Question for ABA experts please

[Eloise73]

I have a friend who has a 10 year old daughter who is autistic, probably low to medium functioning, very little verbal and lots of tapping and head banging. Difficult to teach etc as attention span is very short.

Is it too late for ABA or can it still help? The hope being to stop the disruptive repetitive behaviours so perhaps she can learn to enjoy new things and learn a bit too.

I'd be grateful for your thoughts and advice, thanks.

[WilsonFrickett]

We've only done ABA-light for a HFA so I don't know enough to comment specifically but what I would say is it's never too late, for anything. You may not get the same results in the same time as you would if the DD was 5, but if ABA is right for that family and that child, you will see improvements.

[perceptionreality]

No, it's never too late. We ran a programme for 7 years for my severely autistic dd. Early intervention is ideal but not essential - it may just take a little longer to phase out certain behaviours and increase others.

For those children who spend a lot of time stimming so that it gets in the way of learning, ABA is particularly effective imo.

[bialystockandbloom]

Have just asked my (very experienced) ABA tutor who is here atm, who said it's never too late for intervention, and particularly for behavioural difficulties. She also said RDI would be worth looking at.

For those children who spend a lot of time stimming so that it gets in the way of learning, ABA is particularly effective imo.

I'd agree with ^ that too.

[Eloise73]

Thanks guys, I thought so too but will be good to back it up a bit with your comments.