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1. While early intervention is better, children can and do respond to ABA and other therapies later as well.
Absolutely. Early intervention is obviously optimal for any and all special needs, but behavior analysis is useful in any stage of life. It's not like you grow past the point where it will work. Behavior can always be modified.
I'd just like to add, don't be nervous about pulling him out. Bad therapy will do more damage than good therapy. His situation sounds like it's bordering on abuse. Don't let your child spend a day more in that kind of 'therapy', especially one where you are kept in the dark and not allowed to be an active participant.
I'd also say don't let anyone fool you into thinking that their expertise is the best. Autism/PDD are still relatively new in terms of what we know about causes and effective therapies. Yes, ABA has more studies supporting it, but that does not mean there are not more effective, yet not as 'proven' because they are relatively new. For example, RDI. I had successes with RDI with my dd, who is now 11. One of the most important things I learned is never to cut communication with her while she is in distress. You may ignore an occassional outburst, but when our children communicate, although they may lack the proper skills to do so, we must listen and attend to them when they need us, and then teach them the right way at a more appropriate time.
There is nothing more painful, IMHO, than a child desperate to communicate, that no one will listen to, until he 'behaves'. It's like punishing a child in a wheelchair because he cannot walk. It bothers you because as a parent, you know it's wrong on a deeper level. Trust your instincts on that. In the meantime, learn as much as you can by observing your child at home. Discover and keep track of his triggers keeping in mind any sensory or physical challenges, then plan what you can do to help. Read websites by adults with autism. You'll be amazed by some of their experiences with different treatments.
There is a Medicaid "spend down", which means you can be eligible even if your income puts you over the threshold. Many families with children who have special needs do this, but usually when the bills are very high, and the spenddown amount is cheaper than their insurance difference, like if the medical bill portion is $20,000, and the spenddown is $1000, it is worth it.
Probably not applicable in your case, but might be useful information for someone.
Don't let anyone tell you they can "fix" your child. These people sound unethical, and suspect. I think that they just prey on parents who are desperate for a "fix". They may not even be doing any "therapy" which is why they are so secretive, they just want cash.
I would stay away from these charletons, and go to a University in your area, see if they have any ABA specialists, or programs. Sometimes grad atudents learning need kids to work with, and tyou know the work would be appropriate.
Where I worked, I was very impressed by the Autism team, and their expertise and knowledge, so maybe the school district has someone who can help you. For free.
You might look into hiring an advocate to help you get the services you need through the school system with his IEP.
Another thought I have, is that when we realized that we were going to need way more therapies than my insurance was going to cover, I switched insurance plans the next time I was eligible to do so (open season). I chose a plan that would also cover "out of network" providers with a higher copay for me because there were not a lot of therapist choices for other than medicaid. And I got the plan that had the highest number of therapists visits (75 per year) because we will need more than that anyway. In many workplaces, open season is happening now or soon, so you might investigate what other options are available to you for insurance.
I am a Psychologist and ABA therapist. In my strongest opinion, there isn't anything barbaric about ABA. The reason a therapist uses extinctions b/c the behavior your son is displaying in getting in the way of his learning experience. For example, if the therapist asks your son a question and his response is (yelling, hitting, ignoring, kicking) behavioral, then the therapist has to continue to ask the question until he responds appropriately. If he becomes volatile, the therapist has to restrain and continue to ask the question she gets a correct response. The reasons for this (it gets worse before better) is: 1. The child has to come to understand that his behavior (no matter what it is) doesn't serve him. 2. The therapist has to establish expectations and respect. 3. Extinction, is suppose to 'extinct' the negative behavior. Here's the thing, once he responds correctly, he can be reinforced positively for his correct response. Ideally, a therapist wants to reward positive behavior as much as possible so the kid abandons poor behavior and adopts positive behaviors.
Last edited by Jaded; 09-13-2013 at 12:19 AM..
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Done CORRECTLY, there is nothing barbaric about ABA. If protocols are not applied consistently or correctly, all kinds of things can be wrong. We don't know what was going on in the therapy in the posted situation ( and probably won't, given the age of the thread).
People who are unfamiliar with the principles of behavior analysis may find extinction protocols to be extreme...this is because they are, by design. The purpose of complete refusal to attend to negative behavior is to teach that the negative behavior will not work for gaining attention, only appropriate behavior will. It works (if, in fact, the function of the behavior is to gain attention, which the therapist should have already analyzed prior to starting the extinction process). To some parents to whom this is not explained, it might look like "you are ignoring my child! That's awful!" when in fact, the therapist is simply not attending to tantrums, screaming, aggression, self injury, or other inappropriate behavior...not ignoring the child...and will reinforce appropriate behavior with attention and other reinforcement. The parent also might not realize that, through years of attending to inappropriate behavior, they have, in fact, been reinforcing it, and will continue to do so, even as the therapist attempts to extinguish it. This not being on the same page makes the changing of behavior harder and slower, because successful ABA requires consistent application. Parents can derail ABA if they don't understand it, which is why any therapeutic center should operate in complete transparency and educate families. Any that don't are suspect.
I am currently a Behavior Tech in Orlando FL. I have worked extensively in ABA therapy for the past 5 years providing services in a clinical setting 1:3 and in the homes 1:1. The company that I work for, Behavioral Support Services Inc, is currently running a program called Parent Training. This program is designed to teach parents how to run programs in their homes with their children.
I know that its already 2014 and this blog was posted in 2011, but if anyone reads this I wanted to give some parents who are struggling with issue an advice.
You can learn how to work with your children and provide amazing therapy for them. If resources are limited for you, I believe you should try to learn how to provide ABA therapy in a college/university, or through support groups led by advocates.
Actually, it doesn't have to be ABA therapy. If you already know what your child has been diagnosed with, do some research and get familiar with some techniques other parents have tried with their children.
Not every child learns the same way and believe it or not, Therapists work through trial and error. We have to constantly learn what programs work best for clients. Our clients are ever growing and changing, and guess what? So are our programs.
Also, making some sacrifices for your children is always important. I worked with a family in Pennsylvania who would travel an hour and thirty minutes to our facility for services. They knew their child needed these services and made it happen for them.
Never give up on your children, where there is a will there will always be a way! Good Luck!
Don't let this poor experience with an ABA clinic shy you away from others. I have worked for one provider for 2 years now and their methods are amazing. The not letting you bring your child in and out might be a way to back up the laws of HIPAA, however they should be answering questions you have about their procedures, your child, and basically anything you ask about if it doesn't have to do with other children. The use of restraint I have never agreed with or been comfortable with. The clinic I work with now does not either, but I did work for a clinic that did believe in the use of it. I was not comfortable with that, and if asked to do it myself would have said no to it.
Look around for other providers, because ABA is a fantastic program and it really does benefit the learner with Autism. I enjoy my "job" more than any other job I've had (I put job in quotes because it is hard for me to call it a job, it's more like a lifestyle). Take care and I hope you find a great provider. Too bad you don't live close to me, I'd totally refer you to my supervisor!
Hello,
I am new to this thread, so bear with me if this is a little long. My five year old son has recently been diagnosed as PDD/NOS after several years of "fighting" to get him a diagnosis. He is very verbal, but he has serious sensory issues and often goes into "trances" where he sings the same songs over and over. Long story short, he started therapy at a local clinic in our town two weeks ago. Not really understanding the specifics, only that it is "the only treatment" for ASD, we dove right in. Little clues along the way have made us nervous such as the clinic's reluctancy of letting parents enter the facility to drop of our son or pick him up - we must wait in the car for his therapist to come out and get him, not disclosing full details about the specifics regarding the therapy, not answering questions about the facility, etc.
Anyway, I haven't seen much change in our son as of yet, but I am concerned as some of the techniques I am learning about. First of all, they consistently tell us to ignore his side of the story and not to entertain it at all. The first day, he was restrained and put on "extinction" due to a melt-down he had over his shoes. Today, he had a sub and had a 40 minute meltdown again about his shoes. He was put on "extinction" and restrained again. I have NEVER had to restrain my son for any reason, so this seems very barbaric and disturbing to me. Today, he had visible marks on his arms and neck, with broken skin from the therapists nails on his arm.
I guess I want to know your experiences with this type of therapy. I am starting to feel like we made a big mistake with this. He tells us that he begs them to talk to him when he is on "extinction" and but they continue to ignore him until he calms down, then they continue it for another 5 minutes.
Any advice or experience is much appreciated!
This strikes me as the "Tiger Mom" approach to "fixing" ASD. In other words, terrorize the person and essentially try to beat the ASD out of them. Never go back to any place like this (and I do realize this is an old thread, but sadly, here in 2015, there are still people who will try anything and everything to "fix" or "cure" ASD).
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Honest Opinion
Bad ABA Clinic
