Down Syndrome Support Group

im not sure what aba is in england it may have adifferent name would be interested for future reference

I am sorry for not clarifying.
Applied behavior analysis ( ABA ) is the process of systematically applying interventions based upon the principles of learning theory to improve socially significant behaviors to a meaningful degree (Baer, Wolf & Risley, 1968/1987; Sulzer-Azaroff & Mayer, 1991). Specifically, ABA refers to a systematic approach to the assessment and evaluation of behavior, and the application of interventions that alter behavior. Over the past 30 years, several thousand published research studies have documented the effectiveness of ABA across a wide range of:

http://www.centerforautism.com/aba...

Hi,
My son is 11 and has been taught with ABA since he was about 4 or 5 (preschool). In addition to ABA we have found a total communication method to be helpful. This would include the use of verbal, sign and pictures to communicate with your son. You will be surprised that a picture speaks a thousand words. We had the same behaviors with our son when he was small and we hired an educational advocate. The first thing that she advised we do is to take him to the Communication Enhancement Clinic at Childrens Hospital in Boston. We met Dr. Howard Shane and he has set us on the right path. Maybe you have a pediatric specialty clinic near you. I have found that you need to find these services yourself and advocate with your pediatrician/insurance/school to get the services. I have not had the convenience of my pediatrician or the school recommending these clinics. Once I found the services I have had no problem getting my pediatrician to write the referrals for the services. From my experience, our sons non compliance and tantrums were from frustration and lack of ability to communicate his wants and needs. We are still dealing with his running off, this also is a result of him seeing something he wants and attempting to get it as oppose to asking for it. I am currently expanding his communication book so that he will have the words he needs to communicate.
Another reason for his speech delays was a moderate to severe hearing loss. Has your son had his hearing tested yet? This is not an easy task either. He will need an audiologist that is very patient with children with special needs.

I hope this is of some help to you. Feel free to contact me. My son is just ahead of yours and maybe I can help.

My son is in IBI which is Idahos version of ABA and heres what we do for his behaviors that are like your sons.

Running: they would let Ette get a reasonable distance away and then go get him and bring him back and have him do an activity that he enjoyed or gave him a treat. Everytime they did this they would tell him to stop and wait. And soon he would go about that distance and stop and look back and they would reward him and bring him back and now he knows that its more worthwhile to stay close than take off. But sometimes he thinks its a chasing game.

Non Compliance: You should alway attain visual and auditory attending and be sure to not exceed the childs level of tolerence for remaining focused on an activity. Non compliance usually occurs when a child does not understand what is happening. Give concrete visual cues. The basic Idea of this is to constantly reward compliant behavior, whether hes sitting in the chair for a second or a minute. If the child does not comply you should again gain auditory and visual attending and try again. You should look up the promp heiarchy. If you cant find it send me a message and I will summarize it for you. This should be used for all activities.

Innapropriate rough play: When the behavoior begins the child should immediatly be separated from the toy or person. You should get visual and auditory attending(really important for non verbal kids) And tell the child "NO----, come and do this instead" and then model the correct way to do -- whatever it is.

You should also accompany this statement with exaggerated facial expressions and vocal expressions so that it is clear that this behavior is unexceptible.
Temper Tantrums: right now we are pretty much ignoring these. Its helped alittle but if they get out of control we get his attention and say things like "---- is mad" " I feel Mad" we try to give him the words to explain his feelings so he doesnt need to act out. Like I said its working a little.

For eye contact. We reward him with a pretzel (his favorite and only one) every time he makes eye contact. And now he does it alot. The idea is that he starts to realize that if he gets your attention then he will get some kind of gratification from it. And soon he will start to use eye contact to get whatever he needs. Its worked really well for us.

Hope this helps

Hi there , I trained and worked as an ABA tutor a couple of years back and did use these methods with my son Samuel. I was an early ed teacher for a few years and trained a lot of interventions These are very intensive methods. I think they can be very successful but can be very stressful for both child and parents and tutors. I am not sure if your son has a dual dx of Down's and Autism?? A lot of the issues you list are common to children with ds. My son too have the lot. ABA was not the answer for us. My son turned out to have massive sensory integration issues. Once we have a proper sensory program in place Sam went from a child who was on the verge of having a dx of adhd to a compliant and willing co -operative little boy. Apart from hearing children with Ds have poor auditory processing so often verbal commands alone are not enough. Signing is communicating and is an excellent way for a child to make their needs known. Otherwise they can get easily frustrated and "act out" as a result.
A lot of my sons issues went away also once he could understand what was happening around him. This was through signs visual schedule and pecs as well as verbal. He is 8 now and a different child. We do still have the odd running away episode but its rare now and he does it just for fun. BTW the senory program for Sam was greatfun to do . Lots of squeezy hugs physical contact and play on the gym ball. Tem minutes of vigorous excerise gave us up to an hour of table top activty. Best of luck

I just realised I did not eaxcty answer your question . In the UK/ireland the way its done is as follows. YOu need to find an ABA consultant. This person will normally have a masters degree in ABA. Please make sure whoever you go to is properly qualified.This consultant will assess your child and write a progam for to worked on at home school whereever You wil then need to employ an ABA
tutor. This person will have to be properly tranined and will work with your son on a daily basis. You too will probablyhave to be train so you can carry on the work throught the day. Its quite intensive and its important it done correctly. Hope this info helps!!

Hi
My son 8 with Ds has been on an ABA Program for 2 years. Lots of work but the results worth it. We are part of a centre who manages our program and Kyle has ABA everyday after school for 2.5 hours and also Saturday. He enjoys the 'special" time he has with his therapist, as he thrives on 1:1. His speech together with fine & gross motor skills have improved so much that he can now initiate play at the park with other kids rather than sign and not be understood by the other kids. Good luck with ABA.