Autism Treatment - ABA part 1

[dasteufelhund]

Who is this idiot that is so articulate handling this interview?

[AllOtherNamesTaken2]

I'm autistic and I taught myself largely how to act like a NT in High School. I am currently of the belief that there is no reason for behavior modification in the absence of large quantities of ignorant bigots. But, as brains are plastic, and there is nothing wrong with being NT or autistic, if this treatment is able to teach the children social behaviors without stress and so that they become automatic, I see nothing wrong with it.

[christopherironyokes]

Working in a special needs classroom for years has led me to the wonderful truth that nobody knows exactly what they're doing whatsoever. Being a teacher, and having conflicting opinions by professionals whom all believe they're way is the correct way, hinders children from making any progress in any aspect. We all need to be reminded that there is no one real way to deal with the developmentally disabled, before we can help these children.

[Neilgs]

motor processing challenges. If we take a truly comprehensive Developmental approach, which ABA is clearly not, we are addressing the principles of Developmental psychology , e.g., deepening attachment and the understanding and deepening of the child's social interactions through his/her underlying emotional (or affect) connections with others. ABA redirects SURFACE behaviors and promulgates rote/robotic responses. It is in accord with Cognitive Behavioral Psychology NOT Developmental Psychology

[Neilgs]

systems theory approach or 1) the functional-emotional developmental milestones 2) affect sensory motor processing challenges (e.g., over-reactivity under reactivity or mixed reactivities within visual-spatial, tactile, proprioceptive and vestibular domains, which is NON-SCIENTIFICALLY and indeed criminally viewed as "non-compliant " or "maladaptive behavior"), and 3) Primary caregiver and clinician affective relationship patterns which are either attuned or not to the child

affect sensory...

[Neilgs]

"ABA is based upon psychological principles." Oh, really is that so?! Let us be a bit more precise. It is based upon four decades of behavioral-evidence based research, which on the surface can seem to caregivers, educators and therapists impressive. However, in reality it is inconsistent with

last twenty-five years of neuroscience, specifically Neuroplasticity or the strengthening of neuronal connections through two-way reciprocal affect reciprocity. In other words, the principles of.....

[rookieru]

The way I see it Autism is such a large spectrum that finding an individual cure is going to be a stretch. I think it's best to view Autism as Autistic Behavior and then look into the causes. These can be several things (allergies/ high levels of harmful metals and nutrition deficiencies) I also believe ABA is terribly flawed and prefer Son- Rise. I attended an ABA class yesterday and was truly disappointed with the therapists and their approach. This is pretty by the book old fashioned stuff.

[AllOtherNamesTaken2]

@rookieru I don't know anything about ABA, but associating allergies and harmful metals with autism is a bunch of nonsense. "Autistic behavior" as separate from the person is also nonsense. It's as ignorant as separating, "gay behavior" from homosexuals.

[momtoMatthew]

The cure for Autism may just be Adult Stem Cells from cord blood. Take a look at our blog.

[kal2484]

why does autism need to be cured?

[chumkiu62]

I was in a program for severely developmentally disabled

children, I was being abused by the teacher and some students in the regular school. The psychologist in the

program earned my trust then started twisting things around

until I "blacked out" for lack of a better term. I remember it,

as well as his technique, why then does

it take a safer person with the same set of skills to help

reframe this experience as an adult, and why so many years

to regain my individuality & dignity.

[rookieru]

That's awful parents need to hear stories like yours before they put their children into these harsh programs. You are proof that a gentle and nurturing approach is the best gift for your child's life. Electric shock , straps, gags and drugs do not belong in a child's development.

[ot4kidz]

@chumkiu62 Sorry to hear that!!!!I wish you well!!!

[MrDage]

It's interesting following the discussion/arguments. Within the realm of school systems, we are not equipped for chelation, special diets or many other controversial therapies. But ABA is something that is well-researched, a proven record of efficacy and is something all parents and teachers can do, regardless of income or resources. All you need is the knowledge and motivation to do it. It is accessible to anyone who wants to learn it. And it works.

D.

[ot4kidz]

@MrDage I belive this might work for some.Not that I find it the do all end all.However I deem it mostly important so,the person providing the services and that she/he does it responsibly and with care.

[hereIam0000]

We think we know what to do, but we know nothing... we have all these silly theories and stupid behavioural/social ideas. It has not helped my son. My son gets symptoms of picca.. alot surely have deficiencies and some form of imbalance. Issues such as MMR, mercury, hormone excess, deficiencies need to be considered. MY SON HAS NOT EVEN BEEN TESTED, LOL!

[becinc]

There actually are many well-trained folks who know a great deal about how people learn. There is nothing silly about that knowledge. The many families whose children have been helped by that knowledge also do not find it silly or stupid.

[pngcrdss]

I don't know the difference between "evidence" and "empirical evidence." Sounds like double-speak to me. What part of my statement is absolutely not true? The part about mercury in vaccines (search autism vaccine connection)or the part about getting mercury out of your body being better for you? You must be kidding, or in complete denial, or have one big conflict of interest here. I am not a doctor, just a grandmother with a brain.

[pngcrdss]

There is so much more money to be made in treatments, rather than a cure. Autism is a product of the mercury in vaccines, namely Thimerosal. Best hope is in MERCURY DETOX. Get the mercury out of their bodies. The sooner the better.

[laserawesome]

That's absolutely not true. There is no empirical evidence to support the mercury theory and the initial study was misunderstood. You made a very good point that there is more money in treatment, but especially false remedies that hopeful parents take out second mortgages to afford.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

RDI has a CD where Gutstein tells about the core deficits of autism, but there are no research articles to prove any of the features he talks about and they are not operationalized such that you could research them anyway. I understand you want to call me a quack for looking to science.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

There is now a substantive and growing body of research that clearly demonstrates that the application of educational strategies based on ABA learning principles can result in significant learning outcomes for children diagnosed with ASD. Over 600 articles published in peer reviewed journals that demonstrate the efficacy of ABA teaching strategies for children with ASD.

[wiscsuzski]

Oh yea. She had to bring up animal training. tscha, that's how I want to treat my child.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Maybe I should restate the below in one way. I know people who use to work at Eden and it is good, but again cutting edge is hard to attain for a couple of reasons. Not the least of which is that misinformation is common in the field even among behaviorists. I could get into it, but don't want to. Furthermore, even the cutting edge behaviorists publish errors and correct them later or withhold information into the future. SNEAKY perhaps HEAD BUTTING EGOS (poor word for a behaviorist) too.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Finally, Eden is not bad, but certainly is not the cutting edge of behavior modification techniques and so even further attack can be given a rebuttal. People who think ABA or Lovaas style means table work "only" misunderstand Lovaas due to never reading his work prior to 1987 when he hit the big time. I'm sure Eden makes that error as well. The intervention is actually defined as every waking moment, parent training is key, and over 85% of intervention is language teaching.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Now to turn to the other aspect which is results. Now Lovaas is known to have produced amazing results and with minimal aversives (mind you his past prior to "recovery" if you want to call it that had some bad aversives - yet learning took place to proceed to a defined teaching procedure for language through it), but he concluded that the aversives should not be necessary for the same results and the replications have beared that out as true. Lovaas also doesn't do aversives at all now.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Here is the truth. ABA has a shady past and that past can be seen today. Yet let us not shake the finger and rather look at reality. Two responses have occurred and that is either behaviorists have identified themselves as positive behavior support specialists or those in applied behavior analysis have tried to move the organization to clean up the practices. CASE IN POINT:

"Ethics for Behavior Analysts" by Jon S. Bailey & Mary R. Burch

[funnygrl702]

get involved with rdi...i cant even explain the progress i have seen with EVERY SINGLE ONE of my students!! by using aba ur not giving them a chance to think for themselves and most of the training i see is therapists using a tv as a reinforcer which confuses me b/c i could not see how thats helping the child.. im the reinforcer and parents u can be also check it out..

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Well, RDI came out with a research article. What they did was take only the best children with an IQ from 70 to 116 and work with them for the study. Funny thing is 75% of them had ABA 1st prior to RDI. How do you evaluate it then?

[sito702]

we are doing that on long island and most of the children in the program never had aba.. its funny i saw how they get monkeys to talk the same way aba is used..the only thing the animal and these chidren are connected to is the edible or electronic reinforcers..not to the person teaching them or the parent that gave birth to them.RDI IS AN INVITATION FOR THESE CHILDREN TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES whas wrong with that?

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Well, your a bit off on the attack on ABA as you speak as one who has no idea how you learn. It is by conditioning like everything that is a mammal on the Earth. I met a child who got ABA on Long Island by the way and she is "indistinguishable" from any typically developing child and she goes to general education classes and passed the statewide 3rd grade tests years ago.

[sito702]

haha the districts..they dont care about the children..all they care about is how long the child can sit behind a desk and the second theystart acting "autistic" they are kicked out...and te little girl can she emotion share does she know how to play can she think for herself and does she generalze the goals in real life is she an active participant in conversations ?how does she deal when she is overstimulated?

[1observer4]

Mary, I owe you nothing. Your perseverative and redundant posts should make it easy for laypeople to discount your drivel. To make an obvious point, you claim ABA "is used NOT...to improve communication skills". Yet the Surgeon General of the United States says "Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in...improving communication, learning...". Are we to believe your posts over the Surgeon General? Educate yourself or keep quiet, please.

[marysaidno]

1observer4, hi there. I am surprised you used the word "owe" in your comment. I did not say you owed anyone anything. I suggest you read Michelle Dawson who is a better judge of ABA than any Surgeon General. Google her. I am not allowed to provide link on youtube. By the way, WHICH SG? Cheers.

[1observer4]

"MarySaidNo", you are doing people a great disservice by spewing untruths and myth. You say "ABA teaches them to mimic 'normal' behavior". In the very early stages of ABA Tx, this is true. But what mother doesn't? Example: Mom says "MaMa". After many trials, baby says "MaMa". Mom is elated and calls all the relatives. A bad thing? Further, ABA Tx relies on parent or caregiver input as to what path Tx takes.

[marysaidno]

1observer4, name one thing I stated that was untrue. Better yet, show me a video of even 3 minutes of ABA in practice that refutes what I said.

[1observer4]

No, Navy, I'm not kidding. But I may have overstated the SG's position; he doesn't actually recommend any treatment. He simply notes that "Thirty years of research demonstrated the efficacy of applied behavioral methods in reducing inappropriate behavior and in increasing communication, learning, and appropriate social behavior." Search google for the terms "surgeon general autism" and click the first link.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Who cares about the Surgeon General: There are now over 600 articles published in peer reviewed journals that demonstrate the efficacy of applied behavior analytic teaching strategies for children with autism spectrum disorders.

[RoganVuajeh]

It would be nice to know more about how the therapy works in practice. Rumours has that the children are locked within a dark room and the therapists let the children out as a reward.

[navywife1977]

what the f????  Are you kidding me???????

[marysaidno]

The primary goal is for the child to do what is asked of them immediately and without complaint or comment (other than a preordained response).  There is nothing close to normal interactive communication built into this program. It is all master-servant interaction.

[navywife1977]

I mostly use RDI.

[dannysmama]

That is exactly what I have been thinking lately. I am very seriously considering taking my son out of ABA as I just don't get it. I feel like he is being tortured and I just can't see how this will help him.

[craicealte]

You might look into Stanley Greenspan's Floortime method if your son is young. Also, Barry Prizant has a very ethical and respectful approach to helping young ones on the spectrum.

[1observer4]

Rogan's is a completely and utterly false statement as evidenced by it's absurdity. ABA, or Applied Behavior Analysis, is more supported by scientific evidence than any other behavioral treatment.  For proof, read what the current Surgeon General recommends for the most effective behavioral treatment for people with diagnoses in the Autism spectrum. Gentle Teaching? Wrong. Sensory Integration? Wrong. Voodoo diets? Wrong. The Surgeon General recommends Behavior Analysis.

[marysaidno]

See comments above by me. ABA is used to program non-volitional behavior, not to improve communication skills or thinking skills. Autism is a diagnosis describing individuals who have less than typical interest in interacting with others. ABA teaches them to mimic "normal" behavior as defined by the practitioner, which usually means to do as they are told.

[navywife1977]

I use a combination of ABA (for routine things like teeth brushing, and getting dressed) BUT I use RDI almost all the time. I am a pretty focused mom.

[marysaidno]

The phrase used for locking down the children is "compliance." They remove the child to a separate room until they are willing to follow orders (they call orders "mands"). I do not think the room is dark, but there is nothing to do in the room.

[marysaidno]

ABA is used to program non-volitional behavior, not to improve communication skills or thinking skills. Autism is a diagnosis describing individuals who have less than typical interest in interacting with others. ABA teaches them to mimic "normal" behavior as defined by the practitioner, which usually means to do as they are told.

[ABAisSCIENCE]

Actually mands means the child learns to request things they want. Thus, the child mands or learns to request.

[christschool]

She mentions they have students with AS in the school. Preschool? Asperger's cannot be diagnosed in a preschooler.

[Terri21374]

dear christschool, thank you for bringing that to my attention. I was speaking as an Eden II employee. I have recently moved to the preschool program, but have worked with Eden for many years with students of different age groups and diagnosis. I meant that comment as the children we serve throughout our agency. Thank you for bringing it to my attention and I hope this clarifies any further questions. Terri