 7 years old.

There’s always hope for a child that’s struggling.

Please visit our website at www.buildingblockresolutions.com for more information.