Autism / Autism Spectrum Support Group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbV...

http://www.polyxo.com/aba/

No, ABA is not for just severe kids...ABA is for higher level children as well...the principles of ABA can apply for all ages.

There are a wide range of ABA techniques and the specialist will design a program that suits your child.

applied behavioural analysis (aba) is repetative therepy until the desired respone is automatic eg: what colour is the tree (child - blue) no, what colour is the tree (child - blue) no, the tree is green, what colour is the tree (child - green) this is as basic as I can descibe it but hopefully you get the jist, it is of course much more complex, My little boy is now 5 and high functioning autism, he has been doing aba for 15 hours + homework per week for the last year, I cannot recommend it enough to any parent in our situation, he wasnt very verbal at 4, now I sometimes catch myself wishing he would be quite for 10 minutes (then i remember how far he has come) and his behaviour has improved out of site eg: from 4 - 6 hour tantrums now 10 minutes of I dont want to or I dont like - hope this has been some help, if you have any other questions please dont hesitate to ask, this site has saved my sanity many times over the last 2 years..

Sweetie,

I know that this sounds aggressive, but I also know how important it is. The ABA therapy will help your little guy to function on a day to day basis better. Making it so that there is a good chance that he will be able to start kindergarten on time w/ little to no additional special education.

These little ones are going to learn the most in their lives with in the first 5 years of life. This is why the docs are so aggressive at such a young age.
Do you have full coverage for ABA therapy where you live? Here in MN, we have to fight for it and apply for medical assistance since there is only one insurance company who recognizes it.

I recently went to a TACA meeting and they had a speaker discuss ABA therapy. I was so impressed. He recommended a book called VB MAPP. (http://www.marksundberg.com/vb-mapp.htm) and if you google VB MAPP, you'll find a ton of information on it.

Basically this will help you along the way to make sure that your son is getting the most out of his ABA therapy. My understanding of it is it should be a fast learning environment. The VB MAPP information will help you to recognize the milestones, and know when to push for more. Most places will set up an IEP and will teach what is on there until the next IEP meeting....the VB MAPP program is more open and pushes to move to the next learning milestone. Thus it sets up a nice learning structure for the child. This is a relatively new method of teaching.

My hubby and I are looking into trying to teach this from home as well.

Good luck to you and your little guy.

Oliver participated in a short term program and it was for 10 hours a week for 17 weeks, and it was great while it lasted. I hope you have this in the school system. Here the school pretends to offer it. You need a really qualified BCABA and really experienced teachers, and it is great. Sometimes they are not so well trained. Remember the term is Applied Behavior Analysis, so they need to analize the behavior to understand how your kids needs to learn. It is like they need to learn how to learn. The issue is if they are not helped early, they get father behind and have more catch-up, so the trick is to get them learning to develop the ability to cope with the sensory dysfunction, and learning differences our kids have.

it is not true that aba therapy is only for those who are severe on the spectrum. i am an aba therapist & have been for 2 & a half years. I have worked with very high functioning children to very severe & everything in between. aba = applied behavior analysis. i don't know where you live, but i hope you get coverage for aba therapy, because i have seen it help every child i work with in one way or another. a lot of what i've been trained to do is based off of Skinner's work (he's written numerous books, including one of his most popular ones, 'verbal behavior'). most of the children i work with have speech & ot therapy as well, but not all of them. they usually get those services through schooling. then they come home & i do aba therapy with them at their houses. i really do think it is beneficial for any child on the spectrum. i wish you luck, & if you have any questions, i'll try to answer them as best as i can :)