What kind of therapist will be a good fit for your child?

Not all therapists will have the same style of implementing common ABA therapy techniques. Some may be very gentle, others firm, where some may want to explain situations to a child who works well with logic, and others may want to make simple demands instead. Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is a therapy that is implemented in a way that molds to your child's unique personality and needs.

Because of this, not all Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapist will be the right fit for your child. When you decide to terminate services, you may consider if you want somebody else. If this is the case, think about what it was about the last analyst that caused issues for you. Understanding what you disliked about the therapist style of teaching, and communicating it to the company, can help them find you a better fit. Making a concrete list of what you are looking for gives the therapist/company a way to meet your needs, and either refer you or find someone like that.

Whether it’s tone of voice, certain techniques you don’t agree with or simply the personality of your therapist, making sure all of those issues are met to your desires are important. Never be afraid to go with a different therapist until you find the right fit for your child. Every therapist practicing ABA will bring their own unique style and personality into the mix. Just like every child will bring their own personalities into the relationship.

Reinforces: How to make them effective

We talked about token boards and how they help reinforce good behavior during Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy sessions. But there is a way you can improve on the token boards and other reinforces to make them as effective as possible. Your therapist should use some of the following methods to help your child move forward through their skills quickly.

When offering a token or sticker for each completed task, your therapist will ensure it is given as soon as the child completes the task. It is here reinforcement will be the most powerful, mostly due to instant gratification. If you promise a treat later for doing something they were asked to do, the behavior change will not be as rapid. This is why stickers and tokens on hand are such an amazing tool, there’s no wait period.

The stickers, token or reward must also mean something to the child/teenager. If the reward isn’t very exciting, then it’s not motivating. Sure they might do it for the benefit of getting a sticker, but they’d do it with more gusto and energy if that sticker was of their favorite cartoon character and not a gold star.

The therapist should give the treat frequently. It would be a little ineffective to tell your child, ‘if you behave all day you can get a sticker.’ Not only is that unrealistic (who doesn’t make mistakes? What child doesn’t misbehave once or twice?) but the goal is out of reach, and the reward isn’t tangible. It’s not something they can easily imagine themselves receiving. Giving your reward frequently reminds your child how awesome it feels to get it.

The therapist should also make the reward exciting with the use of social engagement. Compliments, hyping up the gift, and being as positive about the reward as possible are some examples.

Another mistake newer ABA therapists make is turning the reward into a negative. Instead of saying, ‘if you don’t do X you won’t get this’, the therapist should say, ‘if you do X you will get this cool sticker!’ In an upbeat happy tone. Now the sticker is exciting, the praise is rewarding, and the outcome is something they want to work towards.

Just think about how it feels when someone tells you that you can’t have something unless you do as they say. Instantly we evaluate if we want that thing anyway, which makes us less likely to be happy about getting it. This is just human nature. One simple change in language can do a lot for any child.

ABA therapy is such a simple therapy really when broken down. From the outside it can be confusing and even a little scary at first, but when we look at it from a common sense angle, it’s little wonder why this therapy is so vastly used in all sorts of fields. Tokens, and stickers are nothing new, and if you ever have any issues with how they are used you can always ask the advice of your BCBA certified analyst or therapist.

Techniques on how to encourage your child to stick out

The behavior of trying to escape a situation in all children is common, but especially so with autistic children who have a lot going on and little to no attention span.

In applied behavioral analyses therapy (ABA) avoidance techniques are tackled head on, to build up the child’s tolerance to accept and even enjoy certain situations—such as sitting down to read a book.

A child won’t be allowed to escape a situation (since this will re-enforce that escape is preferable to getting through to the other side) so what does the therapist do to make sure the child feels they can make it through that moment?

ABA Techniques: How to Encourage a Child to Stick it Out

A lot of now vs then techniques may be used. Sometimes autistic children have a hard time understanding that this moment won’t be forever. Timers are set up to show this will end and posters explaining now vs then.

Rewards are also great. Rewards such as music, and toys when they finish a task can help a child get excited to finish, instead of unmotivated and blah.

Replacing behaviors is another tool. Instead of your child running away and hiding, the therapist teaches them to ask for a break. If they ask too often, it is lined up with the other techniques and tolerance built up.

For older children the work you are doing together could be too hard, do they understand it or getting too frustrated by how difficult it is? Maybe everyone needs to step back and look at whether this is a reasonable ask.

For older children, help him/her discover their why, what positive thing they will get from learning or ‘surviving’ this task? Talk out the positives and help them view the task from a new light.

If the amount of time it takes is too overwhelming, a therapist may cut the work into parts, doing some now then taking a break and some later.

Our therapist uses awesome token systems, which are Velcro tokens of their favorite characters. Every time they complete one step they get a new token and they love it!

The Therapist Doesn’t Expect Perfection

The effort should get rewarded more than the outcome.

If your little one tried really hard but got the answers wrong, this won’t be penalized. For e.g. If we’re teaching a child to do the dishes, and stick it out, but they leave mess on a couple of cutlery, oh well! The point is they stuck it through and should be rewarded. Everyone makes mistakes and perfection isn’t the outcome we want here, it’s getting through the situation.

The therapist will always praise your child as they take steps through a non-preferred task, they deserve it. It is difficult to do anything when your world is full of noise and distraction, sometimes they just want to do something easy; but as we all know we can’t always do this as adults.

This is Something We All Do

Often ABA is just common sense. I bet you ask for help, know why you want things, take breaks and reward yourself for getting through boring tasks too! For instance,

“This meeting will take 20 minutes, I’ll learn some valuable things and when I go home and take a bubble bath.”

“I would like to be healthier for my family; I can ask my friends for help and have a special meal on the weekend. If I lose 10lbs I can get a new wardrobe.”

The procedures your ABA therapist uses isn’t alien, these are things even non-autistic people need to learn to optimize their days! And they set your child up to conquer the more uncomfortable aspects of later life, like boring work, meetings and chores.

ABA therapy steers autistic children to work through sensory overload until it's no longer an issue

Many children with autism suffer from sensory overload. This could be sensitivity to noises, sensations, lights, textures, temperature and more. The issue with these sensory problems is they impede things your child needs to do.

We work with a boy who has autism and he hates people touching his finger-tips. Therefore, it is almost impossible for parents to cut his nails because he will scream and thrash around. But he also uses his nails as weapons to hurt himself, so cutting them is necessary. It’s a catch 22 and there are a lot of times this happens for our autistic children.

Take for example a potty; if they are scared of how it sounds or how it feels to sit on one, they won’t want to relieve themselves. It will be impossible for them to learn how to potty train. They may not like the way a hairbrush feels or a shower sounds. It hinders their life in a way you don’t always expect; sensory issues can stop your child from being able to care for them self.

That is why Applied Behavior Analyses (ABA) is so important. The therapist can use ABA as a way to run programs that eradicate this sensory issue for good. The name of one technique is systematic desensitization. This is where, a child is exposed to the stimulus on purpose and taught relaxation techniques.

For my son and his nail clipper issue it looked like this:

-        -Nail clippers were used on other people

-        -Nail clippers were brought close to him

-        -They brushed the nail clippers over his fingers

-        -They used the nail clippers to cut one nail

At every step this boy screamed and cried and fought, but eventually he could cope with that step. It became normal to him and he calmed himself.

Dealing with things like that alone is scary, especially seeing your own child in that level of fear or pain. An ABA therapist helps to steer them through these issues until they are no longer a big deal.

Parenting Styles: Techniques can influence an autistic child in many ways

When it comes to Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) therapy consistency is key. This is true for all parenting styles; Autistic children are no different from every other child in the world. If they can find a way to get what they want, then they will utilize it.

For instance, if a toddler wants a lolly-pop and you say no, then they ask somebody else and they say yes, they may ask different people until they get candy because it worked before. It’s important that all parents and those raising a child (because it takes a village) are on the same page.

An ABA therapist in effect helps you to raise and teach a child who doesn’t respond as well to traditional teaching methods we as caregivers see in our own families and mainstream media. Because consistency is paramount, it’s imperative you keep constant communication with your therapist. Moreover, all parents involved are on the same page. I say this because one parent, one caregiver, or one daycare/school can undermine an entire week of ABA therapy if they aren’t clued in to how everyone is reacting to a behavior in a child.

It’s the two steps forward one step back issue. If you want ABA to run smoothly and quickly, allowing anyone to take the child a step back will make the process much longer.

If your child attends a daycare, goes to school, has separate households and more than one set of parents, every single person needs information on what techniques are used in certain situations.

ABA is a very effective but easily undermined therapy. This is why having a therapist you trust enough to implement all of their ideas, will make your ABA journey smoother. This is why communication across all platforms will ensure ABA works as well as it should.

If you ever feel that ABA isn’t getting the results you expect, you need to investigate and ensure that everyone is on the same page, and has followed through with the techniques correctly before changing them up or ending ABA all together.

Can an ABA Imitation Program work for your child?

One of the first things your Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapist may work on with your child is imitation. This is a program your therapist teaches if your child is babbling and attempting speech but won’t speak when asked a question, or cannot repeat something.  

Being able to imitate somebody is so important for learning social skills, mands and how to learn from others. And since children with Autism learn a little differently than their peers, it’s vital to teach them this key skill in a way they can comprehend.

How an Imitation Program Works in ABA

If you want to teach your child new words and new behaviors they have to copy those behaviors, right? If they can’t copy the behavior, then they can’t learn how to do the behavior.

This is where the therapist steps in and shows a behavior or phrase to a child. This could be something silly and totally out of context, like, “say itsy-bitsy”. The child repeats this, and gets a reward. Later on another child might hop, and your child may imitate as they have learnt how to.

This program is also used in every day context, such as, “say I want juice” or “a cookie” to receive the desired item. Instead of whining, repeating your sentence or gesturing, the child will begin to learn to say “I want juice” instead.

But My Child Can’t Imitate At All!

When your child is completely non-verbal and has a hard time saying anything at all, words are broken down into pieces and taught over time. For example, “say mommy”. The sound “mo” is taught first and rewarded, then mom, then mommy.

What Issues Could Arise?

There are a couple of behavioral ‘issues’ your child could pick up from this program, but nothing that won’t be reversed with ease.

We had an issue recently where an autistic child repeated everything. The therapist would say, “do this” and touch their head, and he would say, “do this” and touch his head. This is a common problem in autistic children who practice echolalia (repeating phrases automatically). It can be fixed easily! Our therapist simply dropped the phrase, “do this” and so did he!  

ABA is an excellent therapy for teaching a child with Autism the skills he or she will need to move through life, and learn from their experiences. Imitation program are just one of the skills implemented to encourage this.

How your child can wait in a structured way

It’s hard for our children on the spectrum to control impulse control and emotions related to frustration. Because of this, asking them to wait is akin to asking them to stop their world from spinning. The end result? It gets frustrating quickly; they may explode, tantrum, lash out, whine, repeatedly ask, and destroy property, or any number of things to stop the waiting period.

This is why with applied behavioral analyses (ABA) your therapist teaches your child how to wait in a structured way.  First the therapist may start by reducing the waiting period to a miniscule amount of time; usually 5 seconds.

The therapist will hold a toy, and when the child asks for it, they will say wait, and count to 5. If the child can wait those 5 seconds, great! They receive the toy and all is good with the world again. If this happens regularly, the time will increase from 5 seconds to 10 and so forth.

But if your child throws themselves into ‘negative’ behaviors, the therapist will stop the program until the child has calmed down, and try again. If the child continues to engage in problem behavior that’s no issue! The therapist will simply stop trying and move the situation to something else.

As long as the adults teach the child to wait, eventually this hard lesson will sink in, tolerance for this situation will be built, and you will have a child able to wait. Teaching a child how to wait has so many long term benefits. As an adult we have to wait for many things, lines in stores, for a package to arrive, for somebody to finish using what we need, etc. If an adult couldn’t wait it would severely impact their relationships and happiness later on. Which is why therapies like ABA are so important.

How to help your child with scrolling

Recently a family had trouble with their 2-year-old autistic son scrolling. Scrolling is when your child goes through several answers to a question before landing on the correct answer. This could look something like;

You hold up a picture of a cow > instead of saying cow and getting the reward your child says > duck, dog, cat, cow!

Whenever a new quirk in your child’s behavior arises you should always talk to your therapist about it so they can draw up a comprehensive plan, but there are some generic answers to this problem; which are commonly used by applied behavioral analyses (ABA) therapists.

A lot of ABA therapists seem to agree scrolling happens when the child’s error-correction isn’t performed correctly by the therapist.

What this means is, when a child is learning what a new response it is up to the therapist to prompt the child from most invasive, to least invasive.

‘A ‘most invasive’ prompt would look like “what is this shape?” And when the child doesn’t respond correctly the therapist immediately prompts them by telling them the answer to be repeated, then praises them. The least invasive method would ask the question and then wait for the child to answer it correctly the first time without prompts.’

Sometimes a child wants to give the correct answer a little too badly, and repeats a bunch of answers in hopes to land on the correct one. The scrolling could then occur when the therapist allows the child to reel off answers and praises them when they land on the right one regardless of all of those errors. Funnily enough, now the child has learnt that, cat, dog, cow, duck, is what you say to get a reward when shown a duck.

But it’s not too late to reverse the problem! Your child won’t do this forever. All the therapist has to do is clarify that spieling off ten words until they get to the answer isn’t the correct response to the question at hand.

To do this, when the child starts to scroll after a question is asked you pause, make it clear they are to wait, and then you re-introduce the question. If the child continues to scroll after three attempts, ask the question and use the most invasive prompt to illicit the correct answer, then praise.

A method like this, or something similar, is likely what your therapist will do to correct this charming, and a little bizarre quirk that a lot of children with autism develop especially as early learners. It is a simple problem to both develop and fix and should be no problem for your therapist to help your child overcome.

Asking questions about your therapist being too hard or too soft on your child can be a learning experience

Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) therapy is about teaching your child life skills, academics, and positive behaviors in a fun environment. Sometimes that means your therapist may do something you don’t always understand. It’s always best to ask why, often, as once you understand you too can apply it at home.

One common question parents often ask is why the therapist is, or isn’t placing demands on a child, especially if the parent has done something entirely different regarding a behavior.

Is the Therapist being too hard?

Sometimes when a therapists places lot of demands, a child with Autism tantrums. However, this does not mean that the therapist should punish or spank.

 Many times you will see an ABA therapist holding a child still, forcing them to do things, or to sit still until they stop tantrumming instead of typical punishments like removing a toy, or time out. As a parent, this can be uncomfortable as we often go into survival mode and try to stop whatever has upset the child. Or bargain with them, or put them in time out, or any myriad of techniques that seem appropriate at the time.

An ABA therapist is unafraid of the meltdowns. They place the same demands that anyone would place on a child and hold them to it, sometimes literally, in a safe place.  

Is the Therapist being too soft?

However, on the other end of the spectrum you could ask, why is my therapist not jumping on the bad behavior enough?

Sometimes this is a legitimate concern and perhaps your therapist needs to consult with their team better if they are encouraging certain behaviors to continue. If you notice your child has started a new behavior because of what a therapist is doing, always consult the analyst or therapist. Sometimes therapists get it wrong too.

For example: Our child once started purposefully engaging in ‘bad’ behavior to find opportunities to get a demand. This was because, during therapy time when given a demand, he got a piece of candy for performing it correctly.  Of course, 40 minute long tantrums ensued as he stole items, gave them back, and then demanded candy for his confused version of good behavior. Looking back, it was a little funny to watch a child run with glee through the house as he stole his sisters night shirt, only to immediately bring it back, then head to the candy jar all proud of himself…as I stood there completely baffled. But at the time it was a confusing experience for everyone involved. We fixed this by speaking to the analyst who banned candy as a re-enforcer. The issue was remedied in less than a day.

But there are other reasons a therapist may not be addressing the behavior. Some techniques involve ignoring a behavior altogether until it naturally falls out of the child’s tool-box. Perhaps they’re licking the table and making silly noises because they think it’s funny, but actually this could be totally unhygienic if they were to do it outside of the home. Here, the therapist may ignore it until the child forgets about doing it because they’re not getting any fun out of it.

Another reason your therapist may not be addressing behaviors yet, is when therapy first begins. Therapists will go through a ‘honeymoon’ stage with the child when they meet. This is where they play, get the child to love them, teach them they’re a fun person and everything will be great. If they come down too hard to begin with, your child won’t want to be around them since they haven’t learnt this person is a fun person to play with. And ABA therapists believe a child HAS to have fun to learn.

 

It’s always best to ask questions that come to mind with your therapist— it can be a great learning experience for everyone involved, not just your child. This is somebody who will be working with your child for perhaps years to come, and being on the same page with their nuances will make everything run a little more smoothly.

 

A tool that can help to reduce your child's anxiety

Children who have Autism often have trouble with transitions. A transition is just a fancy way of saying, going from one activity to the next, or one place to the next. Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) has plenty of tools in its toolbox to help your child overcome the meltdowns, or negative behaviors that occur after or during the transition.

This article talks about visual schedules…

Autistic children love routine and love knowing what’s going to happen next. Think about it this way:

A friend says they’re taking you away for the weekend. They want you to pack everything you need within 2 minutes so you can leave right away. If you don’t pack in time, you’re leaving any way and can’t gather what you need. You aren’t allowed to know the location, who is going to be there, or any clues to what you might need with you.

The scenario is a little exciting sure, but incredibly stressful. Do you pack jeans? Something formal? Hiking gear? Will you need soap? Will you need a towel? Can you gather your tools to be successful on this trip fast enough?

Springing a transition on an Autistic child is a lot like the above scenario. Without a schedule there is no walk-through, your child doesn’t know what to prepare for, what tools they might need from their coping toolbox, who might be there or how they’re expected to act socially. When a new activity is dropped on them out of nowhere, it’s akin to trying to pack a suitcase in 30 seconds flat…Oh and listen to what your parent tells you to do and do it right away! It is horribly overwhelming.

Knowing this, it’s a little wonder your child might be tantrumming, throwing their toys, or just plain sulking and refusing to go. After all, they probably don’t have the same tools an adult would, to navigate the situation.

A visual schedule is essentially pictures of all the locations your child will be visiting that day. Perhaps it’s different classes, or Grandma’s house. Whatever it is, take a picture and put it up on an hour by hour schedule and talk to your child about what you will be doing that day. Warn your child 30 minutes before you have a transition, and use the picture during a transition, to explain what is happening next. 

Once your child becomes familiar with the routine, and locations, things may get better. This is just a quick explanation, your ABA therapist can use these tools and more to help reduce your child’s anxiety.

The Benefits of Getting Your Autistic Child ABA Services Before the Age of Three.

If you’re a parent of a child who has recently received a diagnosis of Autism under the age of 2, you will consider what therapies can help them. After all, they may not be verbal right now, they may have little comprehension of the world around them – you may wonder how on earth anyone could teach them socialization and if therapy is even worth it. I know I had many of those thoughts myself; especially since many parents spend countless hours trying to teach my Autistic sons skills with little progress.

One of the first therapies you will likely hear about is Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA). That sounds like a formidable name by itself, but ABA is simple teaching your Autistic child skills they can use in the world, be it social, verbal, play or correct behaviors.  You may also visualize this as your one-year-old sitting attentively at a desk and ask yourself “how will that work?”

Actually, you’d be surprised what little things a one-year-old with Autism needs to learn that will heavily impact them later on – and a lot of it doesn’t involve desks at all. Like the ability to point, the ability to engage for short amounts of time, and most importantly, the ability to play. Teaching a child these simple age appropriate skills will help them build up to more intense things later on. If a child can point to something, they can communicate better and reduce frustration as they grow. If a child can engage for a short amount of time, then your relationship will grow and you will bond. If a child is taught to play with toys appropriately, then they can learn from these toys (as children learn through play).

According to a study performed by researchers at the New England Center for Children 90% of children under the age of 2 made significant social and communication skill gains within a year, when enrolled in an early intervention program. 90% is a big deal, and this drops to 30% if a child begins after the age of 2 and a half. So ABA is almost guaranteed to help your child, and should definitely be a therapy you look into.

ABA is always aimed at a child as an individual; it isn’t a step-by-step program that can be followed out of a book. This is a complex therapy that takes therapists years of study to master, so you can rest assured your little one won’t be put under any learning regiment they are not ready for.

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Find Out How Rote Learning Allows Children to Comprehend Without Boring or Upsetting Them

Often Analytical Behavioral Therapy (ABA) uses tools every child needs to learn and intensifies them for the Autistic child. This can look strange when you watch a session, but when you understand the underlying reasons it makes total sense. There are many different ways this can be seen, but one way is with Rote learning.

Many children learn through the process of Rote learning; Rote learning is the act of memorizing. Sometimes with Analytical Behavioral Therapy (ABA) things are repeated to our child many times, over and over again in the first stage of learning to facilitate Rote learning. It may seem alien to watch a therapist repetitively teach something to your child, but we as parents do this too. We repeat numbers, songs, objects and request many times a day.

One example of this is to repeat numbers often. Once a child learns the basics of counting, they can apply that in an abstract way perhaps to objects; how many marbles are in a bag? For example, the same process is intensified in ABA therapy so your child can quickly learn concepts on a basic and then advanced level.

The reason an ABA model does this is because conceptual learning is often confusing for an Autistic child. Once they learn one rule, they will think it’s a ‘hard and fast’ rule and have a hard time applying extra rules to it; at least until that rule is solid in their mind. For example, a tree can be big or small. But what if you taught your child the trees were big, and they didn’t have time to memorize this concretely before you told them some trees are short?  Autistic minds, being very literal, may think that now all trees are short. This is why it is important for a concept to be burned into their minds before they are able to understand new concepts.

However, this doesn’t mean your therapist should be repeating concepts such as this is blue, until your child is bored or even upset. This won’t give your child a positive experience or allow them to learn anything at all. Often you will see things repeated depending on the child, this could be four times or eight times or more. ABA is always a very individualized therapy that should be just challenging enough to teach your child but not too challenging or boring to upset them.

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Why New Skills Using ABA Are Taught in Different Scenarios

When a child has Autism they often have difficulty generalizing behaviors. This means they can act a certain way in a certain situation, but not in others. This could mean that if a routine is not followed the child cannot demonstrate a specific skill, which is not helpful in real-life situations that are often random.

Most children with Autism cannot learn a skill and automatically generalize; this is normal and should not concern you right away. That is why new skills in Applied Behavioral Analyses therapy are taught in many situations, with varied tones of voice, and multiple materials, as well as multiple correct responses. This is called adding ‘discrimination’ components and why ABA therapy is so great for Autistic children.

The wrong way to teach with ABA is to give a child a specific thing they must say whenever something is asked. For example, when somebody asks ‘did you have fun’, the child always responds with, ‘yes thank you’. This is not generalizing and causes issues. What if the child didn’t have fun, and the adult doesn’t know they were taught a specific way to respond? This is why it is so important as a parent and therapy team to carry out skills across different platforms. If your child is taught to say goodbye to their therapist, then this should be encouraged in other scenarios, like when a family member leaves for work.

When a new skill will be taught to your child, ask about generalization. As a Therapist any goal that is taught to the child will first be thought about in ‘the bigger picture’. For example, if a child needs to sit still during lessons, where else will this need to be applied? How can we transition it to other scenarios? This should always be looked at first before the lesson begins, so the therapist knows how to expand on the lesson to give your child the best success. And this is something you can help your therapist with, to ultimately help your child.

ABA is not meant to teach robotic responses to situations, it is not meant to teach your child how to act appropriately only within limited situations. It is meant to help a child blend in with their peers, achieve the goals their classmates will and have a happier healthier life as an adult.

Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy for All Ages

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy is a great therapy for young Autistic children, and what most people associate the therapy with. But if you have an older child or teenager, they too can benefit from ABA. ABA isn’t only an early intervention therapy, it teaches children how to learn and change behaviors and can be started at any age.

In fact, ABA isn’t just for Autistic children; it is simply famous for helping Autistic children. But ABA is also used in business, sports and education to name a few. For example, ABA can be applied using antecedents and consequences to help somebody achieve more in their area of sports, be it track, baseball or anything you could think of.

ABA also doesn’t only help with negative behaviors in children and teenagers; if you want your teenager or older child to have more freedom it can provide it. For example, if your child is unable to turn the channel to their favorite television show, it can teach them how to do this. For the higher functioning children, it can help with their organization skills. Using visual charts is a part of ABA and implementing these to set schedules so your child can remember to complete homework on time is just one example of many. It can improve the quality of life so you can have a happier child.

ABA helps older children to function in a more positive way, to learn at a rate that their peers are learning, to be happier in life and achieve the needs that they crave. It is excellent for children and teenagers of all ages, even adults and it is never too late to start your child in an ABA program.

Please visit our website at www.buildingblockresolutions.com

Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapy for All Ages

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy is a great therapy for young Autistic children, and what most people associate the therapy with. But if you have an older child or teenager, they too can benefit from ABA. ABA isn’t only an early intervention therapy, it teaches children how to learn and change behaviors and can be started at any age.

In fact, ABA isn’t just for Autistic children; it is simply famous for helping Autistic children. But ABA is also used in business, sports and education to name a few. For example, ABA can be applied using antecedents and consequences to help somebody achieve more in their area of sports, be it track, baseball or anything you could think of.

ABA also doesn’t only help with negative behaviors in children and teenagers; if you want your teenager or older child to have more freedom it can provide it. For example, if your child is unable to turn the channel to their favorite television show, it can teach them how to do this. For the higher functioning children, it can help with their organization skills. Using visual charts is a part of ABA and implementing these to set schedules so your child can remember to complete homework on time is just one example of many. It can improve the quality of life so you can have a happier child.

ABA helps older children to function in a more positive way, to learn at a rate that their peers are learning, to be happier in life and achieve the needs that they crave. It is excellent for children and teenagers of all ages, even adults and it is never too late to start your child in an ABA program.

Please visit our website at www.buildingblockresolutions.com

Analytical Behavioral Therapy Applied by Parents Over Therapist

Analytical behavioral therapy (ABA) is a great therapy for Autistic children and studies have shown that parents who do this at home get better results. There are several online courses to help us learn how to do this, but we can also ask our therapist what they would recommend we do at home. Having said this, there will be times where we as parents won’t get the same fast results that a therapist would. For example, one of my children couldn’t use sign language no matter how many hours of effort I put in. Along came a therapist, and he signed within the week. It’s upsetting when a therapist can teach our child better than we can, but there are reasons for it…

You Are Not a Failure

It’s important to not be discouraged that it’s taking longer to implement new behaviors without our therapist's input. This isn’t because we are bad parents, or we are doing anything wrong. We as parents need to remember that our child see’s us as the caregiver. We are the love and comfort source that our children seek out. When we start withdrawing wants to teach, it can become a power struggle. Our therapist has the advantage of setting up this kind of relationship from the start, our kids know they mean business and they cannot be manipulated.  A child may dig their heels in or simply become confused when we suddenly change the way we relate to them. Because of this, it is always best to have a therapist conduct ABA therapy alongside you.

Your Child May Get Stubborn

Power struggles with any child are frustrating, but it’s game on when an Autistic child fixates better than you. One of my two-year-old Autistic children is a classic example of this. He insists on touching outlets, climbing on objects, and generally touching anything that would get a quick fear reaction. Reacting with fear gives the child power over you, but as a parent, it’s natural to be afraid your child will get hurt. This is something a therapist would be able to control far more than you, rendering ABA difficult for you as a parent but not impossible.

You Can’t Change the World

On top of this, a therapist is able to change the environment and reduce stimuli the way we as parents can’t. This is a great tool for Autistic children but is unrealistic outside of a therapist’s office. We can’t change the world to suit their needs, unfortunately, and so we are more likely to run into triggers before the child is ready to handle them.

ABA must become a lifestyle in your home for the best success. But you are not a failure if you cannot implement the same changes as your therapist. There are restrictions that we as parents have, preventing us from gaining that same success a therapist would. But with time and patience, your child will overcome whatever stands in their way.

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Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) Helps a Child to Catch Up!

Children with Autism often lose years of learning, other times an Autistic child stays on the same level of learning, so it seems as if they will never gain new skills. This can cause parents a lot of anxieties about what exactly is going to happen when school comes. We may wonder things such as, ‘if our child is struggling to even speak, how will they have basic knowledge in shapes, numbers and letters?’

Applied Behavioral Analyses (ABA) helps a child to catch up.

It may seem without ABA they struggled to progress at all, but with it, their learning will take off like a rocket. ABA teaches rapid-learning (learning through observation and step-by-steps or DTT), so your Autistic child not only gains more skills and knowledge but catches up to other children their age. And ultimately they learn how to learn efficiently.

In the first year, it may seem this will never happen. Your child has to learn the basics in ABA and they may not generalize much (meaning what they do in class they may not do at home).  This is because it takes time for your Autistic child to learn the skills of basic learning. But once they have this mastered, their progress will seem to come out of nowhere.  (Of course, it hasn’t, your child’s therapist has helped implement it!)

Your child will have the opportunity to catch up to their peers through ABA, the research and science have proved this. And because of this, your little two, three or four years old who seems so behind may well be the top of his/her class one day.

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.