{"id":24,"date":"2013-01-11T12:19:36","date_gmt":"2013-01-11T12:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/?page_id=24"},"modified":"2014-08-08T00:16:31","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T00:16:31","slug":"applied-behavior-analysis-aba","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/applied-behavior-analysis-aba\/","title":{"rendered":"Autism Therapy with ABA – Applied Behaviour Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

autism consultant in uk, autism therapy, ABA Therapy<\/span><\/h1>\n

For too long it has been assumed that autism is a tragedy, a disorder that leaves just a \u201cshell\u201d of a person. Here, five members of the autism community come forward to tell you that they can do anything and everything neurotypicals can do, they just do it a little differently!\u00a0ABA consultant, consultant, autism therapy uk, what is autism, autistic children,therapy, Applied Behavor Analysis, autism therapist, therapies, senior tutor, psycology, child psycologist, seeking early intensive behavioural intervention, Autism spectrum disorder, UK, ABA therapist, London, Oxford, Great Britain, tutor, ABA programme supervisor, intensive programme<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is probably the best-known, best-researched, and the only treatment for children with autism that has produced significant and comprehensive improvements, up to and including recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n

ABA is a specialised area within the field of Psychology.\u00a0 The goal of ABA is to apply specific psychological principles (e.g., reinforcement, prompting, generalization, etc.) to issues that are socially important (like autism) to produce meaningful change (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968\/1987).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cABA involves the breakdown of all skills into small, discrete tasks, taught in a highly structured and hierarchical manner.\u00a0 Central to the successful application of this method is the art of differential reinforcement.\u00a0 That is, the therapist or parent learns how to systematically reward or reinforce desired behaviors, and ignore, redirect, or discourage inappropriate behaviors.\u00a0 Also central to any well-run behavioral program is the therapist\u2019s close monitoring of what is working and what is not working.\u00a0 Data on all the child\u2019s learning are recorded regularly and the therapist adjusts the teaching programs and protocol with respect to what the data indicate about the child\u2019s progress.\u201d (Maurice, Green, and Luce, 1996)<\/span><\/p>\n

In an ABA program, lessons to be taught are broken down into their simplest elements.\u00a0 ABA focuses on teaching small, measurable units of behavior systematically.\u00a0 At first, the child may be rewarded for doing something close to the desired response. Over time, as the child masters the lesson, expectations are raised and primary reinforcers (like bits of food) are replaced with social reinforcers (hugs, praise, etc.). As the child masters the skill and generalises it, it becomes self-reinforcing. ABA focuses on increasing appropriate behaviors and celebrating successes and minimizing attention and energy wasted on inappropriate behaviors.\u00a0 Creating a positive and fun learning environment facilitates the learning process in all domains including social, play, and language.\u00a0 In this way simple responses are built systematically into complex and fluid combinations of typical, age-appropriate responses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Why use ABA?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span>The following paragraphs are\u00a0excerpts from chapter 3\u00a0of the Maurice, Green, and Luce book \u201cBehavioral Interventions for Young Children with Autism, 1996.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Historically most people with autism have required extensive treatment and supports throughout their lives (Rapin, 1991; Remlin, 1994; Rutter, 1970; Rutter and Schopler, 1987; Szatmari et al., 1989).\u00a0 Today the mainstream position is that autism is a “severely incapacitating lifelong developmental disability.”\u00a0 It is considered treatable; indeed, a wide variety of treatments, therapies, and techniques are claimed to help (or even cure) people with autism and new ones are invented regularly (Autism Society of America, 1995).<\/span><\/p>\n

Until recently, however, none of those treatments has offered any solid, realistic basis for changing the view that autism is a permanent disability.\u00a0 Several studies have now shown that one treatment approach – early, intensive instruction using the methods of Applied Behavior Analysis – can result in dramatic improvements for children with autism: successful integration in regular schools for many, completely normal functioning for some (Anderson, Avery, DiPietro, Edwards, and Christian, 1987; Birnbrauer and Leach, 1993; Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, McClannahan, 1985; Harris, Handleman, Gordon, Kristoff, and Fuentes, 1991; Lovaas, 1987; Maurice, 1993; McEachin, Smith, and Lovaas, 1993; Perry, Cohen, and DeCarlo, 1995).\u00a0 In fact, there is abundance scientific evidence that applied behavior analysis methods can produce comprehensive and lasting improvements in many important skill areas for most people with autism, regardless of their age.\u00a0 No other treatment for autism offers comparable evidence of effectiveness (Lovaas and Smith, 1989; Schreibman, 1988; Shreibman, Charlop and Milstein, 1993; Smith, 1993).<\/span><\/p>\n

There is little doubt that early intervention based on the principles and practices of applied behavior analysis can produce large, comprehensive, lasting and meaningful improvements in many important domains for a large proportion of children with autism.\u00a0 For some, those improvements can amount to achievement of completely normal intellectual, social, academic, communicative, and adaptive functioning.\u00a0 In fact, a large majority of young children with autism benefit from early behavioral intervention.\u00a0 Most show substantial improvements in many adaptive, useful skill areas and reduction in problematic behaviors.\u00a0 Only a small portion (about 10% of those studied so far) have been found to make few or no improvements despite intensive efforts (e.g. Anderson, et al., 1987; Birnbrauer and Leach, 1993; Lovaas, 1987; McEachin et al., 1993).<\/span><\/p>\n

There is strong evidence that behavioral intervention is more effective for young children with autism than no intervention, and more effective than typical early education services and assorted other therapies.<\/span><\/p>\n

How does ABA work?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Maurice (1996) describes ABA as the breakdown of all skills into small, discrete tasks. These tasks are then taught in a highly structured and hierarchical way. As indicated by Maurice (1996) success is heavily reliant on the application of differential reinforcement. Through the use of differential reinforcement the therapist, parent, or caregiver learns how to consistently reward or reinforce desired behaviors, and ignore, redirect, or discourage those behaviors, which are inappropriate.<\/span><\/p>\n

ABA programs are modified to suit the individual child. Once the core principles of ABA are learned, they can be applied to all areas of the child\u2019s development, including behavior management, communication, social interaction, intellectual growth, among other skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is ABA effective?<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Perhaps the most often asked question about ABA is \u201cdoes it work?\u201d\u00a0 Numerous studies in professional journals document that early intensive behavioral intervention can result in unprecedented outcomes for young children with autism spectrum disorders (Maurice et. al. 1996).\u00a0 The groundbreaking 1987 Lovaas study showed that 47% of children who received early intensive behavioral intervention attained normal cognitive and intellectual functioning and were able to complete first grade with typical peers and without special education supports.\u00a0 These children achieved normal intellectual and educational functioning and could not be distinguished from their peers.\u00a0 A follow up study on the children who comprised the 47% revealed that they maintained their gains into adulthood and were indistinguishable from their peers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In addition, research conducted by the Wisconsin Early Autism Project confirmed that more than one in three children who participated in an extensive home-based ABA program attained the IQ and social functioning of their typical peers. In all, the children in the ABA group averaged a 22-point gain in IQ points in the first year. In contrast, children in typical special education classes showed a 7-point loss in IQ points in the first year (Sallows and Graupner, 1999).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Surgeon General\u2019s report on mental health stated \u201cThirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of ABA in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0While it may be true that the best time to start treatment is at a very young age, most older children also can benefits from intensive behavioral intervention (Leaf and McEachin, 1999).<\/span><\/p>\n

It should be noted, however, that intensive behavioral intervention is by no means a \u201ccure\u201d for autism.\u00a0 No amount of behavioral therapy can cure the underlying and so far unknown etiology of autism.\u00a0 Intensive behavioral intervention is effective in remediating many symptoms of autism thereby recovering children in that their behavior may become \u201cindistinguishable from their peers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

autism consultant in uk, autism therapy, ABA Therapy For too long it has been assumed that autism is a tragedy, a disorder that leaves just a \u201cshell\u201d of a person. Here, five members of the autism community come forward to tell you that they can do anything and everything neurotypicals can do, they just do […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-24","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P32ggE-o","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":762,"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/24\/revisions\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aba-easysteps.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}