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ABA Therapy?

LittleLemon

Well-Known Member
My 6 year old daughter is receiving both speech and occupational therapy, as well as additional therapies provided by her school. They are all struggling with her behavior and I'm curious about other options. We all believe she has a comorbid disorder such as either severe anxiety or adhd (or maybe both), so she's being evaluated for those soon. I've heard some good things about ABA therapy, but I've also heard that some people in the community believe it's detrimental. Any thoughts?
 
Personally I air on the side that it's good. It can mean that school life and adult life can be a lot easier for autistic people if they learn from an early age to act in a certain way. Some autistic people will try to change themselves anyway in order to gain friends later on in life anyway.

But I do understand why some people don't like it, a child - or anyone for that matter - should never have to adapt in order to fit in, they should be able to be themselves and others accept from for it. But in a world like ours that just isn't a thing yet. People ask if ABA is ethical, is it right to change the behaviour of a child from their natural progression, if it can help them not feel so different, like such an outcast and save them from so much heartache I think it is worth while.
 
ive had ABA both as a child and as an adult both in school and residential homes as part of behavioral plans and also while i was sectioned in an intellectual disability hospital for four months, i wrote an account of my experiences for my friend emma dalmayne who is a writer and an autistic campaigner in our community,if you look for the name 'em scott' on the article its my writing,it was first posted on a well known journalism website i cant remember the name of- http://www.emmadalmayne.co.uk/autism/applied-behavioural-analysis-first-hand-accounts/

i personally dont agree with ABA,and it helped me as an adult be more functional but i am more depressed as a result.
 
Toothless' experience sounds like bad ABA. My daughter is in ABA now, and I would never allow her to be treated that way, and I am so sorry you went through that. Our behavioral therapy is more focused on important life skills - doing homework, performing self-care, communicating basic needs. Also very heavy on positive reinforcement with lots of opportunities to earn rewards. So far, it seems to be working, and if anything, has improved her self esteem, because now she understands better what is expected of her and can feel good about earning her rewards.
 
I feel that ABA done the right way can be very helpful to the child both then and later in life. My therapist used a combination of CBT and ABA to help me quickly learn to better cope with my AS. I only wish I could have received this type of help when I was much younger. Mike
 
Wow. Seems terribly complex to merit the pluses and minuses of such a contrived conditioning process. I suppose what may ultimately drive such a process is the perceived degree of difficulties that overtly interferes with your child's social interactions.

I never thought in general I was a particularly unruly child. Though I grew up in a military family where such behavior wasn't particularly tolerated. My older NT brother constantly tested my father in this regard to his own detriment, and it further reinforced me in what I can and could not do. Perhaps I got my own form of ABA. Hmmmm.

And yet as an adult, I made the very conscious decision decision to stop taking my meds which mitigated some of my social anxiety symptoms and depression. I wanted to be myself again, without any chemical additives which made me feel less than who I was.

Sorry I can't offer more helpful input on such a thing. But then I've only been involved with the care, custody and control of children indirectly through partners who had kids. This seems like a pretty big step if you should decide to take it.
 
Sadly, some (too many) aba therapies are child abuse and can cause severe PTSD... but here's an article on wikihow about how to know if the aba your child is following is trustworthy: How to Tell if an Autism ABA Therapy Is Harmful

That being said, many autism therapies call themselves ABA when they're not really ABA, because it's the only type of therapy paid by insurances. And I think these fake ABAs might be better.
 
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I thought this subject wasn't allowed on this forum, but since it seems to be…

When somebody comes up with a "treatment" for a certain thing and it turns out to be fundamentally abusive, you don't just take the system and keep using it thinking you have somehow removed the abusive parts just by disagreeing with them. You dismantle the system, build a new one with lessons you learned from the failed first system, and try that instead. And you give it a new name, for crying out loud.
 
Think @Little Lemon as long as you closely monitor your child in ABA therapy and ensure there are no harmful practices that will damage, you should be able to control the practices of the therapy.

I've just looked into what is required to achieve a masters of education in educational psychology/ABA/special education. In order to be admissible for entry into the program you need a four year degree of any kind, so for example my spouses music degree or one of mine say in botany as long as it's at a 70 percentile (or pass rate) might give me admission to the program. Psychology or social studies majors would probably be given priority.

Once accepted into educational psychology, you do two years of study. That's it, that gives you a masters. Needless to say, that's not a lot of study or practice. You can actually do the masters online, at some colleges and universities. I would be very leery of this, and of accredited people who purport to be specialists in the ABA field. It's just occurred to me that someone with an ABA certificate has less experience than a parent does. The therapy itself seems to be at it's most basic a reward based reinforcement. Autism speaks funds research into ABA, which for me is a red flag in itself.
 
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The kids in the BBC documentary must be consuming an awful lot of sweets. I hope the school has an on-site dental surgery!
 
ABA violates bodily autonomy, no matter how "nice" the practioner is. This article demonstrates what it would really be teaching her:

Why You Shouldn’t Force Your Child To Hug Anyone; What I Wish My Parents Had Taught Me

That's a very good, though brief, article. So true, all of it. Everyone who comes into contact with children should read it, so that they know that forcing a child to engage in such unasked for (and unwanted and unwarranted) behaviour is just not acceptable.
 
“Why is ABA Crucial as a Treatment for Autism?” And “What is the Verbal Behavioral Approach?”

1. What is ABA?

ABA stands for Applied Behavioral Analysis. It is a scientific discipline built on behavioral principles that are applied with the purpose of changing behavior, usually used in therapy, such as interventions and treatment programs for autism, or in therapeutic modules such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in counselling and psychotherapy.

Behaviorism is a systematic way of understanding the way we behave. Prominent figures who have been involved in the development of behaviorism include John Watson and B. F. Skinner. In 1957, Skinner published a book titled “Verbal Behavior” in which he outlined a theoretical construct of functional language.

Later, in 1987, Dr. Ivar Lovass at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), became the first person to use Skinner’s principles to treat autism. He went on to develop the “Lovass Method”, a method known as an early intensive behavioral intervention. Following that, other methods of ABA, such as ABA-VB (Verbal Behavior), were developed with similar purposes to improve conditions of autism and other developmental delays.

2. What is the Verbal Behavioral approach (ABA-VB)?

Based on Skinner’s analysis of Verbal Behavior, ABA-VB is the application of behavioral principles to language, specifically the functional use of language. And in 1998, Sundberg and Partington created an assessment (ABLLS) and program (ABA-VB) based on these principles.

ABLLS is an useful tool that is easy to administer and hence facilitates the planning for teaching programs especially in their early stages. ABA-VB works on the assumption that every individual has needs and motivations and uses such inherent motivations to shape the learning of effective communication. The emphasis on motivational factors (also referred to as establishing operants, EOs), greatly determine the tendencies of the child to make requests. This was something that most other language programs have failed to address.

Sundburg and Partington believe that EOs are the first area to work on if a child displays behaviors that interferes with following of instructions or cooperation.

3. What are Skinner’s principles?

Skinner believed that language is a behavior that can be taught as it is not innate, and that the manipulation of environmental factors can therefore influence language acquisition. This runs counter against Chomsky’s belief (Language and Mind, 1972) that syntactic knowledge is at least partially innate. Additionally, Skinner proposed four verbal and one non-verbal operant in his book Verbal Behavior: Echoics, Manding, Tacting, Intraverbals, and Receptive (non-verbal).

Echoics: Imitation of sounds

Manding: A request for something, either verbal/non-verbal. Eg. “I want…” This is greatly influenced by motivation levels of the child, earlier mentioned as establishing operants (EOs).

Tacting: The labelling of something. For eg. Verbally labelling a chair as “chair”.

Intraverbals: Verbal behavior in response to what someone else has said. Eg. Answering a question “What is something you can eat?”

Receptive (non-verbal): Understanding words and language. Eg. Responding to an imperative, such as “Give me the apple”.

4. Why is ABA therapy the go-to treatment for autism and ASD?

ABA works on shaping behavior and strengthening motivation through the principles of conditioning. Essentially, the idea that behaviour that is rewarded or “reinforced” would increase, while behaviour that goes unrewarded would diminish or “extinct”.

Behaviour is an aspect of all individuals, not just children with autism. To some degree, all parents apply behavioural principles, such as rewarding children when they get good grades or punishing them when they do badly. Such methods are used especially when the child is young as cognitive reasoning might be too difficult for younger children or those with slower intellectual development to grasp.

On the other hand, behavioural therapy is an extremely direct method of addressing behaviour by showing the immediate results of an action. Instead of reasoning with the child to let them understand it is not a good action, they are presented with a result that runs counter to what they desire, allowing them to conclude that the action is not beneficial to them. As such, this can result in changes in their mindset about how they should act to gain the desired results. Consequently, behavioural therapy as an early intervention for children with autism can be very effective. This is true also for correcting behaviours in neurotypical children and adults.

While Speech Therapy (ST) and Occupational Therapy (OT) are very helpful tools for children with autism, disruptive behaviors if not addressed, often hinder therapy results. As such, ST and OT are typically paired with ABA therapy to manage disruptive behaviours exacerbating speech or sensory issues.

However, not all ABA programs are created or implemented the same way. The Verbal Behavioral Approach (VB or ABA-VB) is currently the most preferred form of ABA due to its focus on motivation and functions of language. If a child lacks motivation to use language, there will be no functional speech even if he or she has the vocal skills. And over time, the child may lose the ability to communicate. This is why working on the motivation to speak is crucial. Furthermore, VB programs tend to be more lively and naturalistic.

I am quite frankly disgusted by your business. ABA is a foul process which causes no end of trauma to the autistic people subjected to it. Posting your propaganda/advertising on this site is shameful.
 
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This is a thread about ABA. I believe we all have the rights to share our thoughts and opinion on this form of treatment. I don't know much about you and you or your childcmay have been subjected to past trauma in the past from the traditional Lovaas type ABA therapy. But do suspend your judgement and listen to this message from Dr Mary Barbera on the new Verbal Behaviour approach.

#005: Using ABA and the Verbal Behavior Approach to Treat Autism - Autism Mom, ABA Help for Professionals and Parents

This is about a new type of approach called the Verbal Behaviour approach which we do. Many many clients have benefitted from this new method of approach and have seen many amazing affects. At the end of the day we are all here to help and advocate the acceptance of neuro-diversity. Let's all be positive about it in our own ways. Thank you.
While we do have our rights to share information, I'm going to step in and ask you to please refrain from placing links in your posts advertising something you have for sale.
 
This is a thread about ABA. I believe we all have the rights to share our thoughts and opinion on this form of treatment. I don't know much about you and you or your childcmay have been subjected to past trauma in the past from the traditional Lovaas type ABA therapy. But do suspend your judgement and listen to this message from Dr Mary Barbera on the new Verbal Behaviour approach.



This is about a new type of approach called the Verbal Behaviour approach which we do. Many many clients have benefitted from this new method of approach and have seen many amazing affects. At the end of the day we are all here to help and advocate the acceptance of neuro-diversity. Let's all be positive about it in our own ways. Thank you.

Any approach which seeks to modify the behaviour of an autistic person, however benign you claim it to be, is an assault on their identity. It does not respect the principle of neurodiversity in any way whatsoever. In the same manner as when Skinner's principles were used to modify homosexual behaviour was not conducive to LGBTQ+ diversity concerns.

Using the term in your promotional material is both hypocritical and false advertising.
 
ABA is one of those treatments that the generations of the future will look back on with horror, and say, "how could we have subjected children to this treatment?" in a similar way to how we now look back on electroconvulsive treatment, or lobotomy - all acceptable treatments in their day, not now, thank goodness.
 
electroconvulsive treatment, or lobotomy - all acceptable treatments in their day, not now, thank goodness.

Electroconvulsive therapy is still seen as a legitimate and useful therapy by the medical community.

And, especially horrifyingly, is sometimes forced upon people who are involuntarily admitted to psychiatric institutions or otherwise forced by the courts to undergo it.
 

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